“Did you fuck him?” Victor bellowed as he advanced on Valentina, backing her into a corner and jabbing an accusing finger in her face.

“No, I did not fuck him.”

“You sure about that? Because those pictures sure as hell look like it.” He pointed to the 8x10 glossies strewn across the bed as proof of her betrayal.

“They’re pictures of me in lingerie--” she said tentatively, stumbling over her words when his nostrils flared and his neck reddened. “Um, lingerie, yeah…I was just straddling him.” She winced when his jaw clenched, and the words tumbled out of her mouth, “And he was drugged so he probably didn’t even know I was there. Trust me, he wasn’t going to get hard after all the drugs I fed him.” She closed her eyes against the sight of the snarl on his face, knowing that last bit hadn’t helped.

She straightened her back and forced her voice to remain steady as she met his stormy gaze unflinchingly. “I did this for the cartel, Victor. Cartel comes first, always. I did this so your father could buy that television station. This is my job too and there was no way I was going to let the likes of William Briggs ruin my career. You. Are. Not. My. Man. You don’t own me. This obsession you have with me has to end.”

“It will never fucking end. One way or another, I’ll have you. You seem to think you have a fucking choice, but you don’t.”

She was right; Ricardo Victor Ramirez—Ricardo Ramirez’s firstborn—was enthralled with the woman he’d forced to come from Colombia. She was one of the most famous Telenovela stars in the business. Colombia’s celebrity princess. From the moment he’d seen her on television, he’d known he had to have her. Her family had a long history with the Colombian cartel, so when his father had promised Valentina to him in marriage, Victor had made it his mission to make good on that promise. Ricardo had just shrugged and said that he had made the deal, but it was Victor’s job to get her down the aisle and in his bed, in whatever order worked. He was making progress, but she was still resisting the idea of marriage. Come hell or high water, he was going to get her down the aisle.

He had lured her to the States with promises of making her more famous than she already was or could ever dream of being. He’d paid for her lessons in English, put her up in the guest wing of his house, and, ultimately, taken over her life. He was his father’s son—brutal, methodical, and an over-the-top Alpha male.

“You. Belong. To. Me.” He wrapped a hand around her neck. “The quicker you understand that, the better off you’ll be. You wanted to be a star in America? Well, I’m part of the package. You’ve known that from the start. You, Valentina, are going to be my wife and the mother of my children. If I have to drag your ass down the aisle, I will.”

“I don’t doubt you will, you fucking Neanderthal.”

He slid his hand around to grip her hair at the nape of her neck, pulling her head back. He grazed his teeth up and down the length of her neck, biting down when he landed on the sweet spot where her neck met her shoulder. She shuddered and leaned into him, and hated herself for it.

“Fight the attraction all you want, but by the time I’m done with you you’ll be begging me to give you this cock,” he said as he pressed his erection against her. “I don’t care what your head is telling you, your body is what I hear talking to me. It always betrays you to my touch. It must be maddening to be the slave of a man you hate. But there’s nothing like a good, angry, hate fuck to take the edge off, you’ll see. Oh, and one more thing,” he said with a smug smile. “You’re a little thief. We caught you on camera stealing Brigg’s money from his wallet.”

“Oh, please, don’t be so sanctimonious, we both know you’ve done far worse than that. I had to let that asshole believe he actually had a shot at fucking me. I had to get something out of it for myself. It’s not like he’s going to miss that money anyway.”

“You won’t do a job like that on your own again. I will know about it and I will be there.”

“Victor, please. Like I’ve been telling you, this is my career. I wasn’t going to let that bastard take that away from me. I mean, moral, my ass -- that guy followed me up to that room like a horny puppy.”

“Shut up, Valentina! I don’t want to hear another word about your efforts to seduce another man, even if he was too drunk to stand up on his own.” He grabbed her, and half-dragged her across the room to his king-size bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and put her over his knee so hard that he knocked her breath out of her. She was so stunned, she didn’t catch on to what he was going to do until the first stinging smack on her ass, followed by three more. Kicking and screaming did no good with his other leg clamped over her thighs, holding her firmly in place. Six rapid-fire strikes later and she was sobbing in pain.

He rubbed his hand over her heated skin and slipped his fingers along the crack of her ass until he slid two of them into her soaked pussy. “Such a lady, but so filthy dirty when it comes to your man.” Her hips lifted of their own volition, meeting his fingers and confirming what he already knew: no matter how much she hated him, her body craved him.

“That’s it, baby, fuck my fingers. That tight pussy of yours is mine to use however I want. Don’t you ever go anywhere alone with any man but me again! I ought to kill that son of a bitch.” He pinched at her clit, squeezing hard enough to have her squirming with painful pleasure.

Her hips began bucking wildly as his fingers worked their magic, triggering an orgasm that started as a flutter in her lower belly and electrified her all the way down to her toes.

Despite her protestations, he knew perfectly well that she had deliberately gone to meet Briggs. Even if it wasn’t something she had exactly wanted to do, she had pursued the idea and, at the very least, she had enjoyed knowing she was rebelling against the man who ruled her life.

He yanked her head up by a handful of hair as he hissed, “Do something like that again, I’ll use a horsewhip on your ass while you swing from a chain in my dungeon.” He tossed her over onto the side of the bed and got up to leave.

“I hate you. You bastard!” she screamed at his departing back.

“I hate you, too, beautiful vixen.” She could hear his cruel laughter as he ambled down the hallway like he didn’t have a care in the world.

She was as defiant as she was beautiful and she wasn’t about to turn her life over to Victor without a fight. But, ultimately, she knew the truth: he was a Ramirez, so there was nothing she could do to stop the inevitable.

She’d never been with another man. Victor was all she knew…and, if she was honest with herself, all she wanted. She’d never admit it to him, but defiance is what made the chase so much fun. Victor Ramirez had beautiful women fawning all over him, but he only had eyes for her. She didn’t know why he was so taken with her, but it was profoundly satisfying to keep him off balance and put him through hell. As far as she was concerned, that was exactly what Victor needed—a challenge.