Page 1 of Ruthless Rival

Chapter One:Home

Gabriela

My dark eyes swept over the towering, white hacienda style house left to me by my late husband, Señor Mora. He had been my husband, but he wasn’t the man who’d captured my heart. The man I wanted as mine was dead.

Like a crack of lightning, my painful memories struck me, nearly knocking the breath from me as I was sent back sixteen years ago….

….“My father will never approve of us,”I whispered to Alex, a dark and tall stallion of a man, who caught my eye from day one. I was merely sixteen, but old enough to know what love felt like.

Alex caressed the small of my back as our bodies pressed together. He always held me so close like he never wanted to let go. I didn’t want him to.

“Run away with me. Leave your father and his crazy cult behind,” Alex murmured near my ear.

I gaped at him. My father, Santiago Castillo, was the feared head of a ruthless cartel. He showed no mercy for those who wronged him or even looked at him wrong. If we ran, we were signing a death sentence, but I would rather die than be without the love of my life.

“What if he finds us?” I asked him. My father specifically told me that he didn’t approve of my relationship with Alex. He called me a foolish little girl, demanding that I break up with Alex, because he had a proper suitor lined up for me.

Alex cupped my face, sweeping my dark hair away. “He won’t. We’ll go somewhere hidden. Far away,” he promised. “Just say yes. I want to live the rest of my life with you.”

How could I resist when I wanted to build a life with this man? I could escape the darkness and chaos of the cartel and create my own life outside of my father’s bloody legacy. I could be anyone I wanted to be.

“Yes,” I told him with a glowing smile that was soon covered by his lips. I slid my fingers through his hair and held him close,letting the rest of the world fall away…

….I snapped out of the sweet memory with a shaky breath, feeling my chest ache. I loved Alex dearly, but my father believed that he had the right to control my life. Alex and I escaped to a small village on a beach hours away and lived in a tiny hut on the outskirts of town. We only made it for a few days before my father and his cartel hunted us down.

My father was cruel, forcing me to watch as he made Alex kneel in the sand in front of me before shooting him. All I could hear after the ringing of the gunshot was my own screams that reached the village. News spread quickly, the village had been shocked and frightened by an innocent boy’s death. All he ever did was love me and it had cost him his life.

Then, something else happened that made me feel cursed….

…“Pregnant? I can’t be…”I breathed out as I stared at the positive pregnancy test in my trembling hands. I hadn’t been feeling well lately, but I chalked it up to the fact that the love of my life had been recently murdered by my father.

Now, things made more sense. I tried not to panic. I couldn’t be pregnant right now while my father was on a warpath. Yet, I couldn’t help but feel a hint of happiness as I stared down at the two blue lines. I had a piece of Alex inside of me. He wasn’t fully gone.

Suddenly, a heavy knock sounded on the bathroom door.

“Open up, mi hija,” my father’s threatening voice penetrated through the door.

I had been stuck in his house until he figured out what to do with me, which I was petrified to find out. Whatever he did with me would be for his own gain. He didn’t treat my brother, Carlos like that.

“No,” I stated, trying to make my voice strong, even if I felt at my weakest. The very thought of my father made my skin burn with rage.

A few seconds later, he smashed the door open with his foot, towering over me. His dark brown eyes and stocky, muscular figure was more than intimidating. He grabbed my arm roughly and yanked me closer to him. It didn’t take him long to see the pregnancy test in my hand.

“What is this?” he demanded as he wrenched my hand closer to him. He saw the two lines and tightened his arm around my wrist. “Puta! You’re a disgrace!”

Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to shy away from him. “Let me go!” I shouted as I pulled back.

My father suddenly released me, making me fall against the bathroom counter with a heavy thud. He didn’t have the slightest hint of guilt on his face. He didn’t have a heart to feel such an emotion. “This is what happens when I give you free will. You become a sinful, dirty woman!” he snapped.

Tears streamed down my face as I stared up at him. For a moment, I feared that he would kill me. He had killed plenty of other people before and he didn’t see me as his daughter right now. He saw me as an abomination.

He breathed in deeply and straightened up, smoothing down his black buttoned shirt. “And that’s why I’ve picked out a husband for you,” he told me, the corner of his mouth curling up in a cruel manner. “His name is Señor Mora. I had to strike quite a deal for him to marry you and give you his name. You’re not a Castillo anymore.”

I could only stare at him in shock. I couldn’t do anything else and I honestly didn’t have the energy to fight back. All I could think was to do what he said to protect my baby.

I found out later that it would be,babies.

I gave birth to twins, a boy, and a girl on a bright, sunny day. For a second, I smiled and believed that everything would be okay. I cradled them close in my arms.

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