Page 25 of Ruthless Rival

“I’m Gabriela Castillo, and I want you to help me take down my family.”

Chapter Twelve:A Deal is a Deal

Alberto

I immediately jerked away from Gabriela’s hand. I stared her down as she smiled up at me, looking amused and even excited. With a roaring sound in my ears, I pointed at her, my finger only a few inches away from her nose. “You don’t belong here, Castillo,” I gritted out. She hid behind a different last name and tricked me for a little while, but I knew the truth now. She had been playing with me, teasing me for kicks when she could’ve just been honest upfront.

What kind of a snake of a woman was she?

Gabriela didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. She looked past my finger, locking her eyes on mine. “I don’t want to be a Castillo,” she told me in an even tone.

I didn’t believe a word that breezed past her beautifully red lips. How could I? She had been lying right to my face the entire time we had known each other. Beneath the fury I felt, a sharp pang pierced my chest. I thought I was getting to know an amazing woman. All I did was fall in a black widow’s trap. “I don’t care. You’re Santiago's daughter and Carlos’ sister. They have wronged my family in more ways than one, and you think that I’d be okay being within a mile of you?” I growled as I took a threatening step toward her.

Gabriela drew in a deep breath as she leaned her head back to look up at me. “I didn’t do anything to your family. If I wanted to hurt you, which I could, I would’ve already done so,” she warned me.

I tensed up, starting to reach behind me where one of my desk drawers had a handgun tucked inside. I didn’t take threats fromanyonelightly. I had too many enemies—and the daughter of one stood right in front of me.

Gabriela smirked at me. “Relax. I don’t have anything on me,” she said before sliding her hands down the front of her shirt and the sides of her skirt. “Want to check?”

My eyes automatically followed her hands, taking in the delectable curves of her body. By the time my mind caught up to my actions, she saw me staring and smiled to herself. I shook my head at myself, tearing my eyes away from her. “I don’t know what sick game you’re playing, but I don’t want to be a part of it. Your father and your brother have already caused me enough trouble. I don’t want to deal with you as well,” I told her. My life was steadily being infiltrated by Castillos and I was prepared to deal with them one by one.

“I’m not playing a game. I’m striking a deal with you. I just needed to make sure I could trust you to uphold your end of it. Are you an honorable man, Alberto?” Gabriela asked as she cocked her head at me.

“I’m an honorable man, but I don’t work with sneaky Castillos,” I said. Damn, she was bold for thinking I would go along with her game. Did she really think that I was a fool?

“Well, a deal is a deal, and I’ve already told the governor that I have a special night planned for him tomorrow,” Gabriela replied with a shrug. She crossed her arms, jutting her hip out slightly as she adopted a casual but strong stance.

I now got a feeling she would be impossible to get rid of. She seemed so latched onto this odd plan of hers that I was still trying to make sense of, which meant it would be hard for me to back out. She would dig her claws in, threatening to tear me apart for denying her. “Who says you can get the governor to fold and listen to me?” I asked her. I didn’t doubt her on that front, but she acted like she held so much power over me. She had seen how drawn I was to her before and she obviously used her allure to overpower others. This advantage of hers wouldn’t work on me any longer.

Gabriela scoffed as she placed a manicured hand on her chest. “Ouch, Alberto. That stings,” she replied before adopting a more serious look and dropping her hand. “Because I have him wrapped around my finger. If I tell him to listen to your commands, he’ll be at your feet like an obedient little puppy.”

I could only blink at her. This woman went from being offended by me offering her money to sway the governor to claiming she could make the governor break his back bending over for her. She didn’t put all of her energy into her charm today. She fueled her boldness with it now.

“Seems like you don’t have a personal connection with the governor like he does with you,” I pointed out the obvious.

This time, Gabriela took a step toward me. There were only a few inches of space between us, but neither of us cared. We were used to being close. Just in a different way. Strangely, the tension didn’t feel all that different between then and now, making my heart rate kick up a notch.

“Don’t start. You want to use him just like I’ll use him. You see him as a tool to use to your benefit. I’m just taking advantage of his raging desire to fuck me,” Gabriela told me, slightly hissing the last few words.

I found myself having to swallow hard as my eyes briefly flickered to her lips. I could feel the soft brush of her breath against my lips. Part of me wanted to slam her down on my desk and show her how frustrated I was about all of this. Things were so good between us before she dropped this bomb on me. “I’m sure he’ll enjoy it until you threaten him with the video,” I replied as my eyes moved back up to hers. The governor had a terrible surprise coming his way, but I could take it all away if he cooperated with me. Then, he could keep his sleazy politician career intact.

Gabriela smirked and shrugged. “Can’t say the same about my father. He won’t enjoy a single second of what I have planned for him,” she said, looking and sounding quite pleased with herself.

“Why do you want to take down the Castillos? They’re your family,” I asked her. I couldn’t ever turn my back on my own family. We had been through too much together and I trusted them with my life. I could imagine trust being as brittle as a dry leaf when it came to the Castillos, though.

“I don’t owe you an explanation, but I do owe you my side of the deal,” Gabriela said with an unwavering, firm expression. “Arrange a hotel for me and the governor. Set up some cameras and maybe some candles. Then I’ll work my magic on him.”

She wasn’t backing down. That didn’t sway me to keep my end of the deal, though. As much as I wanted to take down the Castillos, I was incredibly wary of working with one. She didn’t even tell me why she wanted to go against her own family, which was suspicious. She could’ve just been a spy for them.

Before I could put my foot down and tell her I refused to keep my end of the deal, she reached into her clutch and took out a white business card. She held it between her forefinger and middle finger as she smiled at me. “Text me the details when it’s done. You’ll have the governor in your pocket in no time,” she said, shooting a wink at me before striding out of my home office.

The sweet smell of coconut still lingered in the room after she left, making my head spin even more than it already was because of her revelation. The woman I started getting hooked on was my rival’s daughter.

Idiota!

As the head of my family, I’d always been careful and calculative. I personally checked on my businesses and the people working for me, but I didn’t think to check into who Gabriela Mora was before getting involved with her. How could I have made such a critical error that could’ve contributed to the downfall of my family and my hold on New Orleans?

Something about her twisted my mind, blocking out my common sense. I thought about her lips and her vibrant, bold nature instead of how her sudden intrusion into my life could’ve been a red flag. I had to be careful around her, even if a part of me liked her more than was safe.

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