Lib Novel Page 58
“What else?”
“He asked me about a series of names, none of which I recognized. But there’s something about this guy. Something that makes me think there’s more to him.”
“He threatened you?”
“I’m not sure. He was…odd. He even said that he wanted me to come with him, but I don’t know where.”
“Querida, you’re not going anywhere with some desgraçado you don’t even know.”
“Adrían, I never sa?—”
“This isn’t a discussion.”
She grunted, a small noise of frustration that struck fear in the hearts of no one. “Look, your reaction doesn’t make sense. You’re not thinking. When did I ever say I would?—”
“Who’s to say the filho da puta doesn’t have ulterior motives, which he probably does.”
“Filho da?—”
“Don’t repeat it.”
“What does it mean?”
“Doesn’t matter. And no, you’re not going anywhere. I won’t let you. You are forbidden.”
She looked at him for so long that the wheels skidded onto the dirt, and she had to swerve back onto the paved road. “Forbidden?”
He answered in Portuguese.
She responded in Arabic.
At this point, he didn’t know where in the argument they were as they couldn’t understand one another, but he didn’t care. All she needed to comprehend was that she was forbidden from going anywhere with this jackass.
Or any other jackass.
After another elongated silence, she asked, “So, what if that was my only option? You would want me to die?”
“Sayeda, one of the last things I could ever want is for you to die,” he said. “I don’t see why you won’t let me handle this problem for you.”
“I’m an adult woman.”
“And I’m an adult man.”
“I’m capable.”
“And I’m capable…er.”
“That’s not a word.”
“No, but forbidden is.”
He saw her desire to scream in the suddenly visible veins in her neck, but he could imagine them now, the jackass holding a gun to her head if she didn’t perform depraved acts for him. In no world did she deserve that, and as long as he was alive, she wouldn’t be subjected to it.
“Adrían, you’re not my father.”
He rolled his eyes. “If you brought that up to tell me I can’t stop you from doing what you want, have you ever considered that I might be worse than your father? A father might stop talking to you, disown you. Me, I’ll find you wherever you are and take you from him, even if I have to cut him from your body.”
She slowly shook her head. “You’re not listening to me.”