THE MAFIA KING'S LITTLE PET

Chapter 4

Esmeralda’s breath caught in her throat as her teeth sank into Diego’s lower lip, hard enough to draw blood. She wasn’t sure if it was fury, frustration, or desperation that had pushed her to act, but now that it was done, there was no going back.

Diego’s eyes widened in shock for a fraction of a second. He released her abruptly, his hand flying to his mouth where blood trickled from the fresh bite. His fingers came away stained red, and the fury that flickered across his face was terrifying.

"You crazy b***h!" Diego hissed, his voice low and venomous. Before Esmeralda could react, the back of his hand connected with her cheek in a brutal slap that sent her head snapping to the side. The sharp sting spread across her face, and she stumbled, nearly falling backward from the sheer force of it.

Esmeralda gasped, her hand instinctively flying to her burning cheek, tears welling in her eyes, not just from the pain but from the shock of it all. She had known Diego had a temper, but this was the first time he had ever hit her. Her vision blurred as the tears threatened to spill, but she blinked rapidly, refusing to let him see her cry.

"You think you can disrespect me?" Diego spat, towering over her as she tried to regain her balance. His eyes were dark with rage, but there was something else beneath the surface, an almost sadistic satisfaction at seeing her so vulnerable. "You're my wife. I have every right to kiss you, touch you, do whatever the hell I want."

Esmeralda's lips trembled as she tried to hold back the flood of emotions rising inside her. She wanted to scream, to yell at him, to tell him he was a monster, but all that came out was a shaky breath.

Esmeralda’s heart pounded in her chest as she stared at Diego, unable to reconcile the man in front of her with the one she had once believed she loved. Her cheek throbbed where he had struck her, but the pain paled in comparison to the anguish rising in her chest. The words she had held back for so long now tumbled from her lips in a choked, desperate whisper.

“Why… why are you doing this to me?” Her voice trembled, filled with a mixture of hurt and disbelief. “After everything we’ve been through? Why, Diego?”

Diego glanced at her with a dismissive smirk, as if her question was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. Without answering right away, he turned his back to her, strolling toward the wardrobe as though he had all the time in the world. He pulled out a crisp white shirt, slowly shrugging it on as though the conversation was of little consequence to him.

“You really want to know?” he asked, his tone casual, almost bored, as he threw her a sidelong glance. “What did you expect, Esme?”

She blinked, confused by his nonchalant response. “I expected you to love me… to care about me like you said you did.”

Diego chuckled darkly, the sound low and cruel. “Love you?” he repeated as if the very idea was laughable. “I got bored of pretending.”

Esmeralda’s stomach dropped, her hands shaking as she tried to comprehend what he was saying. “Pretending? What are you talking about?”

Diego finished buttoning his shirt, rolling up his sleeves casually before turning to face her fully, his eyes gleaming with a sinister amusement. “You really are naïve, aren’t you? This was never about love, Esme. It was never even about you.”

Her mouth went dry, her mind racing as she struggled to make sense of his words. “What do you mean?”

He leaned against the wardrobe, crossing his arms over his chest as his smirk deepened. “This was supposed to be a one-time thing. A bet, actually. Among my friends. You see, we had a little wager on who could break the cherry of the famous Mafia boss’s princess. That’s all it ever was. A bet.”

Esmeralda’s world suddenly crumbled around her. The air seemed to thicken in the room, making it harder to breathe. Her vision blurred as her heart shattered in her chest, each word cutting deeper than the last. “A bet?” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “You… had a bet to sleep with me?”

Diego shrugged, utterly unfazed by her reaction. “What can I say? It was a fun challenge. But when I saw how easily you fell for me, I figured I could up the stakes. Make something more out of it. And it worked.”

Her knees buckled as she stumbled back, the truth of his betrayal crashing over her like a tidal wave. This couldn’t be real. This had to be a nightmare. The man she had given everything to, the man she had turned her back on her family for, had been playing her all along.

“You’re lying,” she whispered, tears streaming down her face as she shook her head in denial. “This is all a lie.”

Diego stepped closer, his expression darkening. “Does it look like I’m lying to you?” he asked, his voice laced with a cruel edge. “Think about it. All the papers you signed, all the deals you helped me secure. You’ve been so blinded by love you didn’t even notice how useful you were to me.”

Her mind raced as memories flashed before her eyes, the contracts, the meetings, the moments she had thought she was helping Diego build their future. In reality, she had been helping him manipulate her into signing away her power, her influence, and everything she had brought into their marriage.

Her voice broke as she looked up at him, her chest heaving with sobs. “I trusted you, Diego. I loved you.”

He sighed dramatically as if her pain was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. “And maybe if you hadn’t been so inexperienced, maybe if you hadn’t been a virgin when I met you, I might’ve reconsidered. But, well… you were a little boring in bed. And that just sealed the deal for me.”

Esmeralda felt as though the ground had been ripped out from beneath her. The humiliation of his words tore at her soul, each cruel word leaving scars she knew would never heal. The room swayed around her, and she had to grip the arm of the chair to steady herself.

“I was a game to you,” she whispered, more to herself than to him. “All of this… everything was a lie.”

Diego’s smirk widened, his satisfaction evident as he watched her crumble before him. “Exactly. You were always just a game, Esme. And you lost.”

She couldn’t breathe. The walls were closing in on her, suffocating her beneath the weight of his betrayal. How could she have been so blind? So foolish? Her father’s warnings, and her mother’s pleading, they all echoed in her mind now, haunting her with the truth she had refused to see.