"How can you expect your woman to love you if you treat her this way? Wives must be treated with gentleness and affection," Sebastian said, staring at Isa as if he could compel her to see the reason in his words.
"Spoken like a man who has never had a passionate woman in his bed," my uncle laughed. "I hardly think Rafael's marriage is any of our business."
"Mi reina loves me just fine," I said, leaning back and grasping her chin to turn her to face me. She met my eyes with an unamused look, leaning back in her own chair and crossing her legs delicately. Her scar gleamed in the light, and while I still hated everything it represented and the fact that someone had dared to hurt her, it was the mark of a survivor. The mark of a woman who had lived and adapted to whatever life threw at her.
If she could survive the devil in her bed, she could survive anything.
"Tell me about Pavel," Andrés said, his face turning serious. "Why is he gunning for you?"
"Aside from the fact that Rafael is planning a coup?" Thiago snorted.
"He disrespected me by inserting himself when he was not wanted. He nearly cost me Isa," I said, glancing over at her as I realized I'd never introduced her to my uncle as anything but my wife.
It was the most important label anyway.
"So you killed his eldest son." Andrés nodded, as if he understood the consequence. He would have done anything for his wife, and the prospect of someone taking her from him would be enough that he would do the same. Spending my summers with my uncle and cousins had shown me what love was supposed to look like. It had made me realize just how twisted my parents’ marriage was. While I'd decided that love wasn't for me, I couldn't help but admire the love they shared.
Even if I'd thought I would never have it for myself.
"Should we be discussing murder so openly in front of the woman?" Thiago asked with a laugh. "Mother doesn't like it."
"I have no secrets from Isa. She knows exactly who and what I am," I answered, dropping my hand onto her thigh. She might not have known exactly what I was doing when I'd left her, but a murderer was a murderer.
I'd spare her the details of what it was to hold a beating heart in my hand, but that was as far as my secrets went for now. We'd find out exactly what she could handle soon enough.
"So as far as you're concerned, has his penance been paid? Will his other sons be left to live their lives in peace until the time comes to remove Pavel from power?" Andrés asked, his voice trailing as he said the words. He already knew the answer to them.
There was nothing I would not do for Isa, even erase an entire lineage from existence.
"They were already set to die. But Maxim coming here solidified that," I returned. Isa stilled at my side, the confirmation that more murder was coming bringing all her more traditional sensibilities to the surface. I'd break her of them once and for all soon enough. She would not live a conventional life, and death would be a part of her future.
"How do you want to proceed?" my uncle asked. "Would you like to leave Isa with us while you and your men handle him?"
"No," I said, turning my eyes to Sebastian. He grinned back at me, always testing me and pushing the limits of what I would tolerate. We'd grown up together, almost exactly the same age, and been competitive on the best of days.
My wife was not a competition he wanted to test me on.
"Isa will come with me," I said. "We'll have dealt with Maxim by the end of the day." I stood, holding out a hand for Isa and helping her to her feet. She looked confused, baffled as to what part she might play in the murder of a man.
She didn't yet know she would be the one holding the knife.
Isa stared out the window of the car as we drove through Barcelona in the night. Her eyes worked to absorb all the details, memorizing everything she saw. I wished desperately that I could give her the kind of honeymoon she deserved, an exploration of all the history Europe had to offer that she would adore.
But until the conflict with Pavel was resolved, I could only afford short excursions off El Infierno. We could only venture so far without risking Pavel's anger. While I was confident in my men, I would not risk her for anything.
"I'll bring you back to see the city as soon as it's safe, mi reina," I assured her, squeezing her thigh until she turned her attention to me.
"Will it ever be safe?" she whispered. "It seems like your life is dangerous by nature. How do I know I won't be trapped on the island for the rest of my life?"
"Your happiness matters to me. I'll give you whatever I can so long as it is safe for me to do so." I parked the car on the side of the street up the road from the restaurant where Maxim wined and dined his conquest for the night. She had no way of knowing that we would save her from what was likely to be a miserable fate, and she'd probably be traumatized by watching him be snatched off the street.
Where Leonid was nothing but a creep and showed his colors at every opportunity, Maxim was far better at hiding the darkness within him. He wore a mask, much like I had done when I seduced Isa.
I just didn't do it regularly or sell the women off when I was finished with them.
I
