Page 81 of Violent Attraction

He’s not looking at me as if he were Santiago Reyes, the man that I’ve known all my life. The man that I shared four amazing years with.

No, the man before me is looking at me as if he were Santos. The cartel man that is deadly and will kill anyone that gets in his way. The man that is seeking revenge for his father’s killing.

This man before me terrifies me.

“Figuring out a way to end this arrangement and kill Emilio the same way he killed my father. In cold blood.”

He means it.

Every last word.

He will no doubt come up with a plan that ultimately ends Emilio’s life.

I nod, instead of saying anything. What is there to say?

No, don't kill Emilio?

Even I, a person that doesn’t want anything to do with cartel business, knows that when you go after a member of this family, there will be consequences. Those consequences come with the possibility that you won’t get to live the next year of your life.

How Emilio has gone this long without being killed is beyond me.

I can’t help but wonder if my dad knew about this. If he did, why hand me over to the Castro family on a silver platter?

It doesn't make sense.

I go back to what Santos just said. He said figuring it out. Meaning that he hasn’t come up with a plan that will work to put a stop to all this.

“You said you were figuring it out? What is there to figure out? Just kill the bastard and be done with it.”

If Emilio is dead, I don’t have to go through with the marriage.

But what if Ronaldo just finds someone else for you to marry?

I swallow down that thought process.

“It’s a lot more complicated than just shooting the asshole in the skull.” Santos growls out.

“How? How is it complicated?”

“You’re involved, Isabella. Whether I like it or not, you’re involved. In a few short weeks you’re set to marry the bastard and then you will be tied to him forever. If I do anything, anything at all, I have to make sure that you are as far away from this as I can get you, that you don’t know every single detail. What happens if I kill him and the Castro cartel decides to retaliate? And what if they decide to retaliate by killing you? That shit can’t fucking happen. That’s why I distanced myself from you, to fucking protect you. There are eyes everywhere. If the wrong person saw us together, it would get back to Emilio or worse, your father, and there would be even more consequences to pay.”

I take an audible breath.

The more I listen to him speak the more I realize that things are in fact complicated.

But there one more thing to add to the complications

“My father knows.”

He looks at me like I have gone crazy, like the words that just left my mouth were something of make-believe.

“Please tell me that’s a joke.” If only.

I feel my eyes close and I shake my head.

“I went to him a few weeks ago to tell him that I didn’t want to marry Emilio. He told me that if I didn’t go through with it then Camila would be the one marrying him. That I had to do what he said if I wanted her to be able to continue living her life. Then he warned me that you should stay away too.”

Santos scrubs his hands over his face and lets out a frustrated groan, which sounds more angry than frustrated. I’m definitely not telling him about the face slap I received courtesy of my father, that just might set him over the edge.

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