Chapter Four
T his is a nightmare. At any moment, I’ll wake up in my bed at home with Espresso purring at my feet.
“Dead serious.” Vincent arches an eyebrow at me and grunts. My mind races, not comprehending the full extent of what’s happening.
“This can’t be real. All of this has to be a figment of my imagination.”
“Oh, it’s real, Aribella. And the sooner you come to terms with it, the better off you’ll be.”
The monitor behind Vincent turns on, and I see my brother at a poker table. Oh God. He broke his promise to me. He swore he wouldn’t gamble again.
“Wait. Wait!”
I watch in horror as Vincent crowds Carlos against the table. “This is your one chance, Carlos. Make it good. Or you are a dead man.”
The wheels in Carlos’s mind are in overdrive. I can see his panic. “My sister. I will trade my sister’s life for mine.”
Tears of betrayal run down my face as the screen goes black. Vincent sits there with a smug look on his face.
“As you can see, sweet reina , Carlos did trade your life.”
“No.” I shake my head. “This...” Words fail me as floaters swim in my vision and I try to blink them away.
“You can’t trade humans like they are objects.”
My tears dry on my cheeks, and my hands steady as Vincent clicks his tongue at me and laughs once more.
“I guess you forgot who I am.” He stands up and looks at me as he places a gun on the desk. Oh, my God. He’s going to shoot me.
Swallowing, trying to wet my mouth and gather the courage to speak, I look at him. “You can’t possibly think this is alright. He was under duress. Surely you understand that.”
The black floaters in my eyes are turning into a big glob, and white lights streak through my vision. It’s a sign my blood pressure is dangerously high.
“A deal is a deal, Aribella. You will stay here for the rest of your life. Get used to this now. I don’t want to argue or hear anything else about it.”
“But...”
He slams his hand down and comes around the desk toward me.
“I can be a cold-hearted bastard to you, Aribella.” He moves a strand of hair out of my face as I try to focus. “Or you can do everything I say and live like a queen . What would you like?”
Is there really any choice here? I should stand up and tell him to go to hell. Instead, I shrink back into the chair as my head throbs. For the first time, the fear is settling deep within me. This isn’t a nightmare or a dream. God, what has Carlos done?
“Can... Can I see Carlos?” I whisper. He smirks.
“No, you may not. He left the country and has no reason to talk to you ever again.”
The way he acts as if I’m insignificant makes me want to be defiant. Yet, this situation is too real, and I believe Vincent will kill me if I keep defying him.
His harsh words sink in and I sigh, looking up at him. I resign myself to behaving.
“What are you going to require of me?”
Vincent takes my face in his hands and kisses my forehead. “Ah, you are seeing reason. Good girl. Stand up.”
I take a minute to get up because my knees are weak and my head is swimming. My chest feels awful and I’m having a hard time focusing. The pounding in my head worsens. I haven’t had an episode like this since Dad passed away.
“Strip.” It’s only a word, but it’s a dagger to my psyche. He’s going to do bad things to me.
Lip trembling, I finally raise my head. My eyes are unfocused as the glob grows and causes me to sway on my feet. “I —”
Voices surround me, but they seem so far away.
“Here are all the records we could find about her, Sir.”
Who are they talking about? Where am I? So many questions. It takes me a moment, but I realize who’s speaking. Mossimo stands with Vincent and a man that looks like Vincent is to his left, while the doctor is in front of them.
“She suffers from high blood pressure, anxiety, and cluster headaches.”
Oh. They are talking about me.
“Why did Aribella faint?” I could answer that question, but I’m sure Vincent wouldn’t like my answer.
“Her blood pressure was high enough for her to have lightheadedness. However, I think she suffers from vasovagal syncope.”
“Fuck me, what?” Vincent paces back and forth as Mossimo stands there, looking at him.
“Brother, let the doctor talk.” The other man says and I realize that he’s talking to Vincent. He has a brother. Got it.
“You’re right Leo, please go on, Doctor.” Vincent turns to him, expectantly.
The doctor continues. “It can happen with certain triggers and if she was in a highly stressful situation… Her body reacted the only way it knew how. Fainting.”
Vincent turns and grabs the doctor by his tie.
“Are you saying I’m the reason for this!?”
The deadly sound in his voice changes the air in the room, and I close my eyes. Don’t panic, I beg myself. I take a deep breath and count to twenty.
“No, Mr. Domingo. I’m simply saying she doesn’t fare well with stress. When something triggers her nervous system, it misfires, causing her to faint. However, I’ve given her prescriptions to Miss Terrington downstairs to pick up. Once she has them, she can better manage the symptoms.”
“I don’t take medicine.” Oh no. I didn’t mean for that to come out.
Within seconds, Vincent is by my bedside, sitting down. “You do now.”
Pushing myself into a sitting position, I move the covers so they are around my shoulders. Looking at Vincent, I notice he looks worried. Good, he should be.
“I refuse to depend on medicine. I don’t need it.”
The doctor comes over before Vincent can reply. “Miss Aribella, your blood pressure was in the extreme category when I was called. I understand there may have been some stress...”
Is this man for real right now? A stressful situation?
“You mean to say I was kidnapped and then my cat was locked away from me. Let’s be honest here. This man,” I point to Vincent, “wanted me to strip, and he probably wanted to do unspeakable things to me!”
My voice has risen at least two octaves and I feel my heart beating too fast again. I can’t seem to stop myself, though, from smarting off to the doctor. He works for this beast. There isn’t a reason to be nice to him. “He stole my home and now I’m locked here, being forced to take some god-awful medication and who knows what else he will want me to do next?”
I’m rambling, but I’m nervous, scared, and angry all at the same time. Vincent stands up from the bed, blocking my view of the doctor. “Thank you, Doc. You can go.”
Mossimo escorts the doctor out and Vincent looms over me.
“Leo, leave us,” he tells his brother, and without a word, the young man leaves, eyeing me with concern.
I flinch away from Vincent as he reaches out to touch me.
“Don’t fucking move,” he growls.
The office scene flashes in front of me, and I gasp. Glaring up at him, I don’t say anything. I’m trying hard to gather myself and to keep the panic from coming to the surface again.
“I’m not going to strip for you,” I tell him.
His chuckle sounds cruel, and I wonder what he may have already done to my body while I was unconscious. “Oh, but I’ve already stripped you. If you didn’t notice, you’re wearing my t-shirt.”
A blush creeps up my neck and into my face. “Did you...” I don’t know if I want to know. If he did, wouldn’t I be sore?
Vincent grabs my chin. “No. I don’t fuck unconscious women.” He rubs his thumb along my lower lip. “When I get my hands on you, you’ll beg me to never stop fucking you.”
Pushing him and yanking my face out of his grip, I step out of the bed. Vincent snatches my arm in a bruising grip. “You’re disgusting,” I spit at him.
“I may be disgusting to you, sweet Aribella, but your nipples are hard under my t-shirt, and your pupils are blown.”
He runs a hand down my throat and over my chest. “Let me go.”
I’ve never felt so turned on before, but he’s... Oh. My train of thought flutters away as he flicks both of my nipples.
“So fucking responsive,” he mutters as he grabs my left breast in a tortuously hard grip.
A moan leaves me and I’m mortified. Am I one of those girls who likes it rough? My mind jumps to when Janice once told me that sometimes she likes it when her man gets a little rough and leaves a bruise on her. She says it’s because she’s been so naughty with him that he has lost control.
My self-preservation must be broken because I seem to want this. Vincent leans in, bites my ear and licks it. “ Mi reina , do you like it when I grab you?”
His hand cups my breast as he pushes me back down onto the bed.
“No. I just told you to let me go.” I suck in a breath as he moves down over me. Why am I being rude to him? He could snap my neck at any moment. The t-shirt rides up my thighs as he settles in between my legs. His hand holding my arm is now at my neck, keeping me in place.
Vincent’s other hand moves down my stomach, and I tremble under his touch. “You know, I could force myself on you, but that’s not what I’m into.”
He touches my thigh and makes his way under the shirt. My eyes close and I block everything out. But my mind won’t stop thinking about how he feels on top of me. Or how my body reacts to every touch. Deep down there’s the fear that he may hurt me, and what’s worse is that I might enjoy it.
“What...” Words escape me as his finger skims along my mound. “Please...”
“What was that?” There’s humor in his tone as he touches me once again and my legs widen.
“Please don’t.” I think my words sound convincing enough, but my body is on fire and I want him to keep touching me. He bends down and kisses me.
As fast as he was there, he is gone, and looking down at me. “Your words say no, but your breathing is shallow and you’re squirming.” He kisses my face until he’s at my right ear.
“I can smell your need.” The hand around my neck tightens as I try to push him off me. “I told you not to move, Aribella.”
“And I—I asked you to let me go.” I don’t know how I managed to form the sentence. My words don’t even faze him, though. His hips thrust into mine, causing me to arch into him. The moan I was trying to keep in, is ripped from my throat as he bites my lip.
“You’ll never be free, mi peque?a reina .”