He swallows thickly before nodding. “Fine, patron. I’ll do what you tell me to do.”
“Excellent. We’ll go over the plan. Gather ten of our men, powerful men that Liberato won’t be worried about when they don’t show up for work tomorrow.”
“He notices everything...”
“Well, it’s your fucking job to make sure this time he doesn’t,” I hiss. “And I fucking mean it. One word of this to Liberato and you’re dead goddamn meat.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Damn right I fucking am,” I spit out.
“Why are you doing this behind L’s back?”
“Why are you so full of questions, Phoenix? Need I remind you of how severely pissed off I am you kissed Rain?”
“She kissed me, I-”
“Save me the bullshit. You were more than willing, pendejo. And now’s your chance to make it up to me.”
“Fine,” he finally says, giving me a curt nod. “I’ll do what you say, but for the record, I still think this is wrong.”
“For the record, I don’t give a shit what you think. I-”
My sentence is cut off as I stare into the distance behind Phoenix.
“Yes, patron? What did you want to say?”
“Rain?” The word escapes my lips just as the blonde figure disappears back into the shadows. I launch myself up and after her, running at full speed while Phoenix struggles to catch up with me, calling my name as I run after what could’ve only been a mirage.
But I refuse to admit to myself that what I saw wasn’t real.
I chase after her, feeling as if I’m trying to break out of a mist and fog that’s overtaken my vision. She was just here. And now there’s nothing left. Did I imagine it? Did I hallucinate? Was she really a figment of my imagination?
My chest burns as I race after her and my body is threatening to give out from being overexerted. I need to stop. I need to breathe. This can’t go on.
By the time I come to a stop, I’m out of breath. And yet I don’t want to admit I was wrong. I saw her. Clear as day.
I collapse on the hardwood and stare at the wall. Before my eyes, the shapes and patterns start spinning and morphing into something new. I rub my eyes. What the fuck is happening to me?
“Are you okay, Don Heath?” Phoenix asks, but I shove him off, not wanting to show my weakness. His loyalty may lie with me for the moment, but I know that’s a thing that can shift fast, and I don’t want Phoenix telling my hermano I’ve started hallucinating on top of everything else.
I tell Phoenix to come talk to me tomorrow and lock myself in my study. Even though my body is letting me know I need some rest, I can’t sleep until I plan our attack on the Casa that used to be my home. I only hope Phoenix comes through and helps me like he promised he would.
I pull out a blank piece of paper and a pen and stare blankly at the space before me. I’m eager for another hit. I’m eager for Rain. My fingers are begging to wrap around her slim throat. But she’s been taken from me.
My palm glides along the paper. Something prompts me to lower the pen from it, and without even knowing why, I write on it.
Will you marry me, Rain Ferrell?
I admire my handwriting before slipping the paper into an envelope. Shaking and tired, I leave it on Rain’s side of the bed and tell myself once she returns, which she has to, I’ll tell her I want her to be my wife.
I don’t give a shit if she’s already married to Xavier.
I’ll kill him myself if I have to. I’ll become the Widow Maker instead of the Wife Breaker. I’ll kill him so I can have her myself.
And there’s no one left who can stop me.
Still, as I lie down in the bed, I feel emptier than ever. The room next to my body is left unfilled, and it makes me wonder what’s happening to Rain now.
What if she’s happy to be back with her husband?
Maybe she wanted to leave me all along.
Doubts and sick, dark thoughts plague me until the early hours of the morning when I finally catch some sleep. By the time I wake up again, I’m more than ready to reconvene with Phoenix and plan our attack.
It’s time for my uncle to pay in blood for what he did to my fiancée.
Chapter one
Chapter 5
RAIN
“It’s time for your real punishment, Adelina.”
I swallow thickly. Pulling at the cuffs that hold me in place, I realize for the umpteenth time it’s useless. They aren’t budging and there’s no way I’m getting out of here.
Tears burn the back of my eyes, but I don’t let them fall. I will not show my weakness in front of these men, just like I didn’t show it with Xavier.