He hit her. He hit her hard, open-handed, across her face, knocking her right out of the chair. Stars burst across her eyes. Pain radiated from her cheek to the top of her skull and down across her jaw. She hit the floor so hard it knocked the wind from her so that she couldn’t get air.

Rafe had often exploded into violence, one moment absolutely cold and controlled and the next, cold and vicious, capable of murder. He was on her so fast she didn’t have time to even roll away from him. He slammed the toe of his shoe into her side, kicking her several times.

Pain blasted through her body. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t rise. Couldn’t get away from the savage attack. It was so fast, so unexpected, all she could do was curl into a ball and try to protect her stomach and ribs. Instinctively, both hands covered her abdomen as her knees drew up for added protection.

He crouched down beside her, gripping her hair and yanking her head toward him. He slapped her three more times, the sound loud, the blows hard. When she managed to look at him, his eyes were all cat, his leopard close.

“You let him fuck you, right here. Right in this room where you cook him meals that should have been mine. Did you think I wouldn’t smell the two of you? You let him touch you. You knew you belonged to me. You had no right allowing him to put his hands on you let alone his dick in you. You allowed his leopard to claim yours. Your leopard belonged to mine. Did you really think for one moment, I’d leave that man alive?” He snarled the questions at her, but his expression didn’t change.

She didn’t move. She didn’t dare. He was too far gone into his world of violence and madness. She reached for air, prayed that Eli had somehow executed his plan and had gotten away from Rafe’s lieutenants.

Rafe reached under the table to find the gun taped there. He pulled it out and showed it to her. “Were you looking for this? Were you planning to shoot me, Catarina?” He slapped her again. Hard. Once, twice. His expression never changed.

She’d seen him deliver this kind of punishment to those who worked for him, but he’d never laid a hand on her. She knew why everyone was so terrified of him. The viciousness when he appeared so remote and cold was worse than any anger he could display.