Page 7 of Sacrifice

Once we are in the house, the automatic locks engage. Aribella turns and looks at me. “ You are locking me in?”

Saying nothing, I take Espresso out of her arms as she turns to look at the Ming Dynasty vase in the center of the room. I walk toward Mossimo.

“Hey!” Aribella yelps and catches up to me. She yanks my arm. “Give him back.”

Her demand has me almost panicked. Why? I am on high alert, and the idea of her not being alright is worrying. But it’s the tremor in her voice that kills me.

“Make sure we lock this animal up in the basement.” Mossimo takes Espresso and says nothing as he nods his understanding.

“No. Please.” She yanks on me again. “Give Espresso back. You can’t do this.” She nearly trips over her feet to get to my head of security, but I grab her around the waist and put my hand across her mouth.

That crazy regretful feeling is back. Swallowing it down, I keep her firmly in my grasp. Aribella has to learn she’s not in charge.

“Pipe down,mi reina. If you do everything I demand of you, you will get to see Espresso again.”

The heat of her tears scorches my hand as I grip her harder. “I mean it. Calm down or you’ll be locked in the dungeon.”

Aribella goes soft against me. She has no idea whattypeof dungeon I have, but it seems to do the trick of calming her down.

“I’m going to let you go, and we are going to walk to my office. Do not run from me,” I warn her. She isn’t ready for the sex dungeon.

She’s shaking in my arms, but she nods her head, and I let her go. “Right this way.”

When we get to my office, I hold the door open for her and lock it behind me. I don’t trust that she’ll not try to run again.

“Sit down.” I walk around her and motion toward the seats in front of my desk. Looking at her, I hope to catch her eyes, but she’s looking everywhere but at me.

Aribella’s shoulders shake, she’s still crying. At least she’s not being disobedient. I’d hate to have to punish her, but she’s got to learn what’s going on here.

I know I should be gentle when I explain what her brother has done, but there is a reason I am known asThe Beast. I don’t care if people's feelings get torn apart from being told the truth.

When she sits down, I begin, “As you know, the house and land are mine to do with as I please. What you don’t know is that your brother entrusted you to me as well.”

This makes her head pop up. “What do you mean?”

Steepling my fingers over the desk, I sigh. “Your brother stole over twenty million dollars from each of our neighboring casinos. I am the debt collector for the families that own them.”

Letting that sink in, I move closer to the edge of the desk. “It was either pay the money back or pay with his life.”

The blush on her face pales. I’d rather she be angry than look dead. “Did...” Aribella gulps and blinks back tears. “Did you kill him?”

I ignore her question. If I tell her the truth now, she will never understand. I have to make her hate her brother first.

“Your brother and I made a little deal you see, he traded his worthless life for yours.” A vicious smile creeps up on my face. “You are the payment for his debt.”

She doesn’t need to know that he’s already swimming with the fishes at the bottom of the Sabine River.

Her eyes go wide, and those luscious red lips open and close multiple times before she finally speaks.

“You can’t be serious.” Expecting her to try to get up, I ready myself. She surprises me as she wrings her hands together. “This can’t be true. Surely, this is a joke.”

Chapter Four

This is a nightmare. At any moment, I’ll wake up in my bed at home with Espresso purring at my feet.

“Dead serious.” Vincent arches an eyebrow at me and grunts. My mind races, not comprehending the full extent of what’s happening.

“This can’t be real. All of this has to be a figment of my imagination.”

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