Until Forever Ends: A Dark Mafia Romance

I knew that point would come.
Every day, every second felt like another revelation. Another strike against the walls of my sanity, and there was only so much more I could take before it crumbled.
"I'll be fine," I said shortly, not trusting whatever words I might speak. He leaned down to kiss me, not seeming to mind in the slightest that his step-mother watched the interaction with a happy smile on her face.
"Behave," he murmured against my mouth, reaching up a hand to tangle in the damp hair at the back of my head. The warning was clear as he held my eyes while he kissed me gently, defying the sweetness of the kiss itself by tugging just enough to make me inhale sharply.
As quickly as he'd touched me, he disappeared down a separate hallway from the labyrinth we'd emerged from. This one went off the kitchen, ending in only two doors a short way down.
Regina cleared her throat, moving to the stove to turn back to whatever she'd been cooking. She hummed as she stirred, filling the space with the comforting and smooth sound of her song. I took a seat at the island, fiddling with my hands and glancing around the space. “How long have you known Rafael?”
“Since he was born,” she said, smiling at me over her shoulder. “He was such a happy baby, though you would never guess that now. Very close with his mother, which his father hated of course. Men like Miguel thought the boys belonged with men, not attached to their mother’s hip.” My hand went to my own stomach, to the memory of Rafael’s proclamation that his child would soon occupy the space within me.
I couldn’t let that happen. Not while I had any chance of finding a path to freedom and a life without Rafael Ibarra breathing down my neck.
“He wants me pregnant,” I whispered, leaning across the island counter with a glance toward the hallway where Rafael had retreated. “I don’t want that. Please.” I didn’t know how to voice the request, and the words felt too dangerous to speak even if I had been able to find a way.
She turned off the stove, stepping around the island and standing next to me. “Such things are beyond my control, mi hija. Just as they are now beyond yours.”
“But it’s my body. If I don’t want a child, I should have access to birth control,” I whispered back, furrowing my brow at her in frustration.
“It was your body, but that is not how things work in Rafael’s world. It is his now, and he will do whatever he pleases with it. Far easier to accept it than to fight the inevitable,” she murmured, stroking a hand over the top of my hair and then stepping back. “Come. You look like you could use some fresh air. We'll just go out by the pool. The sun heals all wounds." She winked as she glanced toward the hallway Rafael had disappeared.
I nodded despite the sinking feeling that Rafael wouldn't like it, letting her guide me to the French doors that led to the infinity pool. The pavers of the deck felt hot through the bandages on my feet as we stepped outside, staring out at the Mediterranean as I tipped my face up to the sun. It felt like it had been a lifetime since I'd been outside in the day.
Like the time we'd spent in the sun in Ibiza was nothing but a distant memory.
"Thank you," I murmured, turning my gaze back to her. She smiled kindly, her lips parting as if to speak as I shifted my gaze to the village behind her. To the people who had abandoned me to suffer whatever fate Rafael deemed appropriate. I hoped to leave the island in one piece, but if I couldn't find a way, I didn't know that I'd ever forgive the people for what they'd done.
For leaving me to die here.
As I watched them move about in the distance, my heart stopped. The familiar and imposing figure stepped out of one of the houses, glancing up to meet my gaze as he froze solid. The recognition in the motion confirmed everything I suspected and couldn't know was true, considering the distance.
I sprung into action, sprinting across the pavers and onto the grass at the other side of the pool area. "Isa!" Regina gasped, stretching out a hand as if to catch me. But I shook her off, determined to cross the distance between us.
Joaquin stepped closer to me, heading me off before I could get to the village, with a nervous glance behind him. His hands wrapped around my upper arms as I flung myself into his arms. I grinned up at him when I found him unharmed, only happy that Rafael hadn't hurt him.
"Mi reina," he whispered, his face pinching as he tried to guide me back toward the house. Regina closed the distance between us, her hand covering her mouth as tears stung her eyes. "Let's get you home."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, spinning to stare at him once more. The house he'd stepped out of loomed in the background, Hugo's smiling face appearing as he and Gabriel emerged from it.
The happiness I'd felt at seeing them unharmed fled, replaced by a sudden emptiness as I tried to understand what stared me in the face.
Victims of abduction didn't smile as they stepped into the sun, unless they were free. They didn't look horrified when their eyes locked on mine.
Hugo mouthed my name as I backed away from Joaquin, the stinging bite of betrayal striking me through my confusion. "Let's go home," Regina said at my back, reaching down to take my hand in hers. Her bottom lip trembled when she met my eyes, and it hit me that out of all of us, I was the only one who was lost. I was the only one who didn't know the truth.
So much for the promise of no more