Page 27 of Forbidden Fate

“Something far more important.”

“And what’s that?”

No response. Not that I expected one. I’m pretty much kept on a need-to-know basis.

“There has to be another way,” I say again.

“No. She must be broken. Visibly.”

I clamp my hands around the arms of my chair.

“And her brothers,” she continues, “will do exactly what we want them to do.”

I don’t move.

I don’t speak.

I just sit there, feeling heat building inside me.

Adriana straightens. “And you,” she says, “will be the one to do it.”

What? Did I mishear her? I don’t hit women. I vowed never to do that when I saw a john beat my mother when I was a kid and I was too small to stop it.

“I’m sorry?” I say.

“You heard me.”

I stare at her.

“This requires precision,” she says. “Control. Not enthusiasm.”

Not Zabala, is what she’s really saying. He’d be too excited. He’d go too far.

“You are best suited for this,” she continues. “You understand limits. You know how to inflict damage without compromising the asset.”

The asset? She’s a person. A living, breathing human being.

But of course Adriana doesn’t think of her this way. Neither does Vega.

My pulse is pounding. “You seriously want me to beat her.”

“Yes.”

My mind flashes⁠—

Robin’s eyes.

Beautiful. Sharp. Alive.

Something twists hard in my chest.

“There are other men⁠—”

“No.”

“I don’t think I’m⁠—”

“This comes directly from Señor Vega. He trusts you.”