They weren't Cara, so I didn't bother to memorize their names. What was the point? They were just another avenue for me to try and extinguish the burning obsession I've always had for her.
Fucking those women was just another mistake. And since I learned my tesoro was back in town and dating that Abruzzo thug, I've kept my pants zipped. There's only one woman I'm ever touching again, and it isn't anyone but my wife.
"Sir?" the flight attendant asks again. Pink crawls into her cheeks, and she tilts her head. A tiny smile plays on her lips.
She's so predictable. She can't even play hard to get.
I know that expression too well. If I wanted her, I could have her, and there would be no objection.
I wonder how many rich dudes she's let have her.
Probably too many to count.
There's nothing I want from this woman other than a drink. I scowl. "Scotch. And keep your panties on, princess. I just got married, if you didn't notice."
She gapes at me, swallowing hard as her cheeks turn fire-engine red. "S-sir. I... I..."
I fling my hand in the air, pointing to the front of the plane. "Drink."
"Y-yes, sir." She scurries away.
I tap my fingers on the armrest, still reeling from Cara's marriage vows. I knew I needed to win her back, but it'll be more challenging than I thought.
Now she's stuck with me. She'll have no choice but to change her attitude.
I huff at the thought. Cara might be just as stubborn as I am. It's one of the things I love about her. She doesn't easily back down. She used to but quickly learned in high school to make me beg for more chances. Part of my attraction toward her was the challenge of getting her back.
The first time she wised up, my dick turned so hard it hurt. No one ever denied me. And Cara saw my reaction. She knew the power she held over me.
For a while, I'd break up with her only to have to go through all of it again. Each time, she made me wait longer until she gave in to my wishes. For every occasion, I'd promise her I'd never do it again, and it would only be us going forward.
Then we'd have better sex than the previous times. I'd be happy for a short while then get spooked again.
I cringe, remembering how I treated her when we were teenagers. I took her virginity and stomped on it by screwing multiple girls. Back then, I told myself it didn't matter. She knew before she gave me her virginity what I was expected to do.
It all started with a game Dante and I played after his first girlfriend started flirting with me. He told me to screw her, so I did. After that, it became a challenge to see how many girls would participate in our sordid activities.
Both of us would do the same girl. The only ones we never swapped were Bridget and Cara. We had an unspoken rule—they were off-limits.
But we had anyone we wanted. Sleeping with both of us was like a badge of honor. It shot the girl straight to the top of the popularity poll. That was how things played out in our school. And there might as well have been a billboard publicizing every encounter. Each one, Cara knew about within hours of it happening.
The flight attendant pulls me out of my trip down memory lane, clearing her throat. Annoyed, I glance at her. She holds the glass out, and her hand slightly shakes. "Your scotch, sir."
I grab it then drink a large mouthful. It burns my throat as it slides into my stomach. I turn toward the window, letting my twisted thoughts play out in my head, debating about going into the bedroom and showing Cara how much I've missed her.
Not yet.
Images swirl in my mind, and my pants get tighter. I've never been into collars, but something about seeing Cara—my wife—in one, with the leash wrapped around my hand, did something to me.
It's wrong.
They put that collar around her neck for a man to own her. But I've never been one to think moral thoughts. While I don't condone human trafficking, the notion of making my tesoro submit to me and wear a collar to show the world who she belongs to is stroking my unethical side.
Plus, it would drill into her that she's now mine. There's no more trying to escape me. I'm hers for life, and she's mine.
Grinning at our new reality, I take another large mouthful of scotch, swallowing it down. My thoughts shift to the war ahead. It's not a new battle. My family has always hated those Abruzzo pigs, even before one of them kidnapped my sister, Arianna. Now, they made it even more personal by going after my tesoro.
Rage flares inside me, growing hotter by the minute. I sniff hard and crack my neck. The monster in me wants to find Uberto now, tear him to shreds, then strap him to a flagpole outside Jacopo's compound. Jacopo is the head of their family and on my "kill through torture" list. Every command comes straight from him. Over the years, he's grown their human trafficking business tenfold. And I highly doubt Uberto put Cara in Jacopo's auction without him approving it.