Page 31 of Sacred Blood

He didn’t answer right away, delivering six more stinging spanks with the cane while I blubbered and hung onto the handles for dear life.

When he stopped, my ass was on fire. But what he did next brought a matching heat to my face. “Go stand in the corner, Gaby, and hold your shirt above your hips.”

I was about to refuse the humiliating request and chanced a peek at him over his shoulder. The look of anger and regret in his eyes shut down my rebellion and I shuffled to the corner like the proverbial naughty girl I now felt like. How many times had I fantasized about this very thing? But never had I understood why this made naughty girls repentant until experiencing it first hand.

The room felt impossibly quiet. A few minutes ago, I'd been angry, and felt justified in that anger, certain I was right. That everyone else was wrong.

Now, with nothing to distract me from my own thoughts, the certainty began to crumble.

I replayed the meeting in my head.

The questions.

The warnings.

The concern hidden beneath the interrogation.

None of them had treated the situation like a joke.

Because it wasn't one. And for the first time since leaving Toronto, I allowed myself to consider the possibility that Tano and his family might be right.

What if I hadn't escaped as cleanly as I'd believed?

What if every decision I'd made since leaving home had been influenced by someone else? The thought weighed heavily in my chest.

Worse than the fear was the realization that Tano had tried to protect me before I'd understood the danger. And I'd fought him every step of the way.

My anger slowly gave way to something far more uncomfortable.

Regret.

Not because I'd asked questions, or stood up for myself. But because somewhere in the middle of all my fear and frustration, I'd forgotten that he was trying to help.

That realization hurt more than anything else.

“Stick that ass out and place your nose against the wall.”

This was worse than the spanking, way worse. Shame swept through me as I recalled my outburst in the other room. Tears leaked from my eyes, and my ass throbbed painfully. How many spankings had I managed to earn in the past twenty-four hours?

“Come here, Gaby,” Tano ordered icily after what felt like hours in the position.

I’d fucked up and didn’t want to face it. I never expected to have feelings for him, but in this moment with my punished backside exposed and the tone in his voice, I knew that how he felt about me mattered.

“I’m not sure I can, Sir. I can’t face the disappointment I hear in your voice.”

There was an uncomfortable pause as I waited for him to respond. Every hair on my body stood on end and my pulse raced, but still nothing. Unable to bear one more second of silence, I swallowed my pride and my fear and turned around.

I found him leaning against the wall, arms crossed, his eyes laser-focused on me. Never had anyone looked at me with such intensity.

“Are you ready to obey me, Gabriella?” His tone was soft and full of feeling, but not an ounce of disappointment. Behind his carefully constructed wall was yearning and sensitivity.

The whiplash I’d experienced with his multiple attitudes finally made sense. He was protecting himself, just as I was. Despite his larger-than-life persona, he was just a man who had doubts just like everyone else. And now I saw that my monster was a man who desired to protect me, even from myself.

I ran, stumbled across the room to him. My heart cracked open when he wrapped his muscular arms around me. Gently he rocked us from side to side as I cried out a lifetime of guilt and regret.

“It’s all right,” he murmured as he held me. “You’re safe now, safe with me.”

That was a week ago—seven long days and nights in one of their safe houses with round-the-clock guards stationed at every door. The first day, I was too shocked to do much of anything.