The door opened a crack, and Camilla sank farther back into the armchair, wishing that there was something she could hide behind. She didn’t want to be alone in a room with Matías again. It had been confronting enough when she had been lying there with a head injury. At least then he had been concerned for her well-being and had likely only been looking at her to figure out how injured she was.
She just didn’t want to encourage any more moments where he saw her clean, where he saw her in a domestic setting, without the sun in his eyes. Anything that might reveal her to him.
Plus, there was the simple fact that whenever she was in a room with him he made it feel so much smaller. And somehow he felt large. Something about that magnetism filling her chest, making her feel hollow, all at the same time.
She felt aches in places she was not normally conscious of, aches that she didn’t know a remedy for.
He made her aware that she was a woman. Much more aware than she had ever been in her life, and certainly more aware than she wanted to be when trying to pass for a boy.
“Cam,” Matías said, “I didn’t expect anyone to be in here.”
“Sorry,” she said, starting to stand. “I can go somewhere else.”
He waved a hand. “It doesn’t matter.”
“I am sorry,” she said, “about Liliana.”
She was sorry. Sorry that the other woman had been taken, that she was likely afraid. No matter what Matías said she supposed it was entirely possible that Diego actually was a killer, in which case Liliana might be in actual danger.
But in many ways she wasn’t actually sorry that the other woman was gone. Which was awful. Except that he made her feel funny. Made her feel light-headed. Made her bones feel heavy.
“So am I,” he said, his tone fierce. “I must find her. There is no other option.”
“You will,” she said, “of course.” She knew that it was an unearned confidence, but it was clearly what he needed to hear. She wanted to tell him what he needed to hear. Wanted to make that arrogant mouth curve up into a smile again. Wanted his dark eyes to look at her with approval. Even if it could never be the kind of approval or appreciation that part of her seemed to crave.
It was such a strange thing. Being caught between the urge to avoid him and to seek him out. To build a connection between the two of them and to keep their interactions limited. She wasn’t sure that she would ever understand what she wanted from him.
“I’m certain this has to do with the estate. I should have known that if Diego had no intention of complying he would ensure that I could not.”
“Surely your grandfather will...”
He shook his head. “My grandfather is not a nice man. You must understand...the men in my family believe in taking what they want without asking. I am from a long line of villains, Cam.” He smiled, a dark, feral smile, highlighted by the flames in the fire. “No matter that I’ve tried to aim for something better. My grandfather doesn’t care about scruples. I’m not sure that he will be impressed with my story. In fact, I suspect that he will take Diego’s side. A man must take what he can. If he must take the rancho this way, I assume my abuelo will find this a creative solution.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible,” she said.
“Because you do not know my family. Truthfully,” he said, “I should have seen this coming. Historically, women who marry Navarro men never come out of it well.”
“You’re speaking of your sister-in-law?”
He looked at her, clearly trying to decide how much to say. And then he surprised her by taking a seat. His large hands gripped the ends of the armrests, and she found herself fascinated by them. By their strength, their sheer masculinity. She had been around men all of her life, and yet somehow he was something separate. A different kind of creature. So much more than anyone else had ever been.
“I am speaking of my sister-in-law,” he said, pausing for a moment. “And my mother.” He shifted in his chair, those powerful legs spread wide. There was something gripping about that posture. It was casual, nearly lazy, and yet she knew that at a moment’s notice he could spring into action. All of that leashed strength.
To say nothing of how boldly masculine it was. The way he spread his legs as if to draw attention to...
She blinked. There was no way she was looking there. She just wouldn’t.
“My grandfather,” he continued, his voice bringing her back into the present. Bringing her back to sanity. “Is...an eccentric. But my father... He had a dark soul. Always. If he was ever any different I certainly didn’t know him to be. He was violent. He had periods of extended rage. He could never be pleased. And he took all of that out on Diego and myself. And our mother. Always our mother. Who was so pretty and delicate, a Spanish rose. She was miserable. All the years until she died. Until she fell off a horse and broke her neck.” His eyes were blank, horribly flat and black, and she had a feeling that he was leaving out part of the story.
But she also knew that he was only saying these things for his own benefit. Here in the near dark library to a boy who didn’t matter.
She was no one. He might as well be speaking to a mirror. And she understood that. At the moment she was grateful she could fulfill that for him.
She heard a buzzing sound, and then he reached for his pocket. He lifted his phone and frowned.
He answered it. “Hello?”
“Matías?” It was a woman’s voice, clearly audible in the relative silence of the room, and Camilla recognized the American accent immediately. “I’m so glad that I reached you.”
“Liliana? Where are you? Where has he taken you?”
“I can’t say,” came the reply, stilted, robotic.
“Why? Because you don’t know? Are you injured?” He issued the questions rapid-fire.
“I’m not injured. I’m perfectly safe. In fact, I need for you to stop looking for me.” The words were thick-sounding, sad. “I didn’t mean to deceive you, and I never meant to hurt you in any way. But I cannot marry you because Diego is the man I really want. I left with him of my own free will. The only reason that I screamed is because he startled me. But it was always my intention to waste your time and make it difficult for you to complete your task, and then marry him. I was not kidnapped. You don’t need to look for me.”
“Liliana...”
“It’s okay, Matías. Truly. I regret my behavior, but there is nothing to be done. Diego and I have already married. And that means... You know what that means. All of it will be his. If you fail to marry, then all of it will be his. It’s too late. We have paperwork. Everything is legally binding. We’re married. It’s too late.”
“Liliana...”
And then the phone line went dead, and Matías was left there glaring ferociously at the phone in his hand as if it were a snake.
“You can’t possibly believe her,” Camilla said. “She sounds as if she’s in distress.”
“She has married him,” Matías said, the words falling heavily in the room. “My brother is a terrible villain, but what he is not is a monster. And what he is not capable of doing is forcing someone to say vows. Even he would not hold a gun to her head.”
“He kidnapped her out of her bedroom window.”
“Or not. If she is to be believed she went with him of her own volition.” He threw his phone down onto the coffee table, the light from the fireplace reflecting off the planes and angles of his face. “I was fooled. I thought that my brother would fade into his