Page 21 of Calavera Society
I don’t know if he’s bluffing but I’m not willing to risk it, but he doesn’t need to know that. Grinning, I pull the slide back on my gun and point at his chest, looking through the guide for extra measure.
“Well, you’ve got five seconds to decide if I believe you or if I’m crazy enough to take my chances. One, two, three, four—”
“Do you know who I am? And I don’t mean that as somedo-you-know-who-my-father-istype of douche response,” he leans forward in earnest, “I mean, do you know who I am?”
I want nothing more than to beat answers out of this strange, vague asshole, but I need to keep Val and her mother safe.
“Your silence is answer enough.” He reaches under his chin and slides his mask off revealing stone gray eyes framed in black lashes and - fuck me - black eyeliner smeared in a that fashionable way. He has a scar that cuts down the side of his mouth, the raised scar tissue breaking through his naturally red full lips.
It doesn’t detract from his stunning looks.
He has a shaved head with a snake tattooed on the side, the tongue curling at his temple. When he gives me a slanted smirk, I know his stupid face distracts me.
“I can honestly say, I don’t have a clue who you are.”I’d never forget him if I had ever seen him before.
“Well, then you, Noah Cabañas, are blissfully ignorant. I don’t know if that’ll help you survive or be your downfall.”
“How the fuck do you know my name?”
His smile widens and I decide right then and there I hate him, purely based on his ridiculously good looks.
“Because you’re the guy in love with my baby sister,” he bobs his head from side to side, “well, stepsister is more like it since we share no blood.”
My brows hit my hairline, “Rey Calavera?”
His eyes darken when he hears me whisper his name, something raw and feral passing through his features, “I like the way my name sounds coming from you.”
My eyes narrow at that. I thought I was certifiable, but this guy is completely fucked in the head. He looks back down at Val’s picture, “I wonder how she’d say it.”
“Why are you here? In Val’s house?” He shrugs, soundlessly placing Val’s picture on the floor beside his chair.
“I’m a curious guy. I’ve always been more curious than most and when I found out Roberto had a daughter and he wasn’t my father, well, I just wanted to see what the big deal was. I can see why you’re so,” he grips his cock through his jeans as he lets his eyes rake over me, “hard for her.”
He looks like he knows something I don’t know, but I don’t ponder it because his words strike me in a fucked-up way. Part of me wants to shoot this fuck in the face, but the other part of me wants to hear Rey say filthier things.
I chuckle, “You here to rob, kill or fuck?”
He shrugs, “The night is still young,guapo.”
“You’re a cocky motherfucker. You couldn’t fucking handle me.”
“Let’s find out.” he suggests but I ignore him.
“Let’s not. How do I get Val out of this situation with your bitch ass stepdaddy?”
Rey stands from the chair, tucking his mask into his back pocket before holding his hands up in mock surrender when I straighten my arm out.
“Calmante, I’m not gonna do shit.” He sighs like I’m being unreasonable, “Unfortunately, I don’t see a way out for her. Roberto isn’t just a Calavera member, heisCalavera. He will burn you or anyone you care for in a barrel just bring her out of wherever it is you hide her. She is going to have to go through with whatever he has planned.”
“What are they? His plans.” I ask.
“I don’t know but if you want her to survive it, don’t try to take her away. You’ll only get yourself killed. Coventry is full of cutthroat leaders and the citizens are no different. It’s a dog-eat-dog world there and they will all try to burn your precious Valeria until she’s nothing but a pile of teeth and ash.”
“And you’re just like them, right?” I growl, stepping closer in my haze of rage, the visual he put in my head has my vision turning red.
Rey stares at me, his face becoming a mask of cruelty as a wolfish grin pulls at the corners of his lips.
“No. I’m nothing like them.” He moves fast, swinging a book that hits my hand before he tackles me to the floor. The gun goes flying across the room and out of reach. I topple with him over me, his forearm to my throat as his lips hover mere centimeters from my own.