9. Daniela
“You just don’t get it. Do you?”
I glare at him, tears stinging my eyes.
“Why the hell would I be thrilled to hear we’re getting married when I wasn’t even involved in the decision?”
My chest tightens, making it hard to breathe properly.
“Blanco’s lawyers prepared a business contract. A fucking contract, Mat, that you signed. Regardless of whether it was me or Sofia bound to you, a bunch of misogynistic males made plans for our future on our behalf. That’s not love, or even a choice. It’s control. A way to hold authority over me.”
My hands are shaking, and my heart is beating out of my chest.
“I can’t spend the rest of my life with a man who thinks that”s okay.”
Matheus scowls, my point of view clearly pissing him off.
“And the fact you think I’d want to become a Souza when your brother ordered his men to burn my body along with all the dead girls his scumbag employees murdered––that’s just––”
“Dani!” he barks, cutting me off. “I’m more than my family’s name. Haven’t I shown you that already?”
“Yeah, you did. But you turned around and made a deal with Blanco straight after. Just like a typical Souza would.”
“I only signed the fucking thing…” His teeth clamp shut and his hands fist by his thighs. “…because he knows things about my real father. The night you were hurt at the Di Rossi mansion, that’s when I knew I wanted to marry you. There was no contract or deal to be made at that point. Just me wanting you as my wife. But this…”
Matheus prowls closer, his chest rising and falling, and his eyes darker than ever.
I suck in sharply when he grabs my jaw and dips closer.
“The way you’re looking at me right now with those cynical eyes. It’s not what I want.”
When he lets go, my instincts have me reaching for him in a moment of weakness. My heart and my head aren’t working together.
In my own defense, I snatch my hand back and press it to my chin where the warmth of his touch still lingers.
I’m mad at him, and I’d do well to remember why.
The muscles in his chest vibrate. The unsettled aura is something I’ve never experienced around him. If I wasn’t a capable assassin, I’d be terrified.
He takes a controlled step back, stuffs a hand into his hair and exhales slowly.
I can’t quite decipher his tight expression. There’s a subtle quirk to his soft-looking lips, but his unsettled chestnut eyes are filled with chaos.
Jet-black lashes bat slowly as his thoughtful gaze leaves my breasts and cuts to the window across the room.
“All my life, I tried to have a relationship with Elias. To make him accept me. So, forgive me for wanting to understand who the fuck I am if he’s not my father. I had thought I could do that with you by my side.”
“Well, from where I’m standing, you’re the type of guy who traded information for wedding vows. How fucking romantic.”
Matheus frowns. “Romance? Is that what this is about? You want me to get down on one knee and propose?”
“God, no!” I answer honestly. “Why pretend to give a fuck about what I want now? Ink and a handshake were enough for you at the time.”
He makes a grunt-like sound at that, the noise as dismissive as his posture.
“I did what I did. It was a means to an end, and the end clearly wasn’t worth it.”
“No, it wasn’t worth it. I actually thought you were different, Mat. But you’re just like every other gangster out there.”
“Seems so.”
Spinning on his heels, he heads to the nightstand, grabs his gun, and moves to the door, butt-naked and exuding confidence in every stride.
“I’ll call off our engagement in the morning.”
Nausea hits me and something far more troubling. Hurt.
“Wonderful,” I call after him. “Lucky you didn’t bother giving me an engagement ring. I would have thrown it back at you. Maybe blinded you with the diamond or shoved it down your throat to choke you.”
Angling his head around, the furrows in his brow deepen.
“You’re free from me, Dani. I won’t beg anyone to love me. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”
Panic swirls in my chest and I rush forward, confused by my urgency.
I can’t breathe.
A ball of dread sits heavy in my chest. I don’t want him to go. But I can”t marry him either.
I have principles and no man would ever dictate my future––even if he’s the best goddamn thing that’s ever happened to me.
Truth be told, I would say yes if we’d met in different circumstances.
In another life, I’d willingly wear his ring and spend the rest of my life worshiping him.
But in this dark and dangerous life, he’s a Souza with too much power and big expectations.
“You know Blanco will put a bounty on your head for pulling out, Mat.”
“I’m Matheus Souza. I can do whatever the fuck I want.” He reaches for the door handle. “And I don’t give a shit about Blanco and his empty threats,” he calls over his shoulder, not meeting my eye. “You don’t want to get married, and after this, I don’t either.”
“This isn’t a game, Matheus,” I warn, fighting the urge to drag him onto the bed with me.
Wanting to lie next to him until the morning and pretend none of this happened.
“You know he’d order me to kill you.”
Opening the door, he steps into the shadowy hallway and turns to face me.
“Go ahead, little firecracker. Pulling the trigger just makes all this final…that’s if you can actually get anywhere near me.”
His expression hardens and a lock of hair falls over his brow, tempting me to brush it from his lashes.
“Although Dragon wants you in Italy for a debrief. I can confirm we won’t be roommates anymore.”
My veins are pulsating, and the walls start to close in on me. I haven”t felt this lost since Mama died.
I clear my throat and steel my spine.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not going back to The Covenant. Have the bedroom. It’s all yours.”
He shrugs. “Fine. Disobey your commander and he might just send me after you.”
When he winks and turns, my insides catch fire and I dart into the hallway after him. Half angry and half fucking gutted. How did it come to this?
“Oh, what a guy. I’m your fiancée one minute, and your target the next. Spoken like a true Souza.”
He glances at the revolver in his hand, and then, in a blur, charges forward and shoves me against the wall, using his forearm against my throat, his mood darker than black.
Our bare chests collide, and our quick breaths mingle. Those perfectly shaped lips of his linger so close I could lick the essence of liquor from them.
“Was my fiancée,” he corrects. “I guess I’ll just have to love you until I hate you.”
The soles of my bare feet anchor in position, steadying myself as I inhale him deep into my lungs.
I could swear a Colombian rainstorm is battering the roof over our heads if I wasn’t certain, it was the whoosh of fiery blood pumping faster in my skull.
He loves me.
“I’ll never hate you, Mat,” I confess, the words sounding breathy and rushed.
The rumble of his throaty chuckle rolls like thunder.
“I know…and I also know I could fuck you against this wall and you’d be wetter than ever for me. Isn’t that right, Daniela?” His chestnut eyes search mine. “But I’ve done all that. Been there before. Played the game. Fucked the horny girls in their fathers’ mansions knowing it wouldn’t go anywhere.”
Silence creeps around us as he considers the vulnerable position I’m in.
“But that’s not who I am. I thought you saw through the mask I’ve worn all these years. Turns out you’re just like everyone else. You only see what”s on the surface.”
Matheus sighs and releases me, putting a safe measure of space between his naked body and mine.
“I was wrong…about everything…including you,” he says.
“Maybe we were both wrong,” I counter.
“Yeah.”
“Where are you going?” I snatch his wrist as he goes to leave. “You’ve been drinking, and you’ve got no clothes on.”
The atmosphere changes. It crackles, the thickness of it uncertain.
All I can feel is this man”s eyes all over my breasts—hot and hungry. I swallow down the flutters in my throat and stare up at him in a hushed standoff, still linked to him by my own doing.
“Get your hand off me, Dani,” he mutters.
“Or what?” I taunt. “You’ll shoot an unarmed woman with your big gun.”
I can’t help myself. I’m stopping the guy from leaving and pushing him for a reaction at the same time.
It’s like I need Matheus to fight with me, so I’d have another reason to be angry with him. To make it easier when I watch him go.
Or maybe I’m just weak.
“I’ll get clothes from somewhere. No big deal. Now get your hand off me,” he repeats, his voice strained.
“You’ve been drinking, which means you can’t ride your motorcycle, Mat.”
He swings me into his chest, bumping me tight against him. The collision has me gasping and dizzy.
Warmth blooms between my thighs, the scorching heat of it raising my temperature.
“You don’t have permission to touch me. We aren’t a thing anymore,” he says quietly.
Leaning back a little, he runs the end of his gun over my left breast. The sensation of cold steel combined with the hot lust burning in his eyes kicks off a treacherous shiver.
Our gazes fuse, his fiery and unreadable, while mine’s hurt and conflicted.
“So, either remove your hand or do something about the hard dick you’ve given me.”
Straight white teeth sink into the corner of his bottom lip. The result, a deviant smile.
“Wouldn’t you hate that, little firecracker?” he mocks, the words dripping with sarcasm. “My Souza cum all over your beautiful face.”
My pulse skips from the way his taut body is pressed against me. The throbbing heat in my clit is growing worse by the second and all I want is a release.
He shakes his head, as if he’s annoyed at himself for even suggesting it or for having a stiff dick in the first place.
Knowing he’s turned on and still wants me…it’s fueling the burning ache in my belly.
It would probably be best to back off, let him walk away, and bury my feelings with all the souls I’ve stolen.
But I have this Matheus itch that only he can scratch. This relentless, annoying need that just won’t die.
Despite knowing what I should do, I squeeze his wrist harder instead.
Matheus glances wickedly at my hand, and ever so slowly brings his eyes back to mine.
“Fine. We’ll do it the hard way.” I’m attuned to the quick drop in his tone, rough around the edges. “Get on your knees.”
I should be reaching for his gun. Except for some unknown reason, I obey rather than protest.
Without hesitation, I kneel before him and let the buzz of my indiscretion wash over me.
We’re not getting married.
We’re not even together.
This is just closure.
Isn’t it?
His muscles go rigid and when I catch his eyes, they don’t hold any trace of warmth. They’re mostly black and crowned by a flaming loop of fire.
Viciousness moves across his expression, the dark depths of his pupils a hint to his current mood.
Strong muscular legs widen a fraction as he positions his dick before my face. I blink at the sight of the glossy tip, fully aware of the way this guy dominates me without even laying a finger on my body.
“Mat…”
I consider confessing my inner turmoil while I’m on my knees, gazing up at his masculine form. Though I quickly decide nothing good would come from it.
I’d never become a Souza, or an obedient little woman pawned off as a wife.
“Don’t,” he hisses. “Just wrap your mouth around my dick, little firecracker. One last time.”
His spine bows and his hands settle on the wall behind me.
“Come on. Open up.”
I shiver at the gritty tone he uses and do as he demands. My eyes widen when he thrusts his hips forward and nudges my lips with his dick.
Fisting it at the base, I swirl my tongue over the satiny head, teasing him.
“Fuck…” he lets loose the word and his skin breaks out in goosebumps.
I smile inwardly and, in my own time, suck half of it into my mouth, all the while blinking up at him.
“Christ…that feels so good.”
His hips start rocking and he stuffs the whole length down my throat.
“Take it all, baby,” he mutters affectionately, seemingly forgetting himself.
He suddenly slams his hand on the wall and growls, low and threatening, then picks up speed.
Loud choking noises echo along the hallway, followed by retching that pushes out drool from the corners of my mouth.
I’m at his mercy, jaw lax, to let him fuck my face and completely turned on by it.
My knees dig into the carpet I’ve walked over hundreds of times, and my hands are planted on his hips.
“Let me see those hungry eyes of yours.”
He pulls out and puts two fingers under my chin, tipping my head back, the gesture almost tender.
“Yeah, they still see things differently to me.”
With the shadows swallowing us, he stares down at me, trying to hide the pain swimming in his eyes.
My stomach knots.
“I care about you, Mat. You know I do. It’s just?—”
He snorts out a half laugh, not letting me finish.
“Good effort, little firecracker. But not good enough. I don’t need you to care about me or tell me I can’t ride a motorcycle because I’ve had liquor. I have a mother who does that.”
When he fists the base of his dick, it makes it look longer, stiffer, and if at all possible, angrier.
Brushing the tip across my lips, he starts to throttle his dick at a violent rhythm as I sit there, panting.
After a few punishing strokes, he raises the gun in the air and steps back.
My spine locks. “What are you doing?”
“Hold out your hands,” he orders.
“What for?”
“For the bullets, Dani.”
I frown and swallow hard. Emotion bubbles in my chest and I do as he tells me, cupping my palms together.
He removes the magazine, tosses the gun, and extracts the bullets one by one, dropping them into my waiting hands.
Once he’s finished, he stares at me for a second as if he’s battling emotions too. He licks his lips, inhales deeply, and grabs his dick again, jerking off.
Stroke after stroke, his eyes drill into my face.
The gold chain on his wrist moves with him and his jaw clenches when cum spurts over the ammo.
Finished, he inhales through his nostrils and pinches the bridge of his nose, then lowers to his haunches.
Plucking a cum covered bullet from the mess, he glazes my parted lips with it like he’s applying lip gloss.
“This bullet has your name on it and my cum.” He pushes it into my mouth and teases the tip of my tongue.
My body reacts to the cold lead and the taste of him.
“This is the only bullet you’ll ever earn from me, Dani, and it’s also the last time you’ll ever taste me.”
He removes the bullet and drops it between us, the thud resembling my sinking heart. Standing at his full height, he rolls back his shoulders and sighs.
“The contract is worthless. Blanco didn’t fulfill his side of the deal. Your father didn’t tell me anything.”
“It doesn’t work like that, and you know it,” I say, licking my lips.
Matheus shrugs. “I don’t want a wife anymore.” He pauses and a slow smirk dances on his lips. “Or maybe I do. Maybe I should marry sweet little Sofia?—”
I freeze. “You wouldn’t…”
“Why wouldn’t I? You already think I’m just like every other man out there. I may as well sink to your lowly expectations.”
“Matheus,” I warn, my hands shaking and pulse thrumming. “Don’t.”
“Or what? You’ll come for me, Dani? Go ahead, I fucking dare you.”
I jump to my feet and let the rest of the bullets pelt the carpet, panting hard when he turns his bare ass to me and stalks along the corridor towards the stairs.
I’ve lived without him before, and I could easily do it again.
“Fuck you!” I yell at him while my whole body trembles from anger—and heartache.
As he drops onto the top step, I spin on the balls of my feet, and march into the bedroom to hunt out a robe, getting ready to teach him a lesson too.