Chapter 35

ELLA

Our tinted-windowed car pulled up in front of the entrance to a large hotel. The number of security guards was insane, with every guest being checked and identified before they were allowed through the doors.

But they let Andrea straight through after taking one look at him. I followed after him, but one of the bouncers stepped in front of me.

“She’s with me,” Andrea said, taking my hand.

The man immediately stepped aside. “Please forgive me, señorita.”

“Pretty nice party, right?” he said to me as we walked through the lobby with hundreds of people standing in little groups talking and drinking wine.

A grand chandelier made of hundreds of glimmering pieces of glass hung down from the high ceiling.

Two symmetrical large staircases curved around from the top of the room on either side, each with a golden handrail and wide marble steps.

“Let’s go meet the hosts,” he added, before leading me up one of the staircases, and as we passed, everybody seemed to stop and look at Andrea before quickly moving out of his way.

He took no notice and only carried on walking.

When we reached the top of the stairs, there was a mezzanine looking out over the lobby surrounded by a barrier and more security.

Inside were four or so men, all in black suits, gathered around drinking champagne and chatting.

“Martinez!” one exclaimed as we entered. “Our wonderful boss.”

“And this must be Loren’s luna. Ella, yes?” another added, looking to me.

I nodded as a butler approached us with a tray of champagne, and Andrea took two, handing one to me.

“Ella, meet my top men, those I owe the smooth runnings of my cartel to,” he said with a smile as he placed one hand on my shoulder.

“Sebastian, head of production. He runs the farms, ensures both top-notch quality and quantity, and keeps the drugs running like water.

“Emiliano, head of export. Keeps the stream flowing across the borders to where they gotta be, controls the logistics, makes sure no questions are asked at the borders and that all product gets from A to B.

“Alvaro, head accountant. Monitors all money coming in and out the business. He’s in charge of spotting any unexpected changes in profit and sales and tracks anything suspicious to the source.

“No one in the business could steal even a dollar from me without this man knowing. And finally, Sergio, head of security.

“Keeps the computer technicians and hackers in line, monitors threats, trains up my men, bargains with the police force and the government. We all have this man to thank for our lives every day.”

I shook all their hands.

“So what’s your place in the business, señorita?” Sebastian asked.

“Andrea’s latest whore no doubt,” Emiliano said with a grin.

“Ay,” Andrea protested. “This woman saved my life yesterday.”

They all raised an eyebrow and looked down at me.

“She may be small and weak, but she’s brave,” he added. “When we were ambushed by Gustavo Escobar’s men at the border, I was shot, but she helped me to safety.”

“Good job, little one,” Sergio said to me, before looking back up to Andrea. “But please tell us you’re sleeping with her too?”

“Of course,” he replied, and they all laughed.

“Was there any need asking? He’s young and still obsessed with sex,” Alvaro said. “Will you ever pick one girl and stick with her?”

The four men were all at least ten years older than Andrea, if not twenty. Considering that Andrea was their boss, the age gap was surprising.

How on earth did he end up the head of this entire organization at only nineteen years old?

“Just you wait, mis amigos,” he said with a wink. “Soon enough.”

“Well, anyway,” Emiliano said. “The people have been waiting for a speech from their boss.”

Andrea grinned, drank the rest of his champagne, and grabbed a spoon off the butler’s tray before stepping out to the railing of the mezzanine that looked over the lobby below.

The spoon chimed on the glass three times before silence fell in the room.

“Buenas noches, mis amigos,” he began. “Estamos aquí para celebrar el éxito del cartel de Martínez.”

He then turned briefly to look at me and repeated, “We’re here to celebrate the success of the Martinez cartel.”

His speech continued in Spanish for another few minutes before there was a huge applause, and Latino music began to play.

Andrea turned to me, beaming, and took my hand.

“Hasta luego!” he said to the four men we talked to earlier. “See you later!”

He then led me back toward the stairs.

“Who are all these people?” I asked, looking down at all the dancing people below.

“They are my people,” he replied. “My pack if you like. The families and friends of my associates. They live off the cartel.”

“You trust them all?” I asked.

“They have no reason to betray me and many reasons not to,” he replied. “So yes. I do. But enough about business, do you know how to salsa?”

“No,” I said as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Then you better hope you’re a fast learner,” he said, suddenly pulling me into his chest. “Follow my lead.”

He then took both my hands and led me to the center of the dance floor.

“You step like this, okay?” he said, demonstrating what looked like a fairly simple movement of the feet and hips as he pulled me in time with him. “Move your hips, Blanca. Don’t be shy.”

He then twirled me around, caught me, and dipped me back so that he was leaning over me, his chest against mine.

The proximity was suffocating, and I couldn’t bear to look at him, so I turned my face to the side until he finally pulled me back up.

“Easy, huh?” he asked, putting a hand on my back and pushing me against him as he continued to salsa.

I was doing very little as he basically dragged me around, but I nodded all the same.

A few songs played before he finally stopped. We then moved from group to group as Andrea greeted them mostly in Spanish until he introduced me, which was always in English.

“I must teach you Español, Blanca,” he said. “Especially if we are to marry.”

I wasn’t planning on sticking around long enough to learn an entire-ass language, so I didn’t reply, and he led me back up to the mezzanine.

“I have an announcement,” Andrea said to the butler still standing up there. “Cut the music.”

He nodded, and a few moments later, the music silenced, and every pair of eyes down in the lobby looked up to Andrea who was leaning over the railings. He then grabbed my wrist and pulled me beside him.

“As some of you already know, tonight I have the pleasure of being accompanied by the beautiful Ella Loren,” he began, putting a hand on my back.

“Until last week, she was luna to Alpha Leonardo Loren of the powerful Stella Pack. But now she is by my side.” He looked out into the audience, a proud smile on his face and a dancing glint in his eye.

“And I plan to keep her there. So, Ella, will you seal our companionship and do the honor of marrying me?”

He then pulled a box out from his pocket, got down onto one knee, and opened the box to reveal a ring with a dazzling diamond.

“The choice is yours,” he added, staring deeply into my eyes.

Of course, the choice wasn’t mine, and the darkness of his expression and sternness of his stony lips showed it.

There was a deathly quiet across the whole party, and I could feel the stare of every guest on me, staring in anticipation.

“Yes,” I said in a hoarse tone.

Andrea smiled in approval, slipped the ring onto my finger, and kissed me as the guests applauded.

“Good choice,” he whispered in my ear, before turning to his people and holding up my ringed hand as they continued to clap and cheer.

“Did you have doubts I’d say yes?” I asked quietly as the cheers made it so that only Andrea could hear.

“Not for a second,” he replied. “You wouldn’t dare.”

For the rest of the evening, Andrea made me dance with him and then talk to all his friends and then dance with them until my feet burned from the uncomfortable heels and my throat was dry.

Far beyond midnight, we finally left and got back into the car.

I stared out into the streets of Bogotá, watching the streetlamps whizz by along with all the people living their lives in the light of them.

“Sign here,” Andrea ordered, thrusting a piece of paper and pen into my hands.

“What is it?” I asked, struggling to see in the darkness of the car.

“The marriage papers,” he replied. “My top men already signed as witnesses. Sign your name on the line and you’ll be Mrs. Martinez.”

“Surely it can’t be this easy?” I asked in shock.

“Depends who you are and who you know,” he replied with a wink. “Stop wasting time and just sign it.”

I nodded and slowly brought the pen to the paper before pausing again.

~What the hell am I doing? Just letting him boss me about like this? I am Ella Jones. I don’t let men do this to me.~

“Just fucking do it,” he said. “I thought marriage meant nothing to you?”

He had a point. Maybe I shouldn’t show him that I care and not let him win.

“It doesn’t,” I hissed, before scrawling my signature onto the paper before throwing it back at him. “Are you fucking happy?”

“Oooh,” Andrea said, his face lighting up. “Calm down, babe.”

“Does this amuse you?” I asked as he laughed.

He leaned forward, placing a hand on my inner upper thigh and holding my head so that I couldn’t move as he kissed me. “Smile, Blanca. It’s our wedding night.”

I pushed his chest hard, forcing him away from me.

“Are you sure you want to fight again?” he snarled, grabbing my wrists. “I don’t want to have to ruin your pretty face…again.”

After that, he sat back in his seat and left me alone for the rest of the journey.

“I have a phone call to make,” he said to me as we entered the house. “Wait for me upstairs.”

I scowled, but realizing how desperate I was to take off these ridiculous shoes and squeezing dress, I went up to the room I’d been staying in and changed into my pajamas.

I then went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and tie my hair up out of my face. I had every intention of going straight to bed and feeding my exhaustion with a long sleep.

But when I stepped out of the bathroom, I found Andrea sitting silently on the bed. Considering that he’d been staying in a different room, this was not a good sign.

But what was worse? In his hands, he held the box of birth control pills.

I stepped back toward the bathroom as he looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.

He snapped his fingers and pointed to a space on the floor in front of him.

“Andrea, I—” I started, gingerly stepping forward.

“You haven’t even opened the box,” he interrupted. “Which is weird because I seem to remember quite clearly telling you to start taking them two days ago?”

I swallowed and nodded. “I know.”

“So why didn’t you?”

“Because I—” I began.

I stopped, and he just stared at me, waiting.

“Forgive me for not being eager to make it more convenient for you to rape me,” I hissed, suddenly remembering that tonight I wasn’t putting up with his shit.

“I see that mouth of yours is creeping back,” he said. “And I find it entertaining, but what I will not tolerate is disobedience. So fucking take the pills.”

“No,” I said. “I won’t.”

He stepped forward and put his hands on either side of my face.

“You can’t bear to submit, can you?” he asked. “You never did for your alpha, and now you think you won’t for me, huh?”

“Why should I?” I asked. “Why should I give you the satisfaction?”

“Because the day you stop satisfying me is the day you die, Blanca,” he replied, running a finger along my jaw. “So open your mouth.”

I stared up at him, not even opening it to reply as he got one of the pills out of the box.

He let out a short laugh. “Do you want me to make your life hell again?” he asked in a deep tone. “Because we can go back to that if it’s what you want.”

Staring at the small pink pill in his fingers, I took a few moments to remember the wretched pain I had experienced over my first days with him and how it had eased the more I obeyed him.

There was no sign of Leo, and it looked like I was going to be here for a while. So if to make my situation bearable the only sacrifice I had to make was my autonomy, I was going to take it.

And so I opened my mouth, and when he put the pill in, I swallowed.

“I’m glad we could reach a mutually beneficial agreement,” he said with a complacent smile.