How? I don't know, but I'll figure it out as I go.
I follow London silently down the hall and watch her poke her head into each room we pass. It isn't until I hear commotion that I'm not entirely convinced Ricardo is here at all.
"Well, well, well," he says and steps out of his weird jerk-off room. "What do we have here?" Ricardo hobbles a little but is otherwise upright and well. If only Miller had shot him in an artery that would have made him bleed out instead.
"Daddy, we can explain," London is the first to open her mouth, probably because she's dealt with him before. But what kind of person would I be if I allowed her to take the lead on something that wasn't even her fault?
"Sir," I speak. "I'd like to offer you my official apology for what happened and assure you that it will never happen again."
Ricardo lifts his arm to signal for us to enter the room. "Come, have a seat, let's discuss this." His mild tone brings more concern than it should. I expected him to be outraged, immediately abusive, something other than even-tempered.
We slip past him and I try not to gawk at the remnants of blood on the floor where Miller had shot him.
London lowers herself onto the couch and I take the spot opposite of her and brace myself for what's to come.
Ricardo sits on the seat he masturbated in last Sunday and leans back. "So, do tell how long you and Miller have been together."
"We aren't." I shake my head. "This has all been a great misunderstanding. Miller, well, he's obsessed with me. He had been following me and saw that I was here and got jealous that you and I were together. He's a psycho and overreacted."
Ricardo rubs his bearded chin. "And you expect me to believe that?"
"It's true, Daddy," London chimes in. "I saw them at the shopping center the other day. Cora looked very uncomfortable, and I didn't know until today how bad things were. I heard her tell him that there was nothing between them."
"And how did Miller take it?"
"Not well, Daddy, but I reminded him of how powerful you are and that he shouldn't dare cross you again."
"Give me your phone." Ricardo holds out his hand to me. "Now."
Frantically, I pull the thing out of my back pocket and fumble to input my password and slide it into his palm. I swallow harshly and wait for him to look at whatever he's after.
He squints his eyes and pokes the screen a few times, and then scrolls, my heart pounding every second that he's holding my phone.
What if he sees something that incriminates us? What if our lie falls flat because I forgot to delete something?
Only, an antagonizing minute later, he tosses the thing at me and sighs. "Very well."
I hide my smirk as I shove my phone back into my pocket, our plan working just as we wanted.
Thanks to the new unsend and edit feature, I was able to go through my texts with Miller on my phone and his and make it appear like he really had been sending me inappropriate texts and I had been telling him I was not interested. We fabricated the whole thing to corroborate our story and it worked like a fucking charm. I even made sure to delete the threads with Silver, Alec, and June, just in case Ricardo got curious and wanted to snoop through those, too. The only ones I left behind were work-related, distant family and friends, or automated texts that send those annoying verification codes.
Ricardo pats his knee and focuses on me. "Come here, pet."
My heart stutters at his request but I have no choice other than to comply. Slowly, I rise to my feet, walk over to him, and sit on his lap.
His hands are on me in an instant, one on my lower back and one digging into my thigh. "I want you to tell me you're going to obey me, pet, that you're going to be a good girl."
Teeth chattering, I find the strength to get it together and say, "I will obey you. I will be a good girl."
Ricardo slides his hand up my back and into my hair, gripping it tightly. "Good, pet, good." He yanks hard, and I lose control over my posture, him tugging me toward him. "I get what I want, do you understand me. You're lucky I don't fucking kill you right here for that littleshowhe put on earlier. If you weren't such acandidatefor an heir..." He clenches my hair harder and jerks me at his mercy.
I don't even see it coming when he releases his other hand, forms a fist, and slams it into my stomach. My entire body curls inward and he repeats the motion, this time clamoring me in the ribs.
Instinctually, I try to free myself, to cover my belly with my hands, to do anything I can, but he is stronger and there's no getting away.
London says something I can't make out through the ringing in my ears.
Ricardo stands abruptly and tosses me onto the ground with a great thud, his leg reeling back and driving forward into my gut. "Mine! Do you fucking hear me? Mine!"
