Bullied Cinderella (Olive Skin Devils Book 2) Read online

  My feelings about Lucia were complicated. They had been from the moment she confronted me in the laundry quarters. She was annoying and stuck-up even though she had no right to be. But she was also undeniably attractive...even without a proper place in society or fancy dresses or makeup. She had a sort of natural beauty that only irked me more. It’s why I had given her such a hard time during her stay here. There were other hot housekeepers and staff members, sure. But none of them quite compared to her, and she thought she was too good for us anyhow.

  I tried to march off my frustrations and ended up quite far from the house. I could see the portion of our property lines that lined up with Lucia’s, and just through the trees, I could make out the shape of her hacienda. I imagined her sitting somewhere beyond those walls. I imagined she was feeling quite pleased with herself after last night’s spectacle. She probably thought she was some kind of Cinderella after being paraded around in front of all those people...dancing with all of those men.

  Her dress really was...nice. The fabric was fine and expensive, and it hugged her body in all the perfect ways. I had never appreciated the full extent of her curves that were hidden under the brown frock she wore here. But last night they were on full display - cleavage and hips and all. Each wrapped in blue silk that popped against her caramel skin and dark, long, flowing hair. I wondered what she wore on a morning like this. Or maybe...what she didn’t wear. Would she take a shower at this time of day? Could her naked, wet body be somewhere inside of that small house?

  I mumbled expletives under my breath and promptly turned to storm off in the other direction, shaking off any fantasies I might have about Lucia. The only thing more infuriating than her plump breasts and ass were her pink, plump lips...which had no problem smarting off to me. The nerve. No woman of her stature had ever dared speak to me the way she had, even when I was still her employer. She should have been kicked out a long time ago. Innocent or not, I was glad Dario sent her away. I only wished she would have stayed gone.

  I told myself that Mother was right. Lucia may have had the dress, money, and land to go along with her snooty attitude, but that didn’t change who she really was. She was just some poor nobody who used to barely get by. I’d say she was lazy, even though I knew that wasn’t exactly true. She did make it hard for me to give her too much trouble while she was under our employment. She may have worked hard, but it wasn’t enough to earn her such a big fortune overnight.

  I didn’t know if I’d ever solve that mystery or stop the nagging feeling in my gut about her, but I soon came across one of my least favorite landscapers and decided I didn’t have to do any of those things. I only needed to distract myself. This was the perfect opportunity. I had decided to test the gardener’s knowledge of proper fertilizing techniques by giving him a faulty recipe that I knew was sure to kill off anything it touched.

  “You there!” I pointed. “How are those plants coming along? Using the new fertilizer I asked you to use?”

  “Yes sir,” he answered with a straight face, but I knew he was lying as I got closer. The plants were alive and well, which wouldn’t be possible if he had done what I asked.

  “You’re sure you’re using the right stuff?”

  “Yep.” He nudged a nearby bag with his foot.

  I examined the contents and knew it was the botched recipe I gave, but he obviously saw through my trick and was using something else on the plants. I guess it proved he knew what he was doing and that he was smart enough not to talk back to me. But it didn’t make my morning anymore entertaining.

  I waved my hand at him and huffed off. The worst part was that I walked away, I actually felt guilty about the whole thing! I thought back to Lucia’s accusation of me being childish by pulling these pranks on the staff. Sure, it was the only way to have any fun around here but it also ensured that these people stayed on their toes and did their jobs right. Why the hell should I feel guilty!? And what was this woman doing to me!?

  The truth was, Lucia hated me. Which was a rare position for a woman to have. Even if I was cruel to her and made her cry, most women would still jump at the chance to fall into bed with me. Not Lucia. Which was fine. My mother hated her anyway, and she wasn’t fit to marry into our family. And now that she was more than just a servant...I couldn’t seduce her either. Not that she ever seemed open to such a possibility in the first place.

  Being rejected by someone like her would be more than I could stand. She was beneath me, even with all of her money. She would have no right to refuse me, and yet I was certain she would. It was all so maddening to think about, and before long I had no desire to do anything but go back to bed.

  Later that evening after a long nap and a big dinner, I retired to our basement parlor with Jorge and Dario. I was feeling more like myself again and ready to have some drinks and shoot some darts. Just normal stuff that I used to enjoy thoroughly before that horrid woman showed her face around here.

  “I heard she inherited the money from her American father,” Jorge was explaining in between throws of the darts in his hands. “He bought the property, giving Elaina the status to marry Marco Perez.”

  I let out a loud, growling sigh. “Please don’t tell me we’re still talking about her!” They both ignored me and carried on.

  “You certainly wouldn’t have guessed who she was just a few weeks ago,” Dario replied, staring off with a dreamy look in his eyes. “She looked incredible.”

  “She sure did. She looked so...elegant,” Jorge concurred while making the outline of a woman’s curves with his hands.

  “Her sisters are awfully hot too. It’s a shame Elaina is spoken for.”

  Jorge perked up. “You take the younger one...Jada. I’ll go for Lucia.”

  “No way. I was the one who rescued her from the shed and proved her innocence! If Lucia is going to be with any of us...it’d be me!”

  “Enough!” I bellowed, snatching the darts from them. The only thing more infuriating than not being able to get away from my own thoughts about Lucia was not being able to escape them constantly talking about her. And I definitely wasn’t going to sit around and listen to them go on about her body and argue over which one would claim her. It was enough to make my blood boil.

  “You know Mother would never approve of either of you laying a finger on Lucia Chavez, and the fact that you two are still so enraptured by her says a lot about your class.”

  “Screw class,” Jorge shrugged. “She’s hot.”

  “Well when every acquaintance to our family looks down on you for marrying someone so lowly, you’d care then,” I argued, wishing he’d just shut up. I wanted to punch him in the face, but thought better of it.

  “You sound just like your mom,” Dario chuckled.

  “The woman knows what she’s talking about. The Chavez sisters may look all high and mighty now, but they came from nothing.”

  “Well, not nothing,” he argued. “Apparently their father was very affluent in America.”

  Jorge was always quick to side with me, and, thankfully, had the proof to back it up this time. “Yeah, but their mother just worked for him. They had a secret affair. He didn’t want anything to do with them until he was practically already in the grave.”

  “They obviously meant something to him or he wouldn’t have sent for them on his deathbed and bought that property for them...or written them into his will,” Dario shot back. “Anyway, don’t you feel even just a little guilty that she didn’t even get to see him before he died? She missed Elaina’s wedding and everything. Maybe our correspondence rules for the staff are...just a little harsh.”

  “That’s what they get for surrendering themselves over to the auction,” I reminded him.

  Jorge pointed like I had hit the nail on the head exactly. “It’s one thing to be poor and work a servant’s job to get by, but to submit yourself to being sold off like cattle for next to nothing? They get what they deserve for having such a lack of self-respect.”

  I shouted a
nd threw my hands up in the air. “Bullseye! Now...please can we talk about absolutely anything else!? That lifted my spirits and I don’t want you two bringing me right back down again.”

  They complied and thankfully I didn’t have to hear Lucia’s name again for the rest of the night. Of course, that didn’t stop it from circling around in my brain. Maybe it was still from a lingering hangover, I thought. By tomorrow morning, I was sure she’d be the last thing on my mind.

  8

  Lucia

  They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but they don’t talk enough about just how good it feels when she gets her revenge. My cheeks had taken on the glow of that satisfaction as I supervised the men building the fence between my family’s property and the Valencia estate. It was a beautiful day out. The sun was shining and flowers were blooming, filling the air with their sweet fragrance. It all added to the satisfaction I was feeling from the execution of my plans.

  The first step was my grand reveal at the landowner’s party, which went perfectly. The next step was to build the barrier between our lands - a scandalous symbol of my disassociation with the cousins and everything they stood for. The third and final goal was to destroy their reputations. Gossiping about their treatment of their employees to their high society friends was part of that, but it wasn’t enough. I just wasn’t quite sure how to carry out the rest of what they deserved.

  I consulted with the lead builder of my new fence, but our meeting was interrupted by a man’s voice ranting and raving as he approached from the distance. I didn’t have to turn around and look at him to know it was Leonardo.

  “What the hell is going on here!?” he fumed when he finally reached the construction site, wagging his finger at my workers. “You there! Stop this immediately!”

  “Excuse me, but these are my employees and this is my fence,” I scolded. “You have no business telling them what to do.” I gave the workers a reassuring nod. “Carry on as you were.”

  “No, don’t carry on as you were! What is this all about!? All this incessant noise woke me up! It’s disrupting everyone in the house and spooking all the horses in the stable! This is private property! I’ll have the policia here to put a halt to this if you don’t listen to me and stop this at once!”

  “It’s nearly noon. It’s certainly not my fault that you were still lazing about in bed nursing your daily hangover. And while this may be private property, it is my property, and I can do as I please with it!”

  His nostrils flared and his cheeks turned bright red. He wasn’t used to people not cowering down to him and doing whatever he wanted on command. “That over there may be your property, but this is my property...and you and your baboons here are clearly on it!” He marched over to the workers and started snatching the tools from their hands and throwing them to the ground.

  “Enough!” I shouted, placing myself between him and them. “I have paid these men to do a job and you’re harassing them! Perhaps we should call the police and see what they have to say about this!”

  “Senorita Chavez, we have made good strides on everything today. Why don’t we let you sort this out and we’ll return tomorrow to get back to work?” the lead builder suggested awkwardly.

  “Very well. You’re dismissed for the day.” I turned around to storm off while they gathered their things to leave, but Leo wasn’t letting up so easy.

  He came barreling up behind me, grabbing at my arm. “Not so fast! Where do you think you’re going!? If these men return tomorrow, I’ll come right back and put a stop to it!”

  I spun around on my heels and met him face to face. “You have no right to do that. This is my land and I’ll put up fences wherever I see fit to do so!”

  “These properties have always aligned and there’s never been any need for a fence! What the hell are you trying to do!?”

  “I want it to be clear to everyone on your estate and mine, as well as all the other landowners, that my family and I don’t condone anything about you and your wretched cousins! This fence signifies the divide between our families.”

  We were at a stalemate there alone in the fields. The workers had all left, shooting me pitying glances on their way out. Leonardo was tall and built as he towered above me, fuming mad. But I wasn’t about to back down.

  His teeth clenched and the muscles in his neck bulged as he pointed his finger in my face with an almost frightening degree of anger. “You will not build any such fence. I forbid it!”

  “You may scare all of your employees into doing whatever you want, but I’m not one of them anymore, Senor Valencia. You have no right to order me or anyone that works for me around!”

  Our veins were pulsing with anger as we glared into each other’s eyes. I watched Leo’s face darken into something else entirely. I couldn’t put my finger on it. His outrage was still vivid, but there was another surge of emotions building up inside of him. Before I could even begin to figure it out, he lunged forward. I flinched slightly, expecting him to start beating me, but instead, I was caught completely off guard by the feeling of lips crushed against mine.

  Without thinking, I cracked my hand across his cheek like a whip. He jerked back and winced, shooting me a daring look. He seemed charged over his stolen kiss and the slap that followed.

  “What the hell is wrong with you!?” I cried, my chest heaving.

  “If we can’t sort out our problems any other way, we might as well work it out this way,” he said with a devilish grin, moving towards me again.

  I was so baffled and confused that I didn’t thwart his second advance as quickly as I should. Sirens were blaring in my brain, telling me to run and get as far away from him as I could. His complete disregard for my space and my body should have made me afraid, but somehow it didn’t. He stepped forward more slowly this time, like he was a tiger closing in on his prey. And instead of being filled with the urge to run or to kick him between his legs, I was suddenly vibrating with curiosity. With him moving in so close, I could smell the expensive cologne on his disheveled shirt - pine and mint. The attractiveness of Leo’s features wasn’t lost on me. It’s just that his despicable personality usually blinded me to them, which should have continued happening at that moment. And yet, something in me wanted to stand my ground...to see what that kiss would feel like if I gave into it, even a little.

  He could see that I wasn’t racing to get away from him, and it ignited a spark in both of our eyes. Soon we were only inches apart again and within seconds our lips met with a furious and punishing kiss. All of our hatred for each other seemed to be flowing through our bodies, up to our mouths and thrashing against one another through our lips.

  The sirens kept sounding off in my head, telling me to pull back. I needed to slap him again. I needed to go home and prepare to fight this battle all over again tomorrow, minus the kissing. But my feet stayed firmly planted until the only movement I could give into was a subtle way towards him. The slightest sign of me melting against him and he was quick to snake his hands around me, clutching urgently up and down my body.

  This was crazy. I couldn’t believe I was giving into him. Why was I allowing this to happen!? Everything in my brain was against this, but I could feel warm wetness pooling between my legs. It only intensified when the bulge in his pants pushed up against me. He bit into my bottom lip, and I bit his back even harder. With that little exchange, it was all over with.

  Without breaking our furious kiss, he began backing me up into the nearby treeline until finally, we were in the darkness of the woods - out of sight. I knew I needed to care that a man who forced me into this kiss had now lured me off into a discreet, unsafe place. But instead, I went along with it as we toppled down into the grass, leaves, and twigs scattered across the cold ground. The coolness of it was a relief against my searing hot skin. And even more relief came as he began ripping my clothes away, exposing my bare skin to the fresh air.

  He was like an animal, ravaging me without mercy. Our argument had continued, only
now it was through some sick show of passion rather than with our words. And I was filled to the brim with my own inexplicable need for more. We were in too much of a frenzy to dance around it. We just unleashed everything while tearing into each other, and soon we were both naked enough for him to settle between my legs, taunting me with his pounding hard shaft. It was alarmingly large, but I was so desperate at that point that I didn’t expect to have any problems taking him in.

  I was right. He slid into me effortlessly, and I stretched around him as if I was always meant to mold to him. Breathless grunts escaped our mouths as he thrusted forward and began pounding into me. It was like a never-ending tidal wave crashing over me again and again. I was glad he moved with such force because it built the pleasure so quickly and intensely that I had less time to ask myself what it was I was doing and why I was doing it.

  Everything turned dark as my pleasure mounted to uncontrollable proportions. I cried out, clenching my fingers into the dirt and moss around me. The sight of me must have been enough to push him over the edge as well because he was soon shuddering right along with me. Just as quickly as it began, it was over. The heat of his body was gone, falling somewhere beside me. I don’t know for sure because I kept my eyes closed tight.

  I was suddenly exhausted, and I didn’t dare look at him or say a word. I gave into the tiredness that had flooded me just as I had given into his advances. I stayed hidden away in the darkness with my eyes closed until the world faded away.

  At some point in the night, after everything had turned dark, I woke up and felt renewed with sense. Good sense that told me I had no business laying around in the woods, half-naked, with a man that I loathed and wanted to destroy. I couldn’t bear to start questioning what had come over me. I just grabbed the shreds of my clothes that were left, covered myself up, and snuck off back to my home. Thankfully, Mama and Jada were sleeping too soundly to hear me come in.