Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
I responded with a shaky nod, quick to demonstrate my compliance. He might be stroking me gently, but I became keenly aware of just how big he was. His huge muscles surrounded me, his corded arm around my shoulders and his granite chest pressed against my side. A firm flex could bruise me.
“Please,” Daddy begged. “Don’t hurt her. Give her back to me.”
“No,” Mateo said, a clipped refusal. “Sofia’s staying right here with me. She’s not coming home. You betrayed Adrián. You caused the woman he loved to be hurt and terrorized. You don’t want me to hurt your innocent daughter? Why don’t you tell her what you did to Valentina? She’s innocent, too. Why don’t you tell Sofia what kind of monster her husband, Hugo, was? He beat and raped his wife, and you were going to send her back to that hell just to gain power.” Barely-suppressed rage roughened the nauseating accusations.
Shock made my fingers go numb around my phone. Despite the renewed tension in his body, Mateo gently cupped his hand around mine, helping me maintain my grip.
“That’s not true,” I whispered. “Daddy, tell me that’s not true!” The desperate demand issued from my constricted throat on a horrified squeak.
“Mi niña…” The pleading edge to the endearment was nearly as damning as a detailed admission.
My eyes began to burn, my chest tightening. My head swung back and forth, physically denying the awful revelations about my father, even as the truth began to sink into my mind.
“Sofia, please,” he begged, beseeching me to instantly forgive and forget his terrible sin. “Princesa, I—”
I abruptly hung up on him and tossed my phone across the bed, as though flinging away a poisonous snake. I couldn’t hear any more. I couldn’t bear to hear my sweet Daddy’s voice after all I’d just learned about his capacity for ruthless cruelty.
I buried my face in my hands, pressing my palms against my eyes in an effort to hold in my tears. How could I have been so blind?
You knew, an insidious little voice whispered in my mind. Some part of you always suspected.
I began to shake, my limbs trembling violently.
Oh, god. I’d willfully kept myself in blissful ignorance for my entire life. Of course I realized my father’s associates were dangerous. Of course I understood that Daddy wouldn’t have been so vague about his business if it hadn’t been distasteful.
But I’d been so starved for love. My mother had always been cold and distant, a true narcissist incapable of caring about anyone else. Not even her own daughter. I was simply a way to keep Daddy tied to her, a tool to ensure her own financial security and cushy lifestyle.
I couldn’t believe how pathetic I’d been, clinging to a little girl’s naivete because I was too desperate for affection from at least one parent.
Cold seeped into my bones, and my teeth began to chatter. My entire falsely cheery world was crumbling around me.
Daddy was a vicious drug lord.
The man holding me so tenderly was, too.
How could I have secretly pined for Mateo all these years, indulging in girlish fantasies about his bad boy vibe?
What did I think? That he was some brooding hottie that I could redeem with my love?
God, I was so stupid.
My criminal captor ran his big hands all over my body. I wanted to resist him, but his steady warmth seeped into me despite my desire to pretend that he didn’t have an effect on my body.
So fucking stupid. Years of idealized longing had obviously warped me, rendering me helpless to control my physical responses to him.
I should hate Mateo. I should fear him.
“Please,” I begged. “Leave me alone.”
His only response was to gently shush me. His warm grip and persistent stroking silently communicated that he wasn’t going anywhere.
I didn’t have any control over my life anymore. My entire reality had been shattered in the course of a day.
I was a hostage, a pawn in a dangerous game between brutal men.
And yet, as exhaustion rolled over me, I couldn’t help relaxing in Mateo’s arms. His long fingers slid into my hair, applying gentle pressure to direct my face against him. I stiffened for the space of a second, but he began to massage my scalp in little soothing circles. I turned my cheek into his chest, seeking more reassuring contact. My tears wet his shirt, but he didn’t seem to mind.
When his fingers rubbed lightly against little pressure points behind my ear and at the base of my jaw, I slid deeper into relaxation. I melted against him, sinking into his heat.
“Good girl.” His murmured praise followed me down into mercifully peaceful sleep.
Chapter 3
Mateo
I stirred toward wakefulness, enjoying the soft warmth of my bed for a few minutes longer. My alarm hadn’t gone off yet, so I had time to rest.