24
Isa
There was a church on the forsaken island from hell. A place that should have been abandoned by God or the ancestors, a mockery of all that my mother would consider holy.
And yet, it was one of the more modest churches I'd ever seen, as if the people truly used it as a place to connect with God, despite the wealth of the village on the island and the riches Rafael commanded. He clearly didn't care for the church or its teachings, embracing the name of the devil as his pseudonym so fully that he'd marked it on my skin permanently. I stared down at the fresh ink staining my skin, the black so opposite to the delicate white lace of the dress Rafael had dressed me in.
As he opened the door to the SUV and guided me out carefully despite my flats, I couldn't help but notice that the inside of the building was empty. I wouldn't have pegged Rafael as the type to hold a fancy ordeal, but I'd have thought his people would want to support him if they were so loyal.
It was only when he guided me around the corner with his hand at my waist that I realized we weren't actually going to step inside. "Will you burst into flames?" I asked, the snark of my discomfort soothing me. My voice was all I had left in the situation Rafael had dealt me. My ability to refuse him, even if it would be inevitable, was my only power.
I could deprive him of my will. Keeping it for myself so that I could continue to hold on to that last piece he hadn't claimed for himself. It sounded stupid even to me, but I'd fight with him until my dying breath before I went quietly with everything he planned.
I would never be voiceless.
"No,mi reina,but I thought you might like to have an outdoor wedding," he murmured as the backyard came into view. The simple chairs on either side of the flower lined aisle were filled with people I didn't recognize, the only exceptions being the brothers, Regina, and Alejandro who I'd seen in passing moments. He'd never bothered to introduce himself, averting his gaze whenever I was near as if I was nothing of consequence to him.
I supposed I wasn't.
The flower-and-fabric decorated arch at the end of the aisle was something from a destination wedding, breathtaking despite its simplicity. A priest already stood at the end of the aisle with a smile on his face as he waited. Rafael moved to walk forward, halting when my feet didn't move to follow at his side.
His eyes were knowing as he looked to me, and I knew he'd expected this moment.
I hadn't. I hadn't thought I'd bother to resist aside from voicing my displeasure, but seeing the set up that was so close to what I might have chosen for myself, if I'd had a say, struck too close to home. I'd never dared to dream of being married. Of starting a family of my own when I was the root cause of the dysfunction within the one I had.
But I realized in those moments that I wanted that. I wanted the white picket fence and the husband who adored me. I wanted the man who would treat me like a queen and the children who would drive me insane despite the overwhelming love I felt for them.
When I tried to fill in the gaps of the image, it was a faceless man. Rafael Ibarra wouldn't fit in that picture, because he would never be a normal man. He would never give me a white picket fence, but an island so entrenched in security that I couldn't leave without his permission. He wouldn't treat me like a queen in the way I thought I should want, but he'd drive me mad with the extent of his obsession and the steps he would take to ensure he kept me as his.
"It's time, Isa," Rafael warned, dropping his voice low enough to a growl that vibrated in my ear. He leaned into my side, saying the words I didn't know I needed to hear. "I will force you."
I knew with a sudden clarity that it was what I needed. He knew it too, his gaze disappointed but not angry as I turned my face up to study him. I couldn't go willingly down the aisle, not with Rafael when he wasn't what I would have chosen for myself given the chance. I loved him, but I shouldn't have. I should have wanted someone safe, someone who would support my relationship with my family and foster my independence.
Instead, I loved Rafael. A devil with no conscience who took lives. A devil who had lied to me, stalked me, and drugged me to bring me to his island paradise. It was wrong on every level, and unlike him, my guilt wouldn't allow me to go willingly with him into the setting sun on the horizon.
He nodded his head, and Alejandro sighed before standing. He snatched Hugo from his chair by his shirt, pushing him toward where we stood at the end of the aisle. Hugo went along willingly, his shoulders sagged as his brothers watched and did nothing to intervene. Rafael dropped his hand from my waist, reaching into the back of his pants beneath his suit jacket and pulling a gun from his pocket. I blinked at the sight of it, my eyes going wide as I thought over the possibilities of what he might mean to do.
Hurting Hugo because I wouldn't marry him wasinsaneon another level, but it was far from beyond the realm of possibility when it came toEl Diablo."What are you doing?" I asked, my voice a harsh whisper as Alejandro pushed Hugo to his knees. In the same position as he'd been a few nights prior and I'd gotten between them. Rafael's gun pressed against his forehead as his eyes came to me.
"Will you make me kill him,mi reina?" he asked as my lungs heaved. I turned my gaze down to look at Hugo, at the nervousness on his face. It was no act, or if it was, he hadn't been let in on the secret. Joaquin stood from his seat in the background, his eyes pleading as they connected with mine. "Or should I find Chloe and make her suffer for what she told you after all?" Rafael asked, drawing my attention back to him. The devil danced in his eyes, his fury rising with every second that I hesitated.
Part of me could almost justify letting Hugo die. The darkest part of me tried to say that he would deserve it for what he'd done to me. But Chloe was an innocent. The friend who'd risked everything to tell me the truth I'd been too naive to see for myself. There was no justifying letting her suffer for my problems, but I still couldn't make myself say the words to end it all.
Rafael pulled his gun back, slamming it into Hugo's face brutally as I watched the skin split open before my eyes. "Make your choice, Isa," he growled, fury growing more as I clenched my eyes closed and separated myself from him in that final way. I wouldn't give him the victory of my eyes when I caved to his demands, knowing there was no other choice.
Even if I hadn't resisted at all, there'd never been a choice.
"Okay," I whispered, my eyes flying open as Alejandro grabbed Hugo and hauled him out of the way. Rafael took my hand in his, storming up the aisle quickly as I scrambled to keep up on my aching legs.
The moment Rafael and I stood before him, the Priest spoke. "We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life's greatest moments, the joining of two hearts. In this ceremony today we will witness the union of Rafael Ibarra Vasquez and Isabel Alawa Adamik in marriage." Rafael’s mother’s maiden name was another piece of information I’d never known about him, hanging on the end of his name like a sign of everything I still didn’t know.
My heart dropped into my throat, my heart catching in my chest as I stared at the priest in front of me. The crowd of people behind us was eerily silent, the heavy weight of their gaze on my spine making tears sting my eyes. An island full of people, and no one would intervene.
An island full of people, and they'd happily watch Rafael force me to be his wife.
"Rafe," I murmured, turning to look at him. I couldn't do it. I couldn't condemn myself tothisfor the rest of my life. He slid his massive hand beneath my hair, grabbing me around the back of the neck and turning my head sharply until I faced the priest.
"Get the fuck on with it," he ordered. The heavy weight of his hand never left me, holding me still as I stifled the strangled sob that tried to claw its way up my throat.