4
Rafael
Isa screamed my name in the room behind me as I made my way through the house to approach the kitchen. Regina stood behind the island, preparing ensaimada in a misguided attempt to soothe my anger.
If the fact that my cock was still wet with Isa's orgasm wasn't enough to soothe my anger, then Regina stood no chance of doing anything to quell the nightmare within me. The one that begged for release, that needed violence and penance for the failure that had resulted in all my carefully laid plans being decimated.
There was one man who deserved my wrath, but since he'd tucked himself safely away in Russia after our altercation in Ibiza, he was unfortunately out of my reach for the moment.
"No one goes near that bedroom," I ordered Regina. She gave me her best innocent eyes, deception hiding in her dark gaze. I knew her well enough to know she'd go to Isa and give her food and comfort if I didn't lay down the rules quickly and harshly.
Isa would have no comfort but me. She wouldn't take solace in anyone that I didn't give to her. Everything she had now was an extension of me, each person in her life a bond I allowed her to have.
She was mine, and until the day came when I felt less inclined to keep her locked away in my bedroom with no one to speak to but me, I would be her entire world.
I hoped for both our sakes that my rage would quieten to a less all-consuming irritation quickly, because I couldn't think of anything but the stabbing reality of her betrayal. Of what it would mean for her and the penance she would need to pay.
"I understand," Regina said.
"I mean it," I ordered. "Anyone who disobeys me on this will find themselves no longer welcome in my home." Regina swallowed, nodding solemnly as she turned and left the kitchen without another word. The casual dismissal of everything she thought we meant to each other never sat well with her, but she didn't understand the depths of my obsession just yet.
There was nothing I wouldn't sacrifice to have Isa. Nothing I wouldn't give to make her feel the same pain she'd caused me, even if I already regretted the wounds she'd suffered at my hands. The scrapes to her knees and palms were extensive, an unintended consequence of the terror that had been necessary.
I didn't regret scaring her, not when her fear had tasted so addictive the moment I'd caught her in my arms. But I regretted the fact that her flawless skin had been marked, all the while loving the sight of my mark on her.
Loving the knowledge that she may bear the scars of her mistake for the rest of her life. I had a feeling they were only the first of many, as penance had to be paid. Fleeing through the streets of Ibiza Town was only the beginning for mi princesa.
The worst had yet to come.
"Perhaps it would be good for Isa to see a kind face. I can't imagine she was very happy to see you," Joaquin said as he stepped in at the back of the kitchen. I moved to the bar against the wall next to the dining table, pouring myself a drink despite the fact that it was the middle of the day. I'd been so anxious for Isa to wake up that I'd never gone to sleep.
Now with her wide awake and no doubt raging in my room, I knew bed was a long way off. Sleep beckoned to me, and the part of me that was nothing but a man who craved his woman wanted to curl up with her in my arms and forgive her for the choice she'd made.
The other part of me wanted to make her hurt, wanted to break her and make her into the woman I knew she could become if given the chance, but she'd have to let me do that.
No matter what I said, no matter what I did to Isa, I would never push her past her limits. I'd never take what wasn't mine to take, and if she'd been able to tell me in all honesty that she didn't want me?
I wouldn't have taken her. I wouldn't have forced the issue, but I knew without a doubt that Isa still wanted me. Her panic after sex hadn't been for the fact that we'd fucked in the first place.
But purely for the potential of a pregnancy.
That alone told me everything I needed to know about her mental state. She'd fight me. She'd rail against me, but in the end, she'd understand that she was exactly who she was always meant to be.
Mine.
"She didn't seem too opposed to me," I said, tossing back my drink with barely a glance in his direction. His brothers followed him into the kitchen, Alejandro trailing at his heels as they waited for instructions. "She needs time to adjust. The three of you need to stay away from the house for a few days until she's ready to know the truth."
"Don't you think it's better to just rip off the bandage now? Get it all out in the open so she can come to terms with it all at once?" Alejandro asked, stepping toward the kitchen. I met him at the island, grabbing one of Regina's knives in my hand and twirling it thoughtfully.
"I think she's stronger than you can imagine, and she's holding up under the pressure of everything I've thrown at her so far, but there's only so much she can take. Knowing that one of her best friends betrayed her and the entire friendship was a ruse will push her over that edge," I explained. "She needs to be more stable in her understanding of what she and I are before we throw that at her."
"He's right," Hugo agreed. "She can take a lot from strangers. She always expects people to disappoint her, so when they do, it's just another day for her. No matter what he wants to think, Rafael is a virtual stranger to her. She's spent a week with him, and that's a drop in the bucket for Isa. To know that she never knew him, she can recover from that, but our betrayal will trip her up more," he said as he looked at Gabriel and Joaquin. "She trusted us in a way she's never had the opportunity to trust him." My fists clenched at my sides, the truth to his words unsettling the part of me that wanted blood.
Nobody should have been capable of hurting Isa more than me. I should have been her entire world.
Joaquin nodded his agreement, ushering his brothers out of the house as he gave me a meaningful stare. "Don't fucking hurt her," he warned. "She deserves better than that, and what you expected of her was never a fair demand. She was always going to disappoint you."
Alejandro nodded his agreement as Joaquin disappeared out the side door after his brothers, leaving us in silence. "Maybe that's true," I agreed, pursing my lips thoughtfully as I stretched out a hand to grasp Alejandro's wrist in my grip. He swallowed, but didn't fight the contact as I touched the tip of the knife to the edge of his palm and sank it in a line to carve through his flesh. "But your failure to handle Pavel certainly didn't improve our chances."