by Cora Kenborn
He was right, but I’d be damned if I’d admit it. “What do you suggest we do?”
He slid his hand around to the back of my head. “Fuck each other out of our systems.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Electricity sizzled in the air as Brody pressed closer, his hard arousal letting me know he was very serious. The green and brown in his hazel eyes was completely gone, swallowed by a dark, conflicted desire. It was like looking in a mirror. Both of us pretended to be something we weren’t, but underneath it all, I was broken, and he was lost. We were one empty soul drawn to another.
I told him once that the eyes were the window to the soul, but the heart was the doorway to sin. To survive, I had to close both.
“Go fuck yourself.” Pushing him away, I threw the sliding glass door open and ran. I barely got outside when a solid sheet of rain hit me, drenching me from head to toe. Clenching my fists, I threw my head back and yelled toward the sky, “You can go fuck yourself too!”
It wasn’t like I was getting my ticket punched at the pearly gates.
I stumbled along the uneven walkway muttering to myself when my one of my heels sank in between two stones, snapping it off and sending me sprawling onto my ass.
This fucking day.
Letting out a scream, I kicked off the bastard shoe and stomped the rest of the way to the car, still holding the other one like a weapon. I had no idea what I was going to do when I got there. It wasn’t like I brought the damn keys. Frustrated, I slammed the perfectly intact heel onto the hood, jumping as a low chuckle rumbled behind me.
“You know that’s Val’s car, right?” Brody leaned against one of the columns, looking infuriatingly calm while I beat the hell out of the car with a shoe.
“What do you want?”
“I wasn’t finished talking to you.”
“That’s too bad. I was.” Turning back around, I resumed attacking the hood. I didn’t know what it was about him that sparked such a volatile side in me, but it made me want to put my fist through every window of this car. Unfortunately, this place lacked adequate medical supplies, and someone had been a giant man-child and wasted all the Stolichnaya.
“Huh. Well, then, maybe I should take a page out of Vergara’s playbook.”
I paused my destruction to glare at him over my shoulder. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Pushing off the column, Brody walked the few feet separating us until he stood beside me, his jaw ticking. “If I call Val and tell him you’re being a cock tease, will you open your legs for me too?”
I didn’t think. I dropped the shoe and swung. A loud crack broke the sudden silence as my hand smacked across his cheek with such force his chin snapped back.
He didn’t say anything. He just stared at me as the rain pelted his smug face.
Letting out a frustrated scream, I did it again, this time harder and higher, connecting right below his eye. He still didn’t back down, turning back toward me with rage in his eyes.
I should’ve stopped. I should’ve backed off and begged him to leave me alone, but the anger and lust inside me ignited into a fire that burned out of control. Needing to lash out, I drew my arm back to slap him for a third time, but this time, he grabbed my wrist and held it tight while slamming me against the side of the car.
Brody’s chest rose and fell with labored breaths as I held mine. His hooded gaze settled on my mouth, and I stiffened as his other hand cupped my jaw. Panic tore through my body, but it wasn’t at being chased down or held immobile.
Don’t kiss me.
The words screamed over and over in my head until my mouth spoke them out loud.
Brody turned my chin to the side and whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry, princesa. It’s not your mouth I want tonight.”
I didn’t know who moved first, but in a blur of rain and frantic need, I found myself spun around and bent over the hood of the car. On instinct, my hands flew out in front of me and grasped onto the metal. Behind me, Brody jerked the hem of my dress over my hips, a groan tearing from his throat.
“Fucking beautiful.”
Anything could’ve happened. He was in complete control, and as much as I should’ve loathed being at his mercy, I’d never wanted a man more.
Brody slipped two fingers under the string at my hip, and with a hard tug, ripped my panties off. I pressed my forehead against the metal, a broken moan battling with the rain as he sank two fingers inside me. The harder he pumped, the louder I became, not giving a damn who heard me.
“No running this time, Adriana. I’m giving us what we both want tonight.”
“Sí.” It was the only word I could manage.
“Say it.”
I opened my mouth to oblige him, then clamped it shut. He wanted me to beg him to fuck me. It wasn’t an outlandish request. A little overbearing, maybe, but not unreasonable. I did want him to fuck me, and I had no problem asking for it, but as the rain pelted my back, my own words came back to haunt me.
“Everyone causes cracks in me, Brody. Maybe you’ll be the one who finally breaks me.”
“Don’t fuck with me, princesa. I’ve had a shitty day. Say the words, or I’ll stand here and jerk off on this gorgeous ass of yours.”
“Break me,” I whispered.
Brody stilled. “I don’t want to break you.”
I didn’t believe him. However, it didn’t matter if he wanted to break me or not. This had nothing to do with him. Clinging to a life that was no longer mine kept me in a glass box filled with resentment and rage. Maybe I’d never learn to forgive or make peace with the wrongs done against me, but I didn’t want to close my eyes still trapped inside a prison of my own fears.
“You have to. It’s the only way to fix me.”
“Adriana…”
“Fuck me, Brody.”
Those three words were the key that unlocked the savage inside the suit. As if waking from a restless sleep, Brody roared, grabbing my hips and dragging me toward him. Pressing one hand on my back, he tore open his jeans and shoved them down his thighs. As if in response to his hunger, the rain came down harder, forming a secret wall between us.
It was because of that wall that I wasn’t prepared when he buried his cock deep inside me with one punishing thrust. The ferociousness of his possession buckled my knees, and I dug my nails into the car’s paint while crying out his name. Every time I tried to breathe, my body clenched around him, drawing a groan from his chest.
“Jesus Christ.”
Those two words were the calm before the storm. Or maybe they were a prayer for forgiveness for what was to come. It didn’t matter because only seconds later, he did exactly as I asked him to.
He broke me.
Vicious drives forced me up onto my toes, his hips slamming harder and harder into mine with each thrust. I cried. I begged. Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the rain as he grabbed a handful of my hair while digging his fingers into my hip.
“Is this what you wanted? For me to make you cry?”
“Yes!”
“Goddamn, you drive me crazy!” His thrusts became faster, harder, more brutal, and I felt his cock jerk inside me. He was about to come, and knowing that flung me over the edge first.
“¡Valió la pena morir por esto!” I screamed until my voice shattered, my body convulsing violently around him.
“Fuck!” My release triggered his, and he gave one final thrust before roaring out my name, his body jerking as he came inside me. Exhausted and spent, he slumped on top of me, his chest molding against my back as his hand braced on the hood.
Neither of us spoke a word, and the rain continued to pelt us as if trying to wash away what we’d just done. But that was impossible.
He did exactly as I asked. He broke me, but it didn’t fix me. Instead of turning me into a blank slate, all he created were jagged shards of glass.
Brody exhaled hard, his breath fanning against my neck as he pulled away. Pushing up on his palm, he stared down at me as I stood to fix
my dress. “I should apologize.”
“I told you to do it.”
He shook his head, his blond hair now wet and stuck to his forehead. “Not for that. I sure as hell won’t apologize for what happened. I meant for not thinking clearly enough to…Adriana, I—”
“You didn’t use a condom. I know.”
His eyes narrowed. “And you’re not mad?”
“Look, I’m clean, and you’re still not over Saint Eden, so I know you are too. It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry.”
“That’s not all that can happen.” He said the words slowly as if I were a child. I knew exactly what he was implying, and I was tired of the inquisition.
“I said, don’t worry.” Picking up my shoes, I headed toward the door, the earth squishing under my bare feet. I heard his footsteps close behind me, so I picked up my pace. Barely two feet from the door, he swung me around to face him.
“Why did you say this was worth dying for?”
“What?”
“You yelled it in Spanish. Why did you say it?”
Damn. I forgot he knew basic Spanish.
“No reason.” I jerked away from him, only to have him pull me back.
“Are you seriously shutting me out now? Now? After what we just did?” He flung his uninjured arm back toward the car as if it were a shrine.
This was what I was afraid of. This is why I knew it was a bad idea.
I tried to remember how it felt to hate him. How much I wanted to destroy everything good in his life when he destroyed me. But the driving hatred that brought me to Houston was gone.
He broke that too.
So instead, I fueled myself with hatred for wanting something I could never have.
I curled my lips into a cold sneer. “What we just did was fuck, Brody. Nothing more. I gave you my body—it doesn’t give you access to anything else. Stay in your lane or go back to Val. I have no problem handling this on my own.”
I’d just grabbed the glass door when his accusation hit my ears.
“Or with Vergara.”
I whipped back around, eyes blazing. “Are you deaf? I said by myself! I don’t want either of you.”
“Does it matter what I want?” he asked, his voice dangerously calm.
He didn’t move, his gaze steady as he watched me. I asked him to break me. My words. My request. None of this was his fault, yet I kept my eyes averted as I returned the favor.
“No. Just chalk it up to a bad roll of the dice,” I hissed, leaving him in the pouring rain as I stepped inside the house. “You’re good at that.”
I didn’t wait for a reply before slamming the door.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Adriana
Typing out a quick text, I hit send and tossed my phone next to the sink with a groan. It was too early for this shit, and the coffee was taking forever to brew. The half-hour of sleep I managed to get was anything but restful. Not when the man sleeping like a damn baby in the room down the hall invaded every minute of it with his sinful words and commanding touch.
I hated him for it.
But it did give me the excuse to get a head start on preparations for what I anticipated to be the turning point of this whole trip. Brody wasn’t going to like it, but since the sun had barely broken over the horizon, I still had time to figure out how to tell him without causing him to have a stroke.
Propping my elbow on the counter, I slumped forward and tucked my chin into the palm of my hand as I counted the rhythmic drips one by one. Big mistake. By the time I hit twenty, my eyes were closed, and my head fell heavy into my palm.
“Adriana!” Brody shouted from the living room, and I jumped. Disoriented, I blinked the haze out of my eyes and twisted around in a circle until my eyes landed on the full coffeepot.
Shit, how long had I been asleep?
“Adriana, get your ass in here!”
Grabbing a mug from the cabinet, I filled it to the top with the now lukewarm liquid and downed half of it before sauntering into the living room and leaning a hip against the wall. “Yes?”
Brody stood in the middle of the room, in nothing but a pair of black boxers, his hands fisted by his sides as he glared at the scattered artillery. Thankfully, I still had the mug shoved between my lips because it stopped me from licking them while I devoured his body.
“What the fuck is this?”
His irritated growl dragged me back to reality, and I swung an exaggerated glance around the room, then shrugged, swirling the liquid in my mug before taking another sip. “They appear to be guns.”
“I see that,” he seethed, baring his teeth. “Where did they come from?”
I pushed off the wall, trying not to wobble down the steps into the living room. Ignoring his heated stare, I bent down in front of him and picked up a shiny new Glock from the coffee table. Holding it up, I tilted it to the side and cocked my head. “Smyrna, Georgia,” I announced with a smirk.
Brody’s nostrils flared. “You know what the hell I mean.”
Of course, I knew what he meant, but I also knew he wasn’t going to like the answer. “Cristiano had them delivered early this morning.”
As predicted, Brody’s sharp jawline twitched, his hand squeezing the gun as if he couldn’t decide whether to shoot me or throw it out the window. “Any particular reason?”
“Probably because I called him and asked him to have them delivered early this morning.”
He stared at me, and I stared right back. The standoff lasted until he let out a harsh breath, slamming the gun back onto the table. “It’s too goddamn early for this.”
“Coffee?” I smiled, pushing my half-empty mug of coffee in his face.
His eyebrows pinched together, and for a moment, I thought he was going to take it, but then he turned around and sank onto the couch, his hand dragging through his hair. “Okay, let’s start over. Why did you call Vergara and request…” Pausing, he shifted his gaze toward the coffee table while counting, “…eight guns?” Cocking an eyebrow, he shook his head and sat down, draping an arm across the back of the couch.
This was going to get a little ugly.
“Oh, I’m glad you asked. Because I thought I’d pay a visit to my childhood home today.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
Okay, maybe a lot ugly
“Cristiano gave me some solid leads last night when I was in his office. He said my family had secrets that would give us answers.” As soon as Brody’s mouth opened, I held up a hand. “I would’ve told you last night, but if you remember, we got a little sidetracked.”
I remained quiet. Not because I had nothing else to say, but because leaving the ball in Brody’s court was a strategic move. It was time for him to put up or shut up. Either he proved he was all in, and I could believe him when he said he didn’t want to break me, or he proved me right when I said if given a chance, he’d drive a knife in my back.
Which was exactly what I thought he was about to do when he pushed off the couch. “No fucking way,” he growled, pressing into me.
His fiery stare sent a chill across my skin, reminding me how little clothing I wore. Not to mention what I wore. All I could find after storming into the house last night was one of Cristiano’s old T-shirts, which was another argument I didn’t wish to have with him.
I had to stand my ground or get bulldozed.
“I don’t remember asking for your permission.”
“Adriana, you can’t go to Esteban’s estate.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
“You’ll be shot on sight!” he yelled, throwing his arms out wide.
“A possibility, I’ll give you that.”
His eyes bore into me as if trying to pick apart the warped patchwork of my brain. “You’re really insane, aren’t you?”
“Aw, and they say chivalry is dead.” Winking, I gave him a patronizing pat on the chest before walking toward the kitchen.
“I can’t believe this,” he fumed, tearing across the roo
m. “You’re risking your life on a few cryptic words from Vergara?”
Dumping the coffee down the drain, I whirled around. “Do you have a better idea? You have to check in with Val tomorrow. What do you plan to tell him? That we have a few irons in the fire?” Rolling my eyes, I curled my fingers into air quotes. “We’ve been at this for three days now, and I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we’ve got nothing.”
“Val wouldn’t want you to risk your life for him.”
I blinked. “You don’t get it, do you? This isn’t about him.” His eyebrows drew up, and I palmed my forehead. “Okay, maybe it started out as a way to clear my name while working my way into the Carreras, but don’t you see what has happened? I’ve tried so hard to outrun Marisol Muñoz that I couldn’t see that she was the problem.”
“How so?”
“Cristiano told me to stop chasing ghosts and start opening up closets. He said they were full of skeletons that have been locked up for a long time.”
“What does that even mean?”
“I asked the same thing, and he just said this wasn’t about an outsider coming in to take over. That it was a vendetta, and if I wanted to find the truth I needed to look toward my own family. This whole time we’ve been looking for this enigma who’d come in and taken over what was left of the Muñoz Cartel. We’ve been racking our brains to figure out who it could be. Is it a former lieutenant? Disgruntled sicario? An outsider who saw an opportunity?” I pushed away from the sink and moved toward him until we stood only inches apart. “What we failed to do was see what was right in front of our faces. How could someone command control of a cartel unless they had the name to back it up?”
Brody looked me up and down, his eyes clouded with doubt. “But that makes no sense. Esteban and Manuel are gone. People can’t come back from the dead, Adriana.”
Maybe I baited that out of him. It was possible I dug that hole just waiting for him to fall into it. Unresolved issues didn’t go away just because bigger ones pushed them under the rug. Eventually, they crawled out and showed themselves.
A slow smile tipped the corners of my lips. “Are you sure about that? I did.”
