“Yes, the cameras,” I snapped, not even trying to moderate my voice.
“So you’re planning to walk away without saying another word to him.”
I swallowed over the sudden tightness in my throat. “That’s what he wants.”
His nearly black eyebrows arched. “Are you sure about that?
“Yes.” My voice faltered, and I sounded unsure, confused even. “But even if it isn’t, you made it clear that you’d ruin my life if I didn’t stay away from him.”
He nodded. “Ah, we’re back to the video and the cameras.” He strolled across the room, his hands in his pockets. “Maybe that’s what is wrong with your generation.”
“What?” I answered, not understanding why I bothered prolonging this conversation. How in the hell would he know if something was wrong with my generation? He was a sick and twisted murderer.
“You’ve been handed everything without working for it, so you’re afraid to go after what you really want in life. You settle for mediocrity when you should go after your dreams. Mediocre spouses. Mediocre careers. Mediocre lives.” He shook his head, disdain dripping from his voice. “How boring.”
“And murdering your way to the top of a cartel was your dream?” I taunted, the smugness in Ignacio’s voice grating on my already threadbare nerves.
“Being the best at whatever I did was my dream.”
“And you’re the best.”
“I’d like to think so.” The declaration sounded almost serene. He opened the door. “Have your things packed and be waiting by the front door at seven in the morning. Take care, Miss Covington, and good luck with your life.” He paused with his hand on the doorknob. “With whatever you choose or don’t choose.”
What the hell did that mean? “And if I choose Ryker?”
“Then you choose Ryker.”
I rubbed my hands together. “You won’t do anything to stop me.”
“No. I got what I wanted.”
“And what was that?”
“Your compliance until I could secure Rever’s release. I’ve secured his release, so what you do or don’t do isn’t my concern.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Ignacio plans to release me tomorrow,” I said when he reached the end of the pool. Drops of water glistened like stars on his tanned skin.
His muscles tensed, but he didn’t acknowledge me. He dove back under the surface of the water, going back and forth at least six more times. Desperate for him to acknowledge me, to talk to me, I shrugged off my sundress, exposing my white bikini. I lowered myself into the pool, waiting by the edge for him to finish his laps.
“I wanted to say goodbye,” I said when he surfaced again only inches from me.
“You need to go.”
I ignored him. “You haven’t said one thing to me in five days.”
“That’s by design.” He sidestepped me, moving toward the steps exiting the pool.
“Stop.” I wrapped my hands around his biceps, refusing to let him walk away from me again, refusing to let him do anything but look me in the eye and talk to me. “Why won’t you talk to me?” He kept his head turned, not meeting my gaze. “You can’t even look at me.”
The awkwardness between us was palpable, and I hated it. For some reason, I had deluded myself into believing he cared about me. I shouldn’t have tried to talk to him. I should’ve stayed in my room and waited for my last hours in captivity to expire. I had read too much into the time we spent together, which was ridiculous on my part, given the circumstances of how we met.
I shifted nervously from one foot to the other waiting for him to say something…anything.
“Hattie,” he said, his gray eyes finally locking on mine. “Why’d you come?”
“You’re right, I should go. This was a dumb idea. I don’t know what I was thinking. If you wanted to talk to me, you had many opportunities to do so. I’m forcing you—”
“Shut up, Hattie.” He pressed a finger to my mouth holding it there. “I don’t know what you’re thinking.”
“That I should’ve stayed in my room. That I don’t belong here.”
“Neither do I.” He dropped his hands to my shoulders, and he had this lost look on his face. My heart twisted. “I’ve never felt comfortable here. I hated the summers I spent in this house. I hated my dad’s life, and I hated Rever. We were close in age, but we were never friends…more like polite enemies with an unspoken agreement to tolerate each other.”
His eyes looked translucent in the moonlight. I couldn’t tear my gaze from his face, and he didn’t look away either. My body soaked up the attention. Physical awareness zipped between us like a live wire, and a warm glow shimmered through my nerve endings. Instantly, I tamped it down, doing everything to stop it. I couldn’t go there again…for so many glaringly obvious reasons, not the least of which was my dignity.
I took a small step back, but he moved forward, and before I knew it he had me pressed against the wall, his legs tangling with mine beneath the waist-deep water. His arms circled my waist, shackling me against his chest. My insides jolted the minute our bodies made contact, and with that small touch I was already aroused, my body wanting his. My breasts ached. Liquid desire pooled between my thighs, and my heart raced frantically inside my chest, echoing wildly in my ears.
I buried my face in the crook of his neck, unable to look at him for one more second. I had wanted him, craved him, for the last five days, and now that his arms were around me, I was scared. “I’m going to leave,” I murmured against the side of his neck. “I just wanted to say goodbye, and now I did.” I took a deep breath, drawing his now familiar scent into my lungs for the last time. Then, I wedged my hands between our slick bodies, pushing him away from me forever.
Binding my wrists with one hand, he lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him. Really look at him. What I saw robbed me of thought and buckled my knees. It was too much. I squeezed my eyes closed. “No. You should stay.” He brushed a kiss across my lips, my forehead and my eyelids. With four sultry caresses, he tore down all my walls, crumbling any lingering resistance. “Don’t you want me?” He nuzzled my ear and tremors danced down my spine, setting me ablaze. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”
Want him? I had never wanted anyone as much as I wanted him, and not just in the physical sense. How could he think otherwise? Panic warred with desire at that realization, and I froze. I didn’t know what to do. How did I move forward?
Then he kissed me—fully, deeply, desperately. I was cast adrift, senseless to anything around me but the push and pull of his mouth and the delicious swirl of his tongue as it chased mine in a circle of lust. If I didn’t know everything between us ended tonight, I would’ve have wept from the beauty of the moment.