“Never. Cristiano will explain himself, believe me,” Costa said, still staring at me. “I want her out of this life. What gives you the right to keep her in it?”
“I make my own rights.” Now wasn’t the time to assure Costa his daughter was safe from me—well, for as long as she resisted. Once she allowed herself to ask for what she wanted, I couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be some carnage, all of which she’d enjoy. “I’m not the one who put her in danger. I pulled her out of it. The Maldonados are no longer a threat, but that can be undone.”
Natalia glanced briefly to the top floor of the house—Bianca’s old art studio—and I followed her gaze. She and Diego had spent time there as children, hiding from Bianca, playing when Diego should’ve been working.
Costa turned, steering Natalia into the house. “Go wait in your room. I’ll talk to Cristiano and work this out.”
“What? No.” She pulled away, looking up at him. “I’m not going to sit around while others decide my fate. That’s how I got into this in the first place.”
If she hadn’t been trying to escape me, I might’ve applauded her. Natalia had been bent to the will of others since before Bianca’s death, but it had only grown worse in the years after. Diego, her father, Barto and his security team—and even myself. We were all guilty of it. But as a kid, she’d stood up to me, a man with a reputation that would terrify most girls, with nothing but grit and determination on her side. And her White Monarch.
She had it in her to rise to the job of cartel queen, but the steel spine that ran in her blood needed space to grow. And encouragement.
“She should be present for this conversation,” I told Costa as I followed them into the foyer.
“Of course. But let’s you and me speak first.” Costa kissed the top of Natalia’s head when we reached the door to his study. “Go on upstairs.”
“Let me rephrase,” I said. “She will be present for this conversation.”
Natalia turned to me, her light, purple-blue eyes wide like saucers. It was all the thank you I’d get from her, but I wasn’t expecting anything more. Natalia had been a precocious and smart child who’d found a way around the rules and limitations put upon her. She wasn’t anyone’s pawn, but she’d let herself fall into that role for my brother.
Diego, who’d put his hands on her, knowing she was my future wife.
I tried not to think of it, because that was exactly what Diego had hoped to achieve by fucking her—to get under my skin.
Not to ease Natalia into her first time, and not to claim her for any romantic purpose before he released her. But to have something over me I could never get back.
Costa turned to face me, his chest out. “You’re telling me what’s best for my daughter?”
“No. I’m telling you what’s best for my wife. She’s no longer to be kept in the dark about this world, her life, or our cartels. She’s in it now, as Bianca was.”
Costa’s expression pinched, and his eyes narrowed on mine as he seemed to read me like a book. He ushered Natalia into the study, but turned and lowered his voice so only I could hear. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, son.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Bianca never should’ve married me. Don’t you think I knew that from the moment I set eyes on her? But I did. Marry her. And I don’t have to tell you how much I loved her.” He glanced into the study, and I followed his troubled gaze to Natalia. “I did all that knowing what the outcome could be—so some would say I got what I deserved. I worry for Natalia’s fate as I did her mother. But I also wouldn’t wish my pain or guilt on any man.”
Costa was worried I’d get my heart broken, was he? Coming from anyone else, I would’ve laughed in his face. But the old man had gone through the worst of it, and he was protective of those he loved. Given our history, and mine with Natalia, it hadn’t taken him five minutes to see that something flickered in me for his daughter. But he didn’t need to warn me of the danger of attachments.
“Would you go back and change it if you could?” I asked.
His eyebrows sank. He took a step closer to me, each of us rising to our full heights, then nodded into his study. “Inside. Now.”
Costa stood before Natalia and me like an emperor looking to make a head roll. With Max and Barto competing to guard the door, I stayed by Natalia’s side, forming a united front with her, even if she didn’t want that.