Page 59 of If Tomorrow Never Comes

She sighs heavily. “I’m a big girl, Kil. I can handle myself. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Madison…” I urge before the line disconnects.

“The answer is no.”I try my best to keep my voice level but the vitriol in my voice is hard to mask.

“Why shouldn’t my men and I indulge in some fun with the girl? Yes, I gifted her to you, but my intentions were for you to marry her and knock her up. You’ve always been running around from one pet to the next. It’s time to settle down, boy. You want the crown after me? Then you need to set yourself up for the future. Selena reuniting with Killian will not protect us from future attacks. We need Madison to solidify that. Until then, let’s all have some fun. Those curves of hers and that mouth are perfect for me to slide my?—”

Red hot rage works its way through my veins. I want to snap his cock right off his decrepit body and shove it down his throat to silence him. Reigning in that rage, I use the charade of playboy and uninterested to my advantage, careful not to give in to his games.

“I’ll marry the girl when we return back to the States. Can a man enjoy his vacation first? You’ve been working me to the bone,” I faux laugh, cracking my knuckles at the pun. “Besides, I have women lined up for a private show after tonight’s dinner.”

With a grimey chuckle, he responds, “The rest of our men will be happy to hear that.” Some of his lackeys, who are having breakfast with us, snicker and lick their lips. One bastard even grabs his crotch. “Diego, I must have a taste ofherbefore you marry her. What a generous man I have been to you and your sister. I promise not to break her, I’ll let you do that,” he cackles sadistically. It takes every shred of willpower inside of me to not react.

He’s baiting me.

So I weigh my words carefully. “I am grateful for you. I don’t mind sharing my women, but I prefer mybetrothedto remain untouched by anyone else in our organization.”

“She isn’t yoursofficially, a small taste wouldn’t hurt anyone but your ego…” The asshole keeps pushing me.

“Then I suppose tonight we will have a larger celebration than expected,” I announce, raising my drink in toast. “A wedding. I’ll have my team organize it. Prepare for lots of drinking, dancing and women. I amEl Rompe Huesos. My bride will remain untouched, understood?” I stand up and stare everyone down, my glare finally landing on my uncle. “If I hear of anyone even looking at her the wrong way, I will break every bone in your body—starting with your skull against my knee.Are. We. Understood?” Everyone nods, trepidation written across their faces. They’ve seen my work. None of them would dare go against my threats. My uncle on the other hand just smiles at me.

“Now we are talking. This is the type of man you need to be whenmytime is up. No mercy, take what you want, and don’t let anyone disrespect you. One day, all of this will be your kingdom.” Gerldo starts clapping and takes a puff of his Cuban cigar, blowing the smoke in my face. “It’s a shame your lovely sister couldn’t be here to watch her brother get married.” He whips his phone out and places it to his ear. “Killian. I would like to speak to my niece.” His eyebrows come together, detecting a lie out of whatever Killian just said. “I don’t care that she is sleeping.Wake.Her. This is important. I think she would like to know about her brother’s wedding tonight.” Some of the men laugh menacingly.

Geraldo places his phone down on the table and hits speaker for all to hear. “Tío, what is this about a wedding?”

“Your brother and I are taking a nice vacation in Mykonos with the lovely Madison. We have arranged for him to prepare for his future by marrying her. Tonight, actually. The festivities will take place onPontus. Being the generous man I am, I felt you and your man deserved an invitation.” He looks down at his watch. “If you leave within the hour, you could be here for speeches,” he coughs out another sinister laugh. “This night will end our feuding. Consider you accepting this invitation as Killian agreeing to a truce. I will talk to him about the rest of the negotiations when you arrive.”

Killian answers for her, his tone firm, “We’ll be there.”

I finally get backto the yacht a few hours later with my heart slamming against my broken ribs. I had to wrap them myself last night. Madison went right to her room after our heated moment. I wanted to comfort her—well if we’re being honest—I wanted to worship every inch of her, but I knew she needed space. She feels this thing between us just as intensely as I do. And now, because of my uncle being a step ahead of us, I’ve agreed to a wedding before even proposing. I did what I had to do in order to protect her from him.

Now, I need to make a plan with Killian and my cousin to end their pathetic lives before we say I do. The problem is that they will be expecting resistance. Geraldo may be an old fuck, but he isn’t stupid. He knows Killian won’t give up without a fight. Especially when it comes to Madison.

I careen over the teakwood deck towards the swimming pool and lounge chairs. My gaze lingers on the beautiful woman tanning on a float in the pool. A wide-brimmed beach hat obscures her face and a sexy black bikini wraps around her curves. Her toes wiggle along to the music blaring through the speakers. An empty Bloody Mary rests at the edge of the pool next to a half drank blood orange margarita.Early start—not that I’m judging, by any means.I could use a stiff drink of my own right about now.

Tossing my shirt on to a nearby lounge chair, and emptying my pocket of the box to a very importantgift, I make a running start before cannon-balling right next to her. I don’t even contemplate what that would do to my ribs. To say it wasn’t pleasant is an understatement—totally worth it.

When I surface, I find Madison has flipped off the float and is swimming after her hat. “Diego!”

The heavy weight on my chest lifts instantly. She has that effect on me. It's soothing and comforting—even in her cute little moments of rage. I almost completely forget the throbbing in my ribs until she points them out.

She swims towards me and plops the wet hat on my head with a smack. We stand toe to toe in the shallow end. Her hands rest on her hips as she glares at me.

“Bet that one hurt your ribs,” she says smugly, running her finger up them like a harp. Intoxicating pleasure replaces where the pain would be. Her soft hands begin tracing the tentacles of my kraken tattoo. “I forgot to help you wrap them last night…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I managed. You needed your time alone.” I keep my one hand secured in my pocket as the other comes up to wipe away the smudged mascara under her eyes.It’s fucking hot.Reminds me of our flight here, and how I imagined Madison taking the place of the redheaded flight attendant.

“Killian wants you to call him. He asked if Geraldo was here. I just told him you were meeting him for breakfast.”

I nod, staring at her plump lips, and wanting a taste of that attitude.

“You’ll be seeing him and Selena later this evening.”

Her brows come together in confusion. “What do you mean?”

I remove the ring from my pocket that I’ve had a death grip on and grab her left hand, sliding it in place on her ring finger. The three carat solitaire diamond is nestled between two pear shaped sapphires.And damn if my ring on her hand doesn’t look good there.No matter the outcome of us after this is all over, I wanted her to always be reminded of me. What better way than to add two ‘ocean eyes’ —as she likes to call them—sapphires to her ring.

“What I mean, is that you’ll be mywifetonight. Geraldo and his men are attending a last minute wedding here on this yacht.Ourwedding. My sister and Killian will be in attendance as well. Geraldo didn’t give me much of a choice. He knows something is up, so he’s playing a hard game, waiting to see when I’ll break.”

---