Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
ANNA
Ibacked out of the bathroom, mopping the floor as I went. When I hit a solid body, my heart rate cartwheeled, and I spun around with words lodged in my throat.
Isidora’s smirk was all too knowing.
“You thought I was him, didn’t you?”
I avoided her gaze, picking up the bucket with shaking hands. “You just scared me.”
“Yeeeees,” she stretched. “I’m so spooky.” She grabbed the bucket from my hand.
“What’re you doing?”
She took the mop off me as well. “You have a visitor. Also, if he caught you cleaning, he’d fire me. And I kind of like my job. Hot boss and everything.”
I gritted my teeth. Why does everyone have to drool over him? I hadn’t missed the looks that had followed him around at the party.
“Anna.”
“Ugh?”
She nodded behind me. “Visitor. In the living room.”
Right. I frowned. Who was visiting me? ?Joder! It wasn’t the IRS, was it? No, that was for taxes… what was the service when your visa expired? It didn’t matter, mine was still valid. Marrying my father’s murderer did all kinds of things to my sanity. “Who is it?”
She shrugged. “A hot guy.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Spanish.”
For some reason, that didn’t ease my mind. “How do you know?”
“He’s got the same accent as you. Also, unless you’re into ‘why choose’, can you pass this one my number?”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“What? Don’t tell me you’re into that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Forget it.” She waved me off. “Nico doesn’t look like the type to share nicely.”
I shook my head and made my way to the door.
“Also—”
“What now?”
“The sex is hot, right?”
She read it right off my face, which probably turned all kinds of shades. All of them red.
“Fucking hell.” She pumped on her feet. “I need some action. Give me some details, will you? Does he make noises when he comes? Did he go down on you? Fuck, he’s dominant in bed, isn’t he?”
“Later,” I muttered and rushed out of there. As in never.
Yes, yes, and kind of yes. We’d never made it to a bed.
When I walked into the living room, my stomach dropped.
Joel stood with his back to me, facing the window.
I stared at his frame, made of broad shoulders and a muscular body.
Bitter memories churned in my stomach. I must have made a sound of disgust because he turned around.
He looked different from eleven years ago.
He’d outgrown his lankiness. I wondered if he’d outgrown his cowardliness as well.
“Anna.” He crossed the room, and before I could step back, took me in a massive hug.
My body froze. A sickening turmoil churning in the pit of my stomach. He was a nasty memory. One I didn’t want to relive. When he let me go, his smile melted away.
He cocked his head, taking me in, and then let out an uncomfortable laugh, smoothing his hand through his gel-slicked hair. A nervous gesture he still had. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
“Not really.” The numbness started to fade. Emotion seeped in.
He was too shallow to take the hint. “Well… I’ve come all this way to see you. Aren’t you going to offer me a seat?”
I clenched my back teeth. The nerve of this man.
I should have just shown him to the front door.
But instead, I fell into a pattern and walked toward the armchairs.
Hesitated and moved away to the sofa set against the wall.
It somehow didn’t feel right to sit anywhere near where Nico had taken me.
The thought alone sent my body into a heated flush. He chuckled. “I can still affect you.”
I grimaced. Yeah right.
I gestured toward the sofa and sat on the one opposite it. He ignored it and sat next to me. I glared at him. “Why did you come so far?”
He leaned forward, his knees touching mine.
I jerked away. “I’m here for some investment work.
” He shifted closer. Pushed me against the arm of the sofa and him.
His knee against mine felt like acid on my skin.
“Some big people want to talk to me. I thought, why not? Might as well give them the opportunity.” He reached for my hand.
“Dios mío, Joel,” I burst out. “Why are you here? In this house.”
He frowned. “I thought you’d be happy to see me. Someone from home.”
I thought I wouldn’t care anymore. But I did. My laugh was bitter. “Someone who dumped me? Why would I be happy to see you?”
He spread his legs wide and crossed one over his knee, giving me the view of the sole of his dirty shoe.
“You still pissed about that? That’s a long time ago, Anna.
Besides…” He eyed me like I was an item on the menu.
“We could give it a try again. You’ve changed.
Prettier. Filled out nicely…” He let out a slow whistle.
“All those curves in the right places. Remember our first time?”
“Can’t say that I do.”
His lips thinned. “How about all the times after? Remember—”
“Me das asco.” He disgusted me. I couldn’t believe I’d used the same words with Nico some time ago. He was heaven compared to the garbage beside me.
“Oh, come on.”
“You know what I remember?” He leaned forward eagerly.
“I remember you not being there for me when I lost Papá. I remember you not showing up for the funeral or the days leading up to it. In fact, I remember someone telling me you’d gone to Valencia.
A weekend getaway with one of the expat girls.
All while your steady girlfriend lost everything.
I didn’t just lose my father, Joel. He was murdered.
In front of my eyes. I needed someone to be there for me while I tried to look after Mamá and Mara. ”
He winced.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“It wasn’t an easy time for me, Anna.” He accused.
Was this guy serious? “For you?”
“I was twenty-one. I didn’t know how to comfort you. I was ill-equipped.”
“You did prove that.”
“Let me make it up to you.”
“No.”
“Come on. What I did wasn’t that bad.”
“I would rather dine with my father’s killer than with you.” Well, I was. “You know why? Because he was a stranger. I’d never trusted him. I trusted you. Gave you my heart and expected you to be there for me. You weren’t, Joel. I’ll never forgive you for that.”
“You know my dad wants us to be together, right? So did your father.”
“Well, he wouldn’t have if he knew your true nature.”
He stared at me like I’d turned into some vile thing. I had. I wasn’t a doormat. Least of all to him. He was taking up my oxygen and fucking with my memories. I sighed. “How did you even find me?”
He shrugged. “I thought I saw you yesterday at the party and asked one of the Martello brothers.”
“You know them?”
“One of my partners did.”
“You were invited to a private party?” Why would Daria or Lorenzo invite business partners to our wedding party?
“You think I don’t have any influence?” he snapped.
“I don’t care either way. But I don’t understand why you would—”
“What has got into you? The least you could do is be happy I took the effort to come and visit you. We had to pick something up from one of their people, and I saw you disappear inside. I told my partner that’s my girl.”
“I’m not your fucking girl.”
He pissed me off by taking my hand. “You can be.”
I tried to pull my hand out. “I’d rather be hit by a car.”
“What’s with women and drama?”
“It’s probably got something to do with you,” I told him bitterly.
“I know you’re impressed by all the wealth here.”
“En serio?”
He looked around. “You lost a lot. I get it. I can give you that. We can start over. If you play your cards right, I’ll talk to the people who bought your house. You can visit it once. What do you say?”
I was so angry I couldn’t find my words.
“Come on. I am the best you’ll get. You’re just a maid here—”
“I’d rather be ju—”
“She’s my fucking wife, actually.”
My gaze whipped to the doorway where Nico stood. Black suit pants and a dress shirt. No jacket or tie. Had he been home all this time? He was the picture of a cold sculpture as he glared in our direction. I only realized Joel still held my hand when I followed the point of his focus.
Joel’s grip loosened, and I pulled mine away. I jumped to my feet. Joel glanced between us and said in a tone of disbelief, “That’s not what your brother said.”
So he knew who Nico was, and he still dared to talk back to him. He’d earned some bravery over the years, but unfortunately for him, he was showing it at the wrong time to the wrong man.
Nico’s voice was almost bored. “Don’t give a fuck what he said.”
He was tapping his fingers.
Joel looked at me. “You've got to be kidding me, Anna. You married him?”
If there was one thing I didn’t want, it was Mamá getting to know any of this. “He’s loco.” I gripped his arm and pulled him up. “Time for you to go.”
“No. This is not right, Anna. Don’t let this chance sl—”
“Be quiet.” If he wanted to live, he’d better not speak. I hated him. Didn’t mean I wanted him dead. I pulled him toward the door. As if it wasn’t bad enough that he wasn’t budging much, Nico blocked him like an arctic chill.
Por favor, I mouthed. The glare he directed my way felt like he was peeling the fine fibers apart in my skin.
After a stretched beat, he shifted reluctantly away.
When I brushed past him, the tension vibrating in him sent a shiver shuddering through me.
It was like walking past a predator waiting for the right time to pounce.
“Does your mamá know?”
“No.” I pushed Joel toward the front door. Even though I didn’t hear a single sound, I knew Nico was following us.
Joel turned around in the doorway. He was as much of an idiot as he was eleven years ago. He looked behind me, and whatever he found in Nico’s gaze gave him a false sense of bravery. Joel grabbed my hand and yanked me closer to him. “I was serious, Anna. Let’s have dinner together and—”
“A Dios, qué idioto eres,” I groaned.
“I’m not an idiot. You are. Did you fucking marry him?”
“No.” I flung open the door and shoved him out. He stumbled from the force of my push. “Did you not hear me when I told you he’s missing a screw?” I pointed to my head. “I’m just his maid.”
“So let’s meet—”
I flung the door shut in his face.
The sound reverberated in the room. I had to stare at the door for three long breaths to calm down.
Just my luck. That I had to handle an idiot and a murderer at the same time.
Three long inhales and even longer exhales.
Only then was I ready to turn around and face him.
Leaning against the wall, he almost looked bored.
I’d built it up in my head. It was ridiculous.
He wasn’t going to do Joel any harm. What had I even thought? My shoulders sagged with relief.
His apathetic tone confirmed it. “I didn’t take you for a liar, Anna.”
I didn’t either, but sometimes it was a necessary evil. Like saving Mamá from gossip.
I gave him my silence and walked away.
“You know, in case it wasn’t clear, I expect you to stay faithful to me.”
A shiver moved through my body at the subtle menace in his tone. I steadied my nerves and turned around with a confidence I didn’t feel. “I thought you said my pussy wasn’t addictive?”
“That’s beside the point.”
“Maybe some men might disagree.” Why would I even say that? I turned around. Walked away.
“Anna.” My name was delivered as a command. Within it, an icy chill that froze me in place. “You go anywhere near another man; I will rip his fucking heart out and serve it to you.” My heart lurched. Stomach dropped. “Do you understand?”
Fear came crawling for me. Slowly, I turned around. What I found in his eyes terrified me even more than his threat. I took a step back. Two. Three. Then, spinning around, I walked… no… ran from him. But not before his words echoed in the hallway.
“Four hundred and ninety-eight hours.”