Blood Ties (Dinero de Sangre #2) - Lana Sky Page 0,67

Tristan Lucas, but that was as far as our relationship extended. I never fucked her.”

There’s no inflection in his voice, and I can’t tell if he’s lying or telling the truth. All I can do is reiterate, “Why tell me this now?”

“Because Alexi belongs to Jaguar,” he says coldly. “She always has. Everything she does, she reports back to him. I don’t know what he has over her, so in some ways, I can’t blame her. But you need to keep that in mind the next time you get the urge to run your mouth because I’ve pissed you off. Beyond your father’s fancy mansion, everyone belongs to someone, Ada. The world is a patchwork of alliances and rivalries, and I suggest you think long and hard about who you align yourself with.”

“How would someone like Alexi wind up with someone like Jaguar?” I ask.

He raises an eyebrow. I’ve surprised him, I think, but only because he seems to believe the question is too obvious to humor. “Why else?” He snatches a piece of fruit from the platter and takes a bite. Its juices paint his lips red as he declares, “People will do anything for love, or for revenge.”

Is that his way of telling me that Alexi’s motives stem back to what happened ten years ago? On the one hand, it sounds ridiculous. On the other…

After seeing the lengths Domino himself has gone through in the name of vengeance, I can’t count out anything anymore.

“What does that mean? You alone can help me? Pardon me if I’m skeptical of that.”

“You can be skeptical,” he warns, taking another bite of fruit. “And still be smart. Tonight, you’ll need to make a choice.”

“You? So you can spin more riddles and torment me with even more mind games?”

“So I can find my sister’s body,” he counters in a tone so serious it catches me off guard. “And so you can tell me what really happened to her and stop using the missing pages of a diary as an excuse to feign ignorance. I want the truth from you. I’d prefer if you cooperate, but even if you decide to jump on Jaguar’s cock tonight, know that I will still have you.”

“Because you own me?” I ask softly, rephrasing the same claim he made against Alexi when it comes to Jaguar.

“No.” Finished with his meal, he licks his fingertips clean. “Because you are not as stupid as you look. Sooner or later, you’ll come crawling to me, and this time your begging won’t be for show.”

He thumbs my cheek and stands, wiping his hands on his pants.

“I’ll be gone until tonight. Play nice, and I suggest you don’t get tempted to go running into the desert again, either.”

“Where are you going?” It’s a bold question, one he humors with merely a raised eyebrow instead of an outburst of rage.

“A place where naughty girls, daughters of a monster like Roy Pavalos, can’t follow. Ines will keep an eye on you, so don’t get any ideas.”

He strolls past me, entering the house, and I somehow can sense the exact moment he leaves. The tension in the air lessens, and I can breathe easier.

But in his absence, that ominous feeling from before only grows.

Jaguar is coming, and despite Domino’s word games, I’m not sure what it means. Something bad, my intuition warns. I would be a fool to sit around and wait patiently for my impending doom to be handed to me on a silver platter.

I rise and enter the house, surprised to find no one wandering the spacious halls. Not Ines, or even Alexi. Is the blond still here? I can’t sense her presence the way I can Domino’s.

When I enter his room, however, I don’t find her twisted in the sheets. His bed is still neatly made, which makes sense considering he slept with me. I’ll parse over that glaring lack of judgment later. For now, I set my sights on the one task I should have been fixated on from the very start.

Finding answers.

I inspect the closet first, retracing my steps to the same duffle where I found the vial of Lorazepam and the explicit photos. Do I believe him when he claims to have never touched her? Of course not, though it doesn’t matter now.

The side pocket is empty, the photos gone.

Of course, he wouldn’t leave me with anything more than the breadcrumbs he deems worthy of taunting me with. I know this entire search is in vain, but I can’t stop