Finding Forgiveness

I looked him in the eye and nodded, “Yes.”

He then leant forward so that I could feel his warm breath on my cheek. His hand reached up for my face but I snapped my head away.

“Good,” he replied eventually.

I refused to look up, unable to meet his cold eyes.

“But you won’t say no. Don’t worry.”

“Marriage means nothing to werewolves,” I said after a moment or two.

“I bet it’ll mean something to Leonardo Loren…” Andrea replied.

“So you’re just doing this to get at my mate?” I asked.

He smiled and grabbed my chin between his fingers, “Amongst other reasons,” he said before kissing my lips softly and moaning.

“You drive me crazy, Blanca,” he said stepping back and closing his eyes. “And I have one more thing to give you.”

He then reached into a draw and pulled out a small wooden box. I opened it to find a pair of dangling earrings that matched the necklace.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

He held them up to my ears and turning me so that I was looking at myself in the mirror again.

“Andrea, I don’t have my ears pierced,” I said.

“What?” he replied looking at my ears. “What 24-year-old woman doesn’t have her ears pierced?”

“Me apparently.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll pierce them,” he said. “I want you to wear these tonight.”

“No, no, no-” I protested.

“Trust me,” he interjected. “Wait for me on the bed. I’ll be back in a minute.”

I sighed. This was probably going to cause a marginal amount of pain relative to other things he’d done to me and I’d always sort of wanted my ears pierced I guess.

A few minutes later, he returned with a needle, a pot of ice, a lighter and a rag.

I felt myself pale but I had little choice but to accept that this was going to happen.

“Okay,” he began as he pushed me down onto the bed and put a pillow under my head. “Stay still,” he added as he straddled me.

He then gave me a block of ice in each hand and told me to hold them on my ears as he sterilised the needle with the flame from the lighter. He knew how to prevent infection at least.

When the needle was nice and clean, he took the ice and shoved the rag in my mouth.

“Bite down on that. This is gonna hurt like a bitch.”

The next thing I knew, there was a searing pain in my ear. The ice had done little to numb it and I had to clench my jaw around the rag to deal with the discomfort. Without hesitation, he moved onto the other and put the earrings straight in as I grimaced and winced.

He then pulled me to my feet and stood me in front of the mirror once again.

“That wasn’t too bad, was it?” he asked.

I shook my head, the pain disappearing quickly.

Slowly running his fingers over my shoulders, he brought his lips to my ear. “Keep earning my respect like you did yesterday and I’m gonna make you not just my wife but my Queen, Ella Loren,” he whispered. “I already think you’re too valuable to kill.”

Unsure of whether to take that as a positive or a negative, I just forced a smile and let him kiss me.

Find me, Leo.

Please.

Our tinted-windowed car pulled up in front of the entrance to a large hotel. The number of security guards was insane with every guest being checked and Identified before they were allowed through the doors.

But they let Andrea straight through after taking one look at him. I followed after him but one of the bouncers stepped in front of me.

“She’s with me,” Andrea said taking my hand.

The man immediately stepped aside, “Please forgive me, Se? orita.”

“Pretty nice party, right?” he said to me as we walked through the lobby with hundreds of people stood in little groups talking and drinking wine. A great chandelier hung down from the high ceiling made of hundreds of glimmering pieces of glass and two symmetrical large staircases curved around from the top of the room on either side, each with a golden handrail and wide, marble steps.

“Let’s go meet the hosts,” he added before leading me up one of them and as we passed, everybody seemed to stop and look at Andrea before quickly moving out of his way. He took no notice and only carried on walking.

When we reached the top of the stairs, there was a mezzanine looking out over the lobby surrounded by a barrier and more security. Inside were four or so men all in black suits gathered around drinking champagne and chatting.

“Martinez!” one exclaimed as we entered. “Our wonderful boss.”

“And this must be Loren’s Luna. Ella, yes?” another added looking to me.

I nodded as a butler approached us with a tray of champagne and Andrea took two, handing one to me.

“Ella, meet my top men, those I owe the smooth runnings of my cartel to,” he said with a smile as he placed one hand on my shoulder.? “Sebastian (head of production). He runs the farms, ensures both top notch quality and quantity and keeps the drugs running like water. Emiliano (head of export). Keeps the stream flowing across the borders to where they gotta be, controls the logistics, makes sure no questions are asked at the borders and that all product gets from A to B. Alvaro (head accountant), monitors all money coming in and out the business. He’s in charge of spotting any unexpected changes in profit and sales and tracks anything suspicious to the source. No one in the business could steal even a dollar from me without this man knowing. And finally, Sergio (head of security). Keeps the computer technicians and hackers in line, monitors threats, trains up my men, bargains with the police force and the government. We all have this man to thank for our lives every day.”

I shook all of their hands.

“So what’s your place in the business, Se? orita?” Sebastian asked.

“Andrea’s latest whore no doubt,” Emiliano said with a grin.

“Ay,” Andrea protested. “This woman saved my life yesterday.”

They all raised an eyebrow and looked down at me.

“She may be small and weak but she’s brave,” he added. “When we were ambushed by Gustavo Escobar’s men at the border, I was shot but she helped me to safety.”

“Good job, little one,” Sergio said to me before looking back up to Andrea. “But please tell us you’re sleeping with her too?”

“Of course,” he replied and they all laughed.

“Was there any need asking? He’s young and still obsessed with sex,” Alvaro said. “Will you ever pick one girl and stick with her?”

The four men were all at least ten years older than Andrea if not twenty. Considering that Andrea was their boss, the age gap was surprising. How on earth did he end up the head of this entire organisation at only nineteen years old?

“Just you wait, mis amigos,” he said with a wink. “Soon enough.”