“But I didn’t,” I protested. “I haven’t done anything.”
He traced the line of my jaw, his feather-light touch in shocking contrast to his iron grip on my shoulders. “No, you haven’t done anything wrong, belleza. And you don’t need to be afraid. Your father will fall in line because he thinks I’m a threat to you. But I will never hurt you. I swear.”
“Then you can’t stop me from leaving.” I tried to push away from him.
His gentle touch on my cheek shifted, his hand coming to rest on my throat. He didn’t apply pressure, but my breath stuttered.
“I can, and I will,” he warned calmly. “I don’t need to harm you to keep you here with me.”
I licked my lips, a small shudder racing through my body. Mateo stroked the column of my neck with his thumb, but he didn’t release my throat. His dark eyes burned into me, staring with an intensity that I didn’t fully understand. My skin pebbled, even though heat flashed through my body.
“I want to talk to my father.” I intended to make a demand, but the words came out as a meek request.
Mateo continued to brush his thumb up and down my neck. I realized he was tracing the line of my artery. I could feel it pulsing beneath his touch, and I became hyperaware of the threat he posed. I should fear my vulnerability in his powerful arms, but a strange sense of calm settled over me. My lashes fluttered, my thoughts drifting away. Maybe the drugs Mateo had given me hadn’t fully left my system. I felt weak and achy in ways I wasn’t at all familiar with.
“What did you give me?” I whispered.
“Give you?” he asked, his voice deeper than I’d ever heard it. His eyes were hooded, and he appeared as though he might be drugged, too.
“The drugs,” I murmured.
He blinked, shaking off whatever was affecting him. His hand left my throat, and I drew in a shuddering breath.
“Nothing that will have long-term consequences,” he reassured me. “Now that you’re hydrated, it’ll fully wear off soon.”
His eyes were intent on mine, as though he’d be able to detect whether or not the drugs lingered in my system just by studying me. When he continued to stare and didn’t say anything else, I decided to press for my request again.
“I want to talk to my father. Please, let me call him.”
He blew out a short sigh and reached into his pocket. Keeping me secured against his chest with one strong arm, he retrieved his phone with his free hand. He didn’t say anything to me as he selected a contact and connected the call.
“Adrián,” he said into the receiver. “Is it done?”
I tensed. Mateo wasn’t calling Daddy for me. He was calling his terrifying boss. The man who had ordered him to kidnap me and hold me hostage.
Mateo idly stroked his thumb up and down my arm, as though he was seeking to soothe my tension without really thinking about what he was doing. Despite the frightening, confusing things that had happened to me today, I believed him when he promised he wouldn’t hurt me.
I don’t need to harm you to keep you here with me.
A small shiver raced over my skin at the memory of his stern declaration. His thumb rubbed the goose bumps that suddenly pebbled my flesh. I blinked up at him, finding myself trapped by his intense, rapt stare once again.
He jerked his head to the side. “Yes, boss,” he said to Adrián, refocusing his attention on their conversation. “I have her at my house. I assume you want me to hold onto her for a while?”
I scowled and strained against his hold. He didn’t even seem to register my small struggle. He simply continued stroking my arm as he talked to Adrián about me. Discussing my abduction as though it was totally normal.
This couldn’t be real. It certainly wasn’t my normal. Maybe I never had been really aware of what Daddy’s business entailed. But surely, he wasn’t actually capable of trying to hurt Valentina? The vibrant, sweet woman I’d met earlier this afternoon wasn’t a threat to anyone. Some of the men Daddy worked with—like Adrián—were scary, but there was nothing dangerous about Valentina.
Was my dad secretly just as scary as Adrián Rodríguez? I couldn’t reconcile my doting father with a man like Adrián, whose cruelty was evident in each of his perfect features, somehow enhanced by his physical beauty. With his panther’s eyes and sleek demeanor, his predatory nature was impossible to miss.
“I’m glad Valentina is safe,” Mateo said. “And Hugo?”
Adrián’s reply elicited a chilling reaction. Suddenly, Mateo’s jaw set, and his dark eyes glinted with a savage, terrifying light I’d never seen before. His lips curved with sadistic satisfaction. “I’ll leave you to it, then,” he told Adrián smoothly before ending the call.