1
Rafael
She'd left me.
Nothing in our lives would ever change the fact that she'd tried to leave. That she'd chosen her mundane life over the passionate embrace I offered her. I couldn't remember a time something had affected me powerfully enough that rage blazed inside me so fiercely it tempted me to set the world on fire.
If I couldn't have her, no one would. I'd kill us both before I ever let her walk away.
I ignored the nervous chatter of the three brothers at my heels, hefting Isa higher into my arms and carrying her down the stairs to the lower level of my yacht where the McLaren waited for us. I didn't dare to look down at her as I went. The sight of her deceptively innocent face would only torture me if I did.
Joaquin hurried around me and hauled the passenger side door open as I neared it. Despite my best intentions, I caught sight of Isa's beautiful face as I gently rested her in the seat. Even with anger simmering in my veins, I took the moment to study her relaxed and peaceful features.
When she woke up, she'd hate me. When she woke up, everything would change for her.
I stroked a thumb over her cheekbone, wishing I could feel her eyes on mine one more time before they hardened with the truth of her new reality.
I didn't know what was coming. I had no way of predicting how Isa would react when she awoke as my prisoner. But the murky waters ahead of us would probably more closely resemble the Chicago River than the Mediterranean where Isa had fallen in love with me.
Stepping back with a heavy sigh, I drew my shoulders tight and closed the door to seal her inside. Over an hour had passed since we'd left Ibiza in the early morning. Over an hour where she'd slept next to me, and I was forced to wonder if she dreamt of me.
If I was still the handsome man she'd met in Ibiza, or if she finally saw the nightmare who would consume her.
I made my way to the driver's side. My stare was stern on the man who took too long to open the hatch and give me a surface to drive on over the gap between the yacht and the marina dock. As I lowered myself inside, he finally gave me a nervous nod that it was safe to make my exit.
My home island loomed in front of me, the hilly terrain in the background beckoning me forward. In the distance, the rooftop edges of the main house could be seen. The terracotta Mediterranean style was vastly different from the pine trees that covered the hillside and offered the compound where my people lived in privacy.
The McLaren started up with a purr; the sound vibrating off the inside of the yacht as I navigated my way onto the dock and took the winding road up the hill to the house. The drive was short, punctuated only by my anger and the knowledge of what came next.
Of the start of showing Isa exactly what her new life would be.
A sense of relief lurked beneath my rage, knowing that I wouldn't need to disguise my impulses in the interest of making Isa love me. She'd see the real monster, not just hints of him, and know she'd made the wrong choice.
She should have loved the man; instead, she would be possessed by her worst nightmare.
Pulling up in front of the main house, I threw the car into park and hurried out the driver's side. Alejandro and Regina stood on the front step with their faces drawn into tight smiles. I hadn't bothered to inform them of the circumstances of our arrival, beyond ordering Regina to have Dr. Garcia ready with the items he and I had discussed before my departure.
It'd been meant to be a worst-case scenario, a contingency, but I hadn't known just how much the failure would hurt.
"Mi hijo," Regina said, stepping forward as if to hug me. I ignored her, opening the passenger side and watching as her eyes dropped to Isa's unconscious form. The smile dropped off her face as I pulled Isa from the vehicle, cradling her limp body in my arms and striding past Regina and Alejandro's gaping faces to carry her to our bedroom.
To put her exactly where she belonged.
"Joder," Alejandro cursed at my back.
"Mi hijo, is she alright?" Regina asked, the concern in her voice making me falter in my steps. "She's bleeding." I glanced down at Isa's torn knees, a moment of something akin to regret filling me before I spun to level Regina with a glare.
"She made her choice. And I made mine."
Regina touched a hand to her mouth as her bottom lip trembled, but I couldn't be bothered to spare a moment for her delicate sensibilities. They'd both always known what would come to Isa if she didn't choose me.
They'd just hoped it wouldn't become necessary.
Turning, I made my way down the hall to the bedroom where Dr. Garcia waited. He took one look at Isa and heaved a disappointed sigh. He'd made himself very clear in our conversations that what I asked of him went against his purpose, that it was unethical in a way he wasn't comfortable with. He'd do it anyway, if he valued having a head on his shoulders.
I found most men did.
Moving inside the open door, I gently laid Isa on the bed. Her chocolate hair spread over the white bedding as her head tilted to the side on the pillow.