Crowned In Blood

Chapter 16

16

Catalina

I t had been three days. That was it, and yet I missed Marco so much I physically ached.

He'd been true to his word, had called, texted, or emailed me multiple times a day. He made sure I never skipped a meal, even sent me snacks and desserts he knew or thought I would like.

But none of it was enough.

I missed seeing him. I missed his dimples when he smiled, his scent, the hints of his tattoos at his collar and wrists that I was always so curious about. I missed his presence, the sound of his footsteps and breathing when we worked quietly in my office. The way he brought life to a room. And now that I knew what his lips tasted like, how his hands felt on my body, I missed that, too.

After he left, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel—if there would be regret or if I’d feel ashamed and foolish. But I didn't.

Every time my mind spiraled, the memory of his lips, the brush of his tongue against mine, the sound of his soft groans, and firmness of his body came rushing back to me, leaving me wanting more.

I couldn’t wait to see him. I needed to see him, and hopefully soon I would.

The party was in full swing, the room filled with laughter, music, and the clinking of glasses. It was everything I had ever wanted—a real family that I felt like I belonged in—but somehow, I still felt empty.

Until Marco walked in.

Dressed in a black button-down shirt and black pants, he looked like sin. His hair was perfectly messy, as if he'd raked his hands through it several times.

Our eyes locked, and when he smiled at me, I once again felt whole.

Several men followed him in, I assumed from his familia, but my eyes never left Marco's. When I took a deep breath, the air felt cleaner, fresher, like it had been tainted since the last day I saw him.

Marco ignored everyone as he approached me, and with each step, my heart beat faster. The surrounding people fell away. No one dared to enter his path, and when he was finally standing close enough to touch, he took my hand and brought it to his lips.

His devilish smirk grew into a full grin. "I've missed you, my vicious little queen," he whispered, bringing my hand to his cheek, nuzzling it, sending warmth through my body.

"I’ve missed you too, my devil."

He raised an eyebrow, and I giggled.

"It turns out your nickname matches you perfectly."

He chuckled, spinning me into his arms, swaying with me in time to the music. "How so?"

I wrapped my arms around him, intertwining my fingers at the back of his neck. "You show up everywhere you shouldn’t. You’re entirely too smooth, and you're constantly trying to tempt and seduce me."

He leaned down, the timber of his voice low and deep. "Is it working?"

"A little too well," I murmured.

Marco laughed and spun me out, then pulled me back in. "Well, let me try a little more." He ran his hand down my back, holding me possessively at my hip. "I missed you so much. It felt like I couldn’t breathe without you next to me." His eyes burned as they met mine. "You look so beautiful, and I’m jealous of everyone who got to see you before me."

I laughed. "Everyone?"

"Yes, man, women, child, anything and anyone." He squeezed my back. "But at least I'm the only one who gets to have you in their arms right now, and for that I'm tremendously honored."

Heat rose to my cheeks, and I blushed, biting my bottom lip.

He groaned. "I'm dying to kiss you, and I swear I'm trying to be respectful, but if you keep looking at me like that, I won't be able to."

"Like what?"

"Like you want me to."

A shiver ran up my spine. I opened my mouth to respond, but then a loud popping noise started outside.

Gunshots.

I broke out of Marco's arms, my heart racing, adrenaline surging through my veins. My phone rang, and I answered it immediately.

"Do?a, they're shooting at us!" Another round of shots went off in the background. It sounded like he was in a war zone. "Thirteen SUVs are approaching the event, heavily armed. We can't get them all!"

"Just hold out as long as you can. We're coming!"

I quickly rounded up my capos and Olivia. Marco called over his men, and I slid back into my fa?ade, using it to hide the rage boiling in my blood.

This event, something that was supposed to bring peace and happiness to everyone, would soon be ruined. My men were out there fighting for their lives, and I would kill each and every single person who dared to hurt any of the people in my familia. Then I'd hunt down the orchestrator and show them a hell they could have never imagined.

"Listen up. We have thirteen SUVs incoming. They're armed and currently shooting at the main entrance. We need to act fast and decisively. Olivia, take four men with you and usher everyone to the back door and into the parking lot. The rest of you, we hold the line here. Do your best to keep one of them alive so we can find out who's behind this."

My capos nodded and instructed their soldiers.

"Two of you, go with them," Marco said to his men.

We exchanged a glance and I nodded. I couldn't afford to stop him this time. He and his men were in just as much danger as my own, and every second counted.

I unholstered my gun as nine blacked-out, unregistered SUVs drove up to the entrance. We fired immediately.

We shot out one of the SUVs’ tires, making it run into the signage at the building. I got one more, but the rest braked. Almost thirty men poured out of the cars, and all hell broke loose.

The sound of gunfire was deafening. I tried to shoot them around their car doors, but the damn things were bulletproof. Switching tactics, I aimed for their legs, taking out three of them. Marco got another four, while the rest of our men worked to annihilate the enemy in front of us.

Some men jumped back in their cars, planning to drive off. But one of Marco's men had a high-powered rifle. He shot out the windows and a minute later they were dead.

Movement from the side drew my eye. Someone had crawled close to the building. They were flat on their stomach, their shot lined up to the window—exactly where Marco was.

My heart froze. Gripping my gun tight, I fired. The man's head snapped back, his lifeless body crumbling to the ground. Shots rained around me, the air thick with the smell of gunpowder and the metallic tang of blood, but there was only one thought echoing in my mind. Marco could have died.

I stood there, my breath coming in short gasps, my hands steady despite the tremors running through my body. I fought to keep my composure, to hide the fear clawing at my soul.

I couldn't let it show. Not even when the shots stopped.

Later, I would feel. I'd let it all in, the anxiety, the panic, the absolute terror, but for now… My familia needed me.

I straightened my back, forcing myself to appear calm and in control, even as my heart pounded in my ears. I checked our surroundings for anyone we'd missed, anyone who could hurt Marco, and even though I couldn't find anyone, I stayed vigilant.

Slowly, we approached the vehicles, searching for any survivors or information we could get.

One of my capos flagged me down. The driver of one of the SUVs was unconscious, slumped over the steering wheel, but still alive.

My capo pulled the bastard back. "Fuck! These are Alvarez's men," he snarled.

I glared at the bodies decorating my event center lawn. Felipe Alvarez has no idea what is coming for him. But he would. I'd make sure he felt every ounce of my wrath before I choked the life out of him with my own two hands.

"Take him to interrogation. If you find anyone else, kill them on sight."

I squeezed my dress, using it to wipe away the dampness from my palms. My men at the entrance had stopped four of the vehicles, but we'd lost three men, and two were in the hospital.

I'd finally finished dealing with the police, all of them on my payroll. They would do the best they could, but the whole situation was a mess.

My movements would be restricted for the next couple of weeks, which meant I couldn't take my revenge on Felipe yet, but his days were numbered.

I glanced at Marco, and his eyes immediately met mine. He'd been assisting me, using his own contacts, but every time he came near me, I turned away.

I found someone else to talk to, another person to check on, anything to keep me away from him.

He'd noticed, but he never stopped staring at me. His eyes bore into the back of my skull, a constant reminder that he was there, waiting.

But now that everything was settled, I couldn't hide from him or the truth any longer.

Marco could have been hurt or killed all because he was beside me, and I would never accept the possibility of waking up to a world without him.

Felipe had torn open Pandora's box, and I'd have to retaliate for my familia. If Marco stayed by my side, he'd be dragged into a war that had nothing to do with him.

The only way to protect him was to break our contract, stop our alliance, and end whatever our relationship had been morphing into. After today, we'd be nothing more than strangers.

That reality broke my heart, and I would have begged and pleaded to whomever or whatever for another solution, but there wasn't one.

I'd sacrifice anything for Marco, do anything to keep him safe, no matter how much it destroyed me.

I approached him, and he crossed the distance between us.

"Can we talk?"

His expression grew grim and dark. "I've been waiting for us to."

I led us up to my office.

He shut the door behind us. "What's going on? You've been off since the shooting. Did something happen? Are you scared, hurt, or worried about your familia?" He reached for me, but I stepped away.

"Lina—"

"Stop. Just stop." The way he called for me, reached for me, made me want to run to him. I wanted to be in his arms, to feel his warmth—but I couldn't.

"Lina… why are you crying? Talk to me, please." His voice was soft, tender, filled with the same misery I felt.

He stepped closer, but I couldn't let him pull me in. I couldn't. "Please, just stop," I begged.

"How can I? Lina, if you don't want me to touch you, I won't, but I'm not leaving you like this."

I swung my head, panicked. A coldness seeped into my bones, and I wrapped my arms around myself to stave it away. "Yes, you are."

"Lina—"

"You're leaving! You have to!" My voice broke. "I… we can't do this anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

My hands fell to my sides, and my lips tilted into a small, sad smile as I gazed up at him. "You've won."

"What?" He looked so confused. His eyebrows were in a frown, arms out at his sides. It was so disarming I couldn't stop myself from telling him the truth.

"You've won," I repeated. "I tried. I tried so hard to keep you out. But you're here—" I tapped my arms "—under my skin, and you can't be."

"Catalina," he called, reaching for me again, but I stepped away.

"You're charming, charismatic, seductive. You're incredibly attractive, a smooth talker who could sell the Golden Gate Bridge without the deed." I laughed, but it came out bitter and hollow. "And I tried so hard not to feel anything for you, but I do. And I can't. I can't. "

He opened his mouth to say something but I continued on.

"I have a duty—a responsibility to my familia and so do you—but as it stands right now, if I had to choose between them and you, I'd pick you, and I can't. I can't do that, not for the sake of the people who depend on me. Felipe wants a war," I breathed. "And if you stay around me, you and your familia will be at risk."

"I don't care," he hissed.

"But I do! I care! Earlier today, one of those men almost shot you, and my entire world flashed before my eyes. The thought of you lying dead in a pool of your own blood is all I can see when I look at you right now! That can't become a reality!" My shoulders dropped. "But if you continue to stay close to me, it will, not just for you, but for your familia—the people you're supposed to protect."

He stepped closer, holding out his hands. "Just take a deep breath, talk this out with me, and everything will be okay."

I nodded. "It will be when you leave . If I need something, I'll make another alliance with someone else, someone I can be objective towards. But this, all of this, your help, how you're always around me—it ends today. I'd rather live in a world where I never speak to you again, then one where you're no longer breathing."

He stepped forward, and this time, when I backed away from him, he didn't stop. I scrambled back, hitting a wall.

He stalked toward me.

"Stop," I said weakly.

He didn't listen, just kept coming, until he stood in front of me. Marco tried to grab me, but I slapped his hands away.

He pinned me against the wall, but I pushed at his chest. Grabbing my hands, he slammed them against the wall, holding my wrists above my head.

I struggled and yelled at him, but he didn't move, didn't even speak. I tried to stomp on his foot with my heel, but he pulled his leg back. I went to knee him in the balls, but he blocked my thigh. Readjusting his grip on my wrists, he grabbed my thigh from the back of my knee, pulling my leg around his waist, making my dress bunch up at my hip.

"Marco—"

"Be a good girl and keep your leg wrapped around me. Because if you try to get away from me again, I will hunt you down and tie you up." His voice was deep, dark, dangerous.

"Marco—"

"No. You said enough. Now it's time you listen."