Chapter 30
G enevieve
If I said I didn’t like the brooding way that Jago studied me, always watching me as soon as I entered a room, then I’d be lying.
Just like I’d tried to do with myself since I’d met him.
If I told anyone I hadn’t noticed him standing in the shadows of the castle when I’d dared venture outside, they’d realize I was telling a fib.
Or when he’d promised to leave me alone at night, only to open my door every few hours to check and see if I was alright.
Or when he’d said nothing while pouring coffee even though I was a few feet away, but his eyes trailed up and down more than once.
But today he was entirely different, taking sullen and quiet to a new level. As soon as he’d realized I’d awakened, he’d gone into the bathroom. I don’t know what had prompted me to do it, but I tried the door.
Locked.
When I’d suggested breakfast, he’d dialed down to room service and barely ten minutes later, a bellman had arrived with a tray with coffee, thank God, and a bowl of fruit. Fruit? Really?
I’d been thinking an omelet or French toast. I was crazy hungry after the night we’d shared.
But fruit?
He’d made two or three phone calls. While he hadn’t purposely blocked me from them, he had walked into another room. I’d been too irritated to follow behind him, demanding he let me in since it was our business, not his business.
Now I stood in front of the window gazing at the gorgeous city in the morning sun, gnawing on a bland apple. All morning I’d tried to remind myself he had a reputation as a big, bad drug lord to keep investing in. However, the reality was that none of his dutiful soldiers could see him.
Or at least I prayed to God there weren’t cameras in the room or outside on the balcony. Now that would be embarrassing. Was I sulking? Hell, yes, I was. This was my very brief honeymoon and other than fucking me, he seemed to want nothing to do with me. That wasn’t acceptable.
Even worse, why was I allowing him to treat me as if it was okay to do this?
To me? His wife? And only hours after we’d gotten married?
Oh, I could see how it was now. He’d pretended like we’d work together to get me to sign the goddamn contract.
He’d even acted as if his hunger for me was intensifying.
But no.
The bastard.
If he thought he was going to get away with stealing my company like that, he was dead wrong. I spun around, already walking forward. With the momentum in full swing, the instant I hit a solid wall of heated mass, both the apple and the half cup of coffee flew from my hands,
The apple was pitched solidly into Jago’s eye while the hot coffee, still steaming, flew all over his nice white shirt. The cup itself teetered to the floor, smashing into pieces.
“Fuck!” Horrified, I clamped my hand across my mouth before tilting my head to look into his eyes.
I had no clue whether he was furious other than he was staring at me for a long, silent moment without saying anything.
“Shit. Did that burn you?” I asked, now fighting laughter. When he finally glanced down at the mess that had once been his shirt, his heavy sigh finally pushed the giggles from the gate.
“Grab your purse,” he said, and if that was his response, I wasn’t certain if I’d woken up with the same man that I’d married.
Was it possible there were two of them? Oh, God, I hoped not. I could only handle one without losing what was left of my mind.
“What did you say?”
“I told you to grab your purse while I change.”
“Are you tossing me out of here?” I asked the question playfully, but I could tell by the continued grouchy look on his face that he wasn’t interested in our usual bantering.
“Do as I say.”
So this was how it was going to be. The ugly truth was that we’d come to Madrid for some business deal. Not for some pretense at romance. Now he required my signature. At least I was in decent clothes.
Because I’d thought, like some dumbass, that we were going to do something fun. Like together. I was such an idiot.
Convince her to sign a contract.
Marry her.
Fuck her.
Fool her.
Nope. It wasn’t going to happen. Wherever we were going, the assholes would get a piece of my mind. Period.
I flew into the bedroom, hurriedly trying to find my purse. Where the hell was it? Regrouping, I was forced to pass Jago, resisting shoving him into the wall in my determination to stay as far away from him as possible.
My small clutch that had nothing more than lipstick, my identification with a few euros for emergencies, and a compact had been tossed only a few feet away from the front door. That had been because the heat I’d shared with my goddamn husband had been off the charts.
Now it was cold as ice in my heart and in the room.
To hell with him.
If all he wanted was control of my company, he could see me in court.
I paced the floor as I waited, half expecting him to take his sweet time.
When he appeared from the bedroom a few seconds later, just catching sight of him created several flutters in my system.
Damn it. Why did he always look so damn good just when I wanted to throw daggers in his face?
The man was stomach-twistingly handsome and I’d had the pleasure of seeing him before.
Without his signature casual jacket, the tight tee shirt he’d chosen kept my eyes peeled on his carved abs.
However, I refused to be swayed by his insanely gorgeous looks.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going and who we’re meeting?” I asked, although there was no mistaking my demanding tone.
“Nope.”
“Bastard.”
“I am.” He walked past me and headed for the door, but not without offering the same heated gaze I’d given to him.
Once inside the elevator, I purposely moved as far away from him as the tight confines would allow. The silence was killing me since I wanted to launch into him, but silence was the best method of operation. I needed to grasp the full extent of what we were getting ourselves into.
We. Not just him.
He casually tossed the valet the keys and we waited on the sidewalk. While he donned his sunglasses, I could tell he was constantly scanning the streets, purposely looking for some crazed assassin.
When the car was brought just a couple of minutes later, he tipped the man handsomely and escorted me to the already open passenger door.
“Put this on.”
I peered down at what he’d pulled from his pocket. “A blindfold? Are you kidding me?”
“Does it look like I’m kidding?”
Huffing, I thumped into the seat and glared at the piece of black material, refusing to obey him. He tossed it into my lap anyway, slamming the car door with enough force the vehicle rocked. What the hell was he so angry about?
Maybe I’d called him names while having sex. Just before I’d fallen asleep in his protective arms. God, he was so infuriating. I’d managed to relax and enjoy myself and he’d fucked it up.
Once he climbed inside, he placed both hands on the wheel, not attempting to pull away from the curb.
“I said. Put it on, Genevieve.”
Rolling my eyes, I groused the entire time but did as he asked.
That wasn’t good enough for him. He shifted me in the seat, retying the knot and making the blindfold tight enough there was no way I could catch a glimmer of light, let alone anything else.
He even took it upon himself to reach around me, grabbing the seatbelt as well.
Did he honestly think I couldn’t do things for myself?
While he clicked it into place, I held my arms in the air.
“Relax, Genevieve. I’m not taking you to sell off to the highest bidder.”
“Then why won’t you tell me where we’re going?”
He chuckled in a way that sent shivers to my toes. “Because it’s a surprise.”
“If you’re honestly thinking of forcing me into some business deal on our honeymoon, think again, buster. I’m not interested in getting to know more of your drug buddies.”
His sigh was heavy, but he said nothing in retort. The engine revved as he pulled away from the curb.
We rode in silence for several minutes.
“What business do you believe your father was in that now you own by default?” His question seemed to come from out of the blue.
“Default? My father was murdered. Did we forget about that?”
“That’s why I said default. You never wanted anything to do with your father’s world, but being born into powerful regimes doesn’t afford that luxury. But I am curious what you believe was his number one commerce.”
Now he had me sighing. I folded my arms, hating the fact I’d tried to pretend to myself what my father had been doing was legitimate. “Cocaine. I’m well aware of what his number one business opportunity has been for years. That doesn’t mean I need to like it.”
“Fair enough.”
He settled back into driving while I still had dozens of questions that I refrained from asking. I wasn’t going to get any answers. He was wired that way.
Bastard.
No matter how many times I thought or said the word, I’d yet to garner any moment of satisfaction in doing so. I don’t know what that said about Jago or about me.
Or us.
Whatever ‘us’ had become.
I sat quietly, unable to find the energy or drive to pepper him with questions or continue my tirade that only highlighted how terrified I truly was. That was the crux of everything. Fear had gripped me the night my father had been murdered and had yet to release its claws.
Terror was a fickle beast. Sometimes, I felt nothing but rage, but at night when I was by myself, I remembered just how very alone I was. That certainly wasn’t poetic, but it was the truth.
The different sound in the engine meant he was slowing down more than he had when making turns. We were still in the city. I knew that by honking horns. When he pulled to a stop, I sat up in my seat, immediately unfastening the seatbelt, but remaining tense as hell.
“Relax. This isn’t going to hurt,” he told me.
“How can I be certain of that?”
“I guess you’ll need to trust me.”
“Trust is the one thing I can’t give you.”
Jago said nothing and maybe I was overthinking things, but I sensed I’d hurt him more than I had in dumping hot coffee on him. How sad.
I was forced to allow him to help me onto the sidewalk. The sounds and smells of the city were everywhere. People talking. Vehicles flying by. There was even a siren that was close and I cringed hearing it. I’d never be able to erase the horrible sounds of them the night my father had been killed.
“Not far. Just a few steps.” He took my arm and my instinct was to jerk it free, but I resisted.
The hard pounding echoed in my ears and that also made me jump.
I felt his hand on the small of my back and I took a step forward just as I heard a different voice.
“Mr. Torres?”
“Yes.”
“Ah. I’ve been expecting you. Come in. Please.”
I felt a swath of cool air as I was pushed gently into a building. Almost immediately, a different variety of scents caught my attention.
Yeast?
Cinnamon?
Vanilla?
What in the hell was going on?
“Are you ready?” Jago asked in the deep voice he typically used when we were in the throes of passion. What was the man up to?
“Yes, why not.”
When he untied the blindfold, allowing the material to slip away, I had to blink several times just to be able to focus.
What I was seeing didn’t register at first. Then I was managed to concentrate on the man standing behind a counter. He had a huge grin on his face and what was he wearing as a cap?
Why my brain was taking so long to clue into what I was seeing was because of my determined rage with Jago. There was no other reliable reason. The moment I was finally able to capture and process what I was seeing, I slapped my hands together with such force, the sharp sound unnerved the man.
In the funny hat with the words Krispy Kreme on the side.
“How? I mean… This isn’t possible.”
Jago laughed as I turned my head toward him. “All things are possible, my sweet wife. Especially when you have money.”
I narrowed my eyes, my stomach immediately doing flip-flops. There were at least four dozen pretty little donuts lined up and waiting for me to make a selection. Glazed. Crullers. Icing in pink and frosted white. Eclairs. My mouth watered to the point I was fearful I’d drool all over myself.
At that point, I realized we were the only people inside the store.
“Where is everyone?” I asked, turning around in a full circle.
“We officially do not open until tomorrow,” the nice man with the significant paunch and a hat that didn’t suit his oversized head was proud to say.
“That means…” I turned around and glanced up at Jago. “You did this.”
“Guilty as charged. I know it was a terrible thing to spring on you. You might need rescue after this. Or perhaps a codicil added to the contract.” He made a face and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets.
I was ready to punch him just for annoying me, but I threw my arms around his neck instead.
When I pressed my lips against his, I think we were both shocked, but he held me close, wrapping his arms around me.
There was something so sensual about the way he opened my mouth with his, gently darting his tongue inside.
And just like that, the anger and hatred slipped away.