dad’s face darkens. “Yes, he is.”
“If he paid back what he stole, would it settle the debt?”
The words fall out of my mouth before I can stop them, and I pale. My father’s jaw clenches, and his dark eyes flick over my face.
“How do you know about that,” he growls darkly.
I shrug, thinking quickly. “Oh, some of your men were talking about it when I walked past them a little while ago.”
He looks at me carefully.
“Hush is complicated. He stole from me—from us, Catalina. But it’s not about the money, it’s about sending a message.”
“You don’t think the message has been received?”
“I’m sure it has,” he growls. “But now, he’s too big of a spectacle in that ring.”
Anger flashes over my face. “So, now you’re keeping him just because? That’s not sending a message, anymore. Or, it is, but it’s a different kind of message.”
He frowns, but slowly, his lips curl into a thoughtful smile as he looks away.
“And you are certainly your mother’s daughter, too,” he says softly.
He turns back and puts and arm around my shoulder, hugging me as I sink into him.
“Can we talk about it later?”
I nod.
“We will talk about it, Catalina. I’m listening, really. I know I haven’t always, but I’m going to now. To whatever you want to talk about.”
“Including Hush’s captivity?”
He growls, but he nods. “Si, even that.”
I smile. “Thank you, papa.”
“So I’ll see you tonight?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“Gracias, mi hija. Oh…” he frowns and turns to his desk and grabs something off of it. “Your aunt left this for you.”
His face turns red and he scowls as he passes the paperback book to me, and I look down and stifle the giggle as I realize it’s one of Elena’s trashy romances—this one with a muscled, shirtless Fabio on the cover in the process of tearing the heroine’s wedding dress off of her in the middle of the desert and titled Savaged By The Desert Beast.
My face burns hot.
“You actually read these?”
I giggle. “What? They’re fun!”
My dad makes a face. “They’re trash, Catalina.”
“Well,” I smile, straightening primly. “Trash can be fun.”
He rolls his eyes, smiling as he plucks the book from my fingers. It’s in English, and he opens it to somewhere in the middle and clears his throat before starting to read.
“Reginald looked at Catherine with lust in his eyes—like he was spotting a meal he would soon devour. He crossed the room to her, heedless of her pleas to be gentle as he took hold of her bodice. With a strong yank of his muscled, masculine arms—muscles that Catherine could not help but see and quiver over—the exiled Count tore her clothes from her bosom, leaving her bare. Her high, ripe bosom heaved, the dusky pink of her—”
My father goes bright red and snaps the book shut. I cringe, but I’m also laughing my head off as he quickly pushes it back into my hands, his face looking sour.
“Dios mío,” he growls, his face paling. “I should not have read that.”
I laugh. “You can borrow it and finish it if you want, papa.”
He makes a gagging face, and I laugh.
“I’ll stick to fights and tequila,” he growls, shaking his head as if to rid himself of the thought of me or Elena reading what he just did.
“I’ll see you tonight, mi hija,” he says quietly as he walks me to the door. “And Catalina?”
I turn.
“Thank you,” he says gently.
“For?”
“For bearing with me.”
“I love you, papa,” I say gently, squeezing his hand.
“Te amor, mi hija. See you tonight.”
Chapter Thirteen
Hush
It’s an easy climb. But hell, it could be the Grand fucking Canyon, and I’d still scale it to get to her. I swing onto the balcony and stay to the shadows as I glance through the glass doors, and I smile.
She’s alone.
The door is closed, and she’s on her bed with a book, in just a pair of panties and a t-shirt. And I’m hard in seconds. I grip the knob to the Spanish-style arched glass balcony doors, and I swing them open and stride through. She gasps, half bolting from the bed before she realizes it’s me, and she grins.
God, she’s beautiful.
Her smile spreads widely, and her eyes twinkle with heat.
“Hi,” she breathes, standing.
She doesn’t blush this time at being in her panties and a thin t-shirt—so thin I can see her breasts through it and her rosy nipples standing hard. I glance down at the book in her hands, and she suddenly does blush. I chuckle at the cover and the title—Savaged