It couldn’t be easy for her to hear all this, but she needed to keep her mouth shut and focus on escape.
“Get to the point, rata,” Costa said on a growl. “Why are we here?”
Diego’s jaw ticked. He didn’t like being called a rat, especially by the man who’d murdered his parents. Costa needed to stop poking him. If Diego took his anger out on Natalia, I would find a way to get in that room, even if it meant climbing through the camera lens. But his pinched expression quickly returned to neutral.
“You work for me now. Comply, and Natalia will be safe. She’s angry with me now—I have you to blame for that, brother.” Diego rolled his shoulders. “But once your spell has worn off, we’ll return to the way we were. If you care for her, too, you’ll accept it, because she’ll be happy here. She will be loved—by me.” He bit his bottom lip and added, “Every night, to make up for all the time you stole from us.”
No.
My heart pounded as I fought off the image of them together.
Don’t react.
This wasn’t about me.
I wiped beads of sweat from my upper lip. I had to focus on her. I was too far from her to see. If she sweat, too. Or shivered instead. If her rage heated her, or if icy hatred took over. She needed me. My warmth.
My breathing grew more ragged. Don’t think of Diego’s hands on her.
Did she feel strong? Or did she struggle to separate the person in front of her from the boy she’d known?
“We’ll get to her before you ever touch her,” Costa said. “I promise you that.”
Whether he promised Diego, me, or Natalia, I wasn’t sure, but he was leveling threats that could only hurt us. I looked over at him. His corded neck and beet-red face said it all. He was trying to fight off the same images as I was.
“Tranquilo,” I said to him under my breath to remind him to stay calm, but he kept his eyes laser focused on the screen.
“Is it worth losing Natalia?” Diego asked, his nostrils flaring. “Because if I hear even a whisper that you’re trying to find our location, I will take her life, and then you and I will be at all-out war. Your armies together are strong—but Belmonte-Ruiz’s one is now three times the size it used to be, and it’s growing every day as word spreads about how you’re working for the wrong side.”
I didn’t doubt that now. I hadn’t blindly trusted Belmonte-Ruiz’s truce, but the more time that’d passed, the less concerned I’d become. They’d held up their end of the bargain by moving on to other ventures. Our informant had been killed; we hadn’t replaced him. And foolishly . . . I’d wanted to believe we could all live in peace. Because Natalia and I were ready to start a family, but we wouldn’t during a war.
I hadn’t realized we were still in one. I should’ve fucking paid closer attention.
“So you want Cristiano’s global network and my shipping infrastructure, eh?” Costa said. “To distribute on a larger, more international scale. Is that right?”
“Everyone will benefit, even both of you—which is generous on my part considering the rules of this world mandate that I kill you for your sins against my family.” As long as Diego had his back turned, Natalia continued to squirm. She would get out. She would free herself. And then she’d fight with everything she had. “We’re developing a new drug and want to explode onto the market. We can mostly handle North America, but we need both of you in order to take Europe, Asia, the Middle East. Your income will quadruple.”
I watched Diego’s face closely as Costa grunted. “Then why blackmail us?” he asked. “Make a proposal, and my partner and I will discuss it. I won’t do business with you while you’ve kidnapped my daughter.”
“Because Cristiano’s answer will be no.” Diego strolled backward. “He needs motivation.”
My chest locked up as he rounded Natalia’s chair and set his hands on her shoulders. Touched her. Massaged her. My body shook with an impending explosion. I finally let myself look at Natalia for more than a few seconds. I tried to draw from the strength in her eyes. She was trying to soothe me when it needed to be the other way around.
I love you, I said with my gaze. I’m coming for you. No matter what.
I inhaled through my nose. I needed a level head—and to keep his eyes on me. He was standing behind her. If he saw her restraints broken or even loose, that could only make things worse.
“Narcotics distribution is what Belmonte-Ruiz demands in exchange for all that you’ve cost them,” Diego explained. “But then there’s what I want.”
What had Diego desired from the start?