Page 17 of Defy

If I fuck her, I get to spin the stories she tells my mother and gain a powerful ally, but I’ll lose the trust of the one person I care about more than anything in this dark world.

I’m not ready to make that trade yet.

“Camila, you’re better than this and I’m not going to put you in the middle of this war. Tell my mother anything you’d like.”

She huffs out a sigh of frustration as I take a step back. “I’malreadyin the middle of whatever this is. You had no problem using me back then. Now, I’m practically begging you for it and you’re telling me no? What am I supposed to think?”

“That maybe I found a conscience while I was gone.”

“More like you found young pussy to fuck.” The truth is, Libbyistoo young for me. A thought I’ve tried to keep at bay ever since I laid eyes on her. Unfortunately, my heart nor my dick seem to care about our thirteen-year age difference. Thankfully for me, Libby doesn’t seem to mind either.

The poison in Camila’s words pushes my detonator and my left hand shoots out and grabs her throat before I can process my own actions. I drive her against the retention wall,hard.

She lets out a whimper of desire, not fear, and I quickly remember how rough she likes it, causing me to drop my hand and take a step back on the uneven ground.

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Camila.”

“Being in love doesn’t suityou,Dominic,” she fires back.

“Who said I was in love?” I growl.

“Why would I be jealous if you’re not?” She counters as she pushes off the wall and stalks toward Irina and Diego, a satisfied smirk on her beautiful face.

Shit.

Seven

AS IF THINGS WEREN’T already a mess, a few nights later, my mother insists on a family dinner. Why Camila is invited to afamilydinner is beyond me, but here we are. This table isn’t big enough to house the egos sitting around it.

Our servers start with drinks while I listen to Luis drone on to our father about a new oceanfront property he saw go up for sale.

“It doesn’t matter, Luis,” our father responds, already annoyed at Luis’s persistence. “Oceanfront properties draw too much attention. It’s why we don’t own any. Leave the beautiful views for the restaurants and stores who conduct legitimate business during the day.”

Luis is on the verge of a temper tantrum but is trying to hold it in by busying his hands with his cufflinks. “But this is a great place. It has so much potential. We could run it as a legitimate bar and use it to clean up our money.”

Our father rubs his temples and I jump in to try and prevent Luis from getting a plate cracked over his head.

“That’s what the clubs are for, dumbass. The cash people bring in to pay the dancers, you think that’s clean money?”

“Dominic, watch your mouth at the dinner table,” my mother says like I’m not thirty-eight years old and being held here against my will.

“He’s right, though,” my father agrees, shocking the hell out of me. “Luis, drop the new building. We’ve got more than we can handle right now.”

“Aren’t you always telling me we need to expand? Beat the competition?” Luis argues.

My father sits back and waves his hand at me like he’s giving me the floor. Another test no doubt, to see if my business savvy is still up to par with my rifle skills. Either that or he’s too afraid of what he might do if forced to continue interacting with Luis tonight and he just needs someone else to take a turn.

I huff out a sigh, noticing that I can draw a breath slightly deeper than before. Unlike Luis, I don’t fidget while I explain and I hold eye contact, ensuring I command the conversation.

“Expanding means more than just adding clubs. We need more employees that we can trust, we need more government officials in our pockets, more weapons deals. We’re maxed out on clubs right now because yes, they generate revenue but they’re also expensive as fuck and hard to maintain. For every club, you have to staff it, furnish it, and keep the building up. People aren’t coming to drop their hard-earned cash in a shithole with washed up dancers on crack.” I take a sip of top-shelf tequila on the rocks and lean back in my chair. I hate to admit it, but I’ve missed the flavor. “Our name brings people to our clubs. Our standards for having the best keep them there.”

My father gives me a small nod of approval.

Perhaps I’m winning him to my side after all, although no one’s answered any of my questions yet so I’m not sure it does me any good. Then again, Libby is healthy and unharmed so I’m hesitant to rock the boat too much just yet.

This is turning into far more of a long-game situation that I had hoped but every minute of every day I have to plan out my actions, interactions, reactions, and distractions. It’s fucking exhausting.

Luis is openly fuming and slams his drink down on the table. When he looks up, a slow smirk spreads across his face and I’m unaware of what caused the change in his attitude and demeanor until a hand reaches over me to place an appetizer salad on the table.

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