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She was my responsibility now, but I didn’t have to torture myself for her sake.
Resigning myself to the bare minimum physical contact, I wrapped my arm around her waist to support her. This meeting was over, our fates sealed. It was time to go.
We had a fucking wedding to plan.
CHAPTER 6
ISABEL
Stefano hadn’t killed me, but my life was over.
Married. To Sebastián. The beast of a man who’d held me down and spanked me.
The ruthless king of the cartel had given me a life sentence. My home would become my prison. My family wealth—my only source of power and security—was no longer mine. Sebastián would control it. He would control me.
I remembered the hardness against my hip when he’d punished me in the ballroom, and a shudder wracked my body. What would he demand from me as my husband? The prospect of being violated by the man I’d thought of as my savior made me want to vomit.
I’d been moving in a horrified daze, but as we approached my bedroom, I became acutely aware of the heat of his hand on my waist. He’d had to support my weight on the walk from the car into my house, but now his strong arm surrounding me made my stomach lurch.
“Don’t touch me,” I hissed, recoiling from him. He released me immediately, and I had to catch myself on my bedroom door when I stumbled forward.
“Believe me, I don’t want to,” he seethed, his rage rising to match mine.
I blinked and spun to face him, shocked at his fury. Why would he be furious? He was about to steal my fortune.
Before I could formulate a question, he slammed his fist into the wall. My heart leapt into my throat, and I scrambled back from him. My chest hollowed out as familiar fear took hold, the helpless knowledge that I wouldn’t be able to stop the beating. I’d never been strong enough to defend myself when my brother had hit me. Sebastián was far stronger than Daniel had been.
His dark eyes narrowed when they clashed with mine, and his nostrils flared like an enraged predator. He smashed his fist into the wall again, the sound of my terrified yelp smothered by the cracking plaster.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he snarled.
My eyes snapped to the floor, averting my gaze. Anything to stop him from hitting me. If he could break the wall with his fists, I shuddered to think about the damage he could inflict on my body.
He huffed a growl, even more beastly than he had been when he’d spanked me. For some reason, he truly was angry about this marriage. It didn’t make any sense, but I didn’t dare question him. Not when he was so volatile.
“Give me your phone,” he snapped. “Your laptop. I want any electronics you have stashed in this room. You won’t be getting online again anytime soon.”
The command set my teeth on edge. Already, he was asserting control over my life.
I still didn’t dare look at him, but I couldn’t hold in the spiteful question, “Is this how it’s going to be? You’re my warden now?”
“You can hate me all you want,” he barked, and I flinched. “How much freedom you have is up to you, but you’ll have to earn my trust. And I don’t trust you right now. We both could’ve died today because of your actions. We’ve both been punished.”
Something withered inside me. Sebastián could’ve been killed because of my recklessness. I hadn’t stopped to consider how my choice to betray the cartel might affect him.
I resolutely ignored the guilt that nipped at my heart. Sebastián wasn’t dead. He’d survived, and he’d even been rewarded with my fortune.
I bit my lip against the apology that teased at the tip of my tongue. I wouldn’t tell him I was sorry for putting him at risk. No matter what he said about not wanting this, he had everything to gain from the arrangement, whereas I’d lost everything today.
“Your phone,” he insisted. “Now, Isabel.”
My fists clenched at my sides, but I moved stiffly toward my nightstand, where I’d left my phone charging this morning. I unplugged it and grabbed up my laptop as well, turning back toward him with my eyes still downcast. I couldn’t bear to look at him. My future husband. My captor.
“The e-reader too,” he rumbled, spotting my beloved device that lay on my bed.
“No,” I refused, placing my body between him and the bed, as though that would be enough to stop him.
“Yes,” he countered. “No electronics. I won’t ask again,” he warned when I hesitated.
“You didn’t ask,” I flung at him, but the barbed retort held no real power. If he tried to take it from me by force, he would hurt me. Or worse, he might deliver another humiliating spanking.
As her husband, I’m sure you’ll be more than capable of disciplining your wife when necessary. Stefano’s perverse words echoed through my mind. After the awful incident in the ballroom, I knew exactly how terrible Sebastián’s discipline could be. My body’s confusing reaction made it all the more horrific.
