Page 44 of The Queen's Serpent

For fuck’s sake, I stole her from her family though. The reason we are in this fucking jungle is because I am hiding her, otherwise, I would be at my father’s side right now. How am I missing what is happening with the woman I have risked it all for?

“Get Raphael to check her, but have your mother present in the room. I don’t want him left alone with her.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about Raphael,jefe. He’s terrified of her, and I’m pretty sure he believes you are thediabloincarnate, but it’s not a bad idea to havemi mamáalso with her. She could use the support of another female… she is all alone here.”

His words are daggers to my heart, even if he doesn’t intend them that way. I know Issy misses her family, especially the company of her sister, Mia. I wish it hadn’t had to go down the way it did. I would have preferred that I hadn’t been forced to take her away from her whole world, and that we could have built our relationship on a solid foundation, instead of this dangerous house of cards. The one that could come crumblingdown at any moment right on top of us. I just couldn’t risk losing her, and I knew she would cave to Stella’s demands to stay away from me.

I’m pulled from my self-pitying thoughts as Santiago shifts away, and heads towards the door. Fuck, I am so distracted that I didn’t even realize he was still standing there, never mind in the damn room. I drag my hand through my hair, trying to pull my focus back to the here and now before I get myself killed.

“Santiago,” I call out, and he stops, looking over his shoulder at me. “Thank you for your loyalty. You know you and your mother are family to my father and me.”

Now there’s a thought that I do want to indulge in. I’ve been filling Issy’s pussy with cum every chance I get, in order to knock her up. She, of course, doesn’t know that, and would probably shank my ass if she ever found out that’s what I am doing to further tie her to me. If I have my way, she will never leave my side, not even on our deathbeds.

I had our bathroom stocked with all the needed necessities for a woman’s menstruation, but she hasn’t used anything yet. I know, because I’m a psycho who checks. I’m not surprised, though. I had done some research on IUDs, and I know they can often cause women to stop menstruating. It can also take months after their removal for a woman’s cycle to return to normal, and for her to be able to get pregnant. It’s been three months. I hope that we are close now. I hope that one of these days, my fucking sperm will take root, and my baby will grow in her womb.

The image of a little, dark-haired girl running through these rooms, and racing towards me with open arms and a wide, toothless grin, is so realistic that it has my heart thumping painfully in my chest. I want that; I want a child with Issy, no fuck, I want a whole soccer team of children with Issy. I just need a chance to win her over completely. I know that she loves meeven though she refuses to say the words. Her actions give her away, especially when she doesn’t think I am paying attention.

I catch her staring at me when she doesn’t think I am looking, and her need to constantly touch me when we are in the same room. The way she gets a shy look of pleasure on her beautiful face when I compliment her, and I know she’s been actively trying to learn Spanish. I’ve caught her repeating words back to herself. These all point in the direction of her growing feelings for me.

The question, however, is not about what I want; it’s about whether she would stay if given the option of her own free will. I know deep down I can’t keep her a prisoner forever. That’s not the life I want for us. Maybe if I hold her close and show her how much I care, she will decide to stay. She’ll choose me.

I rise from my desk, the need to see her hitting me like a stampede of elephants. Perhaps, if she hears the words again, it will be enough. Enough to make her want to say them finally back to me. One way or another, I must ensure she is mine for the rest of our lives. I can’t let her go; I can no longer live without her.

She will always be mine.

Chapter twenty-four

Issy

“I had trusted him. I had even trusted him after he betrayed me.I was too open for my own good. I still gave that man my heart even after he destroyed it.”

Jacqueline Simon Gunn, Let Love Rule

God, this fucking heat is ridiculous. I lift the heavy braid off the back of my neck and let the air hit the spot. It’s so disgustingly hot that it’s making me physically sick. I’m sitting here in the courtyard out of the sun, drinking a glass of some fruit concoction that Alisa made for me and insisted I drink all of it. I can see the worry in her eyes. I haven’t been keeping food down the last few days, and my stomach is perpetually queasy.

The problem is I think I know what’s wrong with me. My stress and anxiety levels have gone through the roof since Paulo approached me. I feel his dark eyes on me whenever I leave mine and Diego’s bedroom. A part of me wants to run to tell Diego what he said, and the other part chastises me to keep my mouth shut. I don’t want to be stuck in this jungle forever. I miss the city’s noise and lights, my family, and fucking air conditioning. So I’ve done nothing but debate my choices, and the consequences, in my head.

Trying to decide between hoping that my grandmother finds me, and that she never does, is causing an internal war within me. Paulo’s words haunt me day and night. I now even dream of my grandmother’s hired men finding us in the jungle, and executing Diego before my eyes, which is playing havoc on mynerves. If I know my grandmother, she has given her men a‘shoot to kill’order, and they won’t hesitate to follow it.

Last night, I woke with my heart in my throat, and a scream trapped on my lips. Diego wrapped his large arms around me, squeezing me tightly against his beating heart, before fucking me into a coma. It did the trick, and I was able to sleep for the rest of the night, but the minute my eyes opened this morning, the anxiety set right back in.

I look across the courtyard and spy Paulo creepily watching me, while pretending to be interested in his conversation with another of Diego’s men. His eyes seek me out no matter where I try to hide, making me feel cornered and trapped. I need to do something about him, but I just don’t know what. Fuck, if only I could ask my sister, she would know what to do, but of course that’s impossible.

I’ve thought about approaching Santiago for help. He’s been decent with me, and his mother has been kind, but I know that his loyalty is to Diego, and he will run to tell him, the minute the words leave my lips.

I place the half-empty cup on the small bamboo table, knowing full well that Alisa will wag her bony finger at me for not finishing the drink, and start walking toward the little vegetable and herb garden that is set up. It really is a marvel, all of the self-containment and off-the-grid amenities that Diego has created here. If only he could use his powers for good, instead of trafficking weapons that kill people. It could be worse, I suppose, he could be in the drug market or human trafficking.

A chill goes down my spine at the thought of Diego dealing in human trafficking, particularly trafficking women. I inhale a deep breath through my nose and release it through my mouth, the queasiness rising once again, and threatening to have me on my knees in the bushes.

I don’t know how I know, but a feeling deep inside of me reassures me that he wouldn’t do that. He and his father don’t partake in those types of ventures. Diego Cabano is brutal, violent, and a psychopath, but he does have honor, and there is none in selling women for nefarious reasons.

I remember both of their reactions when my sister was taken and abused by a madman. He would have helped her boyfriends set the world on fire to find her, and ripped that man apart with his own two hands.

I wander over to a plant with some small, red, fleshy fruit. Alisa picks them daily and puts them in our breakfast food. The smell is sweet, but the fruit itself is sour and tangy. The little elderly dictator stands with her hands on her hips, until I at least consume a few pieces of the fruit every day. Diego just laughs as she mutters under her breath, and gives him a stink eye. I actually don’t think she fears him at all. I’ve watched her whack him with a large wooden spoon before, and she once threw a slipper at his head, to my astonishment. Which Santiago referred to as the flying‘chancla’with a laugh.

I’m so distracted that I don’t realize that someone has managed to come up behind me, until I feel the heat coming off their body, and the scent of sweat and tobacco reaches my nostrils, making me instantly gag.Paulo.

I whirl around with my fists clenched, ready to do some damage to his face if he tries anything. The expression on his face, as it meets my gaze, can only be described as sinister. He doesn’t step back, giving me the needed space to make my way around him. Instead, he shifts his body forward, crowding mine into the bush. “What the fuck do you think you are doing?” I question, but I can hear the tremble in my voice.

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