14
Isa
"Let go of me!"I screamed, shoving at Joaquin's grip. "That's your fucking brother!"
"Isa, it is better that you don't watch," Regina said, stepping out from the kitchen to speak softly. "This is part of life here. Rafael does what he must. But you do not need to see it," she said.
I shoved at Joaquin's arms one last time, dropping to the ground when he released me suddenly. Looking back toward the fire, Rafael stood watching us and holding up a hand for Joaquin. The order was clear.
I hurried to my feet, glancing around the fire as I approached. My eyes widened as I realized that the majority of the men standing there wore the same scars on their chest as Rafael. The same tally marks marred their skin. I stopped in the space between Rafael and Hugo, putting myself between them.
"Isa no," Hugo sputtered behind me. He didn't move to touch me, not when Rafael watched us both with a stubborn set to his jaw.
"Move,mi reina," Rafael said as my eyes dropped to the red hot brand in his hands. To the mark that would soon occupy space on Hugo's skin if I didn't intervene.
"I won't let you do this," I said, shaking my head from side to side as men around the fire looked at each other in surprise. "Why would you even want to?" I asked.
His jaw clenched as his free hand grabbed me by the arm, jerking me to the side and away from Hugo. "Do not ever choose another man over me,mi reina. If you seek to protect him from my wrath, choosing him over me is the wrong move. You will sign his death warrant instead.” He paused, willing me to see the truth blazing in his eyes that seemed to spark with madness as the fire cast shadows on his face. “Hugo came to the fire willingly. He accepted his penance because he knows he failed me. Will you do the same when it's your turn?" he asked, making me flinch back from him.
"When it's my turn?" I asked as tears stung my eyes. "You would do that to me?"
Silence hung in the air as his men waited for his response, my heart in my throat as I watched him swallow. "Yes. You earned a mark for your betrayal."
"What betrayal?" I asked, staring in the face of a monster. The conversation I'd had with Regina and Joaquin that morning seemed a world away from the reality of who he was.
He was not a man who could love. He was not a man at all.
He was nothing but a nightmare waiting to drag me to the pits of Hell.
"You left me!" he roared, the sound of his anger echoing off the house in the background. His men flinched back, their faces shocked by the extreme display as Rafael lifted the brand. I stepped back from him, shaking my head frantically as he shifted his grip from my arm to my chin, digging his thumb and fingers into my cheeks. He squeezed tightly, holding my gaze as he moved forward quickly and pressed the brand into Hugo's flesh.
It sizzled beneath the heat of the brand, crackling as it melted and the smell of burning flesh filled the fresh night air. Gagging against Rafael's grip on my face, I fought to step back when he tossed the iron to the ground at his feet once he finished with Hugo. Those burning eyes never left mine, his glare intense as he turned toward me and forced me to turn my face down to Hugo's pained expression. "He allowed you to be drugged. He let you be nearly raped.Thisis his penance for that failure."
"That wasn't his fault," I sputtered. "How could you do this to people..." I gasped as his grip tightened more, reaching up my hand to touch the marks on his chest and caressing the skin there despite the harshness of his grip on my face. "When someone did it to you?"
"It's our way," he said, covering my hand with his as he walked me backward toward the house.
"It's not my way," I argued. "This willneverbe my way."
Releasing me suddenly, he ducked low and pressed his shoulder to my stomach. Lifting me over his shoulder so my head dangled and blood rushed to my brain as he carried me back to the house. I didn't struggle, knowing it would be entirely futile. I had to hope the nightmare I'd seen at the fire had been a glimpse ofEl Diablo, of a man who wouldn'treallybrand me for leaving him. Regina stared on in horror as he strode past her and made for our bedroom, hurrying toward the doors as I watched her leave. The house was silent in her absence after she made herself scarce in the face of Rafael's anger.
He smacked my ass sharply as he walked. "Neverquestion me in front of my men again," he growled, a tight warning in the words.
"Then you'd better hope you never fuck up in front of your men. I won't just sit quietly and look pretty while youtorturepeople," I argued, wincing when another sharp swat burned my skin. The glove he wore dropped to the floor as he turned the corner to the bedroom, turning the knob and stepping inside the private space that must have been his oasis from prying eyes.
It was nothing even close to the sort for me.
He flipped me over his shoulder, dropping me to my feet as I fought to find my balance and my blood fled my head finally. "It isn't torture when they're willing,Princesa," he said. "I will give you leeway where I can in finding your place in my life, but I will not tolerate what happened tonight. Those men are my concern. They are mine to keep obedient so that I cankeep you safe.If the consequences for betrayal are too lenient, that is when men come to my home and think they can get away with spying on me. That's when your life is in danger."
"You expect me to believe you give a shit if something happens to me? You said you wouldbrand me!"
His face twisted, a moment of regret slipping into the fierce expression. "And I will when your time comes. Even the devil is a product of other people’s expectations,Princesa. I have to do to you what I would do to others."
“When?” I asked as tears stung my eyes. “When will you—”
He studied my face, watching my reaction with a gentle expression. “Tomorrow night.”
My jaw dropped as my breath caught, my eyes immediately drawn to the brands on his chest. To the marks that scarred his skin and the knowledge that he could do that to me settled over me. "No," I mumbled, shaking my head furiously as he wrapped his arms around me and clutched me to his chest."You can't!"I screamed, shoving against his body as his face touched the top of my head.