AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’ll never hear his voice like that again. I’ll likely never hear it at all, but if I did, I can only imagine that it would be with anger, distaste, or betrayal in his voice, instead of the seductive, rasping sound of his pleasured moans mingled with filthy words.
I’d give anything to have him like that again, anything to go back and experience it once more, even knowing what was coming. But I can’t.
“He’s in the second room to the left,” Diego says curtly from behind me as he follows me up the stairs. Renata, blessedly, went back to deal with her daughter and daughter-in-law, and the waiting wedding team. For a moment, as I turn towards the door with shaking hands, I’m alone in the hallway with Diego, and the feeling is so terrifying that I think I might faint.
“I wanted to come in and watch,” Diego says thickly, his eyes raking down the front of my body. “You’re no blushing virgin, after all. But I suppose some conventions must be upheld. The good doctor was quite horrified at the idea.”
Thank god.The idea of Diego watching makes my skin crawl. “I’m sure it won’t take long,” I say tightly, forcing my voice not to shake as much as I’m able. “There’s nothing to find, after all.”
“We’ll see.” Diego pushes open the door. “I’ll be waiting downstairs for you and the doctor, little one.”
Waiting downstairs.As I step into the brightly lit bedroom and see the doctor—a round-looking, greying man who appears to be well into his fifties—and Maria standing there as a sort of chaperone, I suppose I realize this could be my chance. My best opportunity to get away.
I only have a split second to make up my mind. “Dress up and underwear off, young lady, and lie on the bed,” the doctor says, Maria standing behind him with an impassive look on her face, and something about that is what does it. I’d known I would face all kinds of indignities and acts I didn’t want to do the longer I was here, even more so if I didn’t manage to escape before the wedding or never managed to escape at all, but being faced with the immediacy of this first horrible thing spurs me into action.
I can’t bring myself to do it. I can’t half-disrobe and lie on the bed for a strange man to poke and prod at places that only Niall and I have ever touched. I can’t bear the thought that he might be able to somehow tell if I’m pregnant and relay that news to Diego, while I’m trapped in this room. That the one thing I might still have left could be ripped from me before it ever even really exists.
With a small cry, I spin on my heel, bolting for the door. I have the advantage of surprise—neither the doctor nor the housekeeper were expecting me to make a run for it. I hear them both shout after me as I run down the hallway, careening for the stairs, and I don’t slow down as I reach them. Falling head over heels and breaking my neck would be preferable to ending up married to Diego. So I race down them as fast as I can barefoot, feeling my feet slip and my heart leap into my throat with every precarious step.
Diego is waiting for me, just as he said, and the moment of shock that I get from him is enough for me to dart past. I burst out of the front doors, racing for the gates, and even though I have no idea how I’ll get past them, for one wild moment, I think I’m going to make it. The gravel cuts my feet, and I trip, falling forward and scraping my hands and knees, the skirt of my dress snagging, but I ignore the pain. I’m back on my feet immediately, feeling the sun shining on my face, the dusty heat bearing down around me, the idea of freedom so close. I’ll run all the way home if I have to, if only I can get free–
“Stop her!”
Diego’s shout comes from the front of the house, and like they’ve been summoned by his voice, a wall of black-garbed security suddenly blocks my way. I skid to a stop so quickly that I nearly fall, and I try to feint to one side, to go around them. Every one of them pulls out their guns as if they’re acting in unison, and my eyes widen.
“You’re not going to shoot me,” I snap, eyes narrowed. “I’m Isabella Santiago. Your boss’s fiancée. Now get out of my way!”
“Don’t move, boys.” Diego’s voice is so much closer now, and my heart sinks. I’m not getting away. I know that now. One of the guards flicks on his weapon as I try to go around him anyway—it’s not a gun, but a taser, and the electric crackle makes me gasp and stumble backward.
Straight into Diego’s hands.
“Running away, I see.” He spins me, his fingers digging into the flesh of my upper arms as his angry gaze burns into my face. “So ungrateful. No other man would have you, you know. But I’m willing to marry you despite your indiscretions. I was willing to give you a second chance, and this is how you repay me.”
“I don’t want you!” I hiss. “Niall would have had me. I know—”
Diego laughs cruelly, some of his spit landing on my cheek. I can’t even wipe it away with how tightly he’s holding me. “Did youseethe look on your Irishman’s face when you claimed it was him who took your virginity? I’ve never seen a man go pale and look for an exit door so quickly. He wanted nothing to do with you that he hasn’t already had, little princess. And besides—” He leans closer now, his breath hot against my ear. “He’s dead, Isabella. It’s me or no one. And if it’s not me—I’ll burn your family’s house to the ground with everyone in it, take from your sister what you wouldn’t give to me and sell her to the worst of the cartels, cut out your father’s guts while he screams, rather than let the Santiago family get the better of me again. Do you understand?” He shakes me hard. “Do you understand me, Isabella? You will spread your legs for my cock and give me a son, or so help me—”
I can’t stop myself. My rage and fear are overwhelming, and everything he said from the moment he claimed Niall was dead tipped me over the edge into what feels like something close to madness. I rear back, spitting in his face with a cry that’s almost a shriek as I kick upwards, my foot connecting squarely with his balls. He lets go of one of my arms as he grunts in pain, doubling forward, and I lash out with one hand, raking it down Diego’s cheek and leaving bloody furrows from my nails.
“Youfuckinglittlecunt!Bitch!” He snarls the words, lunging up and grabbing me by the throat, hard enough to hurt. Hard enough to bruise.
“Go ahead,” I manage to choke out around the pressure of his fingers. “Go ahead and strangle me. I’d rather die than ever let you have me, or be your wife.”
The rage that suffuses Diego’s face is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen, his cheeks turning nearly purple, and for a moment, I think that he’s going to do it—strangle me here in his courtyard in front of his men, and drop my body into the dirt for them to dispose of.
It’s strangely calming. I don’twantto die. I’ve barely even gotten to live. But I wouldn’t have to marry him, or sleep with him, or live out my years in misery. There’s a peace to that thought.
I’m almost disappointed when his hand opens, dropping me in a gasping, choking heap to the dusty gravel.
From my hands and knees, I look up at Diego as he reaches down, this time wrapping his hand in my hair so tightly it nearly pulls it from my scalp as he drags me back to my feet. He holds me there, wriggling in his fist like a fish on a line, as he looks at the man who strides towards him from the guardhouse by the gate. Taller, older, and broader than most of the other guards, I know he must be someone important. Someone Diego trusts.
“Get in touch with Aguilar for me,” Diego hisses. “I have a present for him.”
A present? What does that mean?I don’t have to wait too long to find out. Diego turns back to face me, a cruel smile replacing the dark fury on his face.
“Well, little Isabella. This must be a record for girls like you, if anyone is keeping track of such things. Less than twenty-four hours under my roof, and already you’re going to the bride-tamer.”
My stomach drops, cold, icy fingers of fear licking over my flesh and down my spine until I shudder in Diego’s grasp despite the heat of the day. “No—” I breathe, and he laughs, his grip tightening until I cry out in pain.
