CHAPTER 1

Little Princess

Emilia

Exhausted from back-to-back work meetings, I enter my penthouse expecting silence. Instead, I catch the low rumble of my husband’s voice drifting from Gabriela’s nursery. His commanding tone that makes men fall in line has transformed into something else entirely.

I pause in the hallway, my heart swelling as I listen to the fierce man who rules our world with ruthless authority speaking to our three-month-old daughter about her legacy.

“You’re going to be as strong as your mother,” he tells her. “A Sanchez-Torres woman who commands respect wherever she goes.” He pauses, and I hear the determination in his voice when he adds, “But you’ll never have to fight your battles alone. I will always be here to protect you.”

Moving silently to the doorway, I watch as Javier cradles Gabriela against his chest. His massive frame, hardened by years of running the cartel, makes her look impossibly small. Yet there’s no mistaking who holds the real power here. Our tiny daughter has completely conquered this feared man.

She grips his finger with her entire hand as he speaks. The contrast between the ruthless cartel boss and the tender father before me sends warmth flooding through my chest.

“The entire world will bow to you, princesa,” he murmurs. “But you will bow to no one.”

Gabriela starts to fuss, her little face scrunching up in that way that usually precedes full-blown tears. Before I can step in, Javier shifts her position and reaches for her blanket.

“I know,” he soothes. “You’re cold. Just like your mother—always stealing my body heat.” He wraps her securely, and her fussing stops immediately. Three months in, and he already reads her better than anyone. Better than me most of the time.

“Such a natural,” I say, finally making my presence known.

His eyes find mine and the way he looks at me makes my pulse race just as much today as it did the first time I saw him. “My wife finally returns.” His gaze sweeps over my body with a heat that sends shivers down my spine, even while holding our daughter. “Perfect timing. She’s been waiting for you.”

I cross to them, drinking in the sight of my powerful husband cradling our baby girl. “Has she now?”

“Mmm.” He shifts Gabriela so I can see her face. “Tell your mother about the rules we discussed, princesa. About how you’re not dating until you’re thirty. Better yet, forty.”

I laugh. “Forty? You can’t be serious.”

His jaw sets in that stubborn way I know too well. “I’m completely serious. The world is full of men who aren’t worthy of her.”

“Like you weren’t worthy of me?” I watch as Gabriela yawns, impressed at my husband’s ability to get our daughter to sleep. I don’t have the same skill. She often fights me over sleeping.

“That was different.” His arm slides around my waist, pulling me against him. “I earned you.”

“Did you now?”

“Every fucking day, mi reina.” His eyes darken. “And I continue to earn you.”

“Language,” I chide, but my body’s already responding to his tone.

“She’s too young to understand,” he says, but his voice softens anyway as he looks down at Gabriela. “Just like she’s too young to understand that her father will destroy anyone who dares to hurt her.”

“Javier.”

“It’s the truth.” His hold on me tightens. “I protect what’s mine.” He presses a kiss to Gabriela’s forehead. “And you, princesa, are mine to protect. No man will ever be good enough for you.”

His eyes meet mine, filled with an emotion that still staggers me sometimes. “I’ve increased her security.”

“She’s three months old, Javier.”

He looks down at our now sleeping daughter. “I’m not taking any chances where her safety is concerned.”

He places her gently in her crib, his massive hands impossibly gentle. When he straightens and turns to me, the tenderness in his eyes has been replaced by something darker. More primal. “Come here, dulzura.”

The term of endearment shoots need straight through me. He uses it less these days, saving it for moments when he wants to remind me of our beginning, of the passion that’s always burned between us.

I go to him without hesitation, and his arms wrap around me, pulling me hard against him. “I missed you today,” he says, his voice dropping to that gravelly tone that never fails to draw me in. Not even when he’s being an asshole and I’m trying to stand my ground.

“I had meetings.”

“I’m aware.” His hands slide down to my hips. “I don’t like it when meetings keep you from me.”

“I’m aware.” I give him back his words, my tone laced with rebellion.

“And yet you still refuse to give up your work.”

“We both know that was never going to happen.” I stand my ground with stubbornness, and a little bit of attitude thrown into the mix. “Just like we both know it will never happen. I’m unsure why my husband still brings it up all these years after he married me knowing exactly who I am and what I won’t stand for.” I’m not only referencing this conversation but also one we had earlier today in which he tried to boss me into canceling a business lunch today. When I refused, he ordered I take extra security with me, causing an argument between us.

His fingers dig into my flesh. “You’re in a mood today.”

“You love my moods.”

“I love everything about you.” His mouth brushes my neck. “Especially your defiance.”

Gabriela stirs in her crib, and we both turn to her, waiting to see if she’ll settle.

When she does, Javier growls softly against my ear. “Let’s continue this in our room. I need you. Now.”

I smile up at him. “So demanding.”

“Always.” He cups my face, his eyes intense. “You bring it out in me.”

I take his hand and lead him from the nursery, pausing to look back at our sleeping daughter. She is the perfect blend of us both—his strength and my spirit. Heaven help the world when she’s grown.

Heaven help her father most of all.

The second our bedroom door closes, Javier has me against it, his muscular body caging me in. His eyes darken with that predatory look I know so well—the one that says I’m in for a night of exquisite torture.

“You’ve been challenging me all day, dulzura,” he growls, one hand gripping my hip while the other slides into my hair.

I press my body into his, craving more contact. “Someone has to keep you in line.”

His fingers tighten in my hair as he yanks my head back, exposing my throat to his hungry mouth. “I’m always in line.” His lips brush my skin. “Unlike my defiant wife.”

“Your defiant wife who you love,” I remind him, my breath catching as his teeth graze that sensitive spot below my ear.

“My defiant wife who I’m going to remind exactly who’s in charge.” His hand leaves my hip to grip my ass, pulling me harder against him. “Even if it takes all night.”

I run my nails down his chest, loving how his muscles tense under my touch. “Promises, promises.”

He captures my wrists in one hand, pinning them above my head. “When have I ever failed to deliver on a promise?” His free hand glides down my side, setting my nerve endings on fire. “Tell me, mi reina. When?”

“Never,” I breathe, arching into his touch.

“Never,” he agrees. “And I won’t start now.”

His lips claim mine in a kiss that’s pure possession, as do his hands, and we lose ourselves in each other for the longest time.

Lips.

Tongues.

Hands.

Bodies.

The kind of lust and love all rolled into one that reminds me why I’ll never want another man. Why I’ll never need another man. Javier owns every part of me, just as I own every part of him.

When the kiss ends, I find his gaze. “Before you show me who’s in charge, we need to agree that you’re really not the boss in this relationship.”

His eyes flash with both heat and frustration. “Four years of marriage and you still fight me at every turn.”

“Four years of marriage and you still think you can control me.” I hold his gaze with the defiance he claims to love so much. “When will you learn?”

“When will you learn?” His thumb traces my bottom lip. “That I’ll never stop trying.”

I nip his thumb, drawing a growl from deep in his chest. “Never, I hope.”

“You drive me fucking crazy,” he says, voice rough with emotion. “Do you know that?”

“I do.” My hands find their way under his shirt, desperate to feel his skin. “Just like you drive me crazy with your orders and demands.”

He catches my hands, bringing them back above my head. “My orders keep you safe.”

“Your orders make you feel in control.” I grind against him, loving the affect I have on him. “There’s a difference.”

“With you, there isn’t.” His mouth finds my ear. “Your safety is my control. I can’t have one without the other.”

The raw honesty in his voice hits me in the chest. This merciless, dangerous man has only one true weakness—his family. Me. Our daughter. The things he can’t control no matter how hard he tries.

“I know,” I whisper, softening a little. “But you need to trust that I can keep myself safe too.”

His hold on me tightens. “Like today? When you argued with me over extra security for your meeting?”

“It was a lunch meeting in a public restaurant.”

“With a man I don’t trust.”

I pull back enough to meet his eyes. “Bob is a business associate. Nothing more.”

“He wants more.” Javier’s jaw clenches. “I see how he looks at you.”

“And I see how you look at him—like you want to put a bullet through his head.” I bring my hand to his face, mapping the hard line of his jaw. “But you won’t. Because you trust me.”

“I trust you.” His eyes darken. “It’s everyone else I don’t trust.”

I press a kiss to his throat. “Bob isn’t a threat, mi amor. To me or to us.”

He inhales sharply at the endearment—one I rarely use, saving it for moments like this when I need to reach past his walls. “You’re mine,” he growls, but there’s a vulnerability there that few would recognize.

“Always.” I pour every ounce of truth into that word. “Just like you’re mine.”

His mouth crashes down onto mine, claiming, possessing, marking me as his. But beneath the dominance, I feel his need—the desperate desire to keep what’s his safe, protected, loved.

When he finally pulls back, we’re both breathing hard. “Stay home tomorrow,” he says, but it’s more request than demand.

“Javier—”

“Please.” The word falls between us like a rare gift. My ruthless husband, who commands armies with a look, asking instead of ordering.

I study his face, reading the tension there. “What aren’t you telling me?”

His thumb glides over my cheekbone. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

“That’s not how this works.” I hold his gaze. “Not anymore. Not after everything we’ve been through.”

He works his jaw, clearly warring with himself. Finally, he says, “There was a threat.”

Ice slides down my spine. “Against who?”

“The family.” His eyes darken. “But they specifically mentioned you and Gabriela.”

Understanding floods me. His increased security around our daughter. His insistence about my lunch meeting. The tension I’ve sensed in him all day.

I grip his shirt tightly, the ice now racing through my veins in the way it does whenever I’m aware of a threat. “You said there was a threat. Has it passed?”

“Yes. I handled it.”

My relief is instant. When Javier handles a threat, it never resurfaces. Others will come, but for now, we are safe.

“It’s why I wanted you to cancel your lunch,” he adds.

I process this information. “That’s why you’ve been especially controlling today.”

“I will never apologize for protecting what’s mine.”

“I don’t expect you to.” I keep my hands on him. “But next time, tell me. I can handle the truth, and I can help you deal with threats.”

“Your fearlessness is one of the things I love most about you, but I will never allow you to help me deal with threats,” he says in the decisive way that tells me I have no hope of changing his mind on this. “You’re the woman who owns my heart, Emilia. The mother of my daughter. I will burn the world down to keep you both safe.”

“I know.” And I do. My husband’s love is as intense as his rage. As all-consuming as his need for control. “Just like I’d burn it down to keep you safe.”

That brings a smile to his lips. “My fierce queen.”

“Always.” I press closer, craving the heat of his body. “Now, are you going to keep talking, or are you going to remind me why I put up with your bossy ways?”

He lifts a brow. “Bossy?”

“Controlling. Demanding. Frustrating.” I trail kisses up his throat. “Take your pick.”

His hands fist in my hair, pulling my head back as his eyes blaze with fire. “I’ll show you bossy.”