TONIGHT, ON OUR one-month wedding anniversary, we are celebrating with an enormous party. The wealthiest people from all over Colombia have been invited. Security has been tripled, but I still don’t feel safe.
Give me what I want, Diego.
I grit my teeth. You’d think with five wives prior, I’d have plenty of practice telling a woman no. Instead, I fall into my wife’s dick-sucking traps and hand her the keys to my kingdom without hesitation. She asks and I give. Every single time. I even had to call in the favor Gabriella owed me. Boy, was she upset, but she delivered.
I hold up the jewelry box—which arrived today, just in time—and lift the lid. Gabriella had to scramble to get me these earrings, but I wanted them for tonight’s celebration. Perfect timing. Everything is going too smoothly, which has my chest tight with nerves.
“I don’t like this,” Tatiana tells me with a huff. Her gaze is on my bare chest and she fixates on one spot.
“I promised her,” I snap as I start buttoning my shirt back up. “Vienna gets what she wants.”
She frowns and crosses her arms over her chest. Tonight she’s donning a black sequined gown for the fancy affair. “I don’t like when her wants affect you.”
I shrug as I knot my tie. “It doesn’t matter what you like. This is bigger than how you feel, Tatiana.”
“I just…” she trails off with tears in her eyes. “Would your mother want you risking it all on some woman?”
I pin her with a serious stare. “My mother would have wanted me to risk everything for love.”
She swallows and her bottom lip trembles. “So this is love?”
“It is for me.”
“And for her?”
“Only time will tell.” I shrug on my black vest before pulling on my black suit coat. “Everything will be okay.”
Her head bows but she gives me a small nod. “I hope so, Diego. You’re like a son to me. I can’t lose you over some girl. You fell too hard and too fast for her. It scares me.”
I scrub my scruffy cheek with my palm before giving her a tender smile. “Vienna and I have a past that has led us to this moment. Fate was always playing an intricate game with our lives. We’ve finally gotten here. I’m not going to disregard what was designed for us. It’s been a long road getting here and the road still has some twists and turns. We’ll get to the end, though, together. I trust her and she trusts me.”
Tatiana rushes over to me and hugs me. “You always were weak for women.”
I pat my close friend’s back and kiss her on the top of her head. “This woman makes me stronger. She’s tough and resilient. Exactly what someone of my position and caliber needs. An equal, Tatiana. I don’t have to take care of Vienna because she takes care of us both.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she says finally.
I wink at her when she pulls away. “I don’t and that’s half the fun.”
“That’s him,” Vienna says, her long manicured nail pointing at the security monitor. “He’ll come for me.”
“He won’t leave with you,” Jorge assures her. “We’ll have eyes on him at all times.”
She turns to regard me, and I study her face for insecurity, fear, any-fucking-thing, but I find nothing. Her chin is lifted and her green eyes are sharp. My sweet wife isn’t afraid. If anything, she’s thirsty.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I question, my brows pinched together. “Do you still have the knife?”
She slides up her silky brilliant green evening gown, past her knee to reveal a garter belt with a knife tucked inside. It’s hot as fuck and if I didn’t have one of my enemies in my home at this very moment, I’d screw her against the closest wall.
“I can do this, Diego,” she assures me with a bright grin, releasing her dress as she walks toward me. “We can do this.”
Her gorgeous red hair has been twisted and pinned into a fancy style behind her head. A tendril has escaped on the side of her pretty face, and I can’t help but tuck it behind her ear. She’s beaming at me. Confident. Fierce. Strong as hell. Mine.
“You look beautiful, mi diablita,” I tell her and press a soft kiss to her glossy lips.
She slides her palms up over my chest to my neck. “You look handsome, mi motherfucker.”
Everything inside of me screams to pull her into my arms and never let go. She’d be safer that way. In the short run. But what about the long run? What about for the rest of our lives? I have to let her fly away from me for a bit because that’s the only way to keep her.
“I have something for you,” I tell her with a wolfish grin as I pull out the jewelry box from my pocket.
Her lips quirk up on one side. “You’re such a romantic.”
“These,” I say as I open the box to show her the two shiny diamonds, “came all the way from America. Your friend Ren’s dad acquired them for me. They’re special. Like you.”
She stands on her toes and gives me a chaste kiss. “Thank you, Diego. Thank you for this.” Her past hurts and injustices are written all over her face. I can give her security. I can give her safety. I can give her me.
She puts both earrings in and grins at me. “How do I look?”
I grab her hips and tug her to me. “Good enough to eat.”
“He’s headed toward the stairwell, Mrs. Gomez,” Jorge says from his chair in front of the monitors. “You should go.”
My hands are locked on her waist. It takes every ounce of self-control to remove my hands and not crush her to me. “Be safe, Vienna.”
Her palms find my cheeks, and she tugs me down for a kiss. “I’ll be okay as long as you have my back.”
Our kiss turns frantic, but then she’s pulling away.
“I have to go,” she whispers.
I grip her jaw and glare down at her. “I love you, mi diablita.”
Tears glisten in her gorgeous green eyes. “I love you too.”
The moment she’s gone, I prowl over to the wall of monitors. Jorge has her in view because as soon as she leaves the room, she’s on the screen. When we’d discussed this party a couple of weeks ago, I spared no expense outfitting one of the spare rooms with wall-to-wall monitors of every part of the house, both inside and out. The equipment picks up sound as well because I needed to be able to have eyes and ears on her.
We watch my enemy slip into her old bedroom. She’s long since moved into my room. I love that she’s begun to add touches to the home to make it hers. Despite her and Gabriella’s conversation ending with Vienna hanging up on her best friend a couple of weeks ago, she’s still stayed in touch with her friend Ren. He even went by her parent’s house and had some of her belongings shipped here. This is her home now. With me.
“What’s he doing?” Jorge asks.
“He’s looking for the book with their pictures in it.”
Sure enough, he walks over to the bookcase and pulls The Count of Monte Cristo from the shelf. He’s thumbing through it when Vienna walks into the room.
“Turn up the sound,” I bark out.
Jorge turns the knob just as Vienna says in a choked voice, “Oscar?”
Over the past month, my wife has shared with me more and more stories of her past. A lot of them revolved around this man. Someone she trusted. Even loved. A man who should have protected her. Instead, he took from her and used her.
“Vee,” Oscar replies as he shoves the book back into place and then turns to regard her. From my vantage point, I don’t see any weapons. “You look well.” His tone is flat and cold. It makes my hackles rise.
“I’m a good actress. I’m doing what I can to survive,” she tells him, her voice shaky.
He takes a step forward, but my brave woman doesn’t retreat. She lifts her chin to meet his gaze dead on.
“You were supposed to kill him,” he bites out.
She stiffens. “And I told you, I’m not a killer. I’m scared.”
His answering scoff is brief, but I catch it. “Kill him. Tonight. We’ll be waiting for you to carry it out.” He approaches her, and I hate how close he is to her. “Where’d we go wrong?” His hand lifts and he runs his finger along her jaw. She shivers as if she’s waited for that touch her entire life. But I know my girl and I know when I touch her like that, it’s different. Her reaction to me is so much better because it’s real.
“You hurt me,” she accuses, her bottom lip wobbling. “You both hurt me.”
He runs his fingers through his long hair that touches his shoulders. “It was just because it was a part of the plan. None of it meant anything. You know that. A big game of fucking pretend, Vee.”
I keep waiting for her to lash out, but she remains calm. She sniffles and he reaches to swipe away the tear. Instead of flinching, she leans into his touch.
Good girl.
“I’m sorry,” he says, his voice raw. And I hear it. Remorse. Regret. But it doesn’t forgive what he did to her. She’ll never get over that.
“Oscar…”
“Does he hurt you?”
She looks away, as if to not meet his gaze, but her eye is on the hidden camera. “Yes.” Her green eyes flicker with deception before she darts them back to him. “Every night in this bed. He takes and takes and takes. I was forced to become his wife.” Her shoulders hunch as she starts to cry.
Fake. Fake. Fake.
My queen doesn’t cry.
“Oh, Vee,” Oscar croaks as he hugs her to him. “It was supposed to be us. How’d we get so lost along the way?”
I slam my fist on the table and hiss at Jorge. “Lost? He fucking ignored her their entire lives. Dragged her around like she was his fucking puppy. And then he raped her for authenticity?! This kid is fucking quacked out.”
Jorge grunts in agreement.
“Can you get me out of here?” she pleads. “We can run away. Esteban doesn’t have to know.” Exactly what he wants. His sweet, adoring girl worshipping him at his feet.
He squares his shoulders and cups her cheeks so he can look at her. “We still need you to kill Diego. He’ll always be a threat to us. Once he’s gone, we can move on together.”
“Esteban…” she murmurs.
He lets out a possessive growl. “We’ll deal with Esteban later. He’s unhinged, Vee. Together we’ll take care of him. Then it will just be us.” His mouth drops to hers where he places a soft kiss on her lips. Rage threatens to consume me, but Jorge is gripping my shoulder tight.
“Relax.”
I crack my neck and clench my jaw. “I’ll relax when that fucker is dead.”
Vee pulls away from their kiss and darts her gaze to the camera again. She’s playing the part of fearful girl, but I see the fire in her eyes. With one simple look, she assures me she knows exactly what she’s doing. I have to trust her.
“How?”
He walks over to the bed, pulls a knife from his belt, and lies down. Then, he motions for her. “I’ll show you.”
She takes his hand as she climbs onto the bed with him. He urges her to straddle his waist. It takes some maneuvering in her fancy dress but she sits on him, her garter belt barely covered by the fabric. If he finds her knife, that could be a problem. I rise from my chair to ready myself to intervene if necessary.
“Use this knife,” he instructs. “Put it under your pillow like this.” He shoves his knife under the pillow. “Now, when you’re fucking, lean in to kiss him but pull the knife out. Then, stab him. So easy, Vee. You can do this.” His palm slides up her thigh.
“Wait,” she blurts out and threads his fingers with hers before he notices her knife. “He’s usually the one on top. What then?”
He smiles and flips her onto her back. His mouth finds hers as he kisses her hard. The motherfucker’s hips are moving as he grinds against my wife’s cunt.
Trust in Vienna.
Don’t fuck this up by being a hothead.
“Mmm,” she moans out in pleasure. But it’s fake. When my sweet woman moans, it doesn’t sound like that. Her moans are more ragged, more breathy, less controlled.
“If I had more time, I’d make love to you right here in this bed, Vee,” he coos. “Just like I should have done all those years ago. It was supposed to be us. I’ve made so many mistakes.”
“Rape is more than just a mistake, fucker,” I snarl at the screen.
“But,” he continues, “we can get past those. I wasn’t in my right mind then. From here on out, I’ll show you how good we can be together.”
“Okay,” she agrees. “Just us. Now show me how to kill Diego.”
He holds her wrist with the knife in it and brings it to his chest. It would be so easy for her to kill him but that isn’t part of the plan. At least not yet.
“You can do this, baby,” he tells her and kisses her sweet mouth. He grinds against her again. “God, I wish we had more time.”
“Soon,” she promises.
When he pulls away, her dress reveals her hidden knife. She discreetly covers herself when he gets distracted by cupping her tit.
“Tonight,” he reminds her in a gruff voice. “End this tonight and you can come home. We’ll finish it together. Just you and me, baby.”
She sits up and smiles at him. False and transparent. But only to someone who sees her genuine smiles each day. “You’ll be waiting for me?”
“Just outside of the compound. If you’re not out by morning, we’ll know something went wrong. I’ll come back for you if that’s the case,” he assures her.
Such a fucking hero.
She slides off the bed and launches herself into his arms. “I’ve missed you.”
“I know you have,” he agrees as he strokes her hair. “I have to go.”
Her hand slides to his front and she gives him one of those sexy as fuck pleading looks she gives me sometimes. I’m unable to tell her no. The girl always gets what she wants. And this chump isn’t immune.
“This isn’t fair, baby,” he groans. “You know we can’t fuck right now and yet you’re going to send me out of here with blue balls.”
She pouts but releases his cock. “Fine.”
He laughs and gives her a smug grin. “Soon, baby. I promise.” He shoves a small piece of paper into her palm. “If shit gets too hard, this is how you can reach me.”
Their mouths meet in a heated kiss and then he tears himself from her. He slips out of the room and down the hallway.
“Keep an eye on him,” I growl at Jorge as I watch Vienna.
She walks into the bathroom and proceeds to immediately brush her teeth. I wish there were time to haul her into the shower with me to wash that man’s stink off her, but there’s not. We have a party to attend.
“He’s at the tree line,” Jorge tells me. “A car is waiting.”
“Are there any others here? Any of his men?”
“Not as far as I can tell.”
“Good.”
I stalk from the room on a mission to find my wife. Once I’m in her old room, she throws herself into my arms.
“Oh, Diego,” she murmurs, her voice quaking. “Why is this so hard?”
I kiss her neck. “It’ll get harder before it gets easier. You did great, mi diablita.”
She pulls away to regard me with guilt in her eyes. I hate that she feels guilty for what we both know had to be done. “It’s hard to turn off love for someone. Even when you move on. Even when you hate that person.”
I kiss her soft lips. “I know. It will all be over soon.”
“Come here,” I growl as I tug her to me in the hallway. I sway on my feet because my sweet wife has taken it upon herself to get me plastered at our celebration. She, on the other hand, is quiet and contemplative. She’d nursed the same glass of wine all night.
“No,” she teases.
This girl loves it when I chase her down and fuck her into the next day.
“Now,” I order.
“No!” she screeches as she bolts down the hallway.
I’m uncoordinated as I run after her, shedding my coat along the way. I see a flash of red hair dart into her old bedroom, so I charge after her. Once inside the room, I rip off my vest and begin working on my tie.
“Get naked,” I bark, meeting her gaze with a heated one of my own.
“No,” she challenges. “Leave me alone.”
I smirk as I jerk the tie away from me. “I’ll never leave you alone. In case you’ve forgotten, you bear my mark. Now take off your goddamned dress before I cut it off you.”
She screams and backs herself into a wall. I stalk for her as I tear through the buttons on my shirt. When I’m near, she goes to dart past me, but I’m able to easily snag her into my arms. She wiggles in my grip, but I manage to rip the zipper down her back. My wife fights the entire time as I pull off her dress. The garter belt remains but the knife has long since been put someplace else.
“Get away from me,” she hisses, her green eyes flaring with fury.
“Fucking never,” I snarl back at her. “Take off your panties.”
“No.”
“Goddammit, woman!”
It takes some wrestling, but I manage to pull off her undergarments as well. I toss her onto the bed and drop my pants in the next instant. She starts to crawl away, but I snag her thigh in my brutal grip.
“Ahhh!” she cries out when I drag her back to me.
I pin her wrists at her hips. She wriggles but doesn’t fight me when I start kissing the inside of her thigh toward her pussy.
“Stop,” she breathes. “Don’t do this.”
Her cunt begs me to, though. It drips with her arousal. I run my tongue along her seam and lap up her sweet taste. She shudders in my grip.
“You’re mine,” I growl and tug at one of her pussy lips with my teeth.
“Never,” she lies.
I suck on her clit until she starts convulsing with pleasure. Before she can recover, I climb over her body and press the tip of my cock against her wet opening. Her body accepts me despite her clawing on my shoulder and screams. Our eyes meet and an emotion I love dances in her eyes.
“I love you,” I murmur softly against her lips.
She starts to cry, and I fucking hate it because it sounds so real. My fierce Vienna doesn’t cry. “Please,” she sobs. “I can’t do this.”
I nip at her lip. “Yes you can. We’re doing this.”
As I thrust into her, I lift up so I can watch my dick slide into her wet cunt. Her fingertip runs along my chest and she makes a cross motion.
“X marks the spot,” she says sadly. Then, her hand disappears under the pillow. Everything happens so quickly. One minute I’m fucking my wife and the next, she’s plunging a shiny knife into my chest.
“Mi diablita,” I hiss in shock.
“I am not yours,” she chokes out as she shoves me off of her.
I roll onto my back and stare down at the knife that sticks out of my chest. Her green eyes are fixated on the wound that now gushes with blood. She’s frozen in horror, and I’m in too much pain to move.
“Diego—”
I hiss the nastiest words I can muster. “So help me, cunt, you’re going to die for this.”
She snaps out of her daze and throws on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. I clutch my chest but don’t dare remove the knife.
“Vienna,” I croak out. My eyelids grow heavy. Last time I got stabbed this deep, I nearly died on the lawn on the side of this very house. Back then, it was a demon who tried to kill me. This time, it’s mi ángel.
The door clicks shut and I know she’s gone.
The pain in my chest is from something altogether different than the knife stuck in my flesh.
Loss.
Heartache.
A crack in my soul.
Blackness floods in around me. I hear voices, two in particular, but I tune them out so I can chase the vision in my nightmares. She’d abandoned me when I’d married Vienna. But now she’s back. My ángel wears all white, but her gown drips with blood as she beckons for me to follow her.
I know wherever she wants me to go is going to hurt.
But I’d follow her anywhere.
“Diego!”
The voices call to me, but I don’t like them. The soft whisper of my angel is sweeter. It’s more alluring. It drags me away from all of this.
I’m coming, ángel …
Black.
Black.
Black.