All I could do was nod.
“That’s it? A nod? After what you did, that’s all I get?” Brody threw his head back and let out a harsh laugh. “Fuck this. I’m done.” Shoving both hands into my jeans pockets, he pulled out the keys to the car and his phone. “You won’t be needing these.” He tucked them away, and seizing ahold of my arm, dragged me inside the house. I didn’t resist. Truthfully, I was thankful for the help.
Once we were inside, he threw me onto the couch, where I collapsed, my body giving into fatigue and strain. My head lolled back, and I stared up at the man looming over me, his muscular body taut with unleashed rage.
“You need to lay off the booze. I’ll never understand why people willingly destroy their bodies. It’s disrespectful to those who never got to make that choice.”
“Thanks for the PSA. Now, explain yourself.”
“I swear, I—”
“Don’t!” he yelled, his fists balling. “No swears. No promises. Just truth.”
I winced at the disgust in his voice, but I couldn’t fault him for it. Truth was a two-faced beast dancing on my shoulders. Each whispered words of evil in my ear that would damn me if spoken out loud.
So, I gave him the only truth I could.
“Yes, I went to see Ignacio, but it’s not for the reasons you think.”
He stood still as a statue while I gave him a very abridged version of Rosita’s story. I told him about Esteban’s rank promises to Ignacio. About his ultimatum. About the affair and how Alejandro knew about it. I also told him how Esteban handed Ignacio over to the Carreras without a second thought.
I did not tell him about Cristiano, and I hated myself for it.
“So, why reorganize after twenty-four years?” he asked. “Why implicate you? The shit doesn’t add up.”
He was right. It didn’t. But only because I left out pertinent information that incriminated me.
“Ignacio was a hunted man, so he had to bide his time. After Esteban and Alejandro died, he only needed Manuel out of the way. Once that happened, there was nothing preventing him from reclaiming what he believed to be his birthright.” I shrugged. “He was the only one left alive who knew it wasn’t mine.”
“So, now what?” A distant black calm deadened his voice. “That’s it? You just exchanged contact info, and now you’ll send each other Christmas cards once a year?”
“What did you want me to do, Brody? Challenge him to a duel? You’re lucky I came back in one piece.”
I glanced up to see the tight lines in his face fading, his anger slowly dissipating.
He bought it.
A fact that should’ve relieved me. Instead, I’d never been more miserable.
He let out a heavy sigh. “You can’t keep doing this shit.”
“I didn’t want you to get hurt, and that would’ve happened if you’d gone with me.”
He reared back, a stricken look crossing his face. “So, what if you’d gotten hurt, or God forbid, killed? What would I have done then?”
I lowered my eyes. “Lived your life.”
“What life?” he roared, casting his arms out wide. “Christ, Adriana, do you understand I’ve felt more alive in the last five days than I have in the last five months?” He balled his fist, beating it against his chest with each word. “Do you know what it’s like to feel nothing?”
“Yes, I do.”
Rough, ragged breathing echoed in my ears moments before strong hands landed on the back of the couch, caging me in. “Adriana, you’re the only light I see. If you die, so does any hope of me living again.”
He couldn’t say those words. Not now.
“You’ve been drinking,” I repeated.
“Yes, but I’m very aware of what I’m saying.”
I tried to force him to hear words I wasn’t saying. “I’m not light, Brody. There’s nothing but darkness in me. Darkness you couldn’t possibly understand.”
“I don’t believe that. But you do. So, if the only way for you to accept you’re worth love is for me to accept you’ll never give it, then I don’t care to ever see the sun again.”
I shattered. A million pieces, broken and jagged.
There was no thought. No reservations. No hesitation. My hands cupped his face, the now thick growth on his once clean-shaven face brushing against my palms as I pulled him toward me.
My breath hitched.
And then I kissed him.
Reckless and without rules.
It was everything I never imagined it would be.
I covered his mouth with mine, sweeping my tongue against his as if I owned it. As if I knew what the hell I was doing. Brody stilled, his eyes open wide with shock.
This was a mistake.
Just as I was about to pull back, he let out a low curse and cupped the back of my head, pulling me back against his lips. I started the kiss, but Brody owned it. His hands maneuvered my face, twisting it to his advantage so he could dive deeper, taste more, take as much as I’d allow. His primal groans awoke a dormant fire inside me, and I chanted his name in between kisses.
A low growl rumbled in Brody’s throat, and I found myself in his arms as we made our way toward the bedroom, hungry kisses now frantic and fevered.
Once we fell onto the mattress, he leaned back, and the sound of his belt buckle hitting the floor drew my eyes up. He crawled over me and took his time undressing me, revealing each piece of skin as if he were unwrapping a present.
“You’re so beautiful, Adriana,” he murmured, kissing his way down to my belly button and across to my hip. “So fucking beautiful.” His lips moved inward, his breath hot against my thigh.
I knew what he wanted, and any other time, I would’ve welcomed it. But not tonight. Tonight, I wanted his tongue inside the one place that only belonged to him.
“Brody…”
Hooded eyes gazed up at me, and then he smiled. He knew what I needed, and he waited to give it to me until I understood that asking for it didn’t make me weak. It empowered me.
His mouth found mine, his cock pressing at my entrance, hesitating as if asking for permission. I nodded, but he just stared at me, the want in his eyes relentless.
Say the words.
A surge of courage swelled in my chest, and despite the ruin that awaited us on the other side of that door, I gave him what he needed to hear.
“Make love to me,” I whispered, brushing a hand through his thick hair.
He closed his eyes as if soaking them in and then slowly pushed his hips forward, sinking inside me so torturously slow, every inch felt like a mile. When we were fully joined, he stilled, dropping his mouth and taking my lips in a deep kiss that took my breath away.
Then he loved me.
The muscles in his back bunched under my fingers as he moved. There was no frantic rush. No punishing thrusts. Just raw connection. We never stopped kissing, our tongues moving in sync with our bodies.
This was how I wanted it to end.
I was so lost. Our mouths remained connected, sharing the same breath as the tension peaked.
“Tell me,” he growled in between pants. “Tell me in Spanish, I don’t care, but tell me.”
“Te amo. Me hiciste amarte, y ahora estoy perdida.”
He fell over the edge, dragging me along with him. Our combined groans were only masked by the sound of each other’s names. In the silence, Brody dropped his head in the crook of my neck, his damp hair sticking to my skin as I traced my fingers down the claw marks on his back.