Chapter 30

ELLA

When we got back to the house, we were greeted by a whole group of men who had been previously just lurking around the house, carrying big guns and keeping an eye out.

Most of them were tattooed and rough-looking, others were younger and clearly new, but they all wore huge smiles and let out leery cheers as Andrea got out of the car.

His lips curled into a smile. “La victoria es nuestra! The victory is ours!” he said.

One man came up to Andrea and shook his hand. “Felicidades, señor.”

Andrea laughed and pulled him into a hug. “Ayy, gracias, Paulo.”

“Someone get the tequila,” he ordered, releasing the man from the hug.

There was another huge cheer, and the men began heading up the steps to the house.

Andrea slapped his hand around my shoulder and kissed my cheek before we followed the men inside. “You like tequila, my love?”

I shrugged, and he led me up into the house and then into the kitchen where shot glasses of tequila were already being poured.

Andrea picked two up and handed one to me and waited a few moments until each of his men had one in hand.

“To Caracas,” Andrea announced, holding his glass up.

“To Caracas,” they responded, and they all drank.

I didn’t particularly feel like drinking to the deaths of a hundred people, but not wanting to draw any attention to myself, I did. It was strong and burned my throat, but I forced myself to swallow it.

“You like it, Blanca?” Andrea asked. “Huh?”

He then reached forward and began pouring me another.

“Oh no—” I began.

“Humor me,” he said, giving me the glass.

I took it and knocked it back again, but this time the strength soothed me.

Andrea smiled in satisfaction. His eyes then drifted down to everything the dress didn’t cover.

“Vuelve al trabajo. Back to work,” he said to his men, and they all picked up their guns and filtered out in different directions.

He watched them as they assumed their guard positions in various places in the garden or at the front of the house before turning back to me.

“Vamos,” he said, taking my hand. “Let’s go.”

He led me toward the stairs. I knew his intention, and it made my heart pound, and my mind searched for an escape route. But the tequila already clouded my thoughts and created a blockade to reason.

“Andrea, celebrate more with your men,” I said.

He turned to me and pressed his lips forcefully on mine. “I wanna celebrate with you.”

When he pulled away, his smile was wide and unsettling. He lurched forward and kissed my cheek, making me flinch before taking my hand again and pulling me up the staircase.

Chico was standing on a balcony stretching off the hallway upstairs, looking out over the garden, a large gun in his hand.

He turned briefly as we passed, looking from Andrea to my pleading face, and I caught his eye for a millisecond before he turned back out to the garden.

I let out an exasperated sigh, my only shred of hope ripped away from me. I was on my own now.

When we reached Andrea’s room, he let go of my hand, and I moved across it, away from him, to the window, trying to control my heavy breathing.

For a few minutes, there was silence. I heard the metal clunk of him putting his gun down, and then he just lay on the bed on his back with his head resting on his hands.

I tried to focus on the moon. It glowed, casting its bright white light over the jungle, in its almost spherical glory. A few more nights and it would be full, I could sense it.

Andrea then stood up, and I cast my eyes away from it to a small beetle crawling across the railings of the balcony outside the glass panel doors.

“You did good today, Blanca,” Andrea whispered in my ear, standing behind me and putting his hands on my shoulders and slowly running them down the sides of my arms. “You did real good.”

His fingers brushed along my back, sweeping my hair to the side.

“Let me get your zip,” he said, reaching for the back of my dress.

I heard the metallic sound of the zip sliding down and the fabric of the dress loosen its tight hold on my skin. Andrea slipped it off my shoulders and slipped his hand down the front of the dress.

I refused to give him the satisfaction of my movement or even the slightest sound, so instead, I just fixated on the beetle, scuttling around outside.

“There won’t be any interruptions this time,” he said, kissing my neck.

I felt his lips on my mark, and I flinched. “Please, just not that spot,” I whispered.

He looked up into my eyes, kissed it one more time before he stopped and instead reached for my dress and pulled it farther down.

“I don’t want you to be thinking about your alpha right now, Blanca.”

A tear ran down my cheek and dripped onto his hand, which was on my chest.

“How can I not?” I choked.

The beetle had now disappeared over the edge of the balcony, so I turned to face Andrea.

“There are so many girls out there that would willingly sleep with you,” I said. “Why must you have me?”

He smiled and cupped my face with his hands.

“Because I want you,” he said. “And I always get what I want.”

His hand then reached for my breast, and he pulled my dress fully off so that I was only in my underwear.

“I helped you,” I said through my tears. “Caracas is yours now, and I helped.”

“So far, your alpha has killed eight of my men, located one of my stock warehouses with tons of products worth millions, nearly shot me dead, disrupted the runnings of my business, and most importantly, you have both pissed me off.

“While your help does not go unappreciated, it was not enough to make up for all the shit you and your mate have caused me. So, if you want to live, you will let me fuck you. Understand?”

He ran his hand over my chest as he kissed my mark once again before leading me to the bed and laying me down on the mattress. I was soon underneath him as he removed his tie and shirt.

As he reached for the buckle of his pants, a whimper bubbled at my throat and lurched out.

I wanted nothing more than to be home. With Leo, with my children. Or anywhere away from Andrea and this situation. The feeling of helplessness and powerlessness was suffocating.

There was nothing I could say or do—it was already happening, and nothing was going to change that.

~If this is what I have to do to stay alive, I think I’d rather be dead.~