Page 26 of Cartel Viper (The Cartel Brotherhood #2)

“No. All four of his grandparents died before I moved to America, but I’ve certainly heard enough about them. I’ve seen video and heard recordings of his grandfathers along with stories that would’ve been better left untold. Where’s the money you took from him?”

“Some of it’s in the secret bank account I opened under an alias. Some of it is with me, but most of it is with the drugs. Javi, what I said to him—it—wasn’t an empty threat.”

“I didn’t get the feeling it was. Have you killed before?”

“Yes.”

Her gaze is unwavering as she answers. I don’t know if she’s really as brave as she looks, but she’s certainly doing her best to convince me.

I know she has to be pretty fucking brave to have endured what I’m figuring out she already has.

She’s only giving me a hint of what the entire story is.

I sense it’s all she’ll give me for now.

She’s kept her secrets for so long, it won’t be overnight that she divulges all of them.

I know it’s not a matter of not trusting me.

She’s terrified and has been for years. She still thinks she needs to hide the truth to survive.

It’s on me to show her she isn’t misplacing her trust after the disaster she discovered the last time she trusted a man.

“ Chica , you’re safe here with me. That hasn’t changed just because you spoke to him.

I know your burner doesn’t have GPS, but I’ll still dispose of it.

You must have had your calls forwarded to that one.

You can check your messages from my phone, and you can tell anyone you need to call back that you lost or broke it.

The house has jammers, VPNs, and spoofers. No one is tracking you here.”

“Thank you, Daddy.”

She watches me for a long moment before shifting her gaze to her lap. She moves only enough to breathe. She’s not any more relaxed now than she was while we stood beside the bed. I press her against me and kiss the crown of her head.

“Nothing changes between us, Maddy. Not unless you want it to.”

“Are you going to punish me for keeping all those secrets?”

“I hadn’t planned to. All of that happened before we reconnected.”

She chokes a laugh at that last word. It’s the mildest way to describe how I burst into her life and haven’t left her alone since.

“I wish you’d been forthcoming, but your secrets aren’t that different from some of mine.

Ones I can never tell you. I know I’m a hypocrite for expecting you to confide in me.

To make me your confessor when I won’t do the same.

But I think your heart will be lighter if you keep telling me, and I can better protect you.

I’ve always had my family as my shield. You’ve been on your own and done an admirable job, but you aren’t alone anymore. ”

“I know. It’s like I can breathe again for the first time in years. It’s been like breathing through a wet washcloth. I could do it, but it was hard. There was never enough air.”

“Do you want to talk to Maks? He’ll eventually tell Laura what he can, but I’m certain he’d keep this secret from her and your parents for as long as he can.”

“No. I don’t want to put him in that position. They’d understand, but I don’t want to be the reason he keeps even more secrets from my sister. Laura would forgive him, but it would put a strain on them. It’s better he doesn’t know yet.”

“Whenever you’re ready. But, Maddy, we have to tell my uncle. We can stay here indefinitely like I’ve already said. He’ll want us to. This just isn’t something I can keep from him because Drew will strike. They need to be ready.”

I’m unprepared for her to burst into tears. She’s been dry-eyed this entire time, though I think tears have threatened a couple times. Now she’s sobbing.

“Maddy?”

“Laura told me some of the stuff that’s been going on recently, and I know Margherita’s still recovering from the last round of treatment. The last thing I want is to draw attention to your family, put any of you at risk when things have already been tough lately.”

“Shh, little one. Things are always tough.” I joke, but unsurprisingly, it falls flat.

Instead of giving her false platitudes, I simply hold her.

I keep kissing her head and stroking her hair.

I think the tears are cathartic, so I don’t stop her.

It’s not long before the tears are a steady stream, but there are no more heaving sobs.

She sniffles and swipes at them half-heartedly.

It’s ten minutes before she heaves a sigh and goes still.

Her breathing evens, and I wonder if she’s asleep.

“Javi, I’m still awake. You can move me if you want. Your arms must be tired, and you must be bored.”

“I will never be bored holding you. I’ll relish any opportunity I get. Let me do it for as long as I can.”

“You said you hadn’t planned to punish me. Past tense. Have you changed your mind?”

“You sound like you almost hope I will. Would it make you feel better if I did? Ease your conscience?”

She hesitates before she answers, and I barely hear her when she does.

“Yes. It’s what we agreed to.”

“I don’t think that it is. We?—”

“You made me promise to tell you anything that puts me in jeopardy. I did everything but that. You warned me, and I knew what I risked by not telling you. I risked a shit ton.”

I consider what she’s saying, and she’s right. But I don’t know that her nerves—or mine—can handle that right now. She’s so tense, she feels brittle enough to snap.

Then again, maybe a spanking is what she needs to ease her anxiety.

“Maddy, if I spank you, then you need to know I’m doing it because it’s what you need not what I think you deserve.”

“You don’t want to do it? I don’t want to force you to do something you’ll resent. I don’t want to diminish?—”

“Maddy, I’ll always do anything you need. If this is it, then strip, little girl. I believe I told you that earlier.”

She climbs off the bed, and I follow her.

She watches me as she peels off her t-shirt.

Next go her jeans. She pauses when she’s standing in her bra and panties.

I twirl my finger, silently telling her to turn around.

My eyes gorge themselves on her. Her body’s even better than I imagined.

She needs to regain some weight, so her ribs don’t show so much.

She’s still the most alluring woman I’ve ever seen. Her body does things to mine.

When she finishes her slow spin, she reaches back to unfasten her bra.

She lets it fall to the floor, and I’m practically salivating.

When she hooks her fingers into her thong, I’m ready to shred it.

She isn’t teasing me by lingering. She’s nervous.

I think it’s a combination of trepidation about how I’ll punish her and self-consciousness at showing her body to someone new.

“Take your time, little girl. It’s the last time you’re wearing panties.”

“What?”

“No more panties.”

“Why?”

“Because you belong to me. All of you, so that includes that pretty pink pussy. When I want it, I’ll have it.”

I waggle my eyebrows, and she giggles. It softens my words, and I’m certain I look as excited as I feel.

“Yes, Daddy.”

The panties join the pile of clothes on the floor. She’ll learn I’m serious even if I made her laugh.

“Come here.”

I extend my hand, and she takes it. I tug her toward me. When she’s standing nearly toe-to-toe with me, I put my index finger’s knuckle beneath her chin and tip her head back. Now we’re gazing at each other rather than her attention being on the floor.

“Maddy, we’ve never done this before. I’ve spanked you but not given you a genuine punishment before. I don’t know what you can manage, and you don’t know my strength yet.”

Her eyes dart to my chest then my arms. When she focuses on my face again, I see the spark of lust.

“I’m plenty aware of your strength, Daddy.”

“You know what I mean. Have you ever had a safe word before?”

As soon as the phrase leaves my mouth, I want to wince. Of course, she hasn’t had one with a boyfriend who beat her. If she did, he never respected it.

“Drew wasn’t my first boyfriend, and he didn’t start abusing me until a couple years in. It was when I moved in with him. Before that, we were a little kinky.”

I don’t want to know what that means, but I know I should understand her experience with anything to do with BDSM.

“Bondage?”

“Yes. Handcuffs, his ties. Sometimes it was my wrists behind my back or tied to the bed. He’d give me a playful swat, but it was never a spanking. There were some toys too.”

“Pick something I can’t confuse for stop when you don’t mean it or misunderstand when you mean enough.”

“Fallopian.”

“As in the tubes?”

“I am a midwife.”

I stare at her for a moment before I shrug and smile. If Fallopian is her safe word, so be it. It’s not mine to reason why. It’s something I’m certain she’s said a million times and can remember, but it’s not something I imagine she’d ever want to say during sex.

“Is there anything that’s a hard pass?” Will anything trigger you?

I can’t ask that second part aloud. Maybe I should, but I can’t bring myself to. From her expression, she knows I’m thinking it.

“I’m not into any R. Kelly stuff, but I don’t think there’s anything else I wouldn’t at least try with you. We might find something I can’t do, but I don’t know yet.”

“That’s fair. If anything reminds you of the past, scares you, makes you even a smidge uneasy, you tell me immediately. Safe word or not, you tell me, Maddy.”

“I know. I promise.”

“How serious do you think your transgression was?”

She stares at me as though I’m an idiot. She takes a moment to respond because she can’t believe I asked something she clearly believes is asinine.

“Which part? All the illegal shit I did? The keeping a monumental secret from you? Endangering you, your family, and my family? The selfishness that goes along with all of that? I’d say about as serious as it can get.”

“Lean over the bed. Turn your feet inward. Hands tucked under you. Do not reach back because I risk spanking your hands and hurting you.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

She does as instructed, and I have the finest view I’ve ever seen except for looking at the front of her.

I step to her right and place my hand in the center of her back, the pressure light.

I use my left hand to land the first spank.

It’s firm, but not as hard as it’ll get.

I watch her expression since her face is turned toward me.

She closed her eyes, and her hands are beneath her shoulders, gripping the sheets.

The anticipation is worse than the swats right now.

I’m slow to land the next five, building her nervousness rather than alleviating it.

The next five are swift, my large hand landing across both cheeks rather than alternating sides like I did to warm her ass up.

Her skin’s a rosy pink now. I’m watching carefully to ensure I won’t leave any bruises.

I study her face, observing every flinch.

I listen to every wheezing inhale and how she struggles not to cry.

It’s clear she has a high tolerance for pain because I’m in no way gentle.

“Maddy, do you feel better yet?”

She tries to shake her head, but she can’t do much with her cheek pressed against the mattress.

“Answer with words, so I’m certain I understand.”

“Yes, Daddy. And no, I don’t feel better yet.”

“Do you think you deserve more than this?”

“Yes.”

“What will it take to feel absolved, chiquita ?”

“More than just your hand.”

All the men in my family are kinky fuckers—literally.

But it’s not like we keep a communal stash of toys anywhere.

Certainly not where our parents come to vacation with us.

We bring no one with us, so no sexual partners have been here before Maddy.

With no crops, whips, or paddles, my only choice is my belt.

I’m wary of indulging her wish because I fear underestimating my strength.

My gaze skims over her, looking for the aftermath of years of abuse.

I noticed the bruising on her wrists have faded, and I see no scars.

At least not on her skin, though I know there must be plenty on her soul.

I sweep my hand over her ass, feeling the heat emanating from it.

It will burn by the time I’m done. I continue to observe her as I unfasten my belt and pull it loose from my cargo pants.

I flatten and wrap the buckle end around my hand.

I have far too much experience doing this.

The single layer will be intense immediately. It’ll sting like a motherfucker.

She shifts her weight nervously. She opened her eyes, so she knows what’s about to happen.

“Are you certain, little one?”

“Yes, Javi.”

We’re not truly in a D/s relationship because I wouldn’t allow her to use my name in a situation like this.

She’d call me Daddy, sir, or master if we were.

I don’t think she’s earned this, so I won’t insist. We agreed to domestic discipline, so if this is what she needs to make recompense, then so be it.

“No matter how tempting it is, do not reach back, Maddy.”

“I know.”