Page 22 of Dex

“Don’t make me ask you twice,” my father says.

I have no choice but to comply.I just hope Rio doesn’t see me leaving with her.

“And try to be nice, Dex,” my father says in a patronizing tone that grates on me.“I’m only asking you to take Daniela back to her hotel.Nothing more.”

I glance at her again, and she’s looking everywhere but at us.She looks uncomfortable and awkward.Like she can’t wait to leave this place.

At least we share something in common.

Chapter 7

DANI

I barely know this man, yet I can already feel the simmering anger lying beneath Dexter’s cold, hard exterior as we walk out of his father’s penthouse.

He’s been tasked with driving me back to my hotel, and it’s clear he hates every second of it.I don’t like that his father coerced him into doing this.I didn’t need him to do that.

“I could have taken a taxi,” I say as Dexter comes to a stop next to a black Aston Martin.It’s sleek, powerful, and exudes the kind of wealth that doesn’t need to prove itself.

“You heard my father.”His voice is tight.“He seems to think you’re some kind of precious cargo or something.”

“I’m sorry for putting you to any trouble.”

“It’s too late for that.”

I’m too shocked to say anything.He’s not even pretending to hide his dislike for me.Jaw set, silence stretching thick between us.With his eyes fixed on the road, I have the perfect opportunity to examine him closely.His hair dark brown, like his eyes, is short at the sides, and slightly longer on top, with a few curls falling effortlessly over his forehead.From the side, his profile is sharp and well defined.His jaw looks like it’s been carved from marble.Or maybe it’s jut set extra hard because he’s pissed about having to drive me to my hotel.

His large hands grip the steering wheel like he’s mad about something and fighting to contain himself.Broad-shouldered, but not bulky, Dexter is all lean strength, the kind that doesn’t need to prove itself.He’s so much more appealing than Oscar Ramos ever was.

Anger oozes out of his every pore.“I don’t understand why you’re so angry with me.”

At a red light, he finally looks at me, his gaze impassive.“What do you want me to do?Hug you?Tell you how lovely it is to see you?Ask if you’d like to go sightseeing tomorrow?”His voice reeks of sarcasm.“I don’t know you, Daniela.All I know is that our father sprung you on us.”

“I sense hostility between you and your father.”

He lets out a sharp laugh as the light turns green.He revs the engine harder than necessary.“You think?”

“A little.”

“How observant of you.”

He laughs.Even though those dark, hard eyes don’t turn to me often, I can feel his simmering fury in my bones.This man doesn’t like me, and I misunderstood him earlier, back in the luxurious penthouse, where the music and laughter softened my interaction with Dexter.Maybe I deluded myself into thinking he was someone he isn’t, because, compared to his brothers, most of whom couldn’t stop gaping at me, he seemed like the best option.

Option.

I’m talking about my future husband as an option.Not a soulmate.Not a friend and lover.But an option.

At least this option would be better than Ramos.

“What do you think of my father?”Dexter asks, glancing at me briefly before his eyes snap to the road again.

I hesitate.“He seems like a nice man.”

He snorts with derision.“Nice?You don’t know the first thing about him.I would caution you to be wary.”

I figured out as much.Still, I don’t understand why Dexter is still so openly hostile toward me after warming up towards the end.Maybe he feels tricked into meeting me, and this mood of his is to do with the way their father presented me.I understand their resentment at being blindsided, because that’s not how a father should be.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”I ask, the question slips out before I can stop myself.

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