21
Rafael
The tattoo gun buzzed as Elías worked. With my left arm extended and braced on the edge of the chair he'd dragged into the office, I didn't bother to glance down at what he inked onto my skin.
He'd hand-designed it with me at his shop the night before, setting everything into motion before I returned to Isa and put the knife in her hand. It might have seemed like it could have been an unnecessary waste of time, but I knewmi reinatoo well.
She loved me, and now even she couldn't deny it despite the fact that she hadn't given me the words. They would come in time. I'd left her in my bed in the very early hours of morning, making my way behind the closed doors of my office so Elías could get started on the tattoo that would take him hours to complete.
There needed to be time remaining for him to do Isa's on the same day. Before she could see my tattoo and ask questions.
I picked up the stencil for hers from where it rested on the desk, staring down at the intricate design that was a perfect match for mine. The black King chess piece, surrounded by flowers and flames that bled into shadows and darkness would wrap around her entire left forearm, fitting against mine like a puzzle piece. The wordsEl Diablowould be etched into her skin in permanent ink, marking her as mine in a way a generic brand wouldn't have done.
Penance and a promise, all in one.
"You’re sure you want to do this?" Elías asked, raising an eyebrow to me as he put the finishing touches on the white Queen wrapped in barbed wire and surrounded by black waves that bled into the same shadows as Isa's tattoo. He moved to the position of the wordsMi Reinabeneath the Queen, pausing as he waited for my response. Undoubtedly, it seemed unusual for a man like me to mark his body with the ownership of a woman.
But Isa wasn't any other woman.
"I promise," I said with a sarcastic smile. He set the tattoo gun to my skin, inking her claim on me into me permanently.
Soon she'd wear my name in return, in more ways than one.
She just didn't know it yet.