I’M STILL IN shock as I sit in the back of the car, my hands trembling uncontrollably as I stare down at the blood soaking into my Oscar de la Renta dress. Mateo shot the man who hurt me. He saved me.
Damion was going to rape me.
My first time would have been with a man I didn’t know and by force. Just the thought of it has fresh tears building up in my eyes, and I can’t even stop them from spilling down over my cheeks.
And now Mateo is dealing with the consequences of his actions. They could be in there torturing him…or killing him. And if Mateo dies, then what happens to me?
A violent shiver of fear runs through my entire body, and I can’t stop shaking. The adrenaline is wearing off, and now I’m just left with the overwhelming sense of fear of what could have happened. I wrap Mateo’s jacket tighter around me, inhaling his familiar scent of expensive cologne and tobacco, and it seems to ground me somehow.
Just then, the car door opens and Mateo climbs into the backseat beside me. He barely acknowledges my presence as he tells the driver to go. I watch carefully as he pulls the coin out of his pocket and rolls it over his knuckles in restrained agitation. Once we’re about a mile down the road, Mateo finally turns his attention to me. “Are you alright?” he asks, his voice a guttural whisper.
I open my mouth to answer, but nothing but a high-pitched, mournful cry comes out. I fling myself into his lap, and to my surprise, he holds me. His arms envelop me in the warmest, most tender hug I think I’ve ever had in my life. I bury my face into his chest, wanting to be impossibly closer, wanting to literally crawl inside of him. His hand soothingly rubs circles on my back as he shushes me.
“It’s okay, Aria. You’re safe now,” he assures me.
I feel so small, so vulnerable in his arms. He allows me to cry, soaking his shirt in the process while he holds me. I seek comfort in his embrace, in his touch, in his soothing voice even though I know I shouldn’t. I watched him kill two men in front of me now. Two men that laid their hands on me, and Mateo protected me from both. He will always protect you, a voice in the back of my mind reminds me.
And if there’s one thing I’ve learned while being with Mateo, it’s that there are worse monsters out there than him.
“Why were you in the library, Aria?” he asks, his voice measured and controlled even though I can feel his muscles tensing.
“I…I was looking for a phone.”
“You were trying to run away,” he says accusingly, pulling back to search my eyes for any deceit.
“No!” I say quickly before adding, “I don’t know. Maybe.” Sniffling, I tell him the truth. “I wanted to call my family. Let them know that I’m okay.”
He huffs in disapproval but doesn’t say a word.
“I made a mistake,” I cry. “And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left your side.”
He stares at me, his dark eyes assessing me and making me feel completely exposed. “My life is dangerous, Aria, and now you’re a part of it. After tonight, people will see you as my weakness, and they will try to expose that to get to me. Do you understand?”
I nod slowly.
“You can’t ever run away from me again.”
“I-I won’t,” I stammer, struggling to promise what I know is ultimately wrong. I should want to keep fighting, keep running away, keep trying to escape. But after today, I think my burning desire to leave Mexico, leave Mateo is going to be extinguished. It’s safer for me to stay with him. For now.
“Cristóbal told me the man who attacked you was Damion Tuffin. Did you know him?” he questions.
“No, not really. He was on The Island. I remember him coming up to me after the auction was over. He told me he would see me soon. I didn’t recognize his voice until it was too late. He tried to drug me. He tried to…” My voice trails off as fresh tears flow down my cheeks.
Mateo wraps his tattooed hand around mine and squeezes gently. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Damion told me he was the one bidding against you on The Island and that he let you win because he knew he would have a chance to get me for free.”
“That son of a bitch,” he grinds out, his entire body vibrating with anger. “If I had known he would be at this party, I never would have brought you here. You have to believe that, Aria.”
“So it’s true?”
“It’s true. I’d only heard rumors about The Island before Thiago, my former friend, took me there. Probably as a sick joke on his part. He was like that,” he says with an exasperated sigh. “I knew I wasn’t going to bid on anyone. I wanted to leave straight away. But then I saw you…” His voice trails off as he looks off into the distance out the window, perhaps lost in memory. “Thiago told me how the top bidder treats the virgins he purchases. Rapes and beats them until the life is gone from their eyes. And so, when Damion began bidding for you, I knew I had to counterbid. I had to win you no matter the cost, no matter the consequences,” Mateo says, his voice deep and steady. “I had no idea who was behind the glass, though. I would have killed him a long time ago had I known.”
I rest my hand gently against his stubbled jaw and force his gaze to mine. His dark chocolate eyes are filled with emotion, probably reflecting back some of the same ones I’m feeling right now.
He saved me from a horrible fate on The Island. He saved me before he even knew me.
“What?” Mateo whispers as I stare at him, taking in every detail of his brutally handsome face.
And then he gently cups my cheek, his thumb grazing my bottom lip. My breath catches in my throat. It’s almost like a switch has been flipped. I’m not seeing Mateo as my captor but as my savior. A man willing to do anything to protect me. A man willing to kill for me.
I don’t know what possesses me, but the next thing I know, my lips are seeking his out. The kiss is awkward at first; both of us shocked by the unexpectedness of it. But then his hand moves to the back of my head, fisting my hair as he pulls me closer, consuming me and incinerating the last of any resistance left in me.
A whimper escapes my mouth as he kisses me like no other man has ever or will ever kiss me. He kisses me like he owns me — mind, body, and soul. And in this moment, he does.
And then just as quickly as the kiss starts, he ends it, pulling back. “It’s the adrenaline,” he tells me with a ragged groan. “It will wear off soon.”
He thinks I’ll regret kissing him. I want to tell him it’s already worn off, but I don’t say a word. I move to return my lips to his, but he turns his head at the last second, staring out the window, dismissing me.
Tears fill my eyes, and I quickly scramble from his lap and go back to my seat. Feeling rejected by him is a jagged, little pill to swallow. Weeks ago, I never would have gone to him willingly, and now I’m upset because he doesn’t want me? A psychiatrist would have a field day with me at this point.
We’re riding in the car for a long time before Mateo finally breaks the deafening silence. “When you come to me again, Aria, I don’t want it to be because you’re sick with fever or because something bad has just happened to you. I want you to come to me because you want me. Only me,” he says quietly.
His intense words permeate the air and stay with me for the remainder of the trip home. And once we reach the compound, I’m left confused with no clearer answers than before.
