Bullied Cinderella (Olive Skin Devils Book 2) Read online

  I was playing a pretty good game with myself of forgetting the whole incident entirely. That is until an unexpected knock came to the door later that afternoon. I was terrified that it’d be Leo, and I wasn’t ready to face him. I didn’t know if I’d ever be ready to see him again. But instead, I found Dario with a big smile on his face, waiting on the other side of the door.

  “Oh, hello. How can I help you?” I asked in surprise. My cheeks turned bright red. Did he somehow know about what happened?

  “I brought you these,” he beamed, shoving a bouquet of flowers into my hands. “May I come in?”

  Jada and my mother had gone out for the afternoon, leaving me in the house alone. After everything that happened the day before, I didn’t particularly want to let Dario in. But he had an eagerness on his face that made me think he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Reluctantly, I stepped aside and waved him in.

  “I just wanted to apologize,” he announced as I busied myself with finding a vase for the flowers.

  “Oh, good. You and your cousins do have a lot to apologize for,” I answered plainly.

  “Ah...yeah. I suppose so. But I meant...I wanted to apologize for Leo.”

  I froze at the sound of his name. “For...what, exactly?” My heart pounded in anticipation of his response. Sorry for the way he kissed me without asking? Or sorry for the way he didn’t hesitate to carry me off into the woods the second I didn’t pull away?

  “I heard about the fence debacle, and I know he said some petty things at the party,” he explained sheepishly. “I’ll talk to him for you...See if I can’t get him to act right.”

  I tried not to let my sigh of relief be too obvious. Hopefully, this all meant that Dario didn’t know the full extent of exactly what transpired over the fence. By the time I turned around from arranging the flowers, Dario was standing inches away. It was close and sudden - enough to startle me. But his face was nothing like Leo’s. He wasn’t outraged and looking to take it out on me. His features were tender and soft.

  “You’ll have to forgive my cousins. And me. You see, none of us are accustomed to being around a woman who is not only beautiful but so intelligent and daring on top of that.”

  His voice was soft and he kept his eyes locked intently on mine. I could feel a desire emanating off of him, and I didn’t pull away as much as I should have. It had less to do with Dario, and more to do with the fresh memories of Leo’s heat and his smell...the lingering burn of his touch. It was all so vivid that I could almost pretend any man standing in front of me was him.

  My secret fantasies about Leo must have seemed like something else entirely to Dario because before I knew it he was pressing his lips to mine. It was the complete opposite of Leo’s passionate abrasiveness. It was sweet and gentle, and...a little dull. It was okay, but not enough to inspire the heated dreams that Leo gave me - the ones that kept me tossing and turning with desire for the remainder of the night.

  Dario was respectful and pulled back with a quiet groan. “Can I see you again?” he asked immediately with his eyes closed. He seemed to be imagining what more could happen, rather than just taking it the way his cousin had.

  To be honest, Leo’s method was much more thrilling and satisfying. But I had to remind myself of the purpose of all of this. I needed to rope each of them in close to me so I could find some way to destroy their reputations - something bigger than the rumors about the fence and whatever gossip I managed to spread at parties.

  “Sure, Dario,” I faked a sweet smile. “I would enjoy seeing you again.”

  9

  Leonardo

  I woke up to what I assumed was the splitting headache of a hangover, but I rapidly gathered it wasn’t an ache inside of my head at all. It was a dull throbbing pain to the side of my head conked out against something cold and hard. My ear was bent in on itself and stinging. I opened my eyes and slowly gathered the scent of grass, leaves, and dirt.

  The stiffness of my joints and bones made it hard for me to pull myself up, but soon my body flooded with the warm sweet relief of remembering just how it was I came to be sleeping out in the middle of the woods. I remembered looking down at Lucia and hating her more than I had ever hated anyone in my entire life...and then being more aroused than I had ever been before. I wanted her with an insatiable, unquenchable kind of desire that I knew right then and there wouldn’t be quenched in the least until we just let go and acted on it.

  What happened between us was just a drop in the bucket. The brewing flames were only encouraged now, and I was burning up with a need for more. The most unsettling feeling was...I didn’t know if there would be more. Lucia may have given into me for a moment, but women are different from men. Whatever stirred in my cock spoke far louder than anything reason or rationale in my brain. She on the other hand likely woke up, went home, and came to her senses. Her guard would be up more than ever towards me now, and I didn’t know if I’d ever be so lucky again.

  Just the lingering thought of it was enough to renew all the longing in me. I was hard as a rock with a big tent formed around the erection in my pants. I could only hope it would die down by the time I made it back into the house. I didn’t need to worry though. The moment I started back, I heard the hammering of the fence workers - back at it again. That’s when I started to feel very stupid.

  Here I thought I had gotten the better of Lucia by catching her in a weak moment. Now it occurred to me that it was she who got the better of me. We hadn’t settled a damn thing about the fence. She simply distracted me from the argument with her vixen ways. I soured my face at the sight of them and their stupid fence, but thankfully Lucia wasn’t around supervising them. I would need to strengthen my defenses before going at it with her again.

  Dario and Jorge were looking annoyingly chipper and bright, as usual, gathered around the breakfast table. It was a stark contrast to my still half-closed eyes and disheveled look, complete with grass and twigs tangled into my hair.

  “I don’t know what you two are so happy about,” I huffed. “With all that nonsense going on outside.”

  Dario perked up and looked out the window like a dumb, lost little puppy. “Oh, I hadn’t even noticed!”

  Jorge at least seemed to have taken note of the loud construction of the fence, but didn’t seem bothered by it in the least. “What’s all that about anyway?” he asked, sounding indifferent.

  “What does it look like, you morons!? She’s erecting a fence between our properties! It’s some kind of show of dominance and grudge against us! And it cuts off part of my view of the mountains!”

  They both studied the distant commotion of the building more closely. Dario still didn’t seem to care, but Jorge seemed ready to be angry about it with me.

  “She’s just trying to stir up trouble and drama. You should let her know we won’t stand for it,” he decided.

  “Oh, believe me. I have,” I smiled proudly, adjusting the waist of my pants.

  “Then why are they still building?” he asked.

  It ripped away my smile, leaving me to toss pastries and rolls onto my plate in bitter silence. Once I was loaded up I sulked over to the table. I would have rather eaten in my room alone, but I was too impatient to make the walk up the stairs.

  “I think you two have been far too harsh on Lucia and her sisters,” Dario suggested. “They obviously have some good blood in them, from their father’s side at least. And regardless, they’re not going anywhere now. They’re a part of the landowners’ circle. We’ll have to start learning to get along with them and treat them like we would any other wealthy family around here.”

  “Rats in disguise,” Jorge grumbled.

  I felt torn inside, and it was the most irritating feeling. If I had any intentions of starting a real thing with Lucia, it would be in my best interest to start treating her as the wealthy woman she now was. But even that wouldn’t change my mother’s view of her. And I doubted it’d do much for Lucia’s view of me. She was going to hate my guts eith
er way, and especially now. She’d be out to prove just how much she didn’t enjoy what happened yesterday...and just how impossible it was for it to ever happen again.

  “I could talk to them if you’d like!” Dario chirped. “Smooth things over. You two may be all bitter about the whole thing, but I can put on a nice face long enough to put us back in their good graces. She may even rethink the whole fence thing if I play my cards right.”

  He had a strange grin, like he had much more planned than what he was letting on. I didn’t care what he had in mind. I was not about to let him or Jorge anywhere near Lucia as much as I could help it.

  “You stay the hell away from them and let me handle this,” I barked, sliding my chair out to storm off to my room.

  I climbed into a hot shower, needing to wash off the stink of the woods. But sadly, that also meant washing away the scent of Lucia. It wafted from between my legs and in random places across my skin. I could still taste her tongue and the sweetness of her folds on my lips. I hated to see it all washing down the drain like it never happened. It was a victory that I couldn’t brag about and had no trophy for. It would have to be our little secret, which only added to the lustful air of my day.

  As I dried off and got dressed, I couldn’t stop staring out my window at the fence builders in the distance. Our properties had been aligned for generations. Before Lucia and her family scooped it up, it belonged to the notorious Mr. Nevarro. He was a real rough gangster type that we never had much to do with other than a friendly hello here and there and being cordial to each other at social events. But as a friendly, neighborly gesture he would bring us wines and other illegally imported goods like cigars and rare liquors. There were a few places on his property that he had permitted my cousins and I to venture out to if we were ever bored - a few caves or abandoned mine shafts. Stuff that really gave us a thrill when we were younger and eager to explore, while also escaping our dull, stuffy manor.

  With him gone and our boyish years far behind us, there was no real reason to be against the fence other than what it represented. It would make all the landowners question Lucia’s vendetta against us. And with her being so young, beautiful, and charming, she might very well succeed at turning people against us. I had not tolerated everything that I had in this ridiculous upper-class social circle only to be shunned now. Our reputation was on the line! Mother was so worried about us not forgetting who the Chavez sisters really were and what their place was, that she severely underestimated their ability to impact our place in everything.

  Hours passed with me lost in thought, staring out the window. When I wasn’t obsessing over the fence, I was drowning in the vivid memories of Lucia’s warm, caramel skin and the sight of her long black hair spreading around her as she laid back on the ground and writhed against me, crying out as she came. Her breasts were so full and firm. They would be enough on their own to unravel any man, but throw in the curves of her hips and her round ass...not to mention her plump red lips and dark, glinting eyes. I almost wished I hadn’t had a taste at all. It made me worry that this woman would be the death of me, either from having my fantasies fulfilled or from being denied them.

  I wished I had taken more time with her to really relish in all her body had to offer. But honestly, I was so amazed that she wasn’t beating me off of her and very worried that she’d change her mind at any second. I wanted to soak up as much of her as I could as quickly as I could.

  I wasn’t in the mood to be around anyone else and had lunch in my room. But by sunset, I knew I needed to go down to the formal dining table. If I was too withdrawn, Jorge and Dario would suspect something. And they already seemed skeptical of my ability to handle matters with the fence. The last thing I needed was for them to start prattling off their useless opinions to my mother and getting her all riled up.

  But Dario was absent as I joined the others for dinner. No one seemed to know where he was. Just as well, I thought. All these developments with the Chavez sisters had put him in too good of a mood. I didn’t trust it, and it was nauseating to be around.

  Of course, the moment I got too excited about his absence, he came waltzing in to take a seat across from me.

  “Where have you been, dear?” Mother questioned him as she sipped her wine.

  “I paid a visit to Lucia next door,” he replied bravely. His innocent tone did nothing to divert all of our attention.

  Her knife and fork fell to the glass plate below with a loud clanging sound. “Why on earth would you do that?”

  “I told you to leave it alone. I’ll handle it,” I scowled.

  “Handle what?” Mother’s eyes darted back and forth between us.

  “I didn’t say anything about the fence. I just went by to say a quick hello,” he defended. “We do need to foster a civil acquaintanceship with them.”

  “Well, goodness...we can do that at parties and social events. At least when everyone can actually see our efforts and it does us some good. I don’t see how a private house call helps us any at all. Need I remind all of you that Lucia Chavez and her sister are both unfit matches. I don’t care how much money they have. They come from nothing and always will be nothing, in my book. I expect all of you to stay away from them beyond what is required of us socially!”

  “The fence should help with that,” Jorge mumbled sarcastically.

  “What fence!?” Mother’s voice was growing shrill with frustration now.

  “Just a little fence Lucia is building between our properties to provoke us,” I explained finally. “It’s nothing to worry about. I’ve already told these two...I’ll take care of it.”

  I darkened my eyes at Dario and could see Jorge doing the same. He had been in high spirits lately, but now he had a particular glow to his cheek and a spark to him that was driving me nuts. I didn’t dare call him out in front of my mom, but I had a feeling there was more to his little visit with Lucia than what he was letting on to.

  Nothing bothered me more than when my cousins blatantly disobeyed me. First off, I was the oldest. Second, this was my house that they just came barging into when we were little. If I was going to have to share my parents and everything else with them, the least they could do was respect my superiority. Which had been the way things went mostly. Mother even seemed to approve of the pecking order, especially after my father died. I was the man of the house.

  But now everything seemed to be crumbling. Jorge and Dario were becoming more untrusting of me, and bolder in their ways of showing it. My least favorite servant had become our proclaimed equal and was living right next door. And was also, apparently, the object of my desire now...whether I liked it or not.

  I had grown accustomed to being powerful and in control. I was respected and even a little feared, especially around my cousins. Now the gardeners were finding tricky ways to avert my little tests and pranks, which meant the rest of the staff would soon be doing the same. Lucia’s sudden climb to the top likely rattled enough disease among them already. It wasn’t enough that there were tensions in my family, but now I could foresee my employees turning on me as well. What if I was next in line for a heart attack just like what took out my dear old dad?

  “What’s on your mind, Leonardo?” Mother prodded with a dab of her napkin to her lips. “You seem awfully sullen tonight...and in general, lately.”

  “Nothing,” I protested, knowing I could share any of my thoughts with her.

  She would tell me to stop pouting and to go fix whatever it was like a man. Unfortunately, that’s what I thought I was doing yesterday when I stormed the construction site. But other manly tendencies took over and now things were worse than they were before.

  10

  Lucia

  I marveled at the sight of my mom as she stared out the window of our hacienda. Our new financial status and our new home really had done wonders for her health. Jada had taken on the role as her main caregiver now that Elaina was off living her new life with the Perez brothers. And both seemed accepting of my rol
e in overseeing the construction of the fence. Maybe they suspected my vengeance against the cousins wasn’t nearly finished, but regardless they gave me space to tend to my own matters.

  But an air of worry washed over Mama as she joined us at the table for the decadent lunch Jada had prepared. I reached over and squeezed her hand with a comforting smile.

  “There’s no need for looks like that anymore. Our days of struggling are behind us.”

  “For Elaina, maybe,” she fretted. “But you know it takes more than some land and money to secure our place in this new world. As long as you and Jada are single and living off of our inheritance, we’ll never be equal.”

  Jada’s eyes glinted at me with fear. We both knew it was true, no matter how much we didn’t want it to be. We had spent our lives worrying about making our own money to support our family. Neither of us was too keen on being married off to any of the spoiled rich men around us in this new high society.

  “Give it time, Mama. We’ve only just started mingling and meeting people. Maybe Jada will meet someone and fall in love.”

  “Why me?” Jada whined. “Why don’t you meet someone and fall in love!?”

  “You two act as if marriage is a death sentence,” our mother frowned. “I have failed you both. You know too much about working and money and not enough about the conventions of being a wife and a mother.”

  “That’s not true. I cook,” Jada bragged, tilting her chin in the air over her tea. “I just prefer to share my talents with you two rather than some brute of a man who shovels it all down ungratefully.”

  She looked to me as if to ask what it was I contributed, which made me grateful for the knock at the door. I raced to answer it, but no one was there. Instead, there was a fancy-looking envelope with a red wax seal left on the step. Something in me knew it came from the Valencia cousins. I was too smart to think they’d be inviting us to dinner to make peace. And something so elegant didn’t seem like Leonardo’s style. But perhaps it could have been from Dario, following up on my agreement to see him again.