Chapter 1 In The Beginning

Manfred Valderrama POV

“Thank you for coming with me today.” Tamara smiles warmly as we step out of the private hospital, and walk toward the car I had sent to pick her up this morning. “Here, you can keep this one.”

She hands me one of the black and white photographs the sonographer printed out for us, and when I look down at the grainy image in my hand, I can’t help smiling at it.

A Valderrama heir, a chance for me to do things so differently. This was not the way I planned on becoming a father, but fate had other plans, and who the fuck am I to argue with fate?

“I’ll have my driver take you home.” I look into the pretty, hazel eyes of the woman, who will bring my child into the world, and wonder if I’ll ever be able to love her. Tamara is attractive and kind, she knows how to satisfy a man, which is exactly what got us into this situation. But will it be enough? It will have to be. I wasn’t raised among love, my mother never really paid me much attention as a child. I was brought up by housemaids and nannies, most of who my father would end up fucking and my mother would then fire. For that reason, I always planned to commit myself to one woman. I guess it all just happened a lot faster than I expected.

“Are we still having dinner on Friday night?”

Tamara looks up at me with a hopeful smile. It’s not often we spend time with just the two of us. We’ve only ever hooked up after parties, but now all that is going to change. I will give our child stability. If we have a son I will teach him how to respect, and if we have a daughter she will know how to be respected.

“Of course, I shall have Clemente pick you up at seven,” I assure her.

“And it will be just the two of us?” she checks.

“Three,” I remind her, sliding my hand over her flat stomach, unable to keep the smile off my face.

“How could I forget?” She giggles before reaching up on her toes to place an awkward kiss on my cheek.

“We’ll see you Friday then,” she tells me.

I watch her move toward the car she came in, and when one of my new drivers goes to open the door for her, a thought comes to mind when I look down at the picture in my hand. “You should take my car, you have a longer journey and it’s far more comfortable.”

I move over to my own car and open the back passenger door, for her, myself. Clemente has been my driver since I was twelve years old, I trust him with my life, and now he will be trusted with the life of my child.

“Honestly, Manfred, there’s no nee–”

“I insist. Clemente, get Miss Tamara home, safely. Remember, you have precious cargo on board,”

I order my driver, who nods at me efficiently as he gets behind the wheel. Once she’s inside, and I’ve closed the door for her, she waves as he pulls into the heavy city traffic. I can tell by my best friend's face that he disagrees with what I’m doing, he’s been on edge all morning and he looks even more worried now that he can see the evidence in my hands.

“Speak your mind,” I call out to him.

“I already have…Did you ask her to move into the house, yet?” Daniel moves to stand beside me as we watch them drive away.

“Not yet. I don’t want to push her, getting her to keep the child was enough for now. I’ll gradually work towards the next step.”

“Do you ever wonder if, maybe, she did it on purpose?”

His next question has me moving fast, gripping my best friend by his throat and pressing him into the side of the car. “Why would she do that? Her father is one of the richest men I know. She could have any man she wants. What reason would she have to tie herself to me?”

My eyes narrow on him as I wait for his answer. “Some women are attracted to power, and you, my friend, have a lot of it.”

“I know where the mistake was made, and it was a lack of control on my part. The outcome is a gift, not a burden.”

Slowly I release him, keeping the snarl on my lips. A loud bang suddenly echoes through the tall buildings that tower around us. Pulling my attention away from Daniel so I can look up the street in the direction that it came from. What I see there is pure chaos. Thick, black smoke bellows in the air. People are on the floor crawling to safety, trying to get away from the car that's burst into flames. A car that belongs to me…

When Tamara first told me she was pregnant with my child, I wasn’t happy. I’d always known I would need to make a family someday but I was nowhere near ready. More importantly, I wanted to choose the woman I made one with. Tamara was a nice enough girl to fuck, we had our fun, but I didn’t want to marry her. It had taken me some time to come to terms with it, I started to appreciate what she would be giving me, and in return, I wanted to give her a happy life. I would have tried to love her.

ONE YEAR LATER

Manfred Valderrama POV

“I really don’t think this is a good idea.” Daniel Montoya struggles to keep up with me as I march down the narrow, underground corridor. “She’s Steven Villafuerte’s daughter,” he points out as if that isn’t the whole reason why the girl, I have in my basement, is here.

I stop when I get to the door and turn around. “I’m very fucking aware of that.” I stare my best friend right in the eye. He always was far too hesitant. “I’m just asking you to think about this, she doesn’t know who’s taken her yet, she hasn’t seen anybody’s face. We could return her and no one would be any wiser.”

“Return her?” I scoff a laugh at him. “The little bitch belongs to me now. He took from me, and now, I take from him,” I put it simply. I’ve spent a long time coming up with this plan. I will not back out now when my vengeance is so close.

“I’m not going to stand by and watch you kill an innocent girl, Manfred, that’s not what you’re about.”

I smile because he almost sounds like he’s trying to threaten me. “You think I want to kill her?” I laugh again.

Daniel has been my friend for as long as I can remember, I expected him to know me better than that.

“Then what is she here for? Why did you have your men travel across the country to bring her here?”

“Because she will give me what her father denied me. I’m going to fuck the next Vaderrama heir into her womb, and end this feud once and for all.”

Daniel’s eyes widen and when he takes a step back, the look on his face suggests he’s judging my sanity. “Manfred, I think I preferred the plan where you kill her. You can’t force her to carry your child. She’s practically a fucking princess!”

“There is no royalty in our world, anymore. We are all just men fighting for power. My family has always had a strong bloodline, but I will make it stronger.”

“You think this is going to result in an alliance with the Villafuerte’s? Manfred, the man wants you dead. The bomb that blew up your car, and killed Tamara, was meant for you.” His reminder has me balling up my fists. “I don’t want an alliance. I want justice.”

“Manfred.” Daniel grabs my hand when I take the handle of the door. “You’ve always been a ruthless bastard when it came to getting what you want, but you've always respected women. This isn’t you.”

“This is me, now.” I shove him away.

“This is going to cause a war.”

“I’m counting on it.” I smile back at him over my shoulder before opening the door. Not even his final attempt to talk me out of this will cause me to hesitate. Though, seeing her in the flesh for the first time, has me standing still. Villafuerte’s daughter has been stripped to her underwear, on my orders.

She stands blindfolded, with her mouth gagged, and her neck chained to my basement wall by a metal collar. I have to confess it’s a beautiful sight to behold. I already knew the girl was pretty, from the pictures I have seen, but what I’m seeing displayed in front of me now, is quite exquisite. Her legs are long and look as if they’ve been kissed by the sun. Her stomach is flat and toned, but it won’t be staying that way for long. I plan for her to be carrying my child as soon as possible. Licking my lips, I raise my eyes over her tits and I admire the way they spill, ever so slightly, over the top of her bra. I take my time as I approach her, admiring the way she holds her breath to brace herself when she senses me getting close. It makes me wonder if this pretty, little ‘princess’ has even been touched by a man before.

She hitches her breath, again, when I’m standing in front of her, and as my nose slides up her cheek, absorbing her scent, she keeps hold of that breath as her body shivers. I want to touch her with my lips to see how she tastes, but more than that I want her to feel fear. Pulling slightly back, I slowly raise the blindfold over her head and watch her eyes adjust to the dim light. They fix straight onto mine and, like a deer in the headlights, she doesn’t blink, just stares at the threat and waits for it to strike. My finger slides over her cheek before I hook it into the fabric that’s tied around her mouth and drag it under her chin.

“Speak your name.” I grasp her jaw in my hand, forcing her to look up at me. Her eyes lose all that bewilderment, narrowing at me like she’s casting some kind of curse.

“You know my fucking name.” When she talks back to me, my fingers automatically squeeze tighter, puckering her thick, juicy lips together.

“I didn’t ask you what your name was I told you to fucking speak it!”

XXX