Without asking permission, I jerked her dress up around her waist and wound the string that rested by her hips around my hand and pulled hard. A satisfying rip filled my ears as the material tore in half.
“Val,” she moaned, half encouraging me, half protesting.
I didn’t care one way or the other. I was too far gone. “Beg me, Cereza.”
“Fuck you.”
Shoving two fingers inside her, I pumped them hard and growled again. “Beg me, Cereza.”
Gasping, she threw her head back against the wall and groaned. “Fuck me. Forgive me, and for God’s sake, fuck me.”
I released my pants with one hand while continuing to thrust mercilessly into her. I felt her release the moment she clenched around my fingers. Moaning, she slammed her palms against the wall above her head and panted for air.
“Jesus!”
“Don’t move,” I demanded. Kicking her legs apart, I grabbed the back of her thighs and lifted her onto my cock. “No man will ever love you like I do, Cereza.” Driving into her hard, I bottomed out as she screamed my name. Holding us both still, I took full possession of what belonged to me. “Serás mía para siempre,” I commanded hotly into her ear. “You’re mine forever, Eden Lachey.”
“This isn’t why I came here,” Eden mumbled, cradled in my lap as I sat leaned against the wall.
Eventually coming down from the high of simultaneous orgasms, we’d finally caught our breath, too exhausted to move. I couldn’t remember anything feeling as good as holding her in my arms at that moment. It was as if the anguish of the past six weeks faded away the minute I buried myself inside her. I didn’t care what she had to say. Eden wasn’t going back to Houston. I’d chain her to the bed again if I had to.
“Okay,” I said, burying my nose in her hair. “I’ll bite. Why did you come here?”
Climbing off me, she reached for the papers she’d dropped earlier and knelt beside me. “I have something to tell you, and I don’t know how you’re going to react.”
“You’re freaking me out a little, Cereza. Just tell me.”
She blew out a heavy breath. “Okay, so, Brody came over two days ago.”
“I don’t like where this is going,” I growled, my skin feeling like fire.
I’ll fucking kill Brody Harcourt.
“Oh, calm your inner caveman, Danger. It was innocent. He came over to talk about you.”
“Me?”
“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to put it out there, and we’ll deal with the fallout.” Rubbing the back of her neck, she caught my eye and held it. “Marisol Muñoz isn’t Marisol Muñoz.”
I leaned away, and studied her determined face. “That makes no sense.”
“You told me your baby sister’s body was never found after your family was attacked.”
“Eden, I don’t want to talk about…”
She placed a hand on my chest. “That’s because there was no body.”
“Huh?” I had no idea why she brought up such a painful subject, but I wanted no part of it. “Look, this is a part of my life I don’t want to talk about, all right? The past is the past.” Pushing off the floor, I buttoned my pants and headed back to the bar.
“That’s just it, Val; the past isn’t the past. Your sister didn’t die that night. Esteban Muñoz was one sadistic fuck. Think about it. What would hurt your father more than murdering his wife and children?”
Her words started to sink in, and my hand gripped the glass so hard I worried it might shatter in my hands. “It can’t be.”
“Esteban Muñoz took Adriana and raised her as his own daughter. He raised your sister to hate her own family and plan their deaths.” I felt her behind me before her hands touched my back. “I saw it in your eyes in that basement when you looked at her. You felt a connection with her, but you didn’t know why and it confused the hell out of you. Now you know.”
I swallowed hard, forcing the vomit I knew would eventually rise back down. “What are the papers in your hand?”
“Faked birth certificates, real birth certificates, blood records, and hospital records. A paper trail of proof that Brody dug up supporting what we’ve found. Esteban’s wife only gave birth once, and that was to Manuel. She’s your sister, Val.”
Turning, I met her stare, allowing her to see the fear that rolled through me. “If this is true, what will happen to her, Eden? This is all so farfetched, and she doesn’t know. All she knows is her entire family is dead now. What if she’s unsavable?”
Eden smiled knowingly. “She’s a Carrera. She’s not unsavable.”
I swallowed hard and grabbed her hand. “She ordered the hit on your brother. How would you ever forgive her for that?”
“One thing at a time, Danger.” Sighing softly, she buried her chin in my back. “Look, yesterday I thought I’d never see you again. That plan worked out well, huh?”
“I’m worried any goodness that might have been inside her has been eaten away by Muñoz influence.” I’d lived with the death and destruction of both our families my whole existence. I had no idea how she’d return from a lifetime of that kind of mind control.
“You both have your mother’s blood, as much as your father’s, Val. Give her time. She’ll find herself and seek you out. When that time comes, we’ll deal with it and be there for her.”
“What about you, Cereza?” I asked, turning and snaking my arms around her waist. “What’ve you found?”
A smile broke out across her lips as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Pressing her lips against my ear, she whispered with the strongest conviction I’d ever heard from her.
“Home.”
Epilogue
Eden
Two Months Later
“Val!” He sank his teeth into my shoulder as my body tumbled over the crest. Panting, I struggled to focus on his face as I grabbed it between my palms and brought his lips to mine. After a devastating kiss that found us both exhausted and collapsing in bed, he rolled to the side and scooped me in his arms.
“So, Cereza, how does it feel to sleep with the most powerful man in Mexico?”
A full-chested laugh escaped before I could stop it, causing him to raise an eyebrow. “Oh, please, Carrera. Do you really think you hold all the power around here?” The cocked eyebrow raised even higher, and my smile widened. The confused look on his face was priceless. “Come on, get dressed. We’re going to be late.”
He watched as I threw the covers back and opened the closet. “We? Where do you think you’re going?”
Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I met his stare, ready for the next step in my life. “We have a meeting.”
As the last man walked out of the room, Val returned to his seat beside me at the head of the table and placed a shot of tequila by my folded hands.
I shot a side-glance at him. “Añejo tequila? Straight shot, in a stem glass, not a highball, room temp, and if it hasn’t aged at least three years, shove it up the owner’s ass?”