Page 25 of Bad Blood
She’s scared, but her pride has her walking a very thin line with no safety net. It shouldn’t surprise me. After all, it’s the first of the seven deadly sins—closely followed by greed—the one that landed her here in the first place. So why have I absorbed the razor-sharp barbs spilling from those luscious lips and not pulled the trigger?
I have no idea.
Thalia Santiago should have drawn her last breath already. Instead, my finger is curled around the trigger, the bullet still lodged inside the magazine.
“You’re a brave little thief,señorita.”
“I’m not a thief,” she says, her nostrils flaring.
“Right. And I’m not a killer.” I reach out to trail a finger down the long, graceful line of her neck. The move catches her off guard. She flinches, her body betraying her. Smiling to myself, I brush my thumb against the erratic beat of her pulse point. “Nobody likes labels, but reality doesn’t give a fuck about your feelings. Besides, considering your bloodline, you should be used to hearing much worse.”
Those midnight eyes shift to the side, avoiding my stare. Her mouth may spew venom, but her eyes speak the truth.
I was right. This girl is hiding something.
And this standoff just took an interesting detour.
“I’m not a thief,” she repeats, her voice brittle with emotion. “I earned that money.”
“By cheating me out of mine. Are we adding ‘liar’ to your list of offenses, as well?”
Thalia snaps that fiery gaze back to me, her small show of weakness now firmly tucked away behind that beautiful exterior.
An exterior I find much too intriguing.
I can’t allow desire to distort reality. Not here. Not withher.Business is my lover, power my mistress. Women are simply an enjoyable pastime, not a necessity. Watching my father’s humanity erode away after my mother’s “accident” taught me to detach emotions from physical needs.
La Boda Roja. The Red Wedding.
The day my father held my mother in her arms as the light slowly drained from her eyes. Luckily, she survived—but miracles come at a cost. The woman who held his black heart awoke to find that a brain hemorrhage had stolen three years of her life—including memories of her husband and children.
Truth became inconsequential. In my father’s eyes, Dante Santiago had cursed him with a fate far worse than my mother’s death. He erased her love.
Twenty years have passed, and while the wounds have healed, scars never fade…
“Screw you, Carrera,” she hisses, her outburst drawing my attention back to her. “Counting cards isn’t illegal in New Jersey. Your men just said as much. You’d think as a casino owner, you’d be more familiar with local law. In fact, I could haveyouarrested.”
“For what?” I ask, mildly amused.
“Harassment. Assault.” She glances down at the strewn contents of her purse. “Robbery. Take your pick. All three would hold up in a court of law.”
Her offended tone makes me laugh. Santiagos only care about laws when they’re trying to circumvent them. Not that a Carrera has ever been accused of planting a bloodstained flag on moral high ground. However, I’m not the one standing here spouting judicial jargon like LadyfuckingLiberty.
Hauling her to her feet, the sweet scent of jasmine disorients me as I trap her against the wall. Irritated by my body’s response to it, I revel in her sharp inhale as my forearm settles deep within the plunging neckline of her dress. “The only law that matters here,muñeca,ismine.”
“I told you, I’m not your doll!”
“And I told you…” The rest of my threat dies in my throat as the sound of gunfire erupts outside my office door. It’s not just a shot or two, either.
My mind is already three steps ahead of my feet. Grabbing Thalia’s wrist, I tug her away from the wall to go and investigate when a dead weight drags me back again.
I swear to God, this woman…
I glance down to find her crouched low, her heels digging into the floor. “Get the fuck up,” I command through clenched teeth. “You’re leaving scuff marks all over my Lux Touch marble.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“On a date,” I growl, weighing the consequences of putting a bullet between those pretty eyes right here. “Where do you think?” I wave my gun toward the closed door. “Out there to see what the fuck is going on.”
