Page 26 of Chris

Jorge looked her way, his face a mask of calm, and his arms folded over his broad, silk-covered chest. He said nothing, but she saw the tilt of his head, a silent demand for her to come his way, and not to say a thing about it. He was famous for his silent commands, and she had learned to fear those more than his outbursts. It was when he was quiet she didn’t know what might come next.

“Thank you for the walk,” Valeria told Chris, “but I think this is the end for me tonight.”

Chris noticed Jorge then, too. “Thank you for indulging me.”

“Of course.”

As much as Val wanted to look over her shoulder as she left Chris behind to head for Jorge on the steps, she didn’t. Jorge hadn’t once looked away from her, after all. While he appeared fine outside, she doubted that he was on the inside.

“Head inside,” he told her as she climbed the stairs, “and stay there for the evening, Val.”

“I only needed a breather.”

She attempted to move past him, but his arm struck out fast, and he caught her at the elbow. To anyone else, she was sure his hand on her body would appear innocent from afar, but his fingers dug in hard, leaving marks behind. Tomorrow, she would have to wear something with longer sleeves to hide the bruises he was creating on her body, not that it was anything new. She had become good at hiding things Jorge didn’t want the rest of the surrounding people to see.

Valeria swallowed hard, knowing better than to tell him to let her go. He would only hurt her worse later. “Do you want me to go inside, or not?”

“Just a breather?”

His gaze burned into hers, searching for the lie.

He would find none.

Not yet, anyway.

“Just a breather,” she echoed. “The house was getting stuffy.”

Jorge let her go. “Head inside, as I told you.”

Like she had a choice?

Valeria went.