Perhaps Victor brainwashed papá to say shit like that. I’m almost certain he has, because I know my father, and he would never allow Victor to take me. The thought sends both heat and fury through my body. I’m still dizzy, knowing I haven’t taken my medication has my heart thudding wildly against my ribs. I breathe deeply, praying that I have time to see my father again.
“Hey!!” A violent cough attacks me from the word being wretched from my throat, and I’m bowled over onto my knees from the fit. My lungs are threatening to give up, and my heart leaps into my throat, threatening to choke me before giving out. Tears spill onto my cheeks and trickle down my chin as I realize that perhaps my father was right. Victor may just be the lesser of two evils.
“That’s exactly where I like you, juguete.” The deep amused rumble of Victor’s voice startles me. “On your knees.”
“Fuck you!”
He doesn’t respond. He merely stares at me, as if I’m the most interesting thing he’s ever seen. He sets a glass down, along with the tablets I know will save my life. Those eyes—gold pools of amusement—only make me angrier than I was moments ago. He tilts his head to the side, watching me as if I’m a wild animal. Maybe I am, because if he opened that door right now, I’d probably claw his beautiful eyes from his skull.
“You know, little Sofía,” he says, slowly stalking back and forth in front of the cell, “there’s a time and place for such language.” He’s deadly serious as he tells me this. I claw at the medicine, swallowing the medication with a gulp of water, then I watch him once more. “The moment I slide my dick inside you, that’s when you should curse me. You know why?” he questions, meeting my livid glare. “Because that’s the moment I split your pretty little cunt open and own you.”
“You’d like to think you’ll own me, but you never will.” Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I pin him with a glare so harsh, I hope daggers fly from my eyes, slicing him into pieces, but I know it’s wishful thinking.
“Can you be so sure?” This time, he stills his slow pacing, his gaze cast over his shoulder toward me. His words still me for a moment. He’s far too confident. There’s conviction in his tone, as if he knows I’ll succumb to his advances, that I’ll submit to him, but he’s wrong because I’ll never do it.
“I can. There’s no way I would ever fall for your snake tongue. Evil drips from you, and I can never desire a criminal.” My words are fierce, but deep-down, fear niggles at me. I’m not as strong as I may portray myself to be. And I have a feeling that Victor can see my doubt, my innocence. I think he basks in it, revels in seeing me falter.
“Emotions control actions, Sofía,” he tells me, with a hint of guilt in his tone, and I wonder just what he’s been through. Shaking my head, I attempt to clear my mind of the thoughts that seem to take over. Each time Victor offers me an ounce of his human side, he breaks down my walls. And that’s my mistake. I shouldn’t let him.
“La lengua de una serpietne gotea veneno,” I tell him—the tongue of a snake drips poison—but my words only make him smile.
“Such a pretty girl with such a dark outlook on life and the people who surround her,” Victor observes, stopping at the cell to watch me for a moment, before he shakes his head. “When you realize I’m only here to help you, I’ll allow you back in your bedroom,” he tells me. “Until then, you’ll sleep in here.”
“You can’t leave me in here, it’s cold, the bed is hard as nails, and I need my medication.”
He chuckles. “And as the Devil, I really don’t care.” His golden eyes flash with fire and challenge, stilting the words in my throat. He doesn’t wait for me to respond, he takes the steps slowly, knowing I won’t fight him, because he’s fucked me over, and I’m stuck here until I apologize. He hasn’t said it, but I know that’s what he wants.
Silently, I settle on the hard mattress, my back against the cold concrete wall, as I stare at the opposite staircase. The cool night air is slowly wafting through the rectangular holes in the wall far from my reach.
I can’t believe I’m once more his prisoner. Lifting my legs up, I wrap my arms around them and rest my cheek on my knees. I don’t want to sleep, but I know, soon, fatigue will steal me from this world, and I’ll be captured by golden eyes once more.