"I want to speak with Ignacio right now!" Casey argued with Diego as she'd been arguing with him for the past few days without results.
Ignacio refused to see her.
Diego's dark, sadistic eyes swept over her body, taking in every inch with a look that suggested she shouldn't have bothered with the terry cloth robe over top of her bikini because he was picturing her without it. Probably without the bathing suit too. She crossed her arms over her breasts and gave him the coldest glare she could come up with.
"You need a reminder what happens when you get demanding of the boss's time, little girl," Diego sneered, his eyes lingering on the top swell of her breasts. "You probably like being smacked around like that though, don't you? Bitches like you'll take whatever attention you can get."
Casey flared her nostrils as she tried to bring her temper under control while Diego postured in front of her and did his best to make her feel small and insignificant. He came within a hairsbreadth of touching her, lifting his hand toward her bruised cheek and running his knuckles down her face without actually making physical contact. She whipped her head away from him and backed up a few steps, her sandaled feet slapping against the floor.
Alonzo shifted at her back and snarled, "No touching."
Diego laughed, the slimy sound drawing a shudder from her. He shrugged and nodded absently. "Yeah," he drawled, his dead eyes piercing her, marking her. "For now."
Casey tightened her arms around her middle and took a steadying breath. Diego made her sick. He'd done things to her over the years, hurt her, at Ignacio's behest. Usually small things, like hit her with a belt or locked her in a closet. But the look in his eyes when he'd punished her told her just how much he enjoyed every moment of her pain, wished he could inflict worse. He'd been one of the three men in the room with her when Ignacio had burned her hand. Watching her face as Alonzo had pinned her down. She'd known that he'd been desperately turned on by her excruciating pain, seen the terrible lust in his eyes as she'd screamed while her flesh had burned.
That day had convinced her that she was better off going dead inside, sleeping through life, rather than attempting to resist the marriage that had been forced on her. So, she had essentially tucked Casey safely away from these ruthless men until such a time came that she could emerge. The look in Diego's eyes as she begged to see Ignacio frightened her. Not only was he refusing her, controlling her ability to see her husband, but he was silently telling her something with those terrible dark eyes. Telling her that their time would come and that it was coming soon.
"Fine," she snapped, looking away from him. "Since you refuse to allow me to see him, or he refuses to see me, whichever it is, then I'll tell you what I need to tell him."
Diego waved his hand in front of her. "By all means, chica. Speak to me."
She gritted her teeth, but forced herself to voice the warning that she'd been trying to get to Ignacio since her meeting with Reyes. She turned icy eyes up to Diego and said as coldly as she could, "The Bolivian's are planning some kind of takeover. Reyes intends to kill Ignacio."
The mockery fell from Diego's face for a moment and shock replaced his expression. "Reyes told you this himself?" he asked incredulously, his voice sceptical.
"Yes," Casey replied.
Why wasn't Diego freaking out and dragging her in to see Ignacio? Shouldn't he be more concerned? Unless they already knew of Reyes plans. Suddenly the look on Diego's face became speculative as he looked her over. "Now, why the fuck would the Bolivian tell you of his plans?" He stalked closer to her. Casey moved swiftly backwards until she bumped into Alonzo who jumped quickly out of the way so he wouldn't accidentally touch her again. "You got a pussy made of gold?" Diego demanded crudely, lunging toward her.
Casey cried out and fell backwards as her sandal slid on the marble floor. Unable to catch herself she hit the side table and fell, crashing hard on the unyielding marble. She heard Alonzo swear viciously, but there wasn't much he could do. Diego hadn't actually done anything except frighten her. She was the idiot for letting a thug get to her. She shoved herself up onto her knees and shook her hair back, glaring at Diego for all she was worth. She might be down, but she was still going to let the guy know exactly how much she fucking hated him.
She felt his eyes crawl all over her exposed flesh where her robe had come open during her fall. Her hands moved automatically to pull the two halves closed while she kept her eyes on him as he crouched down in front of her. He flexed his biceps, making sure she saw how massive they were next to her insignificant strength. She breathed hard through her nose, forcing herself to hold his gaze.
"Stupid woman," he drawled. "You think we don't know what the Bolivians are planning? You are just a distraction for that lowlife savage while we move our people into place and call in some favours."
She frowned in surprise. She'd been used to distract Reyes? Somehow, she thought he was too smart to fall for that. But he had definitely been interested in her. Had pursued her. Was still pursuing her, sending gifts to the mansion for her. "I don't understand any of this," she whispered.
"Poor, baby," Diego mocked her, his cold eyes raking over her breasts while he talked. "You don't need to understand, you had your chance to be useful. And it seems you were more useful than we thought. I'll tell Ignacio that Reyes revealed his plans to you. Only a man in love does something stupid like that."
Her eyes widened in horror as the impact of his words hit her. Had she been utterly wrong in telling Diego of Reyes' plan? Had she taken her loyalty to Ignacio too far? She'd lived by her own personal code for so long that maybe she didn't see the right path any more when it was directly in front of her. But… no. Reyes seemed to understand her, seemed to understand how she worked. He knew she was unfailingly loyal to Ignacio. He knew she would rat him out to her husband, had been counting on it. She had to believe that the man who made her body sing and was starting to look toward her scarred heart knew what he was doing. Because she sure as fuck didn't.
She jumped when the door to Ignacio's office slammed open and he stood glowering in the doorway. He stared with open hostility at the tableau in front of him for a moment. Then, completely ignoring the fact that his wife was sprawled on the floor next to his second-in-command, snapped, "Diego, I need you."