Page 55 of Trapped

“Are you okay?” Her face is flushed, but she stares up at me, smiling. I’m still buried deep in her as I catch my breath. She gave her innocence to me. It was sweet, and I couldn’t resist myself from wanting more. The sight of her blood on my cock drove me mad. It felt like a sacrificial offering. A blood oath between her and me. I am the owner of her body and soul.

“You’re mine now.” She smiles, and I watch as she moves her hands up the sheets. She sticks out her pinky finger and offers it to me.

“You promise?” I ignore the childish binding. I run a finger over her bare chest where her heart lies.

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” She looks down and watches as I trace the imaginary heart. Her heart, my newlifeline.

“What are you thinking?” Fuck. Am I really turning into that guy? The “What are you thinking” after sex guy? She smiles up at me and pulls my head to hers.

“Let’s do it again.” Her whisper sends a wave of electricity straight to my cock.

The memory is on loop, and no amount of tequila is stopping it. The first time we had sex was the high I spent years chasing. It was my motivation on days when I couldn’t have her; it was the reasoning for all my madness. The reason I could still smell her on my skin and hear her in my dreams. That night, we didn’t just do it again; we did it all night. And somewhere, in all the consummating, we created a child. I look down at my phone, still frustrated that Aurelio is ignoring my texts and calls.

Silas: You didn’t think it was important to tell me I had a child?

Aurelio: Call me when you’re not drunk.

I play with Thalia’s ring on the counter. I pick up the bottle of 1800 and press my lips to the rim. The warm liquor burns down my throat. I go back to my phone to reread the text message that fucked everything up.

Jasper: Felicidades, you are the father!

“Am I invited to your pity party?” I look up to see Ale standing with her arms crossed, staring at me.

“Go away.”

I am still mad at her and Efren for keeping the information from me. They knew the night we broke into Kiko’s office. It hadbeen Claudia threatening Thalia the whole time, to get her to sign over the property. Ale lifts her hands in surrender and walks to the bottle. Pouring herself a shot, she stares up and down at me.

“All this, and I never thought you one for giving up,” she says.

“She lied to me,” I murmur.

“And you let her think you were dead for seven years.”

She grabs the bottle and walks back up to the room she is staying in. When I know for sure that she’s left, I dig into my pocket until I find the familiar feel of the dainty chain. I run my thumb over each letter, remembering the way it sat on her neck. “Consuelo.”

I’m not drunk, but I’m getting there. I would get drunk every night just to chase away the feeling of her lips on mine and her body entangled into me. The alcohol isn’t nearly enough to forget her existence. To forget the way her hand fit in mine or the way her moans tattooed themselves to my skin.

The little girl I had seen in the hallway was familiar. Not because of her resemblance to Thalia, but because of her resemblance to me. She had called me Prince Charming, but I am far from that. I hadn’t abandoned her, but these are the fucking consequences I had to pay for not going back for Thalia when I should have. At some point, I would have to explain to my child why I wasn’t there for her. The day I saw Ivan punch Thalia, I hadn’t reacted fast enough. I saw Patricio step in right away, and I felt ashamed. I was nineteen, and in my head, I thought if I couldn’t step in to help Thalia, then I didn’t deserve her. Not until I could be that man.

So, I left. Taught myself to remove emotions and use my impulses to my advantage. Now, those same impulses tell me to run after her. I fucked up once, and I won’t be able to survive if something happens to her now. I spent seven years torturing myself with thoughts of who she was and how I would feel whenI finally got her back. The memories of these last few months would do nothing but torture me. I won’t be satisfied without her because she is mine. And she is irreplaceable. I throw my phone on the counter when I hear a familiar sinister laugh. I hadn’t even heard the sly bastard come in.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I curse at Axel standing in front of me.

Uninvited.

The asshole is wearing a black suit with diamond cufflinks. He straightens the lapels of his suit jacket, then looks at the empty tequila bottles. He’s also on my shit list for not telling me about Lucia.

Four Years Ago

“You drop off the flowers?” I say. Axel sends a jab to my left cheek, and I block him.

“Yup.” The motherfucker likes to play with me like that. Axel Reyes is everything a psychologist warned women about. Narcissistic, manipulative, and down-right psychotic. I only tolerate him because he is the only son of a bitch crazier than me who understands my obsession with Thalia.

Axel knows how to get under my skin. He mistakes my need for information as a friendship. His brother ignores him, and his sister loathes him. He required one condition in exchange for his spying, and that was a favor. In our world, if you bargain a favor, that bargain was met. One day, he would come to me to cash in that favor, and I would honor it. The thought is scary, considering the malicious thoughts that roam freely through Axel’s brain. But it was a deal I was willing to make for her.

“Son of a bitch!” Axel says when I uppercut him. Adan watches from the sidelines; he is the best boxer of the three of us and would be facing the winner. This is how we pass time when we aren’t training. Axel is not just hitting me physically, he is also playing another game. He knows what I want, but he wants me to ask. He wants me to beg.

I wait until I win the fight and stare at him. He has a smug smile on his face, and I’m tempted to start hitting him all over again.

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