Page 49 of Hearts Of Darkness

The temperature plummets even further.

“Do you really want to go there, Emilio?”

“Does she know who you are?”

My ensuing silence speaks volumes.

“How interesting.” I watch him steeple his fingers. “And what would happen if someone was to let slip that unfortunate detail to her?”

“I’d cut out their tongue.”

“Naturally.” He nods at his men who start to back away from me. “So, it looks like we have ourselves an impasse.”

“Then I suggest we go back to our respective parts of the world and keep the hell out of each other’s way.”

“Except that you’ve started flouting the rules. I thought you’d put a bullet in her head and be done with it. Instead, you keep her locked up like a pet, and I’m sat here asking myself why.Whywould you keep a fucking DEA agent’s daughter in your bed? A DEA agent who I orderedyouto take out. A DEA agent who is currently sitting pretty with five of your men protecting him.”

I force a grim smile to my lips. “You’ve been doing your homework.”

“I was…concerned.”

“Concerned enough to send someone to spy on me?” That wipes the smirk off his face. “Fear not brother, that particular problem has been taken care of.”

“Dante—”

“I told you to leave me alone!” I bring my fist down hard on the table. The noise rebounds around the terrace, and his men reach for their weapons.

“Stand down,” he yells out over his shoulder.

No one says a word as he reaches into his inside pocket, pulls out a small vial and tips the milky-white powder onto hisknuckles. Two sharp snorts and he’s done. So am I. If I leave now, I can be back in Eve’s bed before dawn.

“Dante, stop.” Emilio rubs the back of his hand across his face as I make to stand up. “I did you wrong, baby brother. I broke the rules, too. Stay. Let’s fix this.”

I stare down at him, and for the first time I see the real tempest raging behind his eyes. He wants to pull rank on me, to belittle and humiliate me in front of his men, but he’s too damn afraid to do it. I’m unpredictable, dangerous, but I’m the only one who can bring his house of cards tumbling to the ground.

His insecurity has deep-seated roots in this subtle balance of power between us. This isn’t about Eve, or who or what her father is. It’s because I never put a toe out of line until she turned up. I was content to let him run the show, as long as my bloodlust was satisfied. He’s been sitting pretty at the head of the family for the last fifteen years because I allowed him to, but I’m not following his orders anymore. From now on, he doesn’t get to question my motives, and if he doesn’t agree?

It’s time for a fucking regime change.

17

EVE

Ireturn to the field early the next morning to find that the gray has gone.

Is this Dante’s doing?

Is he punishing me for speaking with Manuel yesterday?

Like every day since he stole me away, my heart is beating to two very different rhythms. I crave his touch, but I despise him as a man, as acriminal. He keeps me starved of affection, locks me away, fuels my deepest fantasies, and now it seems I’m hooked.

There’s a red apple swinging between my fingertips. I managed to sneak it out of the kitchen before I left. Disappointed not to see Tramposa, I take a couple of bites out of it myself as I follow the road that runs parallel to the field. Yesterday, I caught a glimpse of a building on the horizon, and I figured it must be a stable barn or some kind of outhouse. I’d wanted totake a closer look before that irritating American guy accused me of troublemaking and marched me back to the house. I’m curious as to how he came to be on this compound too, but intuition tells me I’ll get nothing from him. That man is as closed-off as Dante is.

Palm trees line my way, their great green leaves rustling overhead. Unfamiliar insects drum out their noisy chorus. It’s early, but the heat and humidity are stifling me already. I’m wearing the coolest dress I could find in my closet. It’s made of pure white silk with crossover straps, and it’s stupidly sexy like all the other clothes he’s bought me.

This is the furthest I’ve ever walked. The mysterious warehouses are now a dark silhouette behind me, but they’re no less bleak and unfriendly looking even at this distance. Every day I discover a new dimension to this place, and as the road gently curves, I spot the glinting asphalt of a private airstrip situated about half a mile away.

The stables are much grander than I expected. I pass by under an archway of cream stone and find myself in an immaculate horse barn. I count ten stalls in total, and most are occupied. Tramposa is one of them. He’s leaning his head over his stall door and flickering his ears back and forth in my direction. I make my way over and run my hand down his mane.

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