He didn’t deny it. Something broke within her, whether it was her pride or her heart, and she wished he had at least lied to her.
Sally forced herself to breathe, to push down the jagged thing that had taken up residence in her chest. “My father told me to get you alone with him earlier in his shack. He said if I managedthat, he would finally let me—” She stopped. Swallowed. Started again. “He said he would finally see me as more than just his daughter. That I could be part of the real business.”
“So, you led me there knowing—” He started.
“No,” she insisted. “He didn’t tell me he was going to hurt you. I would have … I would have never helped him hurt you. I only wanted freedom from the chains the men in my life seem to weigh on me. To be seen as equal …”
“Did you know?” Mateo’s eyes were sharp now, cutting through the pain. “Did you know he was still reporting as the leader of Nox?”
“No.” She spit the word out, laced with anger and spite. His look said he did not believe her.
Take a breath. He assumes your papa trusts you as more than just a tool. She made herself slow down and breathe. “No. He hid that from me. From everyone. I thought—He told everyone you were now in charge. Iknewhe was talking with Obscura on your behalf, but never …” She gestured at the chaos of the compound behind them, the distant crack of gunfire, the smoke rising black against the late afternoon sky. “Not about any of this or about trying to kill you. I honestly thought you were in charge ofeverything.”
Mateo shifted against the tree, and the movement pulled a sound from him—low, and primal, he gritted his teeth before releasing a long curse. The patch against his skin shimmered.
“Fuck that man, this shit still hurts.” His fingers rose to touch the material that held his wound closed.
“What the hell is that thing?” she asked as she reached to touch him.
“Don’t—”
“Shut up.” Her hands found the edges of the patch, the strange slick texture of it, the warmth of blood beneath.“Seriously, where did you get this? How are you even moving around after this kind of gunshot?”
“It’s some kind of off-market military tech. Got it from a …” Mateo paused and chuckled before he continued, “got it from afriend, I suppose you’d say.” He sucked air through his teeth as she pressed down on his wound. “That hurts, Sally.”
“Good.” She pressed harder. “You deserve it for lying to me. For using me.”
His hand covered hers over his wound for a moment. Their eyes met and held.
“Why are you out here?” he asked, his eyes betraying a warmth she wished she didn’t crave.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t look for you?” she whispered. “I didn’t find your body in the shack so I went looking. I figured if you were still breathing, you’d be going after him. Am I right?”
Mateo nodded. “Just following orders.”
“Following orders?” She laughed, the sound bitter. “I suppose we’re both guilty of that, aren’t we?”
He shook his head. “José manipulated you.”
“My father used me.” The correction was sharp. “There’s a difference. Ilethim use me because I wanted more than justthisfor my life.” She gestured at herself, at the burning compound, at the whole suffocating weight of being José’s daughter. “I wanted to matter. To be seen as something other than a pretty distraction, a bargaining chip, a useful tool.”
Mateo’s breathing had steadied somewhat, the color creeping back into his face by degrees. The patch on his chest seemed to be working, in some miraculous fashion. Still seated, leaning against the tree, he shifted his weight to test his strength and grimaced.
He looked her in the eye and said, “We need to move. Can you walk?”
“Canyouwalk?” She shoved his injured shoulder against the tree.
He stifled a groan but nodded. “I asked you first.”
Sally stood, offering him her hand. He took it, and she pulled—hard, because he was heavy and wounded and stubborn—and got him to his feet. He swayed, caught himself, pressed his free hand to his chest and breathed through whatever wave of pain had just hit him.
“Where’s José?” Sally asked.
“You mean your father?”
“I meanJosé.” Her voice was flat. “I need to stop thinking of him as my papa.”
Mateo studied her for a long moment. “I don’t know. He ran after he shot me, not long after the raid started. I was hunting him down, but …” He looked down at the shimmering bandage. “Needed to take a breather.”