Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty-Three

M other fucker, I can’t seem to do anything right. As the car pulls into the garage and Mossimo gets out and turns the lights on, I take a deep breath. Every time I get near Aribella I become this beast, a beast that has to have her ultimate submission. And when she doesn’t do as I say, I lose my cool. Fuck, I have got to get it together.

Getting out of the vehicle, I come around the front and open the door for mi reina . “Welcome home,” I murmur, and she peers up at me with her beautiful blue eyes. Eyes that I have missed seeing on a daily basis. Sure, the Powers let me tap into their camera system to watch over her, but it wasn’t the same. Her presence in my life, daily, scratch that , hourly, is required.

Without thinking about it, I take her hand in mine and lead her through the back door, into the kitchen. “I want you to know that Miss Terrington didn’t make it.”

At her sharp intake, I pull her to me. “She died protecting us and that’s something that will never be forgotten, Aribella.” Her shoulders shake and I rub her back as gently as I can, trying not to hurt her wounds.

“I promise you, the people that did this were taken care of, and we can live quietly and peacefully now.”

When Aribella finally raises her head, I see the unshed tears and I know that mi reina will want to pay homage to my beloved housekeeper. Hell, she was like a mother to me and I don’t even know where to begin to fix the damage that’s been done. But I know deep down, Aribella will find a way to help us grieve and celebrate Miss Terrington’s life.

“There are no words to tell you how sorry I am to hear that. She was one of the best people I knew,” Aribella says softly and lays her head down on my shoulder.

“I know, mi reina , but she would want us to continue on. I have a new housekeeper. It’s a man.” At my words, Aribella’s head pops up and looks at me.

“You replaced her?” There’s anger in her words, and I look at her.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I?” Shit, even I can hear the cold, callous tone in my voice. It’s business. I have to have someone here to take care of the house.

“I don’t care who he is, get rid of him,” she grits out with a glare. “Miss Terrington shouldn’t be replaced just because you don’t want to deal with the house.”

Sighing, I try not to get angry. Aribella doesn’t understand that Miss Terrington was not only a housekeeper, she guarded far more than just a bunch of recipes in the kitchen. “ Mi reina , we will discuss this, but please, don’t be upset. We will work it out, I promise.” Pushing my hand through her hair, I massage her scalp, wanting her to know I’m not dismissing her feelings about the subject.

Leading her through the kitchen, I don’t stop until we get to the front door. I open it, feeling like this is the first time I’m stepping outside the house in front, and seeing it in a whole new light. After all the fighting was over, I had a special garden built out front that has a small pond, a bridge and a gazebo area. This is for Aribella and hopefully she will enjoy it.

“I didn’t… I didn’t know this was here before.” Her awe is worth it. She lets go of my hand and walks over to the flowers that are blooming along the pond’s outer banks. “It’s beautiful.”

For a moment, I stand there and watch her flitter about the area, and silence meets me. There’s no rush of emotions. No anger swirling about with the need to get revenge. Just peace. A peace I have fought for and, hopefully, can maintain. But my girl is feisty and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

When she gets to the bridge, Aribella looks back at me. “This is all new, isn’t it?” Her smile lights up the whole damn yard. Fuck, she makes me weak at the knees and I’m not sure how to feel about it. But I don’t want to over analyze the situation right now. Hell no.

Moving to the bridge, I pick up Aribella, and she laughs. “Yes, mi reina . It’s all for you.” Once I’m at the gazebo, I sit her down on the bench. Aribella doesn’t let go of me and I sit down with her.

“Thank you.” Her lips touch mine in the world’s gentlest and shyest kiss, but I savor the taste of her mouth on mine. I let her lead us and she touches my face with a trembling hand. “You…” her words fail her as she looks into my eyes and I smile. “You did something for me while I was healing.”

Sometimes I forget she doesn’t fully understand my obsession with her and that I would do anything for her. Well, except let her go. That’s never going to happen. “Yes. Every breath I’ve taken since we found you and Mossimo has been for you .”

Shit, I’ve never done anything for anyone other than myself, but here is this woman that I would walk through Hell for. Aribella kisses me again, this time using her tongue to sweep against my lower lip, and I groan. She has no idea the fire she is playing with, but I keep it in check. There’s no way I’m going to force her to do anything. Not after the shit she’s been through.

Pulling back, I smile at her. “Well, that’s all the thank you I need, mi reina .” This makes her giggle and I shiver at the sound. Her entire being turns me on, but that giggle does something deep within me that makes me want to be animalistic with her.

“You said there’d be food here,” she says and her stomach rumbles. I laugh because it breaks the tension inside of me.

Getting up, I pull the basket out from under the bench. “I sure did.” Opening the lid, I pull out the blanket and place it on the gazebo floor. The floor isn’t dirty, but I want Aribella to have the full experience of a picnic date. Date… Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever really been on a real one, and I’m not sure if I’m doing it right, but fuck it. Aribella is smiling at me, happily. That’s all that matters.

Next, I pull out the plates of cheese, crackers, and grapes. After that, there’re bowls of pasta and salad. Damn, there’s enough food for more than two, but I watch as Aribella gets up and comes over and sits down on the blanket.

“This looks amazing,” she whispers and looks at everything before she picks up a grape and a square of cheese. Her moan makes my hard-on throb and I demand myself to pull it together. There’s no way in hell Aribella is ready for sex.

“It was my hope that you’d enjoy it.” I move from my knees to my ass and sit there, staring at the most precious gift I could ever have— mi reina. Handing her a bowl of pasta and a bowl of salad, I open my own. The smell of marinara and meatballs hits me. Would I rather have Mexican food? Probably. But I know Italian is Aribella’s favorite.

Watching her swirl the fork in her bowl, I think about her tongue swirling around my dick, and regret it. My cock grows even bigger and I force myself to focus on my food.

“I’d like for you to stay here with me, Aribella. Of your own free will.” This is a huge thing for me. I know I can’t let her go, but if she wants to leave, there’s not a single thing I will do to stop her.

Her fork stops halfway to her lips, and she squints her eyes at me. “I want to finish college and see my friends. Working is also important to me.”

An angry growl leaves my throat at the idea of her leaving to be in public. Aribella drops her fork and I watch helplessly as she shrinks back from me. Her color pales and her hands shake. Goddamn it. A growl shouldn’t do this to her. I don’t want others to be around her. Fuck, I just got her back and the idea of strangers being near her posing a threat doesn’t sit well with me.

“Aribella, it’s alright.” I try to reassure her, but she scoots away from me, and I stare helplessly as she trembles. I drop my fork and crawl over to her. “Hey, it’s alright. You’re safe. I swear, mi reina , you are safe.” I try to reiterate that to her by holding her in my arms and rocking her. Fuck, she’s been through so much. I’m going to have to control my damn self.

“Please, I’ll be good.” Her words would have made me want to make her beg in submission a few weeks ago. Not anymore. Hell, I want her to choose submission, but only because she wants to. God, the idea of her in my red room and taking my cock while she’s tied up does things to me, but I can’t imagine she will ever want to be hanging from the ceiling ever again. Or anywhere near a whip or handcuffs.

With everything in me, I take her face in my hands, and her eyes are wild. Shit, she’s having a PTSD moment. “ Mi reina , look at me sweet one. You are here with me, Vincent. No one is coming to hurt you. Not a single soul will lay a fucking finger on you as long as I am around.”

Her eyes remain unfocused and she’s blubbering nonsense. “Aribella,” I whisper and kiss her forehead. “I promise, everything will be alright.” Leaving tiny kisses all over her face, I try to reassure her, but I’m not sure she’s even here with me, and that scares me. It scares me to know that even though I made every last one of those motherfuckers pay for what they did to her, she’s still paying the ultimate price.