Elena
“You could have introduced Miss Jensen as the wedding plannerbeforeI opened my mouth and embarrassed myself,” I chide him as we settle into the limo. I can’t believe I did that. What got into me? One moment I was across the room, stupidly admiring Maximo’s broad shoulders in that tuxedo, then the next I was wedging myself between him andthatwoman, staking my claim on a man I don’t even want. Possessive in a way I’ve never felt about anybody before. I blame it on the champagne.
At least our sham of an engagement party is over. I call it a sham because this wedding’s never going to materialize. I can’t let it happen.
Maximo grins. “Jealousy’s a good look on you,cara mia.”
“I’m not jealous,” I snap. The lie tastes bitter on my tongue.
“Then why did you aggressively attack a woman for putting her hands on me? What motivated you, if not jealousy?” He cocks a brow, looking way too amused as he sprawls in the limo. He’s always taking up too much space. I swear the man can’t be contained.
“She was being inappropriate. Everyone was staring.” I gaze out the window, ignoring his knowing grin. “I won’t tolerate being made to look like a fool.”
“No one was staring,bella, and no one thinks you’re a fool.” Maximo wraps his enormous hand around my waist and slides me closer to him. My insides flutter. “They see you for what you are, my beautiful fiancée.”
My heart tries to leap out of the chest at his closeness. His rich, masculine scent teases my nose, clouding my mind with all kinds of fanciful, sinful thoughts.
But I’m still angry with him for taking everything away from me. I hate him. I’ve made that clear with myself.
But do I?
Shut up.
Or do I hate how he’s the embodiment of everything I don’t want in a man, yet the most alluring person I’ve ever met? If he weren’t a mafia don… If I wasn’t desperate to leave…
I shake my head to clear that dangerous train of thought.
Maximo leans closer, his lips brush against mine. My nipples pebble, the air catches in my throat. How can I desire him and despise him in the same breath?
“Stop fighting yourself,cara mia. What we have between us is—” His words cut off as he grabs my arms, shoving me down to the floor. A split second later, gunfire pelts the car.
I scream.
Maximo’s body heat engulfs me. “Stay down. No matter what happens, don’t let them see you. Stay out of sight, and if they run us off the road, you save yourself. You run for your life, Elena. Don’t let them catch you.Capiscimi?”Understand me?
Shakily, I nod, my pulse pounding in my ears. I cover my head with my arms as another round of bullets pepper the limo, cracking the windows on one side. Fear drenches me in a coldsweat. The vehicle must be armored, otherwise we’d be dead already.
But maybe they don’t want us dead.
What if they capture me? Cage me? Or worse?
No, no, no, I can’t ever go back to that. Snippets of horrid memories flash through my mind. The iron bars digging into my back. How the apartment stank of rotting food and body odor. The certainty that I’d die in that kennel and no one would ever find my rotting body.
“Why can’t I touch her?” one of my captors asks the other. “I’m stuck here with her all day long. It would make the time go quicker if I could touch her, just a little.”
“No,” the bigger one snarls. “She’s an asset. She must remain untainted.”
“Aren’t we just going to kill her now that this is all over? Seems like a waste.”
“No.” This time the big man pulls out a gun and shoots the other guy in the head. The silenced shot shatters the air as he collapses onto the floor.
I stare in horror as his blood leaks from his body. It creeps closer and closer to the cage. I scramble backwards, but I can’t escape it.
Panic pierces my chest like an iron spike. I curl up into a ball and whimper. I’ll never let myself be taken again.
The driver speeds up. Maximo’s bodyguard in the passenger seat, Guillio, returns fire on those chasing us. I press my palms against my ears, eyes squeezed shut.
All of a sudden, I’m cold and alone as Maximo shifts away from me. With a protest on my lips, my eyelids fly open. I watch as he pulls his own weapon from beneath the seat, rolls down the window, and returns fire.
