Page 73 of Shadow Man
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Anna
Iwake to peace. And cicadas... Their endless chirp is a soothing rhythm to me now.
Rolling over to begin another moment, I’m disappointed to find the bed empty. His chain has gone from the nightstand. There’s nothing left of him except the empty silver blister packs of morphine.
Frowning, I scoot across the tiles to use the bathroom, each step intensifying the ache between my legs. He took my permission and ran with it. He fucked me just the way he said he would. He crumbled my walls, he turned my tides; I screamed and I shattered in his hands, and now? I see only him. I want only him. Again and again, until my lungs are hoarse and my body is begging for mercy.
“I hope that morphine’s kicking in a treat, Joseph Grayson,” I whisper to my reflection in the mirror. “I’ll be seeking you out in a minute and forcing you to make me whole again.”
I take a shower and dress in the simple black summer dress that Gabriela lent me yesterday. It must be one of Vi’s because there’s not much on the material side anda loton the sexy side.
I know I have some serious explaining to do to her, not least because she’s currently sharing a mansion with her nemesis—the man she hates most in the world—and it’s all my fault.
Once I’ve brushed my hair, I follow a trail of male voices downstairs, which leads me into another over-the-top living area. I see Dante first. He’s sprawled out on a red velvet couch with his boots resting on a gilded coffee table in front of him, looking as sleek and deadly as a black and tan rattlesnake. He’s deep in conversation with a small, overweight man with thinning gray hair, but they break it off as soon as I enter.
Dante looks over and glowers. I guess he hasn't got over the whole me slapping him in the face thing yet.
“Where’s Gabriela?” I ask, as his companion’s eyes feast on my body, making my skin rash up with disgust.
“How the fuck should I know?” comes his growl of a response. “Try the other wing. That’s where she keeps the girls.”
What are they? Cattle?“Joseph, then?” I ask coolly. How Eve deals with his shitty moods is anyone’s guess.
“Recovering, most likely.” This time there’s a hint of amusement in his dark expression, which makes me blush scarlet. Asshole.“He’s with the doctor. He busted a stitch. Second door on the left,” he adds, dismissing me back into the hallway with a flick of his hand.
I go to push the door open when a soft hand and a familiar scent slip into my senses and drag me sideways into an adjoining room.
“Holy shit,parcera, where the hell have you been?” hisses Vi, looking me over and frowning. “Hey, is that my dress?”
“Your aunt lent it to me. Is that—?”
“Whatever. It looks good on you.” She shakes her head as if it’s not important and plants her finger to her lips, beckoning me over to the other side of the room. “I’m trying to listen in on their conversation,” she confesses, pressing her ear to the ochre wall.
“Who? Dante and that guy’s?”
She shoots me a dirty look over her shoulder. “On a first name basis with him, are we?” She manages to sound both mad and hurt at the same time.
This is the downside of feeling again, I realize. All of my emotions are getting a look-in, including guilt.
“Listen, Vi, I know I should have told you everything, but—”
“Yeah, you think?” She pulls away from the wall and studies me for a second. “I guess we both had secrets we couldn’t share. I’ll go first, shall I? Brace yourself… Dante Santiago is my uncle.”
“He’s yourwhat?” My expression can’t conceal my shock, and neither can my hands judging by the amount of motion going on with them.
“I’m his brother’s illegitimate daughter. Gabriela found out and adopted me when I was eight.”
“Does he know?”
She snorts. “Oh yeah, he knows. He hates my father so much he held a gun to my head last night.”
“And youlived?” I splutter.
“I guess he changed his mind,” she says, shrugging like it’s no big deal.How is she acting so calm about this?“I have to keep the hell away from him though, which is fine by me. Except when I want to hear what’s going on between him and Carlos Gomez.”
“The creep in there is Gomez?”