Near each signature, there’s a small mahogany spatter. I draw a deep breath to steady my trembling hand. The stain is a drop of each man’s blood. I’m certain of it.
A blood oath.
My chest aches.
Unless this is another sham, I’m screwed.
Antonio would never go back on his word. Not on a blood pact he made with my father. To do so would bring great dishonor to his name. No one would trust him to keep a deal of any significance. It would make it impossible for him to continue as a serious leader.
Valentina’s sweet face appears before my eyes—and Isabel, ringing her weathered hands.Don’t worry.I’m not surrendering. Not yet.
“You coerced a dying man into a blood oath? That’s low, even for someone named Huntsman.”
The rational part of my brain knows he didn’t force my father into anything. Even on his deathbed, my father wasn’t the kind of man who could be pushed around easily. But I want to believePapaiwas threatened. Ineedto believe it.
Antonio doesn’t flinch as he takes the paper out of my hand and pulls out his phone. He scrolls for a few seconds before holding the screen inches from my face.
I gasp at my father sitting in a chair—his deep voice is unmistakable. And strong. My eyes well as I listen to him trade me away as though I’m a basket of grapes.
How could you do this to me? I always tried to be a good girl, a good daughter. I took good care of you, right until the end. Why would you do this to me?
Antonio and my father memorialized the contract so no one could quarrel with it.Papaisigned of his own free will. There’s nothing to suggest otherwise, only an abundance of evidence to support a consensual agreement.
He approached Huntsman with the marriage arrangement.
It’s a punch to the gut.The kind that catches you unaware. I want to curl up in a ball and sob for days. But I can’t afford to be soft. I need to be as heartless as he is if I expect to have any say in my future.
Antonio plays the video again, but I’ve heard enough. I shove the phone away and find the nerve to peer into his vacant eyes.
“I’m not marrying you.”
5
Daniela
Antonio’s gaze skims my body, not in a sexual way, but as though he’s taking stock of my appearance.
I’m wearing some of my best clothes, but they’ve been laundered many times. The black blazer has taken on a bit of a shiny hue, and it’s frayed at the seams. It’s meager, especially when compared to the fine suit Antonio is wearing.
“Why not?” he asks gruffly. “It’s not as though you’re such a prize. I was promised aprincesa, and yet, here you are, looking like the beggar’s wife.”
The tears sting the back of my eyes.Don’t you dare give him your tears.
I blink a few times to clear my vision, and gear up for a fight.
“I’ll go to the police. Or the UN. You can’t kidnap a woman across international borders. There are laws that even you can’t disregard.”
“You came to Porto of your own accord. I won’t dignify theI’ll go to the policewith a response. We both know that will get you nowhere. The UN?” He chuckles. “Clever. There’s only one problem. You left a trail of bodies behind, Daniela. Do you want to spend the rest of your life in prison? Maybe you’ve forgotten, but the prisons here aren’t as cushy as those in the US.”
I shake my head. “Threaten all you want, but I haven’t killed anyone.”
“The man who forged your travel documents died mysteriously around the time you fled the country. Then there’s Isabel’s husband. Although I don’t believe his body has been recovered—yet. I’m sure there are others the authorities can connect to you.”
I bring a shaky hand to my mouth. Jorge, Isabel’s husband, started drinking heavily a year ago, and about six months ago, right before he disappeared, his behavior changed radically. He turned sullen at the drop of a dime, and belligerent without provocation. In my heart, I knew he was dead, but I always assumed it was the result of a bar fight. I never imagined—
I can’t bear to look at him. “You murdered Jorge?”
“Not me. But he was drinking too much, and talking too much. He was willing to sell some of your secrets. Sounds like a perfect motive for murder. Did Isabel help you? How about her daughter—Valentina, right? Do they have the death penalty in the US for accomplices?”