Page 12 of Life

“Not until you tell me why you were so scared you passed right out. And who this Antonio fella is who put that fear there.”

I suck in a huge breath and blast him with it. “Antonio is my ex. He used to knock me around a bit. The bat is special. Confirms he’s back.”

“I thought my brother was your ex?”

“Keep up.” I groan. “Before Tommy, I was with a guy for a few years.” I force his arms off mine. “Happy? Now let me go. I have to do something. Go somewhere. Anywhere!”

He lets me up, but instead of leaving me alone, he leans against the wall, crosses his arms, and then rests one ankle over the other. “You’re not going anywhere until we figure this out.”

“I don’t have time! If he’s back, that means he’s coming after me. Don’t you see?” I screech right up into his face.“¡Hombre estúpido!Get out of my way!” I yank my suitcase out of the closet and toss it onto the bed.

Eli wraps a hand around my bicep, stopping me in my tracks. “You think this man is going to hurt you?” His tone is far too kind and sweet for this moment. I can’t handle nice right now.

I blink, wondering if this idiot can be any dumber. “Are you not listening? Clean out your ears! Yes, he’s going to hurt me. More than that, the last time I saw thebastardo, he promised he’d murder me! Now let me go so I can get the hell out of town!”

“You’re not leaving town.” He half-chuckles.

“Oh, yes I am! Who’s gonna stop me?”

“Me.”

I snort. “You? I don’t even know you, and frankly, I don’t want to.”

He laughs heartily. “Yeah, well, that never stopped me before. I’m not going to let anyone harm you.”

“And why would you want to protect me? Out of some misguided favor to your dead brother?” The words are scathing and hurt me more than their intended target.

“Something like that, yeah. But first, we’re going to sit down and you’re going to tell me everything about this Antonio and why he threatened to murder you.”

I choke out a gasp. “That’s not happening.”

“Oh, but it is. And you wanna know why?”

“Because you’re an alpha asshole that thinks you can control women? Make them do what you want? You know what? You’re nothing like your brother.”

“Well, true. And no, it’s because you don’t have any other choice.”

Like sucking on a lemon, I can feel my expression shifting into my sour, pinched, angry one. The one that scares most people, men included, but apparently not this one. “Oh yeah?”

He smiles. The bastardsmiles. “Yeah.”

I head into the kitchen and pick up my phone and hit memory number five.

“Davis here.¿En qué puedo ayudarle, Maria?” He asks how he can help me.

I smile while sending daggers in Eli’s direction. He thinks he can take care of me. Not in this lifetime.

“Hey, Chase. I’ve got some trouble I need help with.”

Chase tells me to come over whenever I want to discuss, and as Eli watches me I thank him and hang up.

“Your girlfriend’s billionaire husband. Cute. I’m still not leaving you. I will figure this out and make sure you’re safe. Tommy would want it. I want it.”

“Why you? Tommy, I get. He’d have moved heaven and earth to save me. Hell, he did once,” I admit solemnly.

Eli’s eyes widen at the same time I realize the truth I’ve spilled.

“Oh yeah, how so?” he asks.

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