15
Rafael
She'd swallowed the pill as quickly as the pharmacist handed it to her. Her desperation to not bear my child did nothing for my mood, knowing I would need to drop her off with Chloe and Hugo only moments later.
I shouldn't have faulted her for not wanting a child at eighteen. I wouldn't have wanted anything to do with one even a year prior.
But Isa had changed everything for me. All I wanted was for the same to be true for her. For her to need me so desperately that she'd do anything to have a future with me.
She should have wanted to use a pregnancy to trap me as many other women might have tried over the years. The kind of wealth I possessed would change her life forever. I wouldn't have minded that in the slightest, coming from her.
She was quiet as she climbed back into the passenger seat of the McLaren, her body stiff and uncomfortable. Like she didn't dare to touch anything as I closed her door carefully once she was tucked safely inside. To say she'd been overwhelmed by my choice of car was an understatement. Maybe I would have been smarter to choose something less flashy.
I lowered my body into the driver's side. "Chloe and Hugo know you're coming?" I asked, glancing over at her to break the silence. She nodded, confirming what I already knew. I'd laid out the rules for Hugo myself in my text to him earlier that morning. The McLaren started with the distinctive purr of luxury, and I pulled out of my parking space to take her through the streets of Ibiza Town. It was far better to explore the city on foot, but my aim was to spend the least amount of time possible away from Isa. "I'm sorry that I had to delay our plans for the day."
Even if she would appreciate the delay, knowing that the alternative would have been her friend hanging at the end of a rope and bleeding all over the terrace where I planned to fuck her at least once.
Maybe I'd save that for the rooftop.
"It's fine. You couldn’t have known that you'd meet a random girl to derail your business for the week," she said, twisting the hem of her dress in her hands. I wondered if the supposed side effects of the drug had hit her yet, or if she was still wrapped up in her own worry over an unwanted pregnancy.
For a moment, I'd considered arranging for a placebo instead of the real pill. Something similar had worked for Matteo Bellandi. But when I chose to get Isa pregnant, I'd do it with her knowing what I'd done. There wouldn't be any cloak and daggers regarding our child's conception.
I'd tell her it was time, and that would be the end of it. The nightmare inside of me actually looked forward to her shocked expression and the fight I'd face in convincing her she couldn't change it.
"Still. This business wasn't meant to be dealt with while I was here."
"From the way you speak of Ibiza, I always thought it was home to you. Where are you from if not here?" she asked, glancing out the window. "You have such fondness for the island."
"Ibiza is the closest thing to a home city I have, but I don't spend a great deal of time here anymore," I admitted. "I live on a nearby island, but it's much more isolated. My in-person business dealings always happen here out of necessity because the island is..." I paused, trying to think of a word that wouldn't convey just how isolated the island was.
Nothing said wealth like a private island, and nothing was quite as inescapable for Isa.
"More remote?" she asked.
"Yes. It's less urban. There are no hotels or places to stay on the island. Only the people who live there. But because I don't come to Ibiza as often anymore, business associates who want my time can be voracious. I apologize it has interrupted our time together," I said again, pulling up to the boutique hotel that I'd booked for Isa and her friends. It had killed me to put her in a three-star facility even for a few hours, but Alejandro insisted it was far more believable lodging for a program. Even if the program in and of itself was a charitable operation.
It would continue after Isa came home with me. Well, so long as it wasn't defunded due to her disappearance.
That would be most unfortunate.
With no valet parking, I pulled into one of the front parking spots and hurried out to help Isa from the car. She wound her way through the hotel, looking far more at ease with the lack of luxury than she ever did in the suite. I had to convince myself that was something that would remedy with time as she adjusted to being a very wealthy woman.
When she was my wife, she'd want for nothing.
She guided me into the elevator, turning to me to lean up and press a kiss to my cheek. "You don't need to worry about leaving me with my friends while you deal with your business. I'm capable of being without you for a few hours." She laughed, and the sound grated on my nerves.
I needed her to want to spend all her waking moments with me. Even if it wasn't practical to actually happen, she needed to want it as much as I did.
When the elevator emerged on her floor, she stepped out with a flounce and took my hand in hers to pull me behind her. Their room was at the back of the hotel, as far from the foot traffic of the elevator as I'd been able to manage. She knocked on the door despite having her own key to the room she was meant to share with Chloe.
Her friend swung open the door, all blond haired and blue eyed as she smiled at Isa excitedly. Isa stepped into the room, hugging her friend without ever releasing my hand, and taking me with her. Hugo stood from his seat, his posture going from relaxed to on edge the moment our eyes connected. "This is Rafe," Isa said, as she pulled back from Chloe's clinging embrace. "Rafe, these are my friends. Chloe and Hugo," she said, letting go of my hand to step into Hugo's chest for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her, enclosing her in an embrace that clearly felt uncomfortable to him with me watching with a clenched jaw.
"It's nice to meet you both," I said through clenched teeth.
I wanted nobody to ever lay a hand on my princesa, but that didn't mean I could make that happen. Not until she knew the truth of my identity, anyway.
Hugo rested his chin on her head, then pulled back to stare down at her as I might have expected if the friendship had been genuine. The expression on his face left little doubt that, no matter how it had begun, he did care for Isa much like Joaquin. "You good?" he asked as she smiled up at him.