Chapter 4

4

JAVIER

F uck.

Emilia has no fucking idea what she does to me. And thank Christ for that. If she did, she’d be dictating her terms all over the place and getting away with them.

I pour myself a strong drink after she leaves my suite and throw it down my throat. I pour another and repeat.

Exhaling a long breath, I check the message that just came in on my phone.

Lorenzo: Diego just arrived. We have a problem. You free yet?

Me: Yes. Come up.

My brothers arrive less than five minutes later, stress lining both their faces.

“What?” I demand, feeling the exhaustion that’s been my constant friend the last few weeks as I’ve prepared for this wedding and the handover of the cartel from my father to me. Our enemies have been making threats and I suspect that’s what Lorenzo and Diego are about to tell me; that another one has been issued.

“It’s Perez,” Diego says, breaking the news like it’s the last thing he wants to tell me.

Every muscle in my body strains. “Emilia again?”

Diego nods. “He’s threatened her family this time too.”

“Fuck.” I pull my phone out, issuing a string of directives to my brothers as I tap out a message to the head of my security. “You two take care of her family. Get them safe, and don’t take no for an answer from any of them. Put as many of our men on it as needed. I’ll sort out Emilia.”

Felipe Perez heads a rival cartel. He threatened Emilia’s life two years ago when we were together. His men managed to get inside her apartment when she wasn’t there and sent me happy fucking snaps of themselves from it. Their demands were simple: we had to surrender some territory to save Emilia’s life. We gave them what they wanted, and I walked away from her to save her being caught in the crossfire ever again.

I suspected another threat from Perez; he knows my weakness and won’t hesitate to use it against me. However, I’m prepared for him this time. The only weak link in my plan is Emilia. Her refusal to agree to my terms of marriage wasn’t unexpected, but it’d make my life a lot fucking easier if she’d just do what I say.

Bruno, my security head, enters the suite as my brothers leave. “I’ve called extra men in,” he says, his body as tense as mine. “How many do you want stationed at Emilia’s room?”

“None. I want her brought here. Now.”

He nods. “I’ll take care of that.”

“She’ll put up a fight. Don’t allow it.”

He agrees and exits the suite while I move into action. This fucking asshole will regret the moment he decided to threaten my woman.

“She won’t budge,” Bruno says when he calls me from outside Emilia’s room ten minutes later. “I’ve explained shit to her, I’ve argued with her, and I’ve considered kicking the door down. You want me to get a room key and force her out?”

“Fuck,” I mutter. “I’ve got a key. I’ll come down.”

I grab the key to her room that I insisted upon when I booked all the rooms for our families and head down to the next floor.

Bruno arches his brows at me, an amused expression on his face. “I’d forgotten how headstrong she can be.”

Bruno’s been with me for five years and was witness to Emilia’s willingness to challenge me while we were together. She’s the only woman I’ve put up with this level of defiance from and he knows it. He also knows how fucking hard I fell for her. That was established the night I left her; the night he later found me drunker than I’ve ever been.

Using the key, I let myself into her room.

“Oh my God, you can’t be fucking serious!” she yells as I enter.

Fuck me, she’s dressed in nothing but a red thong and a strapless red corset made of lace and sheer mesh. I catch a glimpse of her naked ass and the lace-up back of the corset before she spins to face me. If my dick wasn’t already hard from her visit to my suite, it sure as hell is now.

Christ.

“I’m deadly fucking serious,” I almost bark while trying like fuck to get myself and my cock under control. “Get your ass dressed, packed, and ready to move to my room. You’ve got five minutes.”

She places her hands to her hips, and hell if that stance doesn’t send more of my blood south. “Even if I was going to bow down to your orders, it’d take me longer than five minutes to pack. Surely you know that about women.”

“I have another meeting, Emilia. Your time is running out.”

“And what? You’ll throw all my stuff into a bag yourself and carry me up to your suite if you have to?”

“Yes.” She was kidding; I’m fucking not.

Her eyes widen. “You will not. I won’t stand for it.”

“You now have four minutes.”

She drops her hands to her side and shakes her head. “Has anyone ever told you how overbearing you are?”

“I think you know the answer to that, but I’ll humor you.” I take a step toward her. “If anyone spoke to me the way you do, they’d end up with a bullet through their skull or a beating that would let them know never to do it again.” I continue toward her, every fiber of my being radiating the frustration she’s generated. “Do you want to persist with this conversation?”

The thing I’ve always loved about this woman is her grit. She doesn’t hesitate to draw on it now. Her eyes might be flashing with doubt over my intentions, but she doesn’t give into that doubt. And fuck, I don’t want her to. Hell, I don’t want to even fucking cause it, but a man will go to whatever lengths he needs to in order to keep the woman he loves safe.

“Yes, I want to persist with this conversation,” she snaps. “I also want to know if the man I’m going to call my husband in less than forty-eight hours is a man I should be afraid of. Are you considering putting a bullet through my skull, Javier?”

I reach her. “Of course I’m not fucking considering putting a bullet through your skull,” I say as I lift her and throw her over my shoulder. “But you fucking tempt me.”

She struggles in my hold, trying to escape it. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“I changed my mind. You don’t have five minutes, and I’m not packing your bag. Bruno can pack it while I take you up to my suite.”

“I have no fucking clothes on!”

“Not my problem, dulzura .”

She stills for a moment at my term of endearment. I hadn’t planned on using it; it slipped out before I could stop it. The last thing I want is Emilia knowing my true feelings for her. I can’t afford that. Not when she’s the one weakness I have for my enemies to prey on. Allowing myself to fully love her will only increase our vulnerability to outside threats. Keeping her at a distance will help me keep her safe.

“Don’t call me that,” she says, and I hear the hate and hurt in every syllable. It’s a knife to my chest in a way I never imagined it could be.

I stalk to the door with her, steeling myself to deal with her continued fight. Bruno schools his features when I yank the door open, his face not registering the fact he cops an eyeful of Emilia’s ass. I do my best to ignore the possessiveness that floods me at the sight of his eyes on that ass, and fucking fail.

“Pack her shit up and bring it to my suite,” I bark as I stride past him to the elevator.

“Put me down!” Emilia demands, and I do, once we’re safely in the elevator. Her eyes come straight to mine, filled with more anger than I think she knows what to do with. “If you’re trying to make me regret my decision to marry you, you’re succeeding.”

“The only thing I’m trying to do is keep you safe.”

“Javier, I grew up a member of the Sanchez family where our safety wasn’t granted for a single day of our life. The same as you. This isn’t anything new to me. It’s why we have security everywhere. It’s why I took self-defense lessons when I was younger. Why, suddenly, are you worried about my safety so much that you feel it your right to kidnap me, half-naked, from my room and drag me to yours?”

I cup her face, roughly, and rub my thumb over her lips. “As the man who will be your husband, I have every right to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. You should expect nothing less going forward. And you would do well not to challenge me every time I take the necessary actions.”

She stares at me like she’s never seen me before. Confusion fills those beautiful eyes of hers. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

“It’s the only answer you’re getting tonight. You need to start trusting me.”

Her lips flatten and she shoots me one last glare before exiting the elevator onto my floor.

I try like fuck not to glue my eyes to her ass, but it’s a useless goal. I’ve never been able to remove my eyes from Emilia’s body, and I sure as hell know I’m not about to now.

This woman commands every ounce of my attention when she’s near, and fuck it, I’m more than willing to give it.