Page 47 of Seductive Desires

His face was dark and stoic. “I said no!”

Liam sucked his teeth, rolling his eyes. “This is why she didn’t want to tell you.”

Mateo turned his furious gaze to Liam. “This was your idea, wasn’t it?”

Liam barely looked at him. “Whose idea it was doesn’t matter. She didn’t want you to know because she knew you’d be a little shit about it. Back off.”

“¡Tú hijo de puta!”

I blinked and Mateo was across the room, throwing himself at Liam. The chair tipped over and they both landed hard on the ground, wrestling with each other. Jo screamed, tears spilling down her face as Mateo landed a hit, snapping Liam’s face to the side.

Liam was not someone to be trifled with though and quickly got the upper hand, sitting on Mateo’s chest as he slammed his fist into his face over and over again.

“Stop! Please!” I screamed but they didn’t hear me. Mateo had managed to get his hands up to block his face but Liam was an unstoppable force of nature. Eventually, Dmitriy had to pull him off of Mateo, shoving him away. Jo was at his side in an instant, cupping his face and dragging his attention to her. He pulled her against him but said nothing, his angry gaze still on Mateo.

Dmitriy dragged Mateo off the floor roughly before stepping away, leaning back against the wall like he hadn’t just pulled two crazed men apart. Mateo wiped blood from his chin, glaring at Liam. I knew for a fact that if Mateo went after Liam when Jo was in between them, Mateo wouldn’t live to tell the tale. I stood frozen off to the side. When his gaze swung to me, I flinched. It seemed to surprise him and he took a step toward me before Liam raised his hand.

“You need to get the hell out of my house.”

Mateo snapped his gaze back towards Liam, scowling. “I have no interest in staying here. But if I am going, so is she.”

Dmitriy stepped in, putting a hand on Mateo’s shoulder. “You are angry. This makes for bad decisions. She is not safe outside this house.”

Mateo wrenched his shoulder away. “Like you give a shit about her safety. I heard no argument from you on this idiotic plan.” His furious gaze moved back to me. “Mariana, let’s go.”

My eyes were wide, darting between the three men. A whimper worked its way up my throat. This isn’t how this is supposed to go. Stephen is waiting for me to make a mistake. And leaving this house without a plan in place was a mistake. But I didn’t want to hurt Mateo. He was… we were… I shot a panicked look at Jo. She took mercy on me, speaking up.

“It’s not safe for her to leave. And you are in no place to take care of her in your state. Go back to your hotel and calm down. We can all discuss this again in the morning.” She turned in Liam’s arms, her chin going up as she faced down Mateo’s wrath. His eyes flicked to hers only momentarily before swinging back to mine.

“Mariana.”

I shook my head, tears slipping over my cheeks as I wrapped my hands around my middle. Hurt slashed over his face again before he spun on his heel and stormed out of the room. It took a few moments before the front door slammed so hard, I jumped. My body felt like it wanted to shake apart, I was trembling so hard.

“Liam, I’m so sorry, I–”

He cut me off, putting his hand up. “I don’t need an apology from you, Mariana. You didn’t want him to know. You were hoping to avoid that reaction. It’s not your fault.”

Jo was back to fussing over Liam, rubbing her cheek against his knuckles. I watched as he pulled her in close and kissed her forehead. Watching them made me feel like I betrayed Mateo. I should have gone with him. Whether or not it was safe, he was my…

Dmitriy’s heavy hand landed on my shoulder. “He will cool off and you can speak to him in the morning. To take you from here would have been too dangerous. We still do not know where your brother is.”

I drew away from him, barely nodding. My brain felt foggy and minutes would pass in a blink of an eye. I blinked and I was back in my room. I blinked again and I was curled around the pillow Mateo had been using. I buried my face against it and sobbed.

I heard Jo knock at one point, but I didn’t get up to answer it. I clung to my phone, wishing Mateo would call and tell me this was all a mistake. I didn’t need an apology, I didn’t care who was right or wrong. I just wanted to hear his voice.

“Mariana, I’m so sorry about this,” Jo called. When I didn’t answer, she continued. “I know things are crazy right now, but it’ll be okay, you’ll see. He’ll call in the morning and everyone will get over themselves because this is about you, not them.”

I slid the pillow over my head, trying to drown her out.

“I– No, Liam, she needs to hear that she still has friends! You guys have really fucked this whole thing up– Liam! Knock it off!”

Her voice faded like Liam was pulling her away from the door and I let out a breath. She was wrong. I didn’t have friends. Not when it came to this. I had to do this on my own. I had to face Stephen alone. And now I had to do it while knowing I betrayed the one man who made me feel safe.

ChapterTwenty-Three

The night was restless.Any time I fell asleep, I was wracked with horrifying nightmares. I kept getting thrown back to the night Stephen killed Ben. But instead of Ben, it was Mateo who was kneeling on the ground. He would look up at me, the same hurt expression from last night on his face. I would wake up screaming as Stephen pulled the trigger and the light that always danced in Mateo’s eyes faded away.

I gave up at one point, sitting cross legged in the middle of the bed, my phone in my lap. No matter how much I willed it, Mateo never called. And I wasn’t brave enough to call him. I just kept seeing how hurt he was when I refused to leave with him. I felt like the worst person on the planet.

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