Page 184 of Embriagado

“I—”

I looked up to meet his eyes, those damn golden eyes I’d dreamed about every night since the day we met. Suddenly, it all made so much sense, and yet, I was scared. If I had to choose between facing a 200-pound fighter or him at that moment, I’d go for the fighter, as boxing seemed much easier than facing my feelings. In a fight, the worst that could happen was taking a few punches. Even if I ended up on the floor, getting back up wouldn’t be a big deal. But with him? With Ariyan? There would be no turning back, and I seriously doubted I could stand up if he knocked me down. Scratch that. There was no chance I would. There was no chance I’d ever survive his rejection, not after I’d gotten this deep.

“You’re what?” he asked.

Realizing I’d stayed quiet for too long, I cleared my throat.

“It’s nothing.” I finally got my hand moving and took the shirt from him. “I forgot what it was.”

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re really that slow or just pretending to be.” He clicked his tongue, already moving to open the door.

Staying rooted to the floor, hands clenching my shirt, I stared at his back. I guess I was that slow, if it took me this much time to realize I was in deep shit, because fuck, I was in love with him.

46

SANTIAGO

“So you’re good from here?” Ariyan asked, glancing at me while we both stood on the trail leading back to the hotel from the beach.

“Yeah.”

“Good. Now, go get your brother and leave.”

“You bet, boss.”

He studied me for a moment longer, eyes cold as if we didn’t just fuck, before he turned around and walked ahead, leaving me behind so we wouldn’t arouse anyone’s suspicion. After all, he was still the boss, and I was his employee.

The second he was out of my sight, the breath I’d been holding rushed out of me. For fuck’s sake, those last five minutes felt like I was dying. Had I really considered confessing my love to him? I straightened up and ran my fingers through my hair, fighting the urge to scream into the sky. That cold bastard would chop my head off if the word “love” ever came out of my mouth, and he would most definitely call an end to our relationship. And while our quick hookup in the beach hut proved that he did care for me, I knew it was beneath him to admit it, at least for now. A big smile spread on my lips just thinking about his jealous face. Fuck me, if I’d known he’d react this way to me hooking up with someone else, I’d have done it a hell of a lot sooner. Although thinking about it, back then, when he’d caught me with Gabriel at the boxing gym, he’d also lashed out. Could it be that he’d wanted me since then?

Despite not having an answer, the question by itself was enough to satisfy me, and I got my ass moving and went back to the party. What started as an awful night turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life, and ain’t no fucking way I’d let Nacio ruin it for me. Or so I thought until I couldn’t find the idiot. After twenty minutes had passed with me looking around, I realized he wasn’t there. Trying to call him for the tenth time, I sighed when the call went to voicemail and tucked the phone in my jeans as I looked up at the hotel. More accurately, as I scanned the dozens of rooms my brother could possibly be in with his girlfriend at the moment.

That little fucker.

Knowing those two, they’d probably snuck out of the party to fuck. So, positive I wouldn’t track him down here, I went back inside. Still, how the hell would I locate them? Our hotel had hundreds of rooms, meaning it would take all night. But not wanting Ariyan to chop off my head, I was determined to find Nacio—even if it meant going from room to room.

“The fuck’s wrong with this crap?” I grunted after I pushed the elevator call button, and the piece of shit didn’t light up as it should have. Looking up at the small screen showing the floor number, it was stuck on 13. My brows creased in confusion, and I pressed the button again, but after two minutes passed with the number not changing, I gave up and went to the staircase.

I jogged up to the first floor and decided to start with room number one. Knocking on the door, I stepped back and waited for it to be answered. Given the late hour, I was prepared to be yelled at by whoever was staying in the room, except no one came to open the door or even called to ask who it was. Shrugging, I moved on to the next room, only for the same thing to happen; I knocked, waited, and nothing, not even a sound.

Assuming it was just a coincidence that those two rooms were empty, I tried again, and again, until I reached the final room on that floor without a single door opening. Confused, I tried to figure out how it made any sense, considering just this week, we were fully booked. Or so Ariyan had mentioned. But then again, most guests often preferred a room with a nice view, so maybe that was why the first floor was empty. But when I got to the second floor and started knocking on doors, and there was still no answer, I started stressing out. Feeling as if something was off, I quickly ran to the third floor, then the fourth.

The fuck?

“Room service,” I called impatiently, as I knocked on some door on the fifth floor. By now, sweat drenched my shirt, and I was becoming increasingly suspicious. Despite the party going on downstairs, it made no sense for the hotel to be empty, right? I looked down the long, empty hall, chills going down my fucking spine at how creepy it was. I didn’t know why, but I felt like I shouldn’t be here at all. My stomach fucking flipped with the thought of being here all alone, and for a change, I decided to follow my gut. Going back to the emergency exit staircase, which I’d become familiar with by now, I closed the door behind me when somebody bumped into me.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” I jumped, my heart leaping in my fucking chest. Quickly turning to see who’d just scared the ever-living shit out of me, I was a bit shocked and mostly confused at the sight of the half-dressed girl standing there. At first, I thought she was just drunk, but looking more carefully, I noticed she was crying.

“Are you okay?” I asked when she looked over her shoulder, muttering something I couldn’t figure out. “Hey—” I shut up after noticing the red bruises around her neck and face. What was more, the strap of her bra was torn, while one of her high heels was broken.

What the actual fuck?

Grabbing her arm, I forced her to look at me.

“Hey, you’re all good now,” I said, holding her terrified stare. “I won’t hurt you.”

Fear crossed her eyes before her bottom lip shuddered. “U-upstairs.”

My brows drew together as I tried to understand what she was saying between her crying, but it was impossible.