Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 105089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
You promised you wouldn’t do that again.
You’re going to get yourself killed. You’re one of those too-stupid-to-live heroines. No one will feel sympathy for you.
Because you’re an idiot.
“Pequeña,” Alejandro said warningly as he stepped into the playroom. “I suggest you come out from your hiding place right now.”
She figured she’d be better off hiding in the closet in the playroom. Surely, he wouldn’t punish his Pequeña that badly? Her last real punishment had been after she’d run off from her guards at the market in North Dakota and she wasn’t interested in repeating that punishment.
The look on his face told her that he was plenty mad, though. He stood in the middle of the room and pointed at the floor in front of him.
“Come. Here. Now.”
Do not move, feet.
Do. Not.
For once, they obeyed her. Wow. That never happened.
Even though she felt guilty and stupid, she still wasn’t going to willingly hand herself over for punishment.
She was not an idiot. This punishment was going to be bad.
“I am going to count to five, Pequeña. If you’re not out here by that time, then your punishment will be twice as bad. One.”
She glanced down at Roger, who looked like he was about to cave.
Do not cave, Roger.
She could live in this closet if she had to. It was plenty big. It even had a small window for natural light.
“Two.”
Yeah, she’d hide out in here.
Or maybe she could call her friend Tabby. Ask her if she could go live with her. Or Sampson. He’d come get her.
“Three.”
That tight knot in her stomach grew tighter.
This wasn’t going to end well for her.
Not. At. All.
“Four.”
Don’t move, feet.
Don’t you dare move.
“Five.”
Before he’d even finished speaking, she’d walked out of the closet doors into the playroom. She moved to stand in front of him, staring down at her feet.
“Look at me, Pequeña,” he said sternly.
She couldn’t fight the order, moving her gaze up to his. “I just wanted some ice cream, Papi.”
“And you think that makes it better? You tried to sneak out of the house without your guard!”
Alejandro rarely raised his voice, and the fact that he had now had her jumping and staring up at him with wide eyes.
“Fuck. Fuck.” He ran his hand over his face. “I did not mean to yell, Catarina.”
Oh, hell.
Her full name now. This was getting worse and worse.
“But you cannot do this, mi Pequeña. I know that it’s hard for you to live with these restrictions, especially since I’ve placed more on you ever since your kidnapping. And I know that you and Rafael are having some, uh, growing pains.”
Growing pains? Seriously?
“Yeah, he’s a growing pain in my butt,” she muttered.
“Oh, there’s going to be a pain in your butt very soon,” Alejandro told her darkly.
Cheese and crackers.
“I know things are rocky between the two of you, but he’s here to protect you, and I expect you to listen to him.”
“Even when he’s a giant pumpernickel?”
She expected Alejandro to ease up as she asked that. Maybe a twitch of his lips? A hint of humor?
But nope. He was still frowning.
“We’re in real trouble here, Roger,” she whispered.
“You are,” Alejandro agreed. “Cat, I only want to keep you safe. I can’t live without you.”
Fuck.
She felt awful now.
She threw herself into his arms. “I’m sorry, Papi. I really am. I don’t means to be naughty. I don’t. I just don’t think sometimes.”
“I know, mi Pequeña. I know. And that’s why I brought Rafael here. So that he could keep you from making poor decisions. But I do expect you to mind him.”
“He’s so grumpy, though! He never wants to do anything with me. I don’t need a nanny, Papi. Especially not him. I want someone else.”
Guard, babysitter, nanny. All the same thing it felt like.
Other than the fact he was like no nanny she’d ever met in her life.
This guy was enormous. He had tattoos covering almost every inch of his body except for his neck and face. And he was built like a brick shithouse.
He had the personality of one too.
“You would? And who would you like? Because pretty much every other man I would use to guard you . . . you have running around at your beck and call.”
She didn’t see what was so wrong with that.
He took hold of her hand and led her to the chair in the corner.
She did not have a good feeling about this. He sat and drew her between his open legs.
And that feeling was getting worse.
“Tell me what’s going on, Cat.”
“He barely even speaks to me. And I asked him to take me but he wouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s a colossal pumpernickel.”
He sighed and a ball of guilt and dread filled in her stomach. “Are you regretting being my Papi?”
That was her greatest fear. That one day, he’d realize she was too much work. That he’d abandon her.