My uncle’s guard smirks at me causing me to glare back as I snatch up my stuff and shove it back into my bag. Then without another glance, I grab my suitcase and flip him off as I walk away. Normally I wouldn’t be quite so brazen but seeing as how my uncle is no longer around, I don’t see the harm in my last goodbye to his jerk of a guard. It’s only when I get a little closer that I really get to see the two men before me.
One looks a little bit older, although not ugly, and big too, like he lifts weights in his sleep. Maybe in between my uncle and my cousin’s age? It’s the second man that catches my eye and my knees go weak as I take him in. He’s beautiful, like in a sexy I might kill you in your sleep kind of way. Tattoos cover both of his arms and travel up his neck to right under his jaw. His crisp white shirt hugs his tanned skin so perfectly that I can practically see the ridges of his muscles popping though the fabric. He’s not overly big either but you can tell he definitely works out. His black hair is shaved close to his head with only the slightest length left on top and his lips are full and pouty like soft pillows. They pull into a small smirk that makes my gaze flick from them up to his bright green eyes that seem to glitter with something I can’t name.
“Are you ready to go, or did you need another minute?” he purrs out making my eyes narrow.
This cocky jerk definitely just caught me staring at him like he was my last meal and now I watch in return as his gaze scans down the length of my body. He pushes his tongue against the side of his cheek as his eyes return to my own and I can feel the heat pulse between my thighs.
‘Don’t let these men see you weak, Liana. Be strong like Andre taught you.’
“No,” I say with a pause. “I don’t need another minute. Just take me to Grandpa.”
“Grandpa?” The man questions and they both look at each other in confusion.
“Yes, the old man I’m supposed to be married off to. You know…your boss,” I say matter of factly.
The bigger man bursts out laughing while the other one scowls at him. Now it’s my turn to be confused. What is so funny? Surely he didn’t think I was telling some kind of joke.
“Get in the car, little girl,” he says as he whips the door open and gestures for me to jump in.
The bigger man continues to laugh behind him but pauses to speak just before my door is closed.
“I don’t think your future husband will like to be called grandpa, but he might not mind you calling him Papi.”
The door slams shut behind me and I watch through the windows as both men speak to each other in hushed tones. I can’t hear a word they are saying but after a few minutes, my suitcase is dumped in the back of the SUV and both men get into the front seats.
Chapter Three
Liana
The SUV is huge and imposing and the air conditioning is cranked so high, I find myself shivering. Not that the chill is the only reason I’m shivering. It’s both men in front of me. Well actually, it’s the younger one with tattooed arms that drums his fingers on the console in a slow deliberate rhythm. I notice his bruised knuckles and wonder what happened.
‘Was he in a fight? Who are these men sent to pick me up?’
He hasn’t looked at me much, but every once in a while, I find him glancing back at me. It’s assessing, like he could cut me open with a glance and I don’t know why, but it intrigues me. He’s so good looking it should be a crime. It’s a different kind of sexy though. He’s alluring and dangerous and…dirty.
My thighs clench together as I clutch my book tighter in my lap, nails digging half-moons into the cover. I should read, get lost in someone else’s mess, but the sentences blur together when I try. Every pothole in the road rattles straight up my already stiffspine.
“So,” I say finally, my voice breaking through the silence, “what’s the plan? You dropping me at the cartel daycare until my husband shows up with his dentures and walker?”
I know I shouldn’t speak this way. I was taught better but I’m so bitter right now, I can’t even help myself. I don’t want to be here. I never wanted to leave Italy or my family and now I’m here, being picked up by these random men and driven to some cage, where I’ll spend the rest of my life trapped. I know I should have been prepared for this life. After all, I was raised to be married off one day…I just didn’t think it would be somewhere outside of Italy.
I watch as the driver’s mouth twitches, like he’s about to laugh at my joke, but something holds him back. The tattooed guy doesn’t move or react at all which makes me want to say more. His face remains a blank mask as he continues to stare ahead.
“Careful,” he says after a second. His voice is smooth, low and with an edge I can’t place. I must have really pissed him off. Maybe he has a crush on my new husband? He can have the bastard. What a shame if he was into men though because he really is a sight to be seen. “Not everyone here thinks your jokes are cute.”
“Lucky for me I don’t care what you think,” I shoot back without thinking. The words burn my throat as soon as I spit them out and I cringe.
‘Shut up, Liana. You have no idea what these men are like or how they operate. Who knows what kind of punishments your new husband will allow.’
I turn my face to the window and press my forehead to the glass. The sun outside is blinding with the desert rolling on forever. I hate it already.
I expect him to snap, to put me in my place like my uncle always does. But he just leans back in his seat, casual, almost bored. His lips twitch but not with a smile or a frown. It’ssomething in between…something unreadable. The silence stretches and my heart thuds so loud I’m sure he can hear it.
‘Don’t let him win, Liana. Say something.‘
‘Shut up, Liana. Don’t get yourself into trouble already.’
The devil on my shoulder ends up winning the battle as I open my mouth to speak again.
