Lucia and I were sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. She was eating a bowl of ice-cream and I was flicking through a magazine. We both looked up when Alejandro walked into the room. He threw his car keys onto the counter and stood leaning against it, glaring at me.
‘I’m going to take this to my room and have a look at my history homework,’ Lucia said as she slipped off the stool and gave me a sideways eye roll.
‘Goodnight, Lucia,’ Alejandro said, his voice low and smooth.
‘Night guys,’ she replied and then she left the kitchen, closing the door behind her.
‘Do you have something to tell me, princess?’ he growled.
‘Well, by the look on your face, I assume Hugo has already told you that Bobby Conroy paid a visit to the shelter today.’
‘Yes, he did,’ he said as he crossed the kitchen in two large strides until he was standing directly in front of me. ‘What he couldn’t tell me, is what went on between you and Bobby when you asked him to leave the room.’
‘We talked,’ I started to say before he interrupted me.
‘If all you did was talk, why the fuck did you send Hugo out of the room?’
‘Because I wanted a private conversation, Alejandro. You know what one of those is, don’t you? You get to have them all of the time.’
He leaned his face close to mine. ‘Don’t push me, Alana. This is not about me.’
I slipped off my stool. ‘No? What is it about then? Because it feels very much about you.’
‘What did the two of you talk about then?’ he growled. ‘What was so private that you couldn’t have Hugo in the room?’
I couldn’t help it. I rolled my eyes. Shit!
He wrapped his hand around my throat before I could even blink. ‘Did you just roll your eyes at me?’
‘Yes,’ I said. I felt the slight pressure on my windpipe and the flash of heat between my thighs. What the hell was wrong with me?
He pushed me backwards until I was pressed against the breakfast bar as he ran his thumb along my jawline. ‘Answer the fucking question, Alana.’
Crap! This was not going to go well. ‘He has offered to donate money to the shelter. His corporation is going to fund my post for the next five years.’
He dropped his hand to his side and frowned at me. ‘You’re a volunteer. Your post isn’t funded.’
‘I know. But it should be. And having a properly funded post gives Kristen some protection in case I stop working there for some reason.’
‘Good, because you won’t be working there any longer,’ he snapped.
‘The hell I won’t,’ I scowled at him. ‘I love that job.’
‘This is not up for negotiation, Alana,’ he snarled.
‘I know it’s not. Because I am not giving up my job.’
He pressed his face closer to mine and I felt the breath catch in my throat. ‘You are my wife and I will not have your ex-boyfriend paying your salary.’
‘But, Alejandro –’
He slammed his fist onto the breakfast bar. ‘Alana! Can you ever just do as you’re told! You are not to have anything more to do with that prick, and if I find out he has come anywhere near you ever again, I will break every bone in his body.’
I tilted my head up to look directly into his eyes. I felt the anger coursing through my body. It didn’t matter that I didn’t actually want anything to do with Bobby myself anyway, it was the principle of the matter. ‘I get that you’re a possessive asshole. In fact, most of the time, I think it’s really hot. But this is a step too far. I have never given you any reason to doubt me. How dare you try and tell me who I can and can’t work with. If Bobby donates money to the shelter to fund my post, then that is all it will be. There is nothing between me and him and there never will be.’
‘So why couldn’t you talk to him in front of Hugo then?’ he shouted.
‘Because I didn’t want to, Alex. I didn’t know what he was going to say and how Hugo would react to it. The shelter is where I work. The women and kids there have already been through enough, the last thing they need there is any more drama.’
He narrowed his eyes as he stared at me and I felt the anger vibrating through his body. I was angry too. I wanted to shout at him. To rage at him for being so bloody pig-headed, but I knew that wouldn’t get me anywhere.
‘What is this really about, Alex?’ I asked as I placed a hand on his cheek. ‘Bobby is in my past. Way in my past. He means nothing to me.’
‘You say that now, but if you start spending time with him again …’ he shook his head. ‘I forbid you to see him again, Alana.’
‘I am grown woman. You don’t get to forbid me to do anything.’
‘Yes I fucking do,’ he snarled at me. ‘You are my wife.’
I nodded. ‘Yes, I am. So, why can’t you believe in that? Why don’t you trust me?’
He glared at me. ‘You wouldn’t understand,’ he hissed.
‘Try me!’
‘Because …’
‘Because what?’
His nostrils flared as he stared at me. ‘Because he is the man you should be with,’ he shouted.
‘What?’ I blinked at him.
I saw the look of anguish flicker across his face. ‘He is a better man for you than I am, Alana. You wouldn’t be in so much danger if you were his wife. You can’t deny that.’
Shit! He was insecure. The King of L.A was worried that he wasn’t good enough for me. What the hell!
I placed my other hand on his face, my fingers brushing against the dark stubble on his jaw. ‘But I can deny it, and I do. Bobby Conroy is not the man for me. I could spend one thousand years in his company and there would still only ever be you, Alex. I am yours – body, heart and soul, remember?’
He pressed his forehead against mine. ‘When Hugo told me he’d come to see you, and you were alone with him …’ he closed his eyes.
‘What? You thought something happened between us? We were alone for like two minutes. You really think I’d do that?’
‘No,’ he shook his head. ‘But I couldn’t stop picturing him with his hands on you. I trust you, but I don’t trust him. Why the fuck would he bother to find out where you work?’
I swallowed and he placed his hand beneath my chin and tilted my head up to look at him. ‘What?’ he frowned. ‘Did something happen?’
‘Promise you won’t get mad.’
‘I’m already mad, princess.’
‘He asked me if I knew who you really were when I’d married you, and whether I needed him to help me get away from you.’
‘Hijo de puta!’ he snarled. ‘I will fucking destroy him.’
‘Hey, I handled it. I told him to get lost. Believe me, I’d be happy never to see him ever again.’
‘And what did he say when you told him that?’ he frowned.
I didn’t answer, because I couldn’t lie to him, but I knew that the truth was likely to set him off again.
‘Well?’
‘He said he’ll see me around,’ I replied.
‘He said what?’
‘It’s just a saying, Alex,’ I wrapped my arms around his neck. ‘Please can we forget about Bobby?’
‘It sounds more like a threat to me. There is no way you are working with that guy, Alana. I don’t care if I have to keep you locked up in this house.’
‘I know. I’m going to tell Kristen I won’t be working on the app with him,’ I said with a sigh.
‘What app?’
‘He’s developing some app for abuse victims. He wanted me to work on it with him.’ I felt Alejandro’s grip on me tighten. ‘I’m not going to. I don’t want anything to do with him,’ I shuddered and he stared down at me.
‘Did he do something to you?’
‘No,’ I shook my head. ‘He just said something, that’s all.’
‘What? What the hell did he say?’
I took a deep breath. ‘He asked me if I would have let him fuck me if he had killed someone too,’ I whispered.
The vein in his forehead throbbed as he glared at me. ‘He is a fucking dead man!’
I pressed my face against his chest. ‘He is really not worth it, Alejandro. He’s probably already halfway back to New York by now. Please, just forget about him.’
He grabbed hold of my ponytail and wrapped it around his fist, tilting my head up to look at him. ‘For your sake, princess, I won’t hunt him down like a dog and put a bullet in his head. But, if I ever see him anywhere near you again, I will break his goddamn neck.’
‘I’m still going to work at the shelter though,’ I said. ‘I’ll explain to Kristen that I don’t want to work with him, but I’m not giving up my job, Alex.’
He frowned at me and I wondered if he was going to keep on pushing to get his own way, or whether he would relent.
‘Fine,’ he finally agreed before slipping his hands down to my ass cheeks and lifting me onto the breakfast bar. He pushed my dress up to my waist and tugged my panties to one side.
‘Lucia might come back in,’ I breathed.
‘She’s not stupid. She knows we’re in here. She’ll knock.’
‘Shouldn’t we go upstairs though? Or to your office?’ I panted, even as I pulled him closer to me.
‘No. I want you right here. Right now,’ he growled, pushing two of his thick fingers into my opening as he unzipped his suit pants with his free hand, making me groan out loud. ‘I want you to remember that I own you, princess, and I will fuck you anywhere and any way I want to. And you will moan my name. Every. Single. Time.’
Dear God!
‘Care to tell me why you’re already soaking wet, princess?’ he said against my ear as he pressed his fingers in deeper and curled them against my G-spot. The low vibration of his voice sent shivers down my spine and I ground my hips onto him.
‘Because you are so freaking hot when you’re angry,’ I purred against his neck.
‘Oh, princess, you know how dangerous it is to make me angry, don’t you?’
‘Yes,’ I breathed.
‘Coz I’m gonna fuck you so hard you won’t be able to get out of bed to go to work for the rest of the week.’
