Please, leave.
She didn’t want him here. Not in the place she’d shared with Martin and Ricky.
His dark eyes took her measure, the depths warm and gentle, camouflaging the sickness that festered within.
What were his true intentions with her? Had any part of the past two years been real? Or was it all manipulation?
He’d sent Garra to collect her DNA in a violent, repulsive way. He required her to sit through his meetings but kept his human trafficking operation concealed from her. Then he tasked her, his only daughter, to seduce his enemies, not knowing if they would kill her or hurt her. All the while, he protected her from the other inmates, learned English through her instruction, and danced with her. Why?
Her mind delivered the sound of a zipper to her ears, but she didn’t react, didn’t look down. She blocked out the reminder of who he was and assumed her role.
“Have you seen Martin and Ricardo?” She craned her neck around him to glance into the hall. “They said they were going to get food, but they never returned. I was just on my way out to find—”
“They’re gone.” His eyebrows knitted together as he studied her.
“What?” She squared her shoulders with feigned indignation. “You had them killed? You said I had time to—”
“No,” he tsked. “They left Jaulaso. The military dropped their charges and released them.”
“Oh.” She slumped onto the mattress and blew out a breath. “Shit.”
“You don’t know anything about that?” He cocked his head, his expression soft and concerned.
“No.” Her fingers trembled, and she flexed them. “What does it mean? Are they working with the military? Like undercover or something?”
“That’s my assumption.”
“Oh, God.” She pressed her face into her hands and made a noise she hoped sounded like a self-loathing groan. “I failed you.”
“Petula.” He lowered onto the bed beside her, sending her nerves into a shrieking fit of horror. “You kept them distracted. Whatever secrets they came to steal from me remain safely guarded. They failed. Because of you.”
There was so much truth in that it fucking hurt. If they hadn’t become entangled with her, if they hadn’t chosen her over their mission, they might’ve succeeded.
They could’ve taken down Hector’s entire human trafficking operation if they’d learned where his officers were hiding. But she’d gotten in their way.
She’d distracted them just like Hector had wanted.
“I don’t feel like I was any help at all.” She stared down at her hands, playing coy as she worked up the courage to meet his eyes. “They got away.”
When she finally lifted her head, she stared at him through a one-way window. She could see his ugliness, his unadulterated evil. But he couldn’t see her. The utter fear she felt in his presence, the grief of losing Martin and Ricky, her plan to kill him—all of it was invisible to him.
Because she was his daughter. Their genetic connection made him partial to her. He wanted to trust her.
She would manipulate that trust until her transfer went through. Then she would kill him with it.
He watched her for a moment, his head tipping with curiosity. She held still, her facial muscles slack as she thought about the gooey goodness of grilled cheese, her favorite passage in The Hellbound Heart, the tattered stubs of her shoestrings—anything except the images of him with that little girl.
Disgust raged beneath her schooled features, seething under her skin and cooking her from the inside out.
“You liked the gringos,” he said.
She loved them.
Losing that love felt like a straitjacket constricting her body. She would never adjust or grow comfortable in it. She would never be able to take it off. It would forever bind her and prevent her from holding anyone and anything. Maybe it would eventually make her insane, and she would welcome the madness because a reality without them hurt too damn much.
“They were attractive.” She shrugged. “I mean… I had a good time distracting them, I guess.” She glanced around the room. “But it’ll be nice to have my privacy back. Can I keep this cell?”
“If you’d like.” His gaze drifted to Garra, who waited outside the door. Then he returned to her. “I put an alert out. The entire city is on the lookout for the gringos. If they attempt to contact you—”
“I’ll castrate them,” she deadpanned.
He laughed, just like she knew he would, and the air around him settled into affectionate trust. She felt like she was going to throw up, but at least he hadn’t noticed.
“I’ll let you know if they contact me,” she said. “In the meantime, I’m probably just going to hang out in here for a while, read some books, and enjoy my alone time. Is that okay?”
He inclined his head. “As long as you delight this old man with a dance every now and then.”
The shudder that rose up was so powerful she had to clench her core muscles to stifle it.