When Lies Unfold

Chapter 20

What the hellhave I done?

Have I learned nothing from my past? To not get involved with assholes who think they own everyone and everything around them?

Am I so starved for a man’s touch that I lose my mind when the worst kind of one touches me?!

Self-recrimination floods me, and I’m tempted to slam my head against this stone countertop until I rediscover my common sense.

I slide off the island and lock my still-quivering knees, waiting for the fluttering in my stomach to subside.

Redoing my ponytail, I clear my throat and dart a glance at the man I had no business touching, let alone permitting him to touch me the way he did.

There’s a dangerously potent force between us, like some sort of magnetic pull that’s drawn me to him, inciting a carnal need to touch him and have him touch me in return.

What the hell is wrong with me? Sure, a part of me was just being obstinate at first, wanting to throw him off-kilter like he’s constantly trying to do to me. To see if I could beat him at his own game. But then it shifted. It turned into something far more dangerous.

The weight of his scrutinizing stare is unnerving. I steel my spine and force a nonchalant tone. “I think we can both agree that was a mistake.”

Edging away from him, I toss the sodden paper towels in the trash before stacking the plates the guys left behind. “And that it won’t happen again.”

Strong fingers cinch my upper arm when I turn to bring the plates to the sink, drawing me to a stop. I don’t dare look at him, though. I’m still far too off-balance.

Even now, my mind races with the knowledge that he’s touching me with the same fingers he had inside me. Those thick fingers made me orgasm harder than I have in what might very well be forever.

Stop it!

A beat of silence hangs between us before he speaks in a low, gravelly tone. “Just so you know, it doesn’t change shit between us. Just ’cause I finger-fucked your?—”

I cut him off with my nonchalant agreement. “I agree. It changes nothing.”

How can you believe that? I quell the tiny, disloyal voice in the recesses of my mind as I liberate myself from his hold. I march to the sink and set the dishes inside.

His deep voice is cool, detached. “Got an early day tomorrow, so you better get unpacked and rest up.”

I brace my hands on the edge of the sink, waiting for him to finish and leave me alone.

“Remember, after you’re done cleanin’ for Aarón, you’ll be back here takin’ care of Alma.”

Fucking great. It’s not that I don’t like his daughter—she’s adorable—but it’s the fact that I’ve been forced into it. “For how long?”

“For as long as I say so, Miss Arias.”

I stare down at the stainless-steel sink. “I don’t suppose I’ll get paid for that, will I?”

His only response to that is a low, derisive grunt.

I release a heavy breath. “I’m not qualified to be a nanny.” My quiet admission hovers between us before he responds with his own.

“Listen closely, Miss Arias, ’cause I’m only gonna say it once.”

I don’t turn but remain standing at the sink as my spine feels as though it’s infused with steel.

The steely undertone in his words is unmistakable. “You’re my liability and you’ll do as I say. If I say you’re qualified enough to be with my daughter, then so be it.”

His footsteps retreat, growing more distant as he leaves. Although I’m left alone in the expansive kitchen, the space feels as though it’s shrunk exponentially, to a suffocating extent.

The freedom I’ve fought so hard for has vanished in the blink of an eye.

All because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Heaving out a sigh, I push away from the sink and survey my surroundings as I scramble to regain my mental footing.

I can do this. I’ll get through it. God knows I’ve been through worse and survived.

It takes me a moment to realize I’ve been massaging my left hand. Dropping my hands at my sides, I straighten my shoulders and lift my chin. Fuck Santiago Hernández. He’ll discover I’m not easily manipulated.

He’ll see that I’m tougher than he thinks.

What he doesn’t know—what he’ll never know—is I didn’t gain that toughness by choice. It was never by choice.

It was because it was the only way to survive.