Her smile took on a sardonic tilt. “You make caring about my happiness and treating me with respect sound like such dire machinations. Don’t worry, Stefano. I don’t want to escape.”
Despite her lighthearted banter and easy smile, something about her attitude didn’t quite satisfy me. I was putting everything on the line for her, risking my empire in order to secure her devotion. While she appeared genuinely pleased with my offering, she still spoke of my gesture in strategic terms. I found that I craved something more…profound.
A wicked plan formulated in my mind, a solution to rid myself of the unpleasant, hollow sensation in my chest. If I desired Carmen’s deeper surrender, all I had to do was enforce her submission. When she came apart beneath my hands, she showed me just how much she really needed me, proving the intensity of our connection. I’d already conditioned her body to respond as I wished. If I wanted her to express her feelings for me more openly, I would simply work on training her to do so.
I grasped her dainty fingers in mine, guiding her to stand and follow me. She clutched the tiara in her other hand, clinging to the symbol of power I’d offered her.
“Come on, kitten,” I urged, leading her toward the master bathroom, where she could observe her jewels in the mirror. “Let’s try it on for size. I want to make sure you’re completely satisfied with your crown.”
“Don’t you think this might be a little over the top?” she asked, even as she eagerly accompanied me to inspect her new adornment. “You have a penchant for the dramatic in how you represent yourself, but I’m known for subtlety. Presenting me to everyone wearing a literal crown is a little heavy-handed, even for you.”
“I think the gesture has just the right amount of eccentricity,” I countered. “Staging an overt coronation provides the opportunity to host a party with a guest list that includes your allies and mine. Everyone who accepts our invitation will be guaranteed safety and a place in our new joint regime, no matter what actions they may have taken since Pedro’s death. The specifics of our power dynamic will confuse them, but it is an overt, public statement of my respect for you and your organization. Miguel Armendariz’s efforts to use your degradation in order to bolster his own power will be effectively destroyed.”
My hand flexed around hers, tension gripping my muscles when I mentioned the bastard who had hurt my sweet kitten. My fingertips tingled at the nauseating memory of finding his initial carved into her delicate skin, an indelible reminder of how he’d violated her.
My fault.
Something dark and vicious clawed at my gut, a sickening sensation that I didn’t care for at all.
She paused and turned toward me, her soft gray eyes tight with worry. Carmen didn’t try to hide her fear from me anymore; I’d effectively broken through her wall of rage that she used to shield it. The sight of her distress sharpened the shredding sensation in my stomach, and I tasted acid on my tongue.
“You won’t invite him, will you?” she asked, her spine resolutely straight despite the hitch in her tremulous question. “I agree with your strategy that everyone invited to this party should be granted immunity from repercussions, no matter what actions they’ve taken in the last few weeks. But not Miguel. He won’t be extended an invitation, right?”
I cupped her cheeks in my hands, cradling her delicate face. She felt so fragile in my gentle hold, and for a moment, I questioned my entire strategy. My little pet would be so much safer if I simply kept her locked in a cage, shielded from everyone but me.
But Carmen would hate me if I truly robbed her of all autonomy. I’d already been responsible for her imprisonment with Miguel, even if I hadn’t been aware of what she’d suffered as a consequence of my actions.
I silently vowed to never be responsible for her pain ever again. Carmen would be happy with me, and that meant I had to expose her to the risks of the outside world. She would be utterly miserable if I forced her to remain in complete isolation, unable to use her formidable mind to accomplish anything of significance.
“Armendariz will not be invited to your coronation,” I swore, stroking the regal lines of her cheekbones with my thumbs. “I intend to make a statement about how insulting his accusations are. This event will alienate him from all of his supporters. Everyone who has been tempted to listen to his lies about wanting to rescue you from me will see quite plainly how much I value you. After this, he will have no allies and will be marked as our enemy, when everyone else has been offered clemency and a secure place within a profitable organization. He will be isolated and friendless. I anticipate that he will be dead within days.” I stared into her lovely eyes, willing her lingering fear to dissipate. “He will never hurt you again, kitten. I won’t let him.”