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I’d managed to reach the cavernous ballroom when the front door gave way beneath Sebastián’s brute strength. The sound of splintering wood drew a shriek from my chest, betraying my location. I slammed my jaw shut, and my teeth snapped the inside of my cheek. The coppery taste of blood on my tongue sent me spiraling deeper into primal panic, and my heart fluttered in my chest as I increased my pace.
My ballet flats slid out from beneath me when I raced across the ballroom’s marble floor, and the air whooshed out of my lungs when I slammed down onto my hip. I gasped through the flair of pain and struggled to my feet, but I’d lost precious seconds.
Sebastián’s heavy footfalls stomped down the corridor behind me, and I scrambled for purchase as I tried to continue my flight.
“Isabel!” His sonorous voice boomed through the enormous, empty ballroom like a bomb going off.
An animal whimper slipped between my clenched teeth, the fresh burst of fear strong enough to propel me forward.
But it was too late to escape Sebastián. His much longer strides closed the distance between us, each heavy stomp of his boots on the marble matching the desperate beats of my heart.
A fearsome snarl reverberated through my entire body when his weight slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. Just before I smashed into the marble floor, he turned so that he took the brunt of the impact. My teeth rattled as we both hit the marble, my more delicate frame only slightly cushioned by his hard body.
Terror flooded my brain, making me dizzy. Sebastián was used to fighting, and the fall didn’t faze him. He didn’t miss a beat as he manhandled me where he wanted. The ballroom spun around me in a sickening swirl of pink marble and gold gilding, and the air was shoved out of my lungs when my abdomen collided with his corded thigh. He captured my wrists and shackled them in one of his big hands, trapping them at the small of my back. I kicked and flailed, crying out in fear.
He was unaffected by my struggles. His other thigh lifted and then came down on the backs of my legs, pinning my knees against the hard marble and effectively immobilizing me.
“You shouldn’t have run from me.” The words were so rough that they were barely intelligible, but the deepest parts of my psyche registered the threat.
I twisted in his iron grip. “Please. Please, Sebastián—”
“Not another word!” he barked. Pain bloomed on my bottom, and the visceral shock smothered my ability to scream. I couldn’t plead with him, couldn’t formulate a coherent thought.
Terror clogged my throat when his free hand snaked beneath my belly, finding the clasp at the front of my jeans. The sound of the zipper being pulled down grated on my mind like fingernails on a chalk board, setting my entire body on edge. All my muscles locked up tight, vibrating with fearful tension.
Keeping my wrists pinned with one large hand, his other fisted the waistband of my jeans and yanked them down to my thighs, exposing my white cotton underwear. The cool air was as jarring on my skin as arctic ice, my mind barely comprehending the full horror of what was happening.
Sebastián—my savior, my avenging angel—was going to violate me. My stomach lurched, and I barely managed to swallow against the bile that burned the back of my throat.
“Please,” I managed to gasp. “Please, don’t hurt me. Don’t…” I gagged before I could put the terrible act into words.
His hand settled on my bottom, so hot against my frigid skin. “Stefano will decide what to do with you, but I have a punishment for you right now. You shouldn’t have run from me. You shouldn’t have betrayed me.”
The shocking sound of his palm smacking my flesh echoed through the cavernous ballroom for nearly a full second before I could register the pain. Fire licked my bottom, hundreds of bee stings on my tender skin. My strangled cry rebounded from the ceiling, clashing with the next sharp slap of his hand.
My instinct for flight kicked in again, and I struggled wildly, bucking against his thigh. He kept me pinned easily, his massive muscles clamping down on my legs while his hand kept my wrists shackled at my back.
“Stop!” I begged, my voice hitching on a sob just before a third blow landed.
“No,” he growled, the burning heat of his hand lashing me again. “I stood beside you when your brother betrayed the cartel. I put my neck on the line for you. Because I believed you were innocent.”
“I am!” I gasped.
“No more lies!” he bellowed, slapping the tender spot where my butt met my upper thighs. I screamed and thrashed, but he thundered over me. “I gave you the chance to obey, and you chose to defy me. When I’m finished with you, you’ll come with me meekly and do exactly as I say. Understood?”
