‘She's mine.’
"I came for you," Antonio says, and the words hit me like a bullet to the chest. "To take you home."
My fingers curl into fists, nails biting into my palms as I force myself to stay seated. Every instinct screams at me to head home to intervene and remind her exactly who she belongs to. But I don't. Instead I watch, listen and wait because this is the moment of truth.
I've given her everything these past weeks. My protection, my honesty, my trust. I've shown her parts of myself I've never shown anyone, and now, with freedom dangling in front of her like a prize, I need to know if any of it mattered. Have I been wasting my time?
"You don't actually love him, do you?" Antonio's voice cuts through my thoughts, and I find myself holding my breath, waiting for her answer.
‘Do you, Datura? Do you feel anything for me at all?’
“Our family isn’t exactly innocent, Antonio,” she says, snapping at him. If it weren’t for the fact that she completelyavoided answering that question, I would be smiling right now.
"I…I don't know," she says finally, “I don’t want to go home and be forced into another marriage alliance. I’ll be trading in one cage for another.”
My chest tightens at that omission. Doesn’t she realize this isn’t a cage yet. What more do I have to do to show her how much she means to me now? I watch the conflict play across her beautiful face. She's torn, uncertain even, and that means I still have a chance.
Both their heads whip around at the sound of security approaching and I watch as Antonio leans down to whisper. I hear every word he says about coming for her, about being ready, and then he's gone. She stands there for a good amount of time, looking far too lost for someone who’s been exploring that garden practically every day for months.
I should be furious. I am furious. I should hunt down her bastard cousin and make him regret ever setting foot on my property. I should go home, drag Liana to our bedroom and fuck her until she forgets her own name, until the only word out of her mouth is mine.
Instead, I close my phone and lean back in my chair, staring at the ceiling as my mind races. She could have agreed immediately. She could have told her cousin yes, could have started packing her bags right then and there and been gone before I was home. She didn’t though. She hesitated. She didn’t say she loved me, but she didn’t say that she didn’t either.
A bitter laugh escapes my mouth. Look at me, the cartel prince, hanging on the uncertainty of a woman who was forced to marry me. My father would laugh at me right now, looking so weak. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he did this on purpose. My brothers would mock me mercilessly, I know it. Yet here I am, willing to let this play out, to give herthe chance to choose me instead of forcing her to stay. My phone vibrates with head of security messaging about the motion detection and I reply for him to not pursue.
Let Antonio think he got away clean and let him plan his little rescue mission. Because when the moment comes where Liana has to make her choice, I want it to be real. I want to know she chose me.
And if she doesn't? My hand tightens around the phone until the case creaks.
If she doesn't, then I'll burn the whole fucking world down and she’ll be stuck with me anyway. My little Datura isn’t going anywhere.
I watch the security feed as Liana finally makes her way back inside, her face a mask of confusion and conflict. She doesn't know I saw everything and she won’t. She doesn't know that her fate now hangs on a choice only she can make.
‘Go back to bed, Datura’, I think as I grab my keys. ‘I’m on my way to remind you who you belong to.’
Chapter Forty
Liana
The smell of churros, fry bread and grilled meat filter through my nose as I take in the festivities around me. Children run around while their parents try to wrangle them in and I watch as Rio laughs at something one of his friends says. My heart aches in this confusing way I can’t understand as images of us chasing our own child flicker in my head.
I have a choice.
A week has passed since Antonio appeared in the garden and I've barely slept a wink. Every night, Rio ravages my body before pulling me into his embrace, his body a furnace against mine. And every night, I lie there listening to his heartbeat while my mind races in circles. He hasn't mentioned anything about that morning and hasn't given any indication that he knows my cousin breached his fortress. Sometimes I catch him watching me with an intensity that makes my skin prickle. It’s like he's waiting for something. Or maybe I’m just paranoid.
"You're not eating," Rio says, nudging my elbow with his.He's holding a paper tray loaded with street tacos, looking impossibly casual in a fitted black t-shirt and jeans. The tattoos on his forearms catch the afternoon sun, and I have to force myself not to trace them with my eyes. Why does he have to be so damn good looking?
"I'm not hungry," I lie.
Really I’m just a little sick to my stomach at the thought of my cousin showing up at any moment to steal me away. It's been like this every time we leave the house. The anxiety of my indecision is eating me alive.
"Bullshit." He tears off a piece of tortilla and holds it to my lips. "You've been picking at your food for days. Eat."
I take the offering, more to shut him up than anything else, but the flavor explodes on my tongue and I find myself reaching for more. The food in Arizona is good, I’ll give him that. He smiles, that rare genuine smile that transforms his face from dangerous to devastatingly handsome, and something in my chest aches a little more.
"Good girl," he murmurs, leaning in to press a kiss to my temple and even though it sounds innocent, heat floods my core.
"I need to use the restroom," I say, spotting a row of portable facilities near the edge of the festival grounds.
