Chapter 13

Casey stared at her reflection with a mixture of resigned despair and anger. No amount of makeup could disguise the mark high on her cheek or the swollen bite mark on her lip that were clearly visible through her careful efforts. Absently she wondered if it was part of Ignacio's plan. To present his wife, damaged goods, to another man who clearly wanted her. Only she wasn't sure what the other man ultimately wanted with her. A quick fuck? A way to mess with his business rival?

Ignacio had sent an entire outfit for her to wear, including a dress, heels and jewelry. As the day had progressed and she'd prepared for her meeting with Reyes she began to feel more and more like a pawn in some deadly game. She wore a beautiful white dress that clung lovingly to every curve. It was curved along her legs to give the illusion of length along one thigh, but if she moved wrong it would also give a tantalizing glimpse high on her other thigh. It was sleeveless with a neckline that plunged halfway to her stomach. She didn't bother with a bra. She'd been blessed with decent cleavage, but hadn't been eating well lately, which had shrunk some of her curves.

The dress fit her perfectly though and looked stunning when paired with the four-inch silver stilettos and diamonds Ignacio had sent from the safe room, a bracelet, teardrop pendant earrings and her wedding rings. She almost never wore her wedding set. Ignacio said they were too expensive to wear in public and, honestly, she was relieved. They were so big and gaudy, she hated the sight of them. But tonight, clearly, he intended to send the message that she was taken… even though she had orders to give Reyes anything he wanted. Which presumably included her body.

Casey sat on the edge of her bed, a hairbrush clutched tight in her hand. The thought made her feel sick to her stomach. Not the thought of Reyes touching her. God, his touch melted everything inside her. Like nothing she'd ever experienced. No, it was the thought that her husband could so easily sell her to another man. And that she had no idea what the true intentions of that other man were. She was beginning to think she was in danger of really caring about Reyes, but he was mafia, just like her husband. No… he was worse than her husband. She could sense the lurking predator in him, getting ready to strike. She just wished she knew whose throat he intended to tear out. She lifted the brush and absently ran in through her hair, trying to hold the tears back so she wouldn't ruin her make-up and piss Ignacio off. She would have pretended she had a headache if she thought it would get her out of seeing Reyes again, but she knew that wasn't an option.

Less than an hour later she was standing in front of his hotel room door with Alonzo and another man, one of Reyes people at her back. She could feel the tension sizzling between the two men, but kept her head tilted down, her hair covering her cheeks when Reyes opened the door.

"Casey," he greeted her, his deep voice caressing her name with warmth.

She wanted to look up, but kept her eyes on his waist. He wore dress pants with a leather belt and a nice shirt, tucked in. She wasn't sure what colours he wore, but she thought maybe dark, either black or grey. His shoes were very nice and shined dully in the light of the hallway. She wanted to laugh bitterly. If Ignacio hadn't marked up her face she would never have noticed the man's shoes.

"Reyes," she greeted him, infusing ice into her voice and quickly moving past him before he could question why she wasn't looking at him.

He closed the door behind her and offered to take her wrap. She nodded and let it fall from her shoulders as he tugged, gently moving her hair aside so he wouldn't catch the strands. She shivered from his soft touch at the back of her neck and rapidly stepped away from him toward the darkest part of the room, a table next to the window. She could stand in the shadows there.

"Thank you for coming," he said, approaching her from behind.

She wanted to laugh out loud and point out that she didn't have a choice, but she kept her mouth closed. It was always smarter to stay silent. When she opened her mouth she said too much, got herself in trouble. Instead she focused on the view outside the window, the incredible swath of lights that swept Miami's coast before plunging toward the ocean.

"A drink?" he asked.

He was standing so close she felt his heat touch her bare shoulder. "Yes, please. Maybe something a little stronger than orange juice this time," she murmured a hint of wryness in her voice, her eyes locked on the darkness of the water far below.

He chuckled and moved away from her for a moment, returning with a glass of white wine. She reached to take it, without turning to look at him. The coolness of the glass against her fingers told her he'd chilled the wine before she arrived. "Thank you."

"You like the view, nena?" he asked when she still didn't move to look at him.

She nodded and took a hasty sip of the wine. It was delicious. Smooth and sweet with a hint of tartness. "I love this part of Miami," she told him. "Especially these high up condos, they're so beautiful. Do you own this one?" She hazarded a quick glance around the penthouse suite before moving her eyes back to the window.

"No," he said shortly, not bothering to continue that line of conversation. She wasn't surprised. Reyes didn't seem like a man that tolerated idle chat. He said what he wanted to say and moved on.

He reached past her, deliberately brushing her arm with his sleeve. She swore he inflicted those light touches on her as a form of torture. They seemed to do just as much to her senses as when he outright grabbed her. He opened the door leading to the expansive deck and flicked his wrist, indicating she should accompany him outside. She stepped over the threshold, her heels clicking softly against the tiles as she stepped toward the balcony railing, taking in the breathtaking view of the Miami coastline. She made sure to keep her back to him while they stood together.

He allowed the silence to reign for several long minutes as she sipped her drink and tried valiantly to steady her nerves. It didn't help when he caged her against the railing, gripping the metal on either side of her body and bracing his arms so she was trapped between him and a long, long drop. She glanced down, the liquid in the glass shaking a little as she let that dark voice in the back of her mind run free for just a second. The one that whispered to her, every once in a while, that it would be easier to just let go. That if she succeeded this time Ignacio couldn't punish her the way he promised after her last botched attempt.

She tore her eyes away from the beckoning darkness and focused on the strong fingers flexed against the railing. It didn't matter. Reyes would grab her before she even completed the thought, let alone the action. Besides, she didn't want him acquainted with that sad, dark part of her. He already had a pretty good idea of how messed up she was and he still seemed to want her. His next words proved it.

"Stay the night with me," he said huskily, his accent caressing each syllable as he leaned into her back to speak into her ear from behind.

She nearly moaned out loud from the feel of him against her, his groin grazing her ass. Her thin dress made it so she felt every small touch from the fabric of his trousers and the graze of his belt buckle against her curve of her cheek. His broad shoulders brushed hers as he leaned in. The cool evening breeze gently lifted her hair and flipped it back across his bicep where it was braced next to her, caging her body in. From the corner of her eye she could see the barbaric beauty of her pale hair laying across the darkness of his shirtsleeve.

"No," she sighed.

He made an impatient sound from behind her and eased closer, surrounding her with heat. Her long hair snaked back around them, enveloping them in a cocoon. His knuckles tightened against the railing. In anger or frustrated lust? Both, maybe. She was certain this man wasn't used to denial.

"I want you to stay with me, cari?o," he growled in her ear, his voice throbbing with authoritative energy. "Leave Ignacio and come to me. Not just tonight, but permanently. I can do things for you, give you things you can't even imagine. I can protect you. Set you up with more luxuries than you can even hope to experience here in this narrow world."

Casey gasped and whirled in his arms, her hair whipping around them. She was careful to tilt her head away though, keeping half her face in the shadows still. He straightened and moved back a little to give her room. She stood to her full height, which, in her heels, brought her eye to eye with Reyes. It didn't matter that he was much broader than her and outweighed her by at least eighty pounds, she glared at him, showing him exactly what she thought of his offer.

"Never," she hissed pressing her hands back against the cold, unyielding glass of the balcony. "Fuck you and fuck your offer, Reyes. I already have all the material shit that I need in my life and I'd give it all up for a taste of freedom. If you had any idea what I've done to leave…" Abruptly she brought a hand up to cut off the flow of words and pressed shaking fingers against her lips, reminding herself not to let her tongue get away from itself.