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“Punish me?” she asked with false bravado. “What are you going to do? Ground me? Put me in a time-out? Spank me?”
“Yes.”
“W-what? Which one?”
He leaned in close. “All of them.”
All of them?
Had he really just said that?
And why did that intrigue her? The last thing she needed was a man who thought he could tell her what to do. Alejandro seemed to believe he was the boss of her.
Something you’re not exactly challenging.
And she didn’t know why she was protesting so much about going home with him. This was exactly what she wanted. To get close to him. To find out something about her parents.
So you should be jumping on this opportunity with both feet.
Only . . . she didn’t expect this opportunity to come up like this. When she was feeling vulnerable and slightly broken.
Scared.
She was scared to go with him.
“Come, Pequeña,” he said in a soothing voice.
Which was just odd because she hadn’t thought him capable of being soothing.
“Come with me. Let me take care of everything. Wouldn’t that be nice? Not to have to worry or make decisions?”
Damn.
That would be nice. Not to have to do everything herself . . . no, wait. What was happening?
“Are you some sort of magician?” she asked suspiciously.
“A magician? No. Why would you ask that?”
“No reason. I just think I should go home.” She’d try and get close to him another day, when it didn’t feel like her insides were completely on display.
“No. You will not go home.” He reached down to pick her up, and while she tried to tell her body that she was safe, that he wouldn’t hurt her, her brain and body seemed to be on a hiatus from each other.
“I can walk!”
“Mierda!”
She flinched at the swear word. It wasn’t like she hadn’t heard it a lot in her life. But it felt like he was turning his anger on her. And she couldn’t handle that right now.
“Hush, Pequeña. I will not harm you. Right now, I need to help you.” The admission seemed to come from deep inside him, and from the way he swore afterward, it wasn’t something he’d meant or wanted to say.
“You need to help me?”
“Yes. And I need you to let me. Understand?”
“I guess so.” Nope. Not at all. He’d fought off her attacker. Surely, that was more than enough? What more did he feel the need to do? However, she no longer had the energy to fight back.
“Then you will come home with me.” It was a statement, not a question. But she answered anyway.
“Yes. But I want to walk.”
She expected more argument from him. So she was shocked when he nodded. “All right, Pequeña. I can feel you need to do this.” He straightened. “If you can get up and walk on your own, you are welcome to do so.”
This felt like a trick. Why did this feel like a trick?
Because he’s expecting you to fail, idiot.
Right. Well, she’d show him.
She lifted his jacket, holding it up to him. He folded it over his arm and then stood there, watching her.
He could have at least held out a hand to help her up.
That’s the point, Cat. He doesn’t think you can do this on your own.
I can do this. It’s just getting up and walking.
As she tried to push herself up, she realized that her skirt was up around the top of her thighs.
Darn it.
She tried pushing her skirt down, but her hands were shaking too badly. Why were they shaking so much? Actually, she was trembling all over.
Get down. Get down.
Finally, she managed to right her skirt only to notice that her shirt was ripped.
Crap. There was no way to fix her clothing. That asshole had ruined her best work outfit.
Like you’re going to be able to work here now.
That was more reason for her to go home with Alejandro now. Because she didn’t think she could ever come back here.
“Don’t worry about your clothing. I will replace it.”
His words surprised her, and they took a moment to penetrate the fog surrounding her.
“Why would you do that? You didn’t grab me and drag me out here. You didn’t touch me and rip my clothing and . . . and . . .”
“Did he rape you?” he asked bluntly.
She sucked in a breath. “No. But he was going to.”
“The asshole will pay. You understand? I will make sure that he pays for every bruise he put on you.”
“Okay,” she whispered. As far as answers went, it was pretty pathetic. But she had nothing else left in her. She tried and failed to get up.
Stupid legs. Why won’t you work?
“Pequeña, my patience only goes so far. Admit that you cannot get up and move by yourself, so I can pick you up and take you away from here.”
“And then what? What are you planning on doing with me?”
