Enrique snatched her father’s arm in mid-air.A growl rumbled from his mouth.
Dios mío.A tense hush fell over the room.Her blood raced faster than a train about to derail.No one touched the Villegas jefe like that.Not if they wanted to live.
“Lourdes is going to be my wife,” Enrique stated in his cool, deadly calm voice.“You will never strike her again.”
Gerardo yanked his arm back.“She ismydaughter.She will obey me.”
“No.”The word split Lourdes’s lips before she could think better of it.Enough was enough.She coughed and cleared her throat.“You do not own me, Papá.I’m not some pawn for you to trade off to secure your reputation.”
Gerardo’s eyes widened, fury rising like a monsoon.“You’ve disgraced this family, Lourdes!You’re a spoiled brat.After everything I’ve sacrificed, all the promises—”
“I never promised him anything!”She pointed at Diego.“Youdid.You offered me up like cattle.You sold me.Just as you sold me to Jacobo.I’m done playing the dutiful daughter.”
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that.”
“I dare.May the Holy Trinity strike me dead if I’m in the wrong.”She crossed herself with her hand and stepped closer to the first man who ever haunted her dreams.His cigar-scented breath puffed across her face, nearly gagging her.“I’ve been scared of you my whole life.I’m not the son you wanted, and I’m tired of paying that price.My life is mine, not yours to barter with.”The words shot a thrill down her spine.For years, she’d longed to say them, never expecting she would.
“It’s too late.”Diego smirked and strode over.His creased gray suit offset the dark circles plaguing his bloodshot eyes.He snatched a folder off the table and flicked it in the air.“You agreed to comply with the terms of this contract.It will strengthen the bond between our cartels.Even you must see the good that would come from it.”
“Even me?Like I’m a simpleton who cannot understand that murderers and drug traffickers use women to get allies?Oh, believe me.That is crystal clear.”She bristled, fisting her hands.The swell of Diego’s body heat and the godawful stench of his cologne threatened to choke her.“I signed that under duress, and I wasn’t even allowed to read it.”She clasped her cheek, which now throbbed with phantom pain.
“Duress?”Rubén repeated.
“Lourdes, quiet.”Gerardo raised his balled-up hand.His eyebrows crashed down.
“I refused to sign it, so my father slapped me so hard that I saw stars.Then he forced the pen between my fingers, grabbed my hand, and forcibly wrote my name on the dotted line.”
“What the fuck?”Enrique drew her back to his side.“The contract is invalid.”
“Her word against mine.”Gerardo puffed out his chest.“My lawyer witnessed the whole thing and will corroborate my version of events.She signed of her own accord.”
“I will not honor the agreement.”Lourdes trembled, fury and pain whipping a storm inside her.She met her father’s insidious glare.“Disown me.I would rather not have a father than one who treats me as currency.Who hits me when he doesn’t get his way.”
Gerardo snapped upright.He swept his gaze down her body and back to her face as though he didn’t know what to make of her.
Diego growled deep in his throat, the sound rumbling from his thinned lips.“You humiliated me, you filthy slut.I should—”
Enrique grabbed Diego’s suit jacket and lifted the shorter man off his feet.“Finish that thought, and I’ll put your teeth in your throat.”
Diego blinked, startled.Crimson flooded his already ruddy face.
“Enough.”Rubén gripped the back of his seat as though to stop himself from moving.“There will be no violence in my home.Release him, Ricky.”
Enrique obeyed and stepped back.
As Diego tossed the folder back on the table and straightened his clothes, Lourdes grasped Enrique’s hand in a united front.
Gerardo bit down on his cigar.“Do you recognize this farce of a union, Rubén?”
The Lozano jefe swung his inscrutable gaze between Enrique and Lourdes before facing the elder Villegas.“Let’s talk with Enrique in private, Gerardo.”He flicked his hand at Lourdes and Diego.“You two—out.”
“Forget it.”Enrique slashed his hand through the air.“She’s not going anywhere with him.”
“She won’t be,” Rubén replied before he strode across the office and opened the door.He faced Diego.“Go to the game room.You will not speak to Lourdes until this is resolved.”
“Of course, jefe,” Diego acquiesced with a curt nod and strode out.
The opening and closing of a door echoed from down the hall.
