Page 19 of Cartel Prince

“Give me your phone, please.”

I sit up and reach out my hand. He pulls it from his back pocket and unlocks it. I pull up the keypad, then look at him.

“Mamádrilled it into me never to store any personal numbers in my phone. That’s why I can remember his.”

Pablo nods as my jaw rests on his palm, and he brushes my lips with a light kiss. But it isn’t like before. There’s detachment to it. It’s what I would get from a Dom who has no romantic attachment to me. Is that what I just agreed to?

No!

“Chica,end things with him. Belong to me completely, then I’ll kiss you the way we both need me to.”

Belong to me completely.

I never felt like I belonged to my current Dom or any other I’ve had in the past. I didn’t feel like that with any past boyfriends. It makes me sound like a possession, but that’s not how I feel. A strange part of me wants to strip bare for Pablo before I make this call. Show him I already belong to him.

I enter the phone number and listen to it ring on speakerphone.

“Hola.”

“Hola, Roberto. Soy Florencia.”

We continue in Spanish.

“I didn’t recognize the number.”

“I don’t enjoy doing this over the phone, but I don’t want to wait.”

“Florencia.”

His tone hardens into the one he uses as my Dom. It used to turn me on and make me want to fuck. Now it grates on my nerves. I watch Pablo, and his jaw clenches. I look around before placing the phone on Pablo’s thigh. I slip off the seat to kneel as best I can. I put my hands behind my back and cross my wrists.

Why do I feel like I need to prove myself to Pablo?

How the fuck did things get to this so fast?

What if I’m making the biggest mistake of my life? I’m more likely to get myself killed with Pablo than anything else.

No, you’re not.

To your marrow, you know Pablo won’t hurt you. You know the man will kill for you. He already has. He might break your heart, but you’re safer with him than anyone else alive.

I don’t understand how that’s true, but it is.

“Florencia?”

“Sorry. Bad reception for a moment. Roberto, I’m ending our contract.”

I want Pablo to hear both sides of the conversation. It should be private, but I don’t want this to be a secret. It’s another submission. Another acknowledgement that he has control even when we aren’t fucking.

“Did something happen the other night that I couldn’t tell?”

Pablo’s hands ball into fists. He stares at me, unblinking.

“No. I met someone the other day. I haven’t stopped thinking about him. I?—”

“Were you thinking about him when you were with me?”

My cheeks are on fire. Pablo cocks an eyebrow. He wants to know my answer too. I nod.