“My man will confirm it.”
“As I said, my word is enough.”
“No.” He refuses to back down. The doctor at his side eyes Leticia with hunger. I don’t need to ask to know that at some point he crossed a line. I can see it in the way she refuses to look at him. In the tightness of her shoulders.
“You need proof?” I confirm.
He nods.
So be it. “No matter the cost, princesa.” I whisper the words against her ear, and I rise to my feet, forcing her to stand with me. Her nod is barely perceptible, but it’s there nonetheless.
“Lay on the desk.” The doctor takes a step closer, but when he does, her entire body locks up.
“You mean to examine her here?”
Swallowing hard, he nods.
Flicking my gaze around the room, I see Ruben’s men licking their lips and take in their hungry gazes.
A knot forms in my stomach while a vice squeezes my chest.Fuck this.
The doctor moves closer, and Leticia stumbles against me. “I can’t—“ she whispers.
“Forgive me,” I murmur, making my decision. “If proof is all that you need,” I tell him. “You’ll have it.” Not allowing myself to think, I press Leticia forward until her hips bump into the desk. But before she can crawl onto it, I press my hand to her back and instead bend her at the waist.
“Stay where you are,” I order the doctor.
Skimming my hand over Leticia’s generous curves, I suck in a breath, and I force myself to ignore the guilt burrowing holes into my chest. She gasps, my ears honing in on the sound. I’m tempted to look at her. To assure her everything will be okay. But if I look at her now, I won’t be able to follow through with what it is that comes next.
We agreed. No matter the cost. Failure is not an option, and this is the only way I can keep and protect her.
Placing one hand on the back of her neck, I pin Leticia in place while my legs press against the backs of her thighs. I know she can feel my erection, but she doesn’t make a sound, save for that first small gasp. Where is the fighter? The woman who threw herself from my car only a few days ago. That she’s frozen like this right now tells me so much more than I could have known.
“Sign the contract,” I demand yet again, only this time, I shove up the skirt of Leti’s dress with my free hand and use my other to tear her panties down her thighs. I’m careful not to expose more skin than I have to, but every man here knows exactly what I intend to do.
“Eyes forward.” Adrián snaps and every one of my men turns their attention forward.
I meet the dark brown gaze of my brother. “Are you sure you want to do this?” He mouths, his expression resigned. He’ll rip me a new one about it later, but he won’t question me in front of our men. He knows just as I do that I’m throwing my shot at revenge away.
It appears he was right. I can’t have Castro’s kingdom and keep Leti. And if I can only have one, I know what I’ll choose.
I give him a barely perceptible nod.I do.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ruben shouts, eyes wide as he looks from Leticia’s precarious position to me.
Leti, for her part, does not react. Her eyes are wide, mouth pressed into a grim line, but the slight tremble to her body is the only sign she gives that lets me know she’s afraid.
I don’t like what I’m about to do, but I gave up the final dregs of my soul long ago, and when it comes to claiming Leticia, I will not be denied.
“You needed proof,” I tell him. “And I won’t have your man’s filthy hands touching what is now mine.”
Unbuckling my belt and lowering my zipper, I release my cock and ignore the stares of Castro’s men as I guide myself to her slick entrance, stroking my length to grant the sonovabitch a few seconds more time to make the right decision and sign the fucking contract.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Leti’s hands shake. If I could offer her pretty words and reassurances, I would, but I can’t. She knows this as much as I do. In a world like ours, power is everything and kindness is a weakness I cannot afford in a room shared with my enemy.
Her cheek presses against the wood surface, and she exhales a small sigh. I look down to see her eyes open but unfocused. She’s mentally checked out.Good.It’s the best I can ask for.
