Page 18 of In the Dark

“Why not? I’m not getting any younger, and I, like you, do what’s necessary for the family.”

No. I’d done the exact opposite.

I’d burned down a billion-dollar building in a blind rage, and now he was going to ruin my cousin’s life?

“You can’t want this, Knight.” God, my voice sounded desperate. “You’ll never be able to sleep around again. You don’t want to be married—”

“Men have open marriages all the time, Jas.” He shrugged. “This way, the East Coast partnership is the payment for that building and a bit of Fuerte Firearms.”

“No,” I whispered. That business was actually the one I worked on tirelessly.

He kept going. “Or when you all die and leave your legacy to the next generation, well, our kid gets whatever is in the trust—”

“There is no trust!” I screamed. They may not believe it, but I’d scoured every place with Paolo to make sure. My father and grandfather hadn’t hidden anything. Whatever money they believed my father had stolen was never, ever put away somewhere else. I’d dug for it over and over again every time Paolo asked.

He’d asked nice, and he’d asked mean. He’d pushed Monte and Perla to have me sleep in the cold, without a bed, without food, and still I couldn’t remember a thing about my father hiding anything.

“That trust was a tall tale my father told, probably to keep everyone hopeful, Knight.”

Callahan shrugged as if unfazed. “We’ll see.”

“We’ll see by marrying Maribel?” The air left my lungs, replaced by the suffocating weight of four generations of Ruiz pride. The Atlantic waves didn’t just crash; they sounded like a rhythmic funeral drum now against the cliffs. The sky even seemed to darken.

“I’d just as soon make a baby without the whole wedding, but your family needs alliances and protection, no? So, it benefits everyone, even your traitorous self.”

My aunt and uncle were desperate to save our territory. It was no secret that the vultures were circling, our enemies closing in and preparing to strike. That was the way of our world. But giving away Maribel’s hand in marriage? Considering their own children? Maribel and Annarose weren’t ready for this life. They would never be.

“It doesn’t matter. You can’t. I won’t allow it,” I said through gritted teeth.

His head shook slowly, like I was dense, and his brows formed a condescending frown. “Jasmina, I know we had fun and all that night, but you don’t get to say yes or no to someone marrying me.”

“Not her,” I whispered, bile rising up. Those women, although spoiled rotten, were still just babies.

“You’d rather it be her sister, then?” He raised an eyebrow.

“No. Neither. You can’t …” I wheezed at the thought, starting to hyperventilate. “Callahan …”

He waited. He didn’t give a fuck about how sick I got, how I wanted to stab him, how my mind zigzagged in every direction trying to find a way out for them.

“I’ll marry you,” I said quietly, and then I cleared my throat and met his eyes with determination. “Marry me.”

That got him laughing again. “I want nothing to do with your venomous ass.”

“You want my cousins over me?” The idea formed fast in my mind as my eyes scanned the road behind him. I considered how much time I would have, how quickly I could put it all together if I went forward with this. I only had a second to make the decision.

Killing a Diamond would be a death sentence if I didn’t get away with it.

But I could.

I could kill him in that water, push his body down and let it sink to the depths of the ocean. I was a good swimmer and a better fighter with my knife than he would ever be.

I could make a run for it and get my cousins out in time if I moved quickly enough. We’d need to get out of the country, but we’d have time while they were still looking for him.

“She seems nice enough, Jas.” He tilted his head and smiled at me like he didn’t give a shit either way.

That was exactly the point. She was way too sweet for him. Plus, she deserved someone who didn’t toss his dick around so easily. But in response, I knew what to do. I’d toss around my body for my family too.

I put a hand on his chest and slid it up toward his neck. I hooded my eyes and glanced down at his lips. “But we had something between us that was nice enough, too, Cal. Something that I’d give you again.”