Page 95 of Obsession & Oath

“You,” he sneers, his lip curling as he steps closer, “you were supposed to be the perfect wife. You were supposed to remain untouched, pure for Lacruz. And now look at you. You've allowed an Italian to put his filthy hands on you, to ruin everything. To ruinme.”

My breath hitches as the walls around me seem to close in.

“The Cartelneedsthe Lacruz alliance,” he spits.

“But you, you’ve destroyed it. You’re nothing but amockeryof everything we’ve worked for, everything your mother and I raised you to be. I would rather see you dead than live with the shame you’ve brought onto this family.”

I try to imagine Evelina in the sunroom, her immaculate dress wrinkling slightly as she throws her head back in laughter, a friendly smile on her face, the one reserved for the people she loves. We are laughing together over her second glass of merlot.

Family.

“You have two choices, Carmen. Two.”

I swallow hard and look up at him. Finally, gathering the courage to meet his terrifying gaze.

“Get rid of that...thatthinginside you and beg Lacruz for his forgiveness. Throw yourself at his feet, grovel, and maybe, just maybe, he’ll take you back. Maybe you’ll be useful to the Cartel again.”

Thing.

My child…Dante’s child…is not athing.

My stomach churns as anger fans the flames of my courage.

“And if I refuse?”

His eyes darken with cold, unforgiving rage as he takes in my defiance with disgust.

“He will kill you, Carmen. Simple as that.”

I feel my heart twist in my chest, a sickness rising within me. He’s not offering me a choice. He’s offering me an ultimatum. An ultimatum I can’t escape from.

“The only reason he hasn’t come down here is out of respect forme,” he practically spits as he turns away. “So you shall do as I say. You will save me any further embarrassment.”

The door slams shut behind him, the sound reverberating through my bones. I’m left once more to my silence. The weight of it has never felt more suffocating.

* * *

I don’t know how much time passes before the door creaks open again. I don’t think I’ve moved even once.

Still, I scramble back wearily, preparing myself for the worst.

But it’s Melissa’s face that greets me as she steps closer into the dim light of the cell.

The doctor’s face softens as she approaches slowly as if addressing a wounded animal. “Carmen, I’ve come to check on your wound. How are you feeling?”

There aren’t enough curse words in the Italian dictionary to do that question any justice.

She seems to understand this, though, at least on some level, as she sets a small medical kit down on the floor beside me and doesn’t ask again.

I do notice her hands shaking slightly. There’s concern in her familiar eyes, but I’m not sure she can afford anything more for me. Not when her loyalties clearly lie with my father.

She checks my wound silently, and for a while, I think she might not say anything more.

But then she leans in close to retie the bandage and she whispers in my ear. “I am so sorry,mija.”

I let out a long breath. “It’s just...just a bullet wound.”

“No,” the doctor places a gentle hand over my stomach.

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