Page 23 of Until Retribution Burns (Beauty in Lies 3)

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Rafael

Isa glared at me, no doubt hating the fact that I'd chosen to let the cat out of the bag so quickly. I resisted the urge to smirk at the fury on her beautiful face, filling those stunning eyes with the fire she'd discovered within herself onEl Infierno.

Somehow, smiling in the face of her family's shock seemed insensitive.

"Husband?" her mother asked, raising a shocked eyebrow to her daughter. Isa fidgeted, trying to draw her hand away from mine, but I kept my grip tight and did my best to not let her go, even going so far as to not make it obvious that I would restrain her with my touch. The last thing I needed to do was give her family any reason to believe the story Chloe had spun about the abuse she suspected Isa suffered at my hands.

I'd listened with my own ears over the audio feed I’d never removed when Isa came to Ibiza as Chloe told Isa's family everything, explaining that their daughter hadn't returned home because she'd been taken by a monster.

"Yes," Isa confirmed finally. "Rafe is my husband."

Her father practically vibrated with the need to avenge the daughter he suspected had been taken from him, but he wisely kept still. Still enough that I could recognize the restrained aggression for exactly what it was. "You barely know each other," he said finally, his gaze intent on his daughter for a brief moment before he turned his eyes to me. "My Isa is young, and I'm certain you've swept her off her feet with your lies. You should be ashamed of yourself for taking advantage of her like this."

"How have I taken advantage of her exactly? If that was my intent, it would have been far more logical for me to leave this relationship as a temporary arrangement and send her on her merry way when I was through with her," I explained, my voice cool and detached as I described what most men would have done with the virgin who had unknowingly wandered into a pit of vipers just waiting to snatch her up and devour her.

Nothing would have remained but bones when they were through with her.

"I don't know, but it is not acceptable that my sweet daughter went to Ibiza and she came home married to a man who her friend says is a criminal. The Isa I know and raised would not tolerate that,” he said, lifting his chin with pride. There was no doubt that he loved Isa with all his heart and that he believed he'd done right by her.

I couldn't even regret the way she'd been raised in the end, not when it kept her from getting into too much trouble until she had me there to protect her.

"The sweet daughter you believe you raised never existed in the first place. She came to Ibiza practically screaming for adventure without even knowing it, because her life in Chicago had been smothered in her responsibilities," I said. Isa moved at my side as if she might protest, spinning to face me as I drew her tighter into me. "She would never tell you that, but even she knows it's true. You protected her. You raised her, and you even love her. But you never showed her how tolive."

"Rafe," Isa murmured, her voice gentle as her hand touched my arm. There was a tremor to the sound, the only thing that alerted me to the fact that I might have moved too quickly for her parents to understand. Wrapping their head around the fact that their daughter was married was one thing, dismantling everything they thought they knew about her was foolish.

Isa herself would show them with time, and as much as it killed me to wait, that part of her evolution had to come from her.

"I'm sorry for worrying you," Isa said as silence descended once again. "As you can see, I'm safe. I married Rafael because I love him, and I hope you can accept that."

"You haven't left us much choice," Isa's grandmother said from her chair. Her gaze leveled on me for the first time. "When I told you to have fun and live a little in Ibiza, this was not what I had in mind."

"This wasn't exactly the kind of relationship I could have ever planned to find," Isa said, her tone hesitant as a laugh bubbled up in her throat. There was no chance to have planned on discovering she'd been stalked and had no choice in our relationship, was what she meant but couldn’t say. A wry smile twisted my lips.

"And what of his criminal activities?" her mother asked, pursing her lips as she shoved down her distaste. From what I knew of her, she was an advocate of waiting until marriage. Perhaps she would be grateful that I'd made an honest woman out of her daughter in the end, even if my order of operations was slightly reversed. "You're okay with those?"

"Mother," Isa sighed. "Did Chloe have any proof of these crimes? I know her. She means the best she possibly could, but we both know she's dramatic. She heard a rumor and rushed to tell me of it. Rafe is very well-known in Ibiza and owns a number of respectable businesses. Tabloids and such will always print nonsense, and people whispering about criminal activities doesn't make it true." Admiration welled within me as I thought over her words. Isa had never answered her mother's question, nor had she confirmed or denied that Iwasa criminal.

She'd danced around the subject flawlessly, making her mother's face twist with concern as she thought over her daughter's statement. "I love Chloe. You know that, but nobody can deny that she's got a penchant for drama."

Her grandmother chuckled as she shook her head. "I've never known you to lie,Nohsehsaeh.Has he truly corrupted you so much that you would feed your family his words and call them yours?"

"I told no lies," Isa said, jutting her chin up as she stared back at the matriarch I knew she admired more than anyone. "And I speak for myself, more now than I ever have before. Make no mistake, I am exactly where I want to be."

Her grandmother pursed her lips, a hard stare settling on me that I felt down to my bones. "What have you done to my granddaughter?"

"Loved her," I said simply. "For exactly who she is and not what I want her to be. That is more than I can say for you and the legacy you cling to."

Isa stilled at my side, a deep sigh shuddering from her lungs. She moved to speak, to try to salvage the situation that was quickly falling into chaos around her. "I don't want to fight."

"Then perhaps you should have left yourhusbandin Spain where he belongs," her grandmother said harshly. I stood, ready to guide my wife from her parents' home rather than deal with the scorned matriarch who had lost her only chance at continuing the heritage she worked her entire life to preserve.

The front door opened behind us, closing quickly as a voice so similar to Isa's filled the silence of the house.

"Mom?" Odina asked, rounding the corner from the hallway and stepping into the living room. She froze as her gaze landed on Isa where she stood in the center of it.

On the sister she'd hoped I would ruin.

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