“You walked out on her.”
“I exited the room first. That’s different. You two followed me. But you can go back. The agreement with Roman is still standing.”
“It was a different deal. He changed it,” Alejandro retorts.
We stare at each other in a silent war.
“What is your problem, man?” I toss at him, our eyes clashing.
“We can’t leave her here.”
“We’re not doing anything. I’m leaving. You stay. Both of you can stay. Although she’ll mostly spend the night with him.”
“Can you blame her?”
My eyes are still fixed on him, but my stare is blank.
“She makes her own decisions. She’s shown us she is ready to do that. And she just made one.”
“It’s allowed her to do that. What about not fucking anyone outside the group?”
“This is not that. It’s a different story. I wanted her to consider his proposal and choose what was best for her. It’s a good chunk of money, and now she’s no longer tied to us.”
“This isn’t about money,” he snaps.
“And this isn’t about her,” I retort.
Sucking in a long breath, I study him.
“What do you think it’s about?” he asks.
“You have a problem with me because I let him make that proposal. You forget why we’re here.”
“No. You forget why we’re here.”
Francisco witnesses the exchange with his arms folded on top of his chest.
“Are we really doing this now…?” I mutter, checking my phone when the lights of a yacht gleam in the distance.
“You just offered her a way out,” he says through clenched teeth.
“As opposed to what? Holding her hostage? You know she’s not going anywhere.”
“Why did you do it then?”
I sigh and swallow hard.
“I didn’t do anything. I only gave her more power by leveling the field. She can choose, and she can make money. She is now one of us, and we don’t own her body. She does whatever she pleases, and we’ve eliminated the burden of feelings, which makes our conversation moot.”
A sarcastic grin creases his lips.
“So you’re telling me you have walked out of that room because you wanted her to have a good time, and you were okay with it?”
I look through him.
“I walked out of that room because giving her more power and seeing her enjoy that power didn’t feel as good as I thought it would.”
A secret thought glints in his eyes.