Chapter 32

Those long calls with Mathias always put me on edge. I spent most of the day dealing with him and his stupidity. I had bit off more than I could chew with this fucking mess, involving myself with the worst my country had to offer—highly sophisticated cartels that operated under the radar with such precision most people barely knew they existed.

When we partnered to get the diamonds and take Richard down, I was desperate and angry, filled with sorrow, mourning the loss of my only sibling. I had hired my own little army, though, to protect myself. I could not show any weakness as I entered this world. My mother had begged me to let it all go, but I still wanted Richard done for. I needed to destroy him, reveal to the world the kind of rat that he was.

But now I was paying the price of this alliance, and I would pay it ten times over to keep Amelia safe. I believed Mathias now when he said he didn't send his men to my house. If he had, I would have been forced to kill him, teach his team a lesson—that I was not to be messed with. Otherwise, Amelia would remain in danger even after all this was over. He was my first suspect. No one else knew where Amelia and I were. But it quickly became clear that Richard had infiltrated Mathias's team.

Who knew for how long, but Karina, among others, had been working with Richard. It also explained why Juan tried to kill her and disappeared right after. If he hadn't, I would have killed him myself. And if my men ever found him, they had orders to bring him to me alive, so I could finish the job. He had dared to hurt her, under my roof. I wanted to rip his head from his neck with my bare hands.

As for Karina, I had met her shortly after David's death. We had slept together a few times, but that woman was a viper. A violent, hateful creature who had been a traitor.

She showed up to my house, unannounced, multiple times during Amelia's stay. I couldn't push her away too much, I didn't want to raise any suspicions that my prisoner was getting to me. Karina could report anything amiss to Mathias. I had to be indifferent, and almost cruel to Amelia in the eyes of everyone. If I didn't, her life would be in more danger than it already was. That was why I let her kiss me in front of Amelia.

She and others had orchestrated a mission with Richard. Not a rescue mission I thought, tension building in my shoulders again as I sipped on my glass of scotch, but a murder mission. Richard wanted to kill his only daughter, the girl he had presented to the world as his most precious love. It was all a lie.

I got it now, Amelia's reaction every time I said his name.

To think that I called her a spoiled brat so many times when, in fact, she was just another tool to Richard, another means to an end, his only goal to be as rich as possible, no matter the cost.

When I remembered her state when I had found her running barefoot on the street, fear eating her from the inside out, the shadows under her eyes, her bruised body…I wanted to destroy everything in my path, erase the pain all this had caused her. As luck would have it that day, she had given me the perfect argument to have her stay in my house instead of with Mathias's people.

But to keep her safe, I had to play the part of the villain. That day, when I found her going through my things in my office, I lost it. Mathias's men were with me, and I couldn't let them believe that Amelia had found anything she could use against Mathias once she was free. Otherwise, he would take his diamonds but still have her killed. I also had to make sure they didn't think she saw their faces.

I would never forget the terror in her eyes that night, when I put her back in that small room. I had hurt her, and that was something I had to make up for during the rest of our lives if she would let me.

The balance between protecting her and showing her no mercy in front of others was the hardest thing I ever had to do. The more I got to know her, the more she got under my skin.

My first mistake had been kissing her that night. I knew it was wrong, I knew it was stupid. But I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop thinking about those lips. I had felt her breast rub against my chest when she admired my mother's artwork. I had seen those brown eyes dilate just a little, her lips parted. I knew she had felt it too. So, when she ran out of my house that night, angry, I took advantage.

I didn't want to want her, she represented everything I despised, but still I gave in, and I kissed her.

When she let me taste her, I knew I was done for.

She had upended my life with each look, her rare smiles, her temper. She seduced me, and before I knew it, all I wanted was to be with her, glide my hand over her perfect curves, get to know her, and fuck her senseless, until all she knew was the feeling of my dick inside of her, until that fucking ring on her finger disintegrated into dust.

In her I found a kindred spirit, someone who could understand the deepest part of me, someone I wanted to share everything with. I wanted to own her, possess her, infiltrate myself in her every thought.

I wanted to possess her days; I wanted to haunt her nights.

I had managed to never fall for anyone my whole life. People who got married to someone for the rest of their days had always confused me. There was so much to try, to experience. So many women to fuck and lots of many places to see. I never wanted restraints, limitations, someone else whose need I had to consider.

Neither Karina nor Elena had tempted me. And yet here I was, drinking to calm an erection I had been fighting for months now, trying to control the urge to go back upstairs and make her mine, to finish what I had started. I wanted to hear her moan my name again; I wanted to feel her drip all over my fingers again. I had fallen hard for a woman I was holding hostage.

Just my fucking luck.

We were stuck in an impossible situation. She deserved better than me. She deserved better than this, but she would be mine, nonetheless. In just a few months, I had developed a core need for Amelia to be in my life, to experience living with her, traveling with her. I wanted—no, I needed to bury myself inside of her. I needed it like I needed air.

But I had to fix things first. I needed to get Mathias off my back by finding those fucking diamonds. I needed Richard behind bars. Only then could life go back to some semblance of normalcy.

I could focus more on my job and on winning Amelia's heart, no matter the cost.

The first thing I had to do was set things straight with Elena, and there was no time like the present, I thought, as someone knocked on my door. Elena entered timidly. This wasn't going to be an easy conversation, but it needed to be done.

"Hola, amor," she said as she came to meet me by my desk. She put her arms around my neck.

I removed them gently, toying with the balance between being firm and hurting her.

"Hey. Let"s go for a walk," I suggested.

The last thing I wanted was for Amelia to see her here. I didn't want anything to put the progress we had made in jeopardy—even though seeing Amelia go into jealous mode was sexy as hell.

Elena and I exited across the patio, slowly walking onto the beach. She was a gorgeous woman, young, with her whole life ahead of her. We had been best friends when we were much younger.

I always thought she and I would end up together, until I had to move to the US. We lost touch, and she started dating my brother. That was when I realized that Elena and I weren't in love and never had been. I didn't feel anything at all when I found out about their relationship.

Since his death, we had grown closer, understandably so. And yes, we both caved and fucked a few times. That was a big mistake. I had made as much clear to her. She had decided to help with infiltrating Richard's circle, and that had complicated things between us. After the way she reacted to Amelia's presence when we came here, I knew I needed to set things straight with her.

"So"—I cleared my throat—"the other day, when I came here—"

"I know," she interrupted before I could finish.

She looked at me with those black coffee eyes, her thick lashes hiding most of them. She was pouting as she slid her arm in mine.

"I'm sorry, Alejandro. I just panicked. You were hurt, and I…I lost it a bit. I just miss him so much. You've been my only company since…since what happened."

I felt my throat close. It was still hard for both of us. I knew the pain she was going through. She also lost someone—someone she was in love with. However, I still needed to set things straight.

"But I am not him, Elena. You can"t just fill the void with me."

"Why not? We slept together already, and you enjoyed it."

Tears were rolling down her beautiful face. My heart sank, her sorrow reflecting mine. I couldn't morph into my brother for her, however much she needed it. While I had entertained the idea in the past, driven by pain, there was someone else, someone who made me feel alive.

"We are great friends, Elena. Let's not ruin it. Please. We fucked, yes, but it was a mistake, led by grief and nothing else."

She closed her eyes for a bit. "Fine," she sighed. After a long pause, she continued. "It"s because of her, isn't it? You love her, don't you?"

There wasn't much left to say between us, so we continued walking in silence until we made it to her front door.

"We are still on for the trip?"

"Still on," I confirmed.

She gave me a hug, a parting one, hopefully a return to the friendship we should have never jeopardized for a few nights of comfort.