Page 34 of Forbidden Fate

Silence for a few moments. Then⁠—

“I need to hurt you.”

The words land like a punch to my chest. “Uh…what?”

“I need to make it look real,” he says. “Bruises. Blood.”

I gulp. “Why?”

“So your family cooperates.”

I gulp again.

“They need to see proof,” he continues. “Photographic proof. That you’ve been beaten.”

I stare at him. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

I shake my head sharply. “No. You’re not that guy.”

Anger flashes in his eyes. “You have no idea what kind of guy I am.”

“Yeah,” I shoot back. “I do.”

His expression hardens. “We barely know each other.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”

I hold his gaze, refusing to back down. “You didn’t touch me like Zabala did. You apologized. You hesitated just now.”

His jaw clenches. “That doesn’t make me a good man.”

“No,” I say quietly. “But it means you’re not like them.”

He takes a step closer, narrows his eyes. “You’re making assumptions that could get you hurt.”

I let out a slow breath. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

He cocks his head. “What does that mean?”

I hesitate for half a second. Not because I don’t want to say it but because once I do, I can’t take it back.

“This… This isn’t the first time I’ve been kidnapped.”

14

CRUZ

I stare at her.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been kidnapped.

It doesn’t make sense. I’ve seen her file. Every page. Background checks, financials, travel records, social connections. If something like that had happened—if she’d been taken, held, ransomed—I’d know it.

“That’s not in your file,” I say finally.

She shrugs…or tries to. “Not everything is.”