19. Daniela
Before me, spread across his shoulders and upper back, is a vast tattoo––a black buffalo skull, to be precise.
I can’t make out the full detail, but it”s permanently inked on his skin.
While he suds up his torso, I palm my chest and feel my skin flame. Every hair on my body is electrified and my heart swells, the warm ache enough to make me cry.
I manage not to, though, digging deep into the part of me that shuts out emotions. I don’t want to make a fool of myself.
However, when he turns off the water, prowls out of the shower, and grabs a towel, I forget to breathe.
Rather than cover himself, he roughly dries his hair and wanders his rich, chestnut gaze all over me. The muscles in his jaw work as he processes my appearance, the twinkly recessed lights overhead forming shadows on the grooves of his strong neck.
He pats his face and mops water from a thin smattering of stubble on his jaw.
Through the intensity of his brief assessment, I fall victim to a rush of lust, my body tipping forward, automatically pulled in his direction like a magnet. I know he feels it too when his lungs fill to capacity and he exhales slowly.
After a few racing heartbeats, a slow smile tugs the corners of his lips and I swear I feel fucking giddy.
“Is this a business call, little firecracker?”
I shake my head. “Who scribbled on your back, smartass?” The tone of my voice was meant to come across as playful, not shaky and nervous.
This typically independent woman standing before him is freaking the fuck out. I have all of these big feelings inside of me and they’re overwhelming.
Maybe if I hadn’t just experienced his brutal murder and rebirth all within minutes of each other, I wouldn’t be such an emotional wreck.
His subtle frown isn’t missed, like he’s attuned to my heightened state.
Drenched hair falls over his brow, teasing his lashes. Beads of water worship his golden skin, rolling down his carved chest and gliding toward his full, thick dick standing at attention.
My mouth waters and my clit throbs, aching for his hands all over me.
“You like it?” he asks in a low rumble. “I paid a tattoo artist to sketch a stencil for me to approve and then had it tattooed during the flight back to Sicily. She did a good job.”
His gaze moves over my shorts and settles on the dagger snug to my bare thigh.
“Why are you here?”
I say nothing, hesitant to speak until I’ve pulled my shit together. I realize it won’t be easy and take a few sips of air.
“What makes you think you can stroll into my bathroom and watch me shower? Dani, we finished things, remember?”
“Your shit security team let me in. Although, I could have easily climbed in through an open window.”
“Interesting.” His frown deepens. “Did Blanco send you here to finish this? Is this how it’s going to end between us?”
Slowly, I unclip the dagger. He crosses his arms over his wet chest and widens his stance.
While watching my every move, his posture strengthens. His broad shoulders draw back as he holds his head high, unfazed by the potential threat.
Either he knows I’d never follow through, or he’s certain he’d beat me to it and stab me in the heart first.
“Are you confident in your ability to make me bleed, little firecracker?” He cocks his head. “We’ve been here before, haven’t we?”
“Matheus.” I grip the handle and keep my arm lowered. “I’m not here to obey anyone’s order.” My voice rasps over the emotion I’m trying to hide. “It’s not the end. I––I think it’s the beginning.”
I drag the sharp-edged blade across my palm, loving how the sting grounds my senses. On the occasions when I had to fight a target, the pain of hard blows and sometimes superficial slashes would have reminded me I was alive.
The pain kept me alert and the sensation of warm blood was a sign that my heart still worked. And now that blood isn’t just warm––it’s on fire––because of him.
Back at the nightclub in north Colombia, I’d agreed to be his woman, but never imagined it would last. I expected the fizz to go flat and his fascination to fade. I certainly didn’t foresee us getting married.
His chest rises and his jaw clenches, uncomfortable at the sight of blood gathering along the thread-thin slice.
Making a fist, I hold it out and let a few drops plummet to the tiles.
“If blood has to spill between us––it will be mine. Never yours. I’ll make sure of it.” Our gazes lock tight and my heart bucks. “That’s the only vow that matters to me.”
In three self-assured strides, he’s in my personal space, his big hand wrapping my forearm and his brows pinched tight.
“Jesus Christ, Dani? You think I want you to bleed? And what the hell happened to your wrists? Who the fuck did that to you?”
“It’s nothing. I promise,” I whisper-croak.
He clamps onto my chin and directs my face upward.
“I asked you a question. It looks like you were cuffed. Are they dead? Because they will be in five minutes.”
Dragging his hand off my face, I blink up at the anger flashing in his eyes.
“You know bruises are an occupational hazard in our line of work.”
I dip the tip of my forefinger in the blood on my cut hand and draw a tiny heart on his pec. His nostrils flare and his eyes close briefly, absorbing the sensation.
When they reopen, pitch black pupils dilate and the halo of chestnut flames under the lights. Hot and molten.
“I have Blanco’s blood in my veins, Mat,” I say. “But it doesn’t matter when you”re the only one under my skin.”
After an audible exhale, his whole body drives me backwards. My ass bumps into the wall. I willingly let him trap me with his nakedness and authority.
Crowding me, he puts a hand on the tiles above my head and drops his gaze.
“You don’t know what you do to me, do you?” he mutters, his voice gritty with frustration. “Seems like you can’t keep away either. But random nights aren’t enough, not for me.”
Fingers graze my shoulder, the touch electric.
“We could have had it all if not for the fact you associate me with your past. I would have committed all that I am to you. Whereas you can’t get beyond your high walls. Right now, you’re trying to forget the massive fucking elephant in the room. I’m a Souza who’s proud to stand next to my brothers. I demand to own your heart and soul, baby. Not just screw you when you”re feeling horny.”
He pushes off the wall, his muscles visibly tense, like he’s keeping himself in check. Somehow, stopping himself from touching me by using distance as a weapon.
A shiver runs over me when he backs up to the vanity and grabs a bundle of tissues.
Folding them in half, he prowls in my direction and carefully takes my hand in his own, pressing the tissue on my cut.
“Don’t ever cut yourself again. If anyone else were to do it, I’d slit their throat.”
The expression on his face turns serious. His jaw flexes as he stares at the blood seeping through.
“I’m taking some time away from The Covenant to help Sinéad run things. So, let’s keep things professional.” He lets go of me. “Go back to the villa.”
Fuck him.
I’ve already made up my mind and I’m not going anywhere until he hears me out. Despite his sudden coolness, desire still burns in his eyes.
I can feel it too. That same magnetic pull is impossible to strangle.
My heart is racing, knowing the emotions I have to unpack. I need to offload––something I have to admit. My stomach somersaults.
Despite it being a calculated risk, because I know he adores me; it won’t make this conversation any easier.
Generally, I’m not scared of anything—except for the uncontrollable flutters this man gives me.
“You’re right, Matheus.” I remove the tissue and wiggle my fingers. “You’ve been upfront from the start. Whereas I had hoped my feelings for you would’ve died. That I could have snuffed them out like I do everything else.”
He narrows his eyes, his face unreadable when I press my palm over his thumping heart, sandwiching my blood between our connected flesh.
“However, I’m standing here as Daniela…a girl looking up at the guy she’s fallen in love with.”
He bats his lashes, computing my statement. While he stays silent, his lips slowly lift into a flirty half-smile.
The transformation is remarkable. A change in his whole expression, like the flame behind his eyes, is turbo charged.
“I want to make sure I heard you correctly,” he says, thumbing his plump bottom lip. “Could you repeat that last part?”
I roll my eyes and smile, his brighter mood infectious.
“I knew it at Di Rossi’s palace too…while I fought the security guys in the basement. All I could think of was protecting you. That’s kinda rare for me, considering I don’t trust anyone, you know?”
He stares into my eyes and takes a confident step closer, pressing himself against me. Through my shorts, I feel his hard thickness hit my pelvis.
My body tingles all over.
“When I was hurt, I put my life in your hands, and you took care of me.” I finish.
This guy knows how his presence sucks all the air from the room and affects me on a cellular level. A little breathy, I press my spine into the wall and meet his intense chestnut eyes, so full of fire.
Clearly enjoying the slight hint of my nervousness, he dips his head lower, causing a drip of water to glide from his hairline and roll past his temple.
“Well, since we’re getting real, I should probably be honest with you too.”
Nudging my chin up with his knuckles, he brings his mouth a breath away from mine.
“I love you more than you love me. It’s that simple.”
I close my eyes and inhale the smell of his fresh, clean skin.
“It’s not a competition,” I say softly, smiling a little.
“No, it’s not. It’s very real,” he announces, his husky voice full of sincerity. “If it was, though, I’d win.”
He plants a kiss on the tip of my nose, his lips lingering there and his minty breath soft on my face. It’s not enough. The burning heat unfurling within me won’t settle.
My love for him runs too deep.
I used to enjoy my own company, but that alone time quickly became uncomfortable loneliness after he left me in Colombia.
Not that I blame him for that. I could see the hurt etched all over his face. And I wondered if he’d seen the same pain written across mine.
I didn’t want him to leave. Not only because I didn’t trust the men who took him away. I wanted him to tell me we’d work it out––somehow.
The second he turned away from me, I missed him. When he climbed into the SUV, I missed him. And after I’d marched indoors and found the bullets outside my bedroom, I missed him.
The memory of us echoed from nightfall right through to the next day when I’d stood before my father, realizing I would always miss Matheus.
He matters––to me.
And I decided I’d never stop trying to protect him.
“I’ve missed you, Mat,” I say, rising to my tiptoes. “So much.”
When he crashes his mouth over mine, all the pent-up frustration and desire I’d been holding onto releases. His tongue tastes of peppermint and his skin smells of light citrus and vetiver.
I groan into his mouth and finally let go, shoving my fingers into his hair and kissing him hard.
God, I love kissing him.
“There’s something else.” I wrench my lips away. “Something you need to know?—”
He’s clearly not in the mood to listen when he hunts out my lips again, his kisses full of possessive hunger.
“Matheus.” The urgency inside of him spills into me, making my voice stronger.
I need him too. It claws inside me like a beast craving his attention. But things between us will always be complicated and this needs to be said.
“Please…talk…first.” I pant.
“Fuck.” He breaks away, breathing heavily next to my ear. “You’ve got sixty seconds.”
“I have to be completely honest, Matheus. Hear me out, okay?”
He stares at me and frowns. “Okay.”
I let my arms fall away and gaze up at him, besotted.
“Blanco expects you to honor the agreement even when he knows I refused to marry you. He doesn’t care and said if we don’t end up as husband and wife, every asshole with a gun would be after you. There wouldn’t be anywhere for you to hide. You’d be hunted for a million-dollar cash reward.”
His forehead creases as he listens, and when his jaw ticks, I get the feeling he’s about to challenge my visit.
Let’s face it, I would if I were in his position.
“I need you to understand,” I explain in a rush. “Believe me when I tell you that I don’t give a fuck about the contract anymore or what happened in my past. I’m over it––it”s time to move on. I’m right here, Mat––ready to be your wife. To announce our engagement. I’m yours, and Blanco’s threats have nothing to do with it. They only made me want this even more.”
A soft sigh escapes him as he rakes wet strands back off his brow.
“We’re not engaged, Dani.”
My brows snap together. “The second you signed that stupid contract, we were engaged. You know th?—”
“I never asked you to marry me.” He cuts me off. “I signed a piece of paper in the heat of the moment, thinking it was the right thing to do at the time. I can see now, it wasn’t.”
My heart withers. “But you said––”
“Some things deserve more thought, and I’m starting to rethink everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“What if Elias pushed me into law because the universe was showing me an alternative path?” He shrugs. “I don’t know…I’m still trying to figure my shit out. Growing up, I just wanted to be included, you know? To feel like I belonged next to my brothers. But when I look back, they’re in every memory I have. I always stood next to them…just not in the family business. And to be honest, I don’t know if I even want to be part of that.”
“Well, while you’re deciding if you want to marry me or not, Blanco expects a wedding…our wedding.”
“I don’t give a fuck what Blanco expects.” He scowls. “The timing isn’t right. We both know it.”
“Timing?” I scowl. “Sounds like you’ve got cold feet.”
“You’re the one who turned me down, Dani.”
“Look,” I say, thoughtful. “I’ll be yours whether there”s a ring on my finger or not. Either way, I’m all in.”
His broad shoulders bounce as he sighs.
“And when I decide the time is right to marry the woman I’m madly in love with, I’ll ask her…in my own time and in my own way.” He thumbs my jaw. “And if you say no a second time, I’ll have to consider other more persuasive measures.”
“Oh, yeah?” I whisper, helplessly grinning. “You know I fight back, right?”
His laugh is a deep, dirty rumble. “Yeah, I’m counting on it,” he says next to my ear. “As long as you slow down long enough for me to stuff my dick in your hungry little pussy while we wrestle.”
“What should I tell Blanco about the engagement?”
He straightens and stares at me, his sunny flirtatiousness slipping to black.
“You leave him to me.”
Matheus breaks away, steps back into the bathroom, and moves to the doorway. His chestnut eyes turn fiery, and my muscles tighten, making my heart pound.
He quirks a dimpled smile and starts to turn away.
“If you want me, baby, you should strip first… and then find me.”
Leaving me to lean against the tiles alone, his husky voice rumbles over his shoulder. “Keep the thigh holster on and put the knife back in its place.”
He flicks the lights off.