Page 10 of Torched

“A story,” Callie discloses.

“You know how much Frank loved his secret messages,” Cristina confirms Callie’s suspicions.

“He never told me a story about a diamond.”

“Well, of course, he didn’t. He’s not stupid. But I’m sure he told yousomethingthat will lead to where we can find the diamond.”

“He didn’t tell me that many stories, Cris! Junior was his favorite, remember? Hell, he even liked you more than he liked me—”

“Can you blame him?” Cristina interrupts.

“So, why don’t you find it out yourself? Maybe he sold it!”

“Nice try and all, Callie girl. We’re talking about a diamond that is worth more than 2 million. If he sold it, we would’ve known and there is no way in hell Frank would leave that thing hidden without leaving any clue after his death. But I’m not his daughter.”

“You’re the last Reyes,” Kane adds, glancing at Callie.

“You want access to his shit,” Callie concludes.

“And you’re the only one who can get it,” Cristina agrees.

“Oh, fucking hell.” Callie rubs a hand over her face, then throws Cristina a scowl. They keep staring at each other for a few moments; Callie’s eyes looking like they are processing this new piece of information about the family she grew up with. “Fine! We will help you get that diamond. But you better take that gun off my cousin’s head, right now!” Her finger is pointed viciously in our direction. “And if I find my grandmother with as much as a missing hair after this is done, I will gut you myself.”

“Claro.” I feel the gun lift from my scalp, and I twist my head a little, locking my eyes with Cristina holding up her hands, the gun hanging loosely from her fingers. My lips are raised in a snarl, my palm aching to connect with the smooth skin on her cheek. As I feel the pounding in my heart increase, I slowly feel my legs move, ready to get up.

“Gen.” My attention is switched to Callie, my scowl meeting hers. A slight shake of her head tells me to back off, and I lift my chin in defiance, but don’t defy her. With tense shoulders, I still get up, ready to close the distance between Liam and me instead.

“You can go now.” Callie dismisses Cristina with a flick of her hand in the corner of my eye, but it is Cristina’s reply that has me stopping in the middle of the deck, still at least two yards away from Liam.

“And miss out on all the fun? Nah, I think I’ll stay.”

I spin around, ready to shove her off this yacht myself, but I’m quickly caught by Liam, his strong arms snaking around my waist.

“Don’t.” His whisper in my ear calms me down, but not enough to wipe the glare from my face. That bitch is smiling at me with an evil glimmer in her dark eyes, an arrogance traveling over her entire aura now that she’s got what she wants.

“You can get a fucking hotel. I don’t want you on my yacht.” Kane’s voice booms over the deck with certainty. I’m happy to know we are on the same page, but she wouldn't be Cristina if that would scare her away. She’s used to working with broody men and raised with psychopaths. Kane Carillo doesn’t scare her until she’s 100% sure she’s got nothing else left than to give over to his mercy. Today is not that day. We all know it.

“Yeah, I could. But I don’t want to.” With her hips rocking from side to side, she takes sensual steps forward until she’s directly in front of Kane. “I’m staying, Carrillo.” The tension becomes electric between the two, both of their jaws set in stone. Kane is at least a foot taller than her, peering into her eyes as if he’s willing her to get struck by his arctic gaze. But she just keeps her chin lifted, both their chests moving slowly up and down. Cristina’s black hair softly dances on the evening breeze, her skin-tight black jeans showing every curve of her confident womanhood.

“I think yourwifewill agree with me,” she finally pokes. “You know, with me being her last living relative and all.” She doesn’t wait for his reply, instead expanding her cheeks to a beaming grin. “Now that we have that settled, where is my room?”

Her head swivels on her shoulders until it reaches Liam’s. His arms are still around my waist, my weight still hanging securely against his. “In your room?”

“Not even if you paid me,” Liam quickly grunts.

Cristina fake pouts, her head tilting. “What about you, Gen? You want to have a sleepover? We can do each other’s nails, braid our hair, maybe dish a little about Liam’s dick?”

I shake my head, not ready to handle this. Not even knowing how to reply to that. The entire situation has me lost for words. I don’t want her to get the best of me, but she does. She pisses me off so much; it restricts my throat, making it hard to speak while my chest cracks in a way that has me struggling to breathe. I wish I had something snarky to throw back to her, but I’ve got nothing other than a rock settling in my stomach, making it hard for my legs to keep carrying the weight.

Tears form in my eyes, but I refuse to show her my frustration, so I do the only thing I can do—I wrangle myself out of Liam’s arms and I get the fuck out of there.

As soon as I reach the empty hallway that leads to my bedroom, tears of frustration are blurring my vision while my luscious dress waves around my legs with each step.

I was so excited to wear this dress, especially now that Liam and I finally made things official. Tonight should’ve been a perfect night, but instead it turned out to be the birthday party from hell.

That fucking bitch!

I hate her!

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