stay there during the week and come home on the weekends.”
I frown, sitting up straighter. “We?”
He chuckles. “Yes, gatita. Did you think I would let you be away from me for so long without wanting to be near you?”
The question leaves me feeling warm inside, and I hate it. I can’t develop any soft spots for this man, no matter how charming he can be when he isn’t being an ungodly terror.
“Besides,” he adds, “being in the city for a while will be good for my own business. Which leads me to the next thing we need to discuss. What I do … what I am … it doesn’t have to be a part of our lives as husband and wife. Honestly, aside from having you attend occasional events and parties, I want your life to be as normal as possible.”
I raise one eyebrow. “Yeah, because everything about this is normal. My fairytale ending come true.”
Diego gives me a chastising look and shakes his head. “I’m serious. I’ll do my best to keep you away from any aspect of cartel business, and you will trust me to protect you from it. I’ve done it for Marcella for most of her life, so I like to think I’m pretty good at it.”
“Fine,” I reply. “I have no interest in your shady bullshit anyway.”
This gets another laugh out of him, and I notice he seems to be doing that more easily lately. He still rarely smiles but when he laughs, I get a glimpse of what that smile might look like. It’s charming and gorgeous … because of course nothing about him can be anything short of physical perfection. It’s the rest of him that’s fucked up, and somehow that just makes him more intriguing.
Holy shit. I’m losing my mind and he’s the one to blame.
“I want contact with my family and friends,” I blurt out before I can lose my courage. “I want a phone, and a laptop. I want to be able to call my sister and check my email, shop online. You know … normal people shit.”
All the humor leaves his face, and it’s like a stone wall has come up between us. “I’ll allow it in time. You have to understand that I can’t trust you with a phone or a laptop after last night. But I do want to trust you. I don’t want to keep you from your family or your friends. Give me time, Elena.”
I nod, admitting to myself that’s fair enough. I’m the one responsible for this—hopefully temporary—regression. Over time, he’ll give me more leeway and I won’t take advantage of it until the moment is right.
“There’s one last thing,” he says. “I still want you as much as I always have. Last night hasn’t changed that. But I won’t try to force you to give me your body. That choice will always be yours.”
Another shock, this one making me incapable of speech for a moment. I never expected to be given so much control, but Diego did say that this new agreement would be different. Where I once saw marrying him as a deeper form of imprisonment, I’m starting to think it might be a step in the other direction. As Diego’s ‘property,’ I was completely at his mercy in every way. It was something I was prepared to accept and endure. Now, he’s telling me I won’t have to accept or endure anything anymore.
“Okay,” I say with a slow nod. “Thank you.”
“And, adding to that … I need you to start some form of birth control as soon as possible. I’ll send for my personal doctor and he’ll prescribe it.”
I had been on the pill before being kidnapped, and have now been off it nearly three months. This development makes me feel better about the whole thing, but I can’t resist probing deeper. Something about the steel in his words tells me this is important to him.
“Why?” I ask. “I mean … if we’ll be married, why would you care?”
Diego leans closer, setting his cup aside and resting his elbows on his knees. His gaze is intent as it locks with mine. “I promised myself years ago that I would never bring children into this world. I have been a child raised by a mafia boss and his ruthless bitch of a wife. I won’t do to any kid what my parents did to me. I won’t shape or mold anyone in my own image. When I die, my mantle will fall