Page 25 of When Sinners Hate
I loosen my weight off the girl on the floor and watch her run back into the mob of new intakes. “Dante, my wife needs a drink while I deal with this.”
Not that I care if she sees my violent nature or not.
I just don’t want her tainted with his blood.
CHAPTER TEN
ALEXIA
Dante all but drags me back through the dark corridors we came through and eventually turns into a room that feels less like the bowels of the operation. There’s a window in this room, and it’s set up as an office. Although, I’d bet there are no papers or documents associated with the real business here.
He lets go of my arm and heads to the corner of the room, grabbing a bottle of something and pouring. Without a word between us, he thrusts the tumbler of golden liquid towards me.
“A little early to drink, don’t you think?” I offer.
“No.” He takes the glass in his hand, drains it, and heads back to the table to pour a chaser. In this gloomy light, I can see the tattoo snaking out from beneath a shirt he wasn’t wearing earlier. The material creases as he moves, smudged and dirtied up with sweat and grime. He looks every bit the vengeful killer I know he is and a mile away from the man I danced with yesterday at my wedding. The lack of shirt and appearance earlier, plus the conversations before Abel blew that man’s brains out, make me think he must be the one to mark thegirls. Or should I say merchandise. Especially as he seems to be wearing his own kind of brand in the shape of a W. Interesting that a man like him would be that committed to a girl like her.
The way they treat the girls, the way Abel manhandled the girl earlier, brings a sour taste of bile to my mouth, but I control it and swallow my nausea down, and with it, my memories away. The flip of my stomach is a warning, but I force a deep breath.
I perch on the arm of the leather chesterfield positioned in front of the desk while Dante stays in the corner, watching me like a hawk. Abel said his brother doesn’t trust me – with good measure, I suppose – but I have to wonder what act or deed I’ll be required to perform in order to earn that trust. Or maybe it’s simply a matter of time because regardless of him trusting me or not, he would have protected me up there. His movement towards me didn’t go unnoticed, and it makes me want to question why. Like so many things in this family I’ve seen, I can’t seem to guess or predict anything.
And that puts me at a disadvantage.
“Does Wren know what you do?” I don’t expect she does, and I don’t expect him to answer, either. His eyes narrow, turning his features menacing and violent.
My question isn’t answered, and after a while, Carmen, followed by Abel, walk into the office. There’s still blood flecked over his face and shirt, not that it bothers me, but it is a new version of my husband to imagine. Carmen motions to Dante, and he follows her back out. Her eyes linger on me a fraction too long at the door, and the urge to slap her cocky little grin courses in my veins. She believes she’s better than me, and that is an opinion that I won’t tolerate going forward. I just need to figure out how to get that message across. Especially considering she’s clearly in Abel’s inner circle. A position that I assumed would be for family only.
“I haven’t got long. Knox is due shortly,” Abel murmurs from the corner.
“And I’m assuming I’m not invited to that particular conversation.”
He picks up a glass, pours and drains the contents before turning back towards me. “No.”
I bounce my leg, crossed at the knee. What I imagine in my mind – what I saw Carmen do to those girls – is like poison to me. It seeps through my blood, wiping away the armour and resolve I’ve built over the years.
“Can I ask you something, Abel? Why did you bring me here?” My father expected unthinkable things from me. I was a tool for his ambition, and the scars will never heal. And now here I am, face to face with another monster who profits from the same pain and humiliation I endured.
“I’ve told you that. It’s time you understood what Cortez business is built on.”
“I think it’s more than that.” I stay sitting on the edge of the couch, my body vibrating with an urgency to escape. But then I consider how that will look. I need Abel to trust me – to know that a little blood and honesty isn’t going to affect me. More than that, I need him to see that I’m beginning to understand his games. “I think you wanted to shock me. To frighten me and to show me why I should be afraid of you.”
He's the one to move first. He steps towards me and looks down, his eyes landing on the pink blush on my lips. “Are you?”
“No,” I answer confidently, and it’s the truth.
He scoffs, and I see this as another sign of control – controlling my behaviour with passive threats. Ironic, as he’s quite good at the physical ones.
“Everything you do, Abel, is calculated and for a reason, and ultimately, for your family. We’re a living statement to that truth. There are no missteps with you.”
“I agree.”
“So, why did you bring me here?” I stand and walk past him, making sure to brush my shoulder against his – the briefest of touches – and pour myself a drink.
“Seeing what we do is a very different reality to hearing about it. It was a test.”
“And do I pass? Watching your new husband kill a man the day after your wedding is quite a honeymoon.”
He grabs my jaw and turns my face to his. “See, that fake mouth of yours trying to be clever is only going to piss me off. You’ve been warned.” He shoves me back, but all he’s done is tear off the mask of indifference I’ve been fighting to keep in place.