“Settle down,” I commanded.
“Let me go,” she seethed, slapping my chest with what I was sure was her full strength. It did sting a little.
“If you continue acting like a brat, I’ll treat you like a brat,” I warned, remaining calm but firm. “And if you’re trying to push my boundaries, you’ll find that I push back.”
The furious tension didn’t ease from her body, but she didn’t slap me again.
“Are you done?” I asked, testing her just like she was testing me.
She slammed her fists against my chest. “No!” she challenged. “I’m not done. But you are. Let me go right now.”
My hold firmed around her neck, a slight flex of my fingers. She stilled instantly, her fists unfurling until her palms pressed flat against my chest. She wasn’t pushing me away anymore, and her body softened.
“I’ll let you go when you promise to behave.” I kept her locked in my steady stare.
Her head tipped back slightly, an unconscious sign of capitulation. Like any weaker animal cornered by a predator, she instinctively offered me clear access to her vulnerable throat, demonstrating her submission.
Keeping my grip on her nape, I lifted my free hand so I could stroke her exposed throat, letting her know that I was satisfied with her surrender. A small shiver raced through her body, and I curled two fingers beneath her chin, guiding her to tilt her head back farther to grant me even better access. She didn’t resist, and the angry sparks left her eyes. Her lashes fluttered as she gazed up at me, the last of her anger easing from her features.
“I want to go home, Mateo.” The harsh ring of demand had bled from her tone, and the words came out as a meek request.
“That can’t happen, florecita,” I told her gently as I resumed stroking her neck, tracing the line of her pulsing artery. It seemed to calm her, and her reaction satisfied me. The strange, new warmth I’d experienced yesterday unfurled in my chest.
“I can’t return you to your father.”
She flinched and cut her eyes away. “I didn’t mean… I don’t want to see Daddy.” She peeked up at me, imploring. “I just want to go back to my apartment. I want to go to class and be normal.”
“I wanted that for you too, belleza,” I admitted. “But you can’t go back to your apartment. Even if I were willing to return you there, your father could have men watching for you. If I leave you exposed, Caesar will take you back. I can’t allow that. I won’t.” The final declaration came out rougher than I’d intended.
She swallowed, and her eyes began to shine. “I won’t go home with him,” she promised. “I don’t want to talk to Daddy right now. I need time to process all this.”
Fuck, she was still so naïve.
“He’s not going to give you a choice, Sofia.” I tried to deliver the blow softly. “If he gets you back, he will betray Adrián again. As long as you’re free, you can be used against him at any time. He won’t expose himself to that weakness, not after last night.”
“Daddy…wouldn’t hurt me.” The assertion hitched in her throat, her pale complexion suggesting that the very idea was so horrific that she could barely force the words out.
“No, I don’t believe he would. But he wouldn’t let you return to your classes, either. You’re either confined to my home or to his for the foreseeable future. And I’m afraid that surrendering you to him isn’t an option. If I did, things would get very bloody for Adrián and me.”
Her jaw went slack with shock, as though the prospect of violence had never occurred to her.
“I don’t want that,” she whispered. “I don’t want any of this.”
I finally released her nape to ease my fingers into her hair. I began to massage her scalp without really thinking about what I was doing. She cuddled up to me so sweetly when I soothed her, and I craved more of that.
I only applied the slightest pressure to the back of her head before she tucked her face against me. The warmth in my chest expanded, pulsing outward through the rest of my body.
I indulged in the strange new peace I experienced when she turned to me for comfort. I’d spent my adult life building my body to be as massive and strong as possible. But I’d never felt more powerful than I did when she pressed herself close to me, seeking my protection.
I couldn’t put the broken pieces of her blissfully ignorant reality back together, but I would protect her and provide for her. Once she eased into acceptance, she would be happy to belong to me.
“You’re going to be okay,” I murmured against her tangled curls. “You’re safe with me.”Chapter 4SofiaI sniffled against Mateo’s chest, clinging to him despite the fact that he was essentially my captor. Confusion and distress muddled my ability to sort through my feelings about him.