I had to do immediate damage control.
“Fuck!” My fist released its white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel to punch the dashboard. I was going to have to reveal my lie to Stefano. He’d find out about the blog post soon enough. He’d know that I’d been keeping Marisol at my house, when I was supposed to have brought her to Carmen.
There was another call I had to make first. I needed to at least be able to inform Stefano that I was doing what I could to clean up the mess I’d made.
Sebastián Castillo answered on the first ring. “Yes?”
“I need you to pick up Isabel Vera.” I didn’t waste time providing an explanation, and I knew I could rely on Sebastián. He wouldn’t question me. “Find her, and do whatever it takes to confine her. Stefano will want to talk to her very soon.”
“Okay, boss.”
I ended the call, confident that he’d handle the other little traitor in our organization.
My fingers twisted around the steering wheel, itching for an outlet for the aggression that churned just beneath my skin.
I gritted my teeth and forced myself to make the call to Stefano. If he chose to kill me for this, I hoped he’d at least hold off for a few hours. Better yet, several days; long enough to allow me time to make Marisol thoroughly regret crossing me.
“Raúl. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Stefano greeted me with his usual deceptively delighted tone. He wouldn’t be bothering with the pretense once I made my confession.
“The police just showed up at my house.” Each word dropped from my tongue as a shard of ice. “They want to ask me questions about some fucking vigilante blog post. Apparently, there’s a detailed account about my recent activities. We need to do damage control.”
Stefano allowed a long moment of silence, stretching the tension between us. “I’ve heard of that blog. How did you end up featured on it? You’re not usually the talkative type.” He said it like an offhand, rueful comment, but I knew him well enough to understand his mind games.
“I wasn’t the one who talked. Isabel Vera posted the information. I’ve sent Sebastián to pick her up. He’ll hold her until you can deal with her.” I made sure to present this aspect of my early efforts at resolution before telling him about Marisol.
His regretful sigh sounded through the phone. “Good. That gives me time to start applying pressure on the right people and placing some strategic bribes. We can make this go away, my friend. I’ll handle it.”
His icy tone very clearly reminded me that I wasn’t his friend. I was his ally, but I’d fucked up. I’d threatened the stability of our business.
Although I’d already braced myself for it, my stomach dropped at his next casual question.
“What was the topic of Isabel’s little exposé?”
“Marisol.” I hissed out my admission through gritted teeth. “She’s with me, at my house. I invited Isabel to come visit her, and they must’ve planned this together as soon as my back was turned.” I hesitated for a beat before pressing on. “Marisol’s been with me for nearly three weeks. Apparently, the blog post provides details.”
Silence.
He let me stew in it, forcing me to languor in the knowledge that my life was on the line.
“You promised Carmen that you’d bring Marisol safely back to her,” he reminded me silkily. “You made an oath to me that you would ensure no one would harm her.
“Don’t bother lying to me about what you’ve been doing with her. If you’ve been keeping Marisol in secret, it’s not difficult to guess why.” He paused again, and I could practically hear him seething. “Carmen will not be happy about this. She will want you to pay. She’ll want to get Marisol away from you immediately.”
“You’ll have to kill me if you want to take her.” I spoke the flat, absolute truth. Traitor or not, I wouldn’t let Marisol go.
Before, I’d wanted her sweetness and tenderness.
Now, I wanted her suffering. I wanted her delicious body that she’d denied me for so long. She’d toyed with me, drawing out my torment.
She would not escape my wrath.
“So, are you going to kill me, or not?” I snapped when Stefano didn’t reply right away.
“No. I’m not going to kill you.” This wasn’t a reassurance; it was a judgment. He didn’t bother to explain his reasoning, no doubt withholding it from me intentionally to keep me on edge. “But I won’t be able to tell Carmen about this. If I did, she wouldn’t stop until Marisol was safely returned to her protection. You are making me lie to my queen.”
It was an unspoken declaration of my debt. One day, he’d call on me to repay him, and he might ask me to do something I didn’t want to do.
I shoved the potential fallout from my mind. At least our conflict had been pushed to a later date. For the foreseeable future, I would have Marisol all to myself. Trapped for my retribution and my pleasure.
The awful truth was that my lost little lamb had always been a venomous snake. She would pay for trying to poison me.
Chapter 21
Marisol
The front door slammed so hard that it sent a shockwave throughout the entire house. A flash of Gehovany kicking down the door to my family home sent a pulse of remembered terror through my body. My stomach flipped, and I pressed myself deeper into the corner, wrapping my arms around my middle as my knees went rubbery. I sank to the floor, trying to make myself as small and invisible as possible.
Boom! A heavy body smashed into the locked bedroom door. I’d barricaded myself in the room that comforted me most—the room where Raúl’s earthy, calming scent was strongest.
I didn’t know what threat had arrived at his gates, but he’d been nearly out of his mind with rage and panic when he’d run off to face it. He’d ordered me to stay inside the house, and I’d protected myself as best I could, following his snarled command.
A second boom of a massive form colliding with the locked door drew a whimper from my chest.
My mother’s dark eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling. The blooming, crimson flower staining her yellow dress.
A feral roar rent the air, punctuated by the door splintering around the hinges.
Although the beastly sound should’ve struck terror in my heart, I recognized Raúl’s fierce shout.
My hands dropped from where they’d covered my face, reaching for my savior.
His rough-hewn features twisted in a savage snarl, and his thick fingers bit into my upper arms as he yanked me to my feet. He crushed me to his chest, but there was nothing tender about his embrace. And icy knife scraped down my spine when I registered the hard flash of light over his opaque jade eyes.
Instinctively, I cringed away from the monster who trapped me in his immensely strong grip. He jerked me closer, wrapping iron bands around my chest. His white teeth flashed, snapping together a mere inch from my lips.
“Wh-what’s happening?” I squeaked. “What’s wrong?”
He snarled in my face, his heated, heavy breaths burning my cheeks. “What’s happening?” he echoed me on a hiss. “You betrayed me!”