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Chapter 13 (Ricardo)
“Why?”
Her question is a simple one, but I don't miss the real meaning in her eyes.
Since Marlene fucked up by not keeping her in her room like she was supposed to, I know it's up to me to come up with some kind of explanation...because I'm sure as fuck not telling her the real reason she's here.
She won't be able to handle it...not until I kill him. Then I can tell her the truth.
Kill the villain and get the girl?—my mind taunts. Not likely.
Because this girl doesn't want you—because you're the real villain in her story.
She's still struggling to get out of Marlene's hold, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't both impressed and a bit perturbed about the bleeding lump on my maid's forehead.
Evidently, Lou-Lou's going to need more security than just my hired help.
I point two fingers at two of my men. “I want you both stationed outside her bedroom door at all times.”
“What?” Lou-Lou yells, still fighting with Marlene. “No. You can't keep me here.”
The men advance toward her but I shake my head. “Don't touch her.” A look of confusion passes between them and I clarify. “Not unless she's beating Marlene to a bloody pulp, or trying to run away.”
“Ricardo,” Lou-Lou spews. “Man the fuck up and tell me why I'm here.”
She twists out of Marlene's hold and I take the few short strides until I'm directly in front of her. “Go upstairs and get some rest.”
“No, I've had plenty of rest.” Her eyes turn hard. “Thanks to you drugging and kidnapping me while I was out with my boyfriend, you bastard. That's why I can't remember anything...isn't it? You're fucking sick, you know that? Haven't you done enough to me, asshole?”
Marlene gasps and lunges for her again, but I hold up a hand and halt her.
Since she's already painted me as the evildoer, and there's no way she can un-see all the shit she just saw, I'll use it to my advantage.
I take another step forward and peer down at her. “You think I would hurt you?”
She glares at me, pure venom in her eyes. “Yes.”
I won't let her know how much it kills me that she would think that. How much I hate that she has every right to think that...because it's the truth.
Her mouth parts in surprise when I reach down and skim my thumb along her cheek. Before she can protest, I cup her jaw firmly with one hand and trace the delicate line of her neck with my other, pulling her closer.
Her pulse races beneath my fingertips as I continue tugging her until she's pressed against me and can't escape my hold.
My cock twitches so hard against her tight little body—straining to be inside her again, it's almost painful. She looks up at me with hooded eyes when I shift against her, giving her no choice but to feel me, and I can practically taste both her desire and her surrender right fucking then.
I lean down until my lips are ghosting over hers. When her tongue darts out and she licks that lower lip—it takes everything in me not to suck it into my mouth, throw her up against the wall, rip off that trashy outfit she still has on, and take her over and over again in front of everyone...right here, right now.
Instead, I tighten my grip on the back of her neck and look into her eyes. “You're right...I would.”
I let go of her abruptly and she stumbles back, her expression a combination of shocked and pissed the hell off.
“So you better do as I say. And right now? That means going back upstairs to your new bedroom.”
She turns on her heels and marches out of the basement in a huff, with Marlene following close behind.
And that's when I deliver my final blow. “And since this isn't the Show 'n Tail, feel free to change into something a little more classy and a lot less revealing. I gave you plenty of money...maybe you wouldn't need to wear that cheap shit if you actually used some of it.”
Maybe she wouldn't have been drugged, assaulted, and stabbed last night if she wasn't so stubborn.
She grips the banister so tight her knuckles turn white.
Her eyes scan the basement, her disgust growing by the second. “I don't want your blood money.”
And then she delivers a final blow of her own when her eyes fall on me, only this time, there's sheer sadness swirling in those baby browns. “And I really don't want you...not anymore.”
I open my mouth to—I don't know—apologize for being such an asshole, but she runs up the stairs at the same time my phone rings.
“Yeah, Ernesto.”