10. Matheus
My heart is thundering in my chest, and my fists are clenched so goddamn tight I could break a man’s jaw if he crossed my path.
Of course, I won’t marry Sofia Blanco. If I can’t have Dani, I don’t want anyone else, least of all her sister.
I sure as fuck wouldn’t settle for second best.
Doesn’t stop me from pretending I’d go ahead with it––to see if it hurts my little firecracker as much as her refusal hurts me.
Yeah, sure, she fucking cares. I understand that loud and clear. She also enjoys my dick in her hot little holes too. But that’s not enough.
I need more.
All or nothing.
It’s that simple.
At the bottom of the stairs, I glance over my shoulder, my gaze drifting all the way up to the top of the empty landing.
Sighing heavily, I embrace the same feelings I’d endured all my life. I let them twist in my gut, turning the bruises into something darker.
I growl under my breath and do a one-eighty, marching towards two soldiers guarding the front door.
“Help me out, would you?” I open my arms and stand there stark naked, my dick still wet from Dani’s spittle. “She ripped off my clothes. They’re ruined.”
Dario chuckles and shakes his head.
“Christ, Souza.” He thumbs the split lip I’d given him earlier. “None of us want to see that thing around here.”
“Why, afraid you’d enjoy looking at it too much?” I smirk, not in the mood for small talk, but acting playful to get what I need.
“You’re not my type, pretty boy. This way.”
Dario nods at me and starts to walk away. Hot on his heels, I follow him past the staircase and down another corridor on the right side of the house.
The walls are bare and the floorboards creak underfoot. It feels colder the further along I go, or maybe that’s just my heart icing over.
In a matter of minutes, he punches a code into a mounted keypad and pushes the door open.
Strolling in ahead of me, he switches on an overhead light and moves further into the wall-to-wall locker room.
“Here.”
He opens a slim compartment, reaches inside, and drags out a pair of khaki utility pants. While I step into them, he fetches a clean white t-shirt and tosses it at me.
“You leaving now?”
Once I’ve pulled it over my head, I reach around him and grab a pair of worn boots, stuffing my feet inside without socks and lacing them tight.
I just need to get out of this house and away from Dani.
Straightening, I cast my eyes over the semi-automatic handgun and pack of smokes sitting on the top shelf in the locker.
“Yeah.” I quickly stretch around him, grab the gun, a lighter, and the cigarettes, then check the magazine is full.
His hand twitches at his hip.
“I am now.” I wink and slap his arm. “Thanks for your help, Dario. I appreciate it.”
Backing up, I yank the door open and look over my shoulder.
“I’ve one more favor to ask.”
He quirks a brow at me. “As if taking my smokes wasn’t enough.”
“It’s a small price to pay to get a Souza out of your territory, right?” I offer him a cocky grin.
“What else do you want?”
My mood simmers.
“Watch over her,” I mutter, hating myself for the thread of concern still attaching me to my little firecracker. “Don’t let anything happen to her or I’ll hold you accountable. And after everything you’ve given me, I would hate to execute you.”
“I take it she came to her senses and threw you out, Souza?” He folds his arms. “Just like all the other assholes. She’s not one for conversations or commitment.”
I bite my tongue. This fucker is one breath away from getting a bullet in the head. It drives me crazy to think about Dani with other guys.
Nipping a cigarette butt between my lips, I scorch the tip and tuck the gun into the waistband of my new pants, smoke filling my lungs.
“We aren’t compatible,” I lie, exhaling a cloud into the room. “Nothing more to it.”
Having outstayed my welcome, I make my way back along the hallway, physically exhausted and mentally psyching myself up for a swift exit.
The bruises scattered all over me ache and my head thumps from dehydration. Draining the remaining three quarters of whiskey left in an open bottle was a bad idea, but it had served its purpose at the time.
Even if I feel like shit now.
It’s nothing a line of coke wouldn’t sort out. Maybe later I’d snort a few grams of Souza snow off some greedy se?orita’s tits before I make her night.
Inwardly, I groan at that dumb idea. Who the hell am I kidding? If my dick went hard for another woman, it would be a miracle.
Dani’s tied up my dick in chains. I shiver at that thought, take another drag, and pull my head out of my Dani fantasy, manning the fuck up.
And speak of the devil. There she is, elegantly flipping me the bird and keeping her smile tight as she pads barefoot across the entrance hall and out through the front door.
I’d think she was going for a midnight walk if the woman wasn’t wearing a floral print nightgown under a dark kimono, cinched at the waist by a silk belt.
The robe’s material swishes with every confident stride she takes, the front slit showing off her long, lean legs. Fuck, her hair is unbrushed and tucked behind her cute little ears. The messy state of it reminding me of how she came undone on my dick earlier.
She’s up to something. I can feel it in my bones.
Prowling outside, I watch her navigate the driveway, head straight for my motorcycle, and snatch the key fob I’d left on the seat.
She hooks the keyring on her forefinger and lets the fob dangle in the air.
“You’re trying very hard to keep me here, Dani.”
I toss the cigarette, widen my stance, and fold my arms over my chest.
“Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Yeah, smartass. Don’t drink and drive! I’m leaving in an hour. Sleep off your bad mood and I’ll leave the fob with Dario. The guy who’s clothes you’re wearing.”
She pockets my keys and closes the distance between us.
“And just so you know…if you marry Sofia, it’ll be over my dead body…and I’m very hard to kill.”
“Por qué, little firecracker? Tell me why you’d have to be dead.”
“Because she won’t be another Souza victim or collateral damage between our two families.”
I narrow my eyes at the pulse hammering in her throat.
“Collateral damage?”
“Yeah, you’d charm her, make the poor girl fall for your bullshit, and then you’d stomp all over her heart.”
“Are we talking about you or her?”
Before she answers, my head turns to the bright headlights streaming in through the front gates. Moving closer, a fleet of SUVs pulls up beyond them, parking.
Armed men spill out of the vehicles at the same time as soldiers rush out of Blanco’s mansion.
“Who the hell are they?” Dani shouts over to Dario.
“They must be here for him,” he replies, reaching for a handheld radio.
“I asked who they are, Dario,” she hisses. “Find out what the hell they want.”
“Matheus Souza!” a male voice calls me from the other side of the gate. “We have orders to escort you out of Colombia.”
I frown and grab the gun from behind my back and start to walk towards them.
“Who gave the order?”
“Sir, we should talk in the car. Privately.”
My scalp prickles and I sense her approach, even though her light footsteps are undetectable.
“You’re not going anywhere with those guys, Mat. We don’t know who they are.”
I glance at her, noting the creases on her forehead and death glare projected at the army of soldiers gathered a few yards away.
Something pings inside my chest, and I realize I’d love this woman for the rest of my life.
It’s the one thing I’m certain of when everything else around me is falling apart.
“Who sent you?” I call out, moving away from her.
“The boss,” he snaps. “Now, please, make your way to the gates and get inside the car. We have to leave immediately. The jet is fueled and waiting.”
“I don’t have to do anything you tell me. Giovanni can wait. I have other pressing matters to deal with, like paying my mother a visit.”
She owes me information and I want to hear all of my family’s secrets.
“Sir…”
The lead soldier I’m conversing with steps up to the gates.
“I’ve been instructed to extract you from the Blanco residence by whatever means necessary. You need to come with us. It”s a priority. For your own safety.”
Beside me, Dani raises her knee, flicks the nightgown off her bare leg and draws a gun from an attached thigh strap.
Fuck, she’s hot.
“He’s not leaving until you stop with the cryptic chit-chat,” she shouts, aiming right at him.
Dark clothed soldiers raise their weapons and my insides recoil. She’s in the crossfire if they start shooting.
“Are you a prisoner, sir? Do we need to step in?”
“Put your guns down!” I snap and turn into her, finding liquid silver eyes, wide and bright. “Am I your prisoner?”
Her chest rises in bursts and her fingers curl tighter around her gun.
“You know you’re not.”
“Then go back inside. Go on. We’re done here.”
She scowls, those silver eyes of hers lighting up the dark sky.
“Matheus, you don’t know how far Eduardo’s reach extends within your organization. You can’t trust them.”
“At least I’m not driving under the influence of alcohol, little firecracker—huh? That’s all you were concerned about.”
I shrug and swivel toward the gates, calling out to the guys on the other side.
“I’m a guest here. There’s no threat from this side. But I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me why you’ve come for me.”
“Something serious has happened, sir.”
My blood runs cold.
“What are you talking about?”
“Get in the car and the boss will explain. He’s on the other end of the line, waiting to speak to you.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter, running a hand through my hair. “It’s like the Souza circus is still run by the ringleader from his burial chamber. They’re all fucking paranoid.”
When I take a step toward the gates, Dani grabs my wrist and squeezes.
“Wait…I’ll go with you. I’ve got a horrible feeling in my stomach. Something’s wrong, Mat.”
Instincts tells me the same thing. However, it has more to do with the news I’m about to hear.
These guys aren’t the problem. I know that because this isn’t the first time I’ve been escorted to safety in a convoy.
The morning after Elias was murdered, I was uprooted from a lecture and flown to my mother’s private compound on the Colombian coast.
This feels the same and it has me on edge.
“Please, come with us, sir. Your jet is on standby.”
“Matheus.” Dani’s tone is hard. “Think about this?—”
“I can look after myself.” I yank my arm free and pretend my heart’s frozen her out. “Don’t forget to tell Blanco he can go fuck his contract.”
“And Sofia?” Her voice slips over my shoulder, the tone direct. “What about her?”
“She”s not you, Dani,” I say simply and continue walking.
She rushes up behind me, following me like a cute but ferocious guard dog.
“Where are you taking him? Tell me,” she demands.
No one answers. I stand to the side and let the huge gates judder open, stroll onto the pavement, and leave her standing all alone.
On the surface of it all, even though it looks like I have everything. Having all the money and power at my fingertips is a good thing, but it means nothing if I don’t have her love.
It’s all empty bullshit.
A soldier dressed in military gear opens the passenger door of the closest blacked out Cadillac Escalade and stands to the side as I climb inside.
I’m numb. Except for the sharp pain in my chest that could be the early stages of a heart attack.
I dig the smokes out of my pocket to give me something else to focus on and light one.
“Okay. You have my attention.”
I exhale smoke down my nostrils and let my head fall back to the leather headrest when the lead soldier appears at the door.
“Give me the phone.”
“Yes, sir.”
He holds a satellite phone out for me and closes the door when I take it from him, leaving me alone in darkness.
“Gio, what’s with the pantomime?—”
“Matheus,” my eldest brother Tomás interrupts. “Your family needs you.” His voice is deep, hoarse, and stern.
Typical for him, but tonight it resonates differently.
My spine tingles, an unusual feeling crawling over me.
“Tomás? What”s going on?”
“It’s Dré,” he says quietly. “He was shot.” My heart stops beating. “They don’t know if he’ll make it.”
“W-what?” I struggle to speak. “Dré…what the fuck? Who did it? Tell me, Tommy. I’ll fucking go after them right now.”
My stomach churns and a nauseous sweat breaks over me.
Was this my fault?
I glance out of the window, quickly locating Dani by the gatepost, her expression dark and a light breeze dancing in her hair.
“Right now, all of us need to be in Italy in case…”
“Don’t say it…” I growl, anger and sadness clashing in my veins. “Don’t fucking say it, Tommy.”
The line goes quiet for a moment. “I’m on my way there. I’ll see you soon, brother.”