American Savage by Matt Whyman

Author:Matt Whyman
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781471400704
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Published: 2014-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

22

When Joaquín Mendez saw him coming, the young man had been picking his way through a grilled chicken and cornbread salad with low-fat lime dressing. Still struggling to restore his appetite, Joaquín was well aware that the demands of his job required a smart diet. The trouble was that with Angelica still in his thoughts, every mouthful tasted like tissue paper.

This wasn’t the reason why he spluttered it across the bench on the gym terrace where he always ate his lunch. It was the sight of her husband, the shaven-headed ape he had spotted at the villa, now striding with a purpose towards him. Joaquín had seen the pickup approach the junction and then pull in, but didn’t recognise the driver until he’d stepped out and slammed the vehicle door shut behind him.

‘Mary, Mother of God!’ His chair scraped backwards as he scrambled to his feet. ‘There’s been a misunderstanding!’ he said, as the brute approached. ‘Can we discuss this?’

Titus Savage stopped before his table. He looked a little baffled at the greeting, but extended his hand nonetheless.

‘You’re the man responsible for helping my wife get into shape,’ he said, having introduced himself. ‘I was hoping you could do the same for me.’

Brushing strands of cress from his vest, Joaquín summoned as much calm into his composure as he could, before inviting the man to take a seat.

‘How is Angelica?’ he asked, and hid his hands under the table as they had started to tremble.

‘I would’ve thought you’d know that better than me,’ said Titus, which caused the young fitness trainer’s expression to freeze. ‘She trained with you on a daily basis until recently, right?’

‘Every day,’ said Joaquín, with some confidence in his voice this time. For it struck him that Angelica must have withheld the reason why their working relationship had come to an end. Otherwise her husband wouldn’t be sitting pleasantly across from him at the table but reforming his face with his fists. ‘She’s a dedicated woman,’ he added for good measure.

For a moment, Titus appeared not to be listening. Instead, he was studying Joaquín with an unsettling intensity.

‘Have we met?’ he asked the young gym instructor. ‘I swear I’ve seen you before.’

Joaquín’s eyes widened. Even his mouth looked set to do the same thing. He had yet to cast aside the memory of that moment when this man first levelled his gaze at him. Back then, on the loop road outside the Savage villa, it had woken him up to the fact that he’d been flirting with a very dangerous fantasy. Making a play for someone else’s wife, as he had quickly come to realise, was forbidden in the Ten Commandments for a very good reason. He only had to look at Titus again, right here in front of him, to see that the guy was capable of striking back with great vengeance and furious anger. It hadn’t stopped his feelings for Angelica, but from this moment on staying out of her life had become a basic survival strategy for the terrified young man.

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