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His eyebrows shoot up, but there’s amusement on his lips. “Are you giving me permission again?”
I clench my teeth wanting to call him names and rip him to shreds. “There will never be another moment where you ever touch me.”
He puts his glass down on a nearby table before circling me. I stare straight ahead, pretending to not be nervous.
“I don’t need permission, Mariella. I’m a man who takes what he wants.”
“You already said you weren’t a rapist, but let me guess, you’re a fucking liar, too.”
He comes to a stop in front of me, tugging on my necklace. My collar.
“I already took you,princesa.You don’t realize that? Do you truly think we met by coincidence?” He chuckles, the sound full of mockery. “I’ve known who you are for a long time. Those guys?” he says, pointing toward the window. “The ones following you and scaring you? They’re my guys.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
He walks away, giving me his back, so confident I won’t stab him in it.
“When I first saw you in my casino, working at my bar, I already knew you. I was inserting myself in your life like it was an accident. When you ran into me on the casino floor, fleeing from a man who followed you from a coffee shop? He had just called me and told me to expect you. My offer to help you was all a ruse. You never had anyone to fear but me.”
My mouth parts as I try to find the words I want to speak. This can’t be real. He spins around, leaning against the arm of his couch.
“The man in the alley? He hurt your friend. You…you killed him.”
“Did I?” he asks, cocking his head to the side. “Or did I send you away before you could see me pay him what I said I would? Myfriendwas in on it. It was part of the plan, Mariella.”
“You kept asking about Theo.”
“You gave me that information and it helped my plan along. He was never part of this. I needed you to think you needed me. I used you, but you like that kind of thing, don’t you?”
“You were manipulating me,” I say on a breath.
“I never tried to make you think I was a good person. I told you over and over again who I was. I said you shouldn’t feel safe around me, and I told you you’d end up hating me.”
“And I said you could disrespect me in the bedroom butonlyif you respected me out of it. Lying and manipulating does not equal respect.”
“Do you think a murderer cares about lying?” His laugh is riddled with darkness and cruelty. “Honestly, Mariella, you forgave me for murder. You let me fuck you knowing the hands you enjoyed on your body are the same hands that’ve taken lives, and yet you cry about me lying?”
“I’m not crying!” I yell. “And I didn’t forgive you for anything. It wasn’t for me to forgive, it was for me to choose to ignore. I’m not claiming to have some higher sense of morality. I’m not the perfect, honest, sweet girl you may think I am. I have wants and desires, and sometimes I allow myself to put those cravings first. I knew I was never going to change you. I wouldn’t make you quit doing what has obviously made you who you are, but I still wanted you despite those things. That was for me to deal with.” I take a breath. “But why the hell did you do all those things if you don’t want me? You lured me into your life for what?”
He’s quiet for a few seconds before he sighs, rubbing his fingertips across his forehead. “It doesn’t matter. It was business.”
“That’s bullshit. You can at least be man enough to tell me what all of this was for. You’ve been watching me for I don’t know how long. You scared me into your arms, got me into bed, and right at the end you showered me with attention, gifts, and compliments.” I pause, my brain working overtime. “It was for tonight. At the table you were so touchy feely. So flirty and affectionate. I thought it was strange but figured maybe you had finally turned a corner. I wanted to believe you were beginning to open up. But it was a show.” My eyes focus on the floor, replaying the events of tonight. “For who?”
He pushes away from the couch. “Enough. It doesn’t matter. You were a small pawn in a bigger game. You won’t understand, and to be honest, you don’t need to. You’re free now. You’re safe. You can go about your life. It’s all you wanted this whole time anyway. Well, wish granted. Do you want me to get my driver to take you tonight?”
I stare at him with what has to be shock written on every feature. I knew he was vicious, but I never thought I’d be on the receiving end of his coldness. Sometimes we crave attention, whether positive or negative. We want to know we affect someone in some way, but to be dismissed so easily penetrates deep, leaving you with a crack running across your heart.
“Yes. I’d like to go home, and I want my belongings delivered immediately.”
His face cracks, and he looks almost proud. “Okay. I’ll make the calls.”
“Good.”
He walks past me, his fingers already dialing a number.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
The first week I was back home with Noah and Autumn, I mostly stayed in my room. I wasn’t ready to discuss what happened between me and Vicente. I don't want to admit to Autumn that I allowed myself to think he could feel anything for me. I don’t want Noah to say he told me to stay away from him.
