Page 59 of Dark Desires

“They’ve been together for a while. Well, as together as they can be in their situation.”

He glances away for a second, clearly trying to process.

“OK, so Stephania’s been sneaking around seeing none other than Christian de la Rosa’s son. But she doesn’t know he’s his son.”

“There’s no way she knows. Christian’s only been a name in our lives for the last few weeks. And his son goes by a different last name.”

“And you went to talk to him, why?”

“Because I hate this.” The words shoot out of my mouth.

Silence hangs in the air.

“Hate this?”

“Yeah. I hate that my cousin is marrying a man she doesn’t love, who doesn’t love her, when a guy she’s crazy about is right there.”

“So, you figured you’d go behind everyone’s back and try to ruin our arrangement?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. It’s just that none of this feels right to me. Not to mention…” I trail off and place my hand on my belly.

“That’s a whole other issue,Devotchka. And one that we’ll discuss later. For now, we need to figure out this thing with Omar and Stephania. Is he in her life for a specific purpose?”

“I don’t think he is,” I say quickly. “He doesn’t appear to have anything to do with his father’s business. He’s a lawyer, fresh out of law school. Works at this big firm, seems legit. And he probably changed his last name to get out from under Christian’s shadow.”

“And yet his father walked into his office like he owns the place. That’s not a man who has let go of his son.”

I frown, the pieces swirling in my head but refusing to come together. “Christian said he was there on business—like he’s a client of the firm. But something doesn’t add up. Omar was nervous. Like, really nervous, after his dad came in.”

“And you said Stephania is in love with him?”

I nod. “Yeah. And he’s in love with her, too. But obviously, he’s scared of his father.”

Alexei straightens, his entire body going tense. “That’s it.”

“What’s it?”

He meets my gaze, his expression dark and serious. “Christian de la Rosa doesn’t make moves without a reason. If his son is in love with Stephania, and he knows who she is, this isn’t just about Omar.”

“It’s about my family,” I finish, my stomach dropping.

Alexei nods. “Christian’s trying to get close either to manipulate your family or destroy it. And he’s using his son to do it. I’d bet you anything that’s what’s happening.”

The realization sends a chill down my spine. We’ve been looking at this all wrong.

And there’s a damn good chance we might be playing right into De la Rosa’s hands.

CHAPTER 19

ALEXEI

“Nothing. Not a damn thing so far.”

Lev sighs, running his hand through his hair.

I chuckle. “You act like boredom isn’t par for the course in a stakeout.”

“I know stakeouts are boring, but there’s boring, and then there’sboring.”