Her eyes blaze. Mine speaks volumes.
“How would you know what I’ve been through, Mr. Alvarez? You denied returning to my apartment to move the photo.”
I’ve stopped listening to Aria’s confusion. My eyes warm over as I think about the story Mitch wove together. God, she’s gorgeous, tempting, unhinged—in that specific order. My body hardens against her innocent, curvy frame. I exhale slowly, forcing myself to contemplate on Aria’s past and not strike.
“How?” Aria stops with the accusations to lick her lips. She’s reading me, reading her. After chewing hard on the soft flesh of her lip, she then growls. “How do you know about my past?”
Chapter Fourteen
Aria
For a second, I lost myself in his eyes. They were supposed to be these deep, intoxicating pits of darkness. Alluring, devilish. When I came to earlier, those dreamy eyes of his were warm, green honey jewels, offering too many promises. They enveloped me in a safe haven I never knew. For a second, he’d looked at me with a smoldering intensity, a mixture of furious desire and frustration. What was the meaning of his frustration? It passes quickly. Now, all I see is pity in Dominic’s cognac-laced gaze.
Screw his pity.
“How do you know me?” I repeat.
“Knowing an enemy’s triggers is my job.” Dominic’s breath ghosts over my lips. I realize he’s leaning farther into me. “You placed yourself at the epicenter. Made you my target, LeAnna.”
I hitch a breath. He called me LeAnna last night in my art room when all the adrenaline in the world was funneling through my bloodstream.
“That’s not my name. I’m not who you think I am.” God, I’m a horrible liar.
His hand skims across my cheek. I turn away.
“You’re making this hard on me, chula. I had intentions of sending you away with a threat, then I saw you.”
Dominic’s eyes drink every detail of my features as if he’s seeing me from last night.
What the heck did he see? I was a blundering mess! I mumble, “Oh yeah? What?”
“I was going to say your attempt to ruin my life would be futile. Your demise,” Dominic murmurs. His knuckles run along my side cleavage. “I was gonna call you the craziest woman I’ve ever crossed. Make you fear spreading your lies.”
A heaviness settles in all the right spots of my body. My pussy lips throb. The sound of his voice is enough to make me go cockeyed. Oh, but I see very well. My focus is on his lips as he talks shit about breaking me. What sort of woman wants a man to break her?
Fear cleaves to me. A sick, dirty thought courses through my brain, compelling me to break anyway he’d like. The sanity in me, which I know isn’t entirely too functional due to my history, doesn’t believe the hype. I chortle. “So, you’re saying I’m crazy? I should be punished for spreading lies? Ha!”
“Sí. But there are other things I’d like to spread when it comes to you.” His fingers frame my curves.
My lie comes through swift and apathetic. “Not interested.”
“I’m not interested in you either.”
Damn, that cut deeper than necessary. I slap at his dominating hands. “You’re just saying that.”
His hand claims my ass. “I am. You drive me to smoke, Aria. I want to dig into you. Fuck you angry. No, let me be honest.” He chews his lip. My senses heighten further. “I want to break you in half. Fuck you until your throat bleeds, and you go blind for a time. While you’re left undone, I’d smoke an entire pack of cigarettes.”
“Sounds like a bad habit you should’ve broken,” I reply sarcastically.
He stops massaging the meat of my ass and sighs. “And save you, Aria. Let me do that for you, mami. Break you in half, mold you. Save you. All of it.”
I strain at lifting from the wall. A tank is in my way. His name is Dominic Alverez, and he still isn’t an angel.
I swallow down trepidation. “I don’t need saving.”
“So, you’ll drop this El Santo chase, sí?” He grips my arms, thumbs running over the tiny chills he’s created.
“Sure.”
Dominic smiles again, annoyed with me. A defibrillator plants against my pussy lips, they jolt, jolt, jolt. He runs a finger over his thick brow.
“Sure? I don’t believe that bullshit.” He shrugs. “I’ll stalk you now.”
What is this? Survival of the fittest. I’m a guppy; Dominic’s the shark. Most people swim away, but I’m drowning fast in him.
“Are you El Santo?” I hold my breath.
He shoves fingers into his hair. This time instead of disappointment, Dominic smiles while muttering I’m crazy.
This is madness. The allure surrounding him is no doubt dark, though still tempting. My sex drenches the lining of my thong. Since Dominic doesn’t afford me a second rebuff, I lift my chin in defiance. Poignant silence lingers, then I speak up, “Listen, you’re not him. Yasielito convinced me.”
“Yasiel did?” Dominic shifts.
“The look he gave when you told him not to come around.” I pause, not adding how it broke my heart. “One day, Yasiel will understand your job isn’t always safe, and you care for him.”
He gestures. “Next time, you tell him that.”
Next time? I clear my throat. This was no whirlwind romance, only dysfunction.
Dominic stares at me. The shark has transformed from mega predator of the ocean to king of the jungle. His green-gold gaze dips to my mouth then trails across my skin, dragging over the globes of my breasts.
“Since you’re the good guy, you won’t stalk me while the Colombians are around.” I stop, thinking back to what the man said to Yasiel. “Anyway, I suppose this is goodbye?”
He says nothing. No adiós bag lady, nada.
Time stalls. I push off the wall after a lot of self-hype. His scent clings to me as I head to the door. My eyes close. I run my tongue along my lips. This is what waiting to exhale is made of. My eyes snap wide open as Dominic zips past me to get the door.
“Thanks.” My gaze gleams.
He follows me outside. “You’re not ready for goodbye, Aria. It’s such a eh . . . harsh word.”
“But—”
“My mami always told me it’s not goodbye. The proper term is ‘see you later.’ ”
I pause to stare at him. “Your mami? As in mother? Or one of the women you . . .”
A fleeting unrecognizable emotion crosses his face, then he smiles. “Mami,
Madre, Mamá.”
I nod. “You have a wise mother.”
“Had.”
“Sorry.” I glance toward the street where the world continues to turn. All I never knew I needed stands right before me.
“Still, you want to see me again.”
Heat blisters across my skin as he awaits my response. His attention leaves me breathless and aroused. I clear my throat and ask, “How are you so confident?”
“How will you get home?” His thick eyebrows pull together, thoughtfully.
My gander swivels across the street, and then I level a narrow gaze on him. I almost forgot we’re enemies. I pummel Dominic’s chest softly with the flats of my fists. Damn, later, I’ll fixate over the fact I slapped at his bolder-like pecs. For now, I jostle. “Hey, give me my keys. And my purse.”