Tainted Cure (The Rememdium Series Book 1) by Ashley Fontainne Page A

business was all he’d been to her for years.
    Not long after Teresa left the estate, Maria set her sights on snagging Benito. At first, he remained distant, ignoring her brash advances. Maria grew angry and confronted him one night, insisting to know why he found her so undesirable. Benito had laughed, his big, brown eyes lit up from amusement. When he informed her he shied away because he knew one day she’d inherit the business and he didn’t want to be in love with his future boss, Maria solved the problem. She went to her father and told him she had no interest in taking over his business, and handed heirship over to Benito.
    Less than a month later, her father was murdered by Eduardo Juarez, a lower-level urchin responsible for making deliveries. Maria woke up to the sounds of screaming coming from the east wing. Even from her bedroom, she knew the agonizing wails were from her father. She ran to help, yelling for anyone to assist her. When she opened the door to her father’s bedroom, Eduardo stood over the bloody mess that had once been the mighty Mario Alvarado. Dazed and still clutching the knife in his hand, the bastard fainted when Maria started screaming.
    Maria’s yearning to feel Benito’s lips devour her own happened less than two weeks later. She wasn’t stupid. Maria could tell he really didn’t love her the way she loved him. For the first month, she convinced herself she was wrong. Yet the more sadistic and painful their sexual relationship became, Maria knew her worst fears were real. She resigned herself to believe that giving up her body to only one man in exchange for continuing on in the life she was accustomed to, was much better than becoming a used-up whore on the streets of San Salvador. The thought of servicing nameless men full of God-only-knows what type of diseases or sick fantasies made her cringe in disgust.
    So, Maria hatched a plan. She prayed every night to the Virgin Mary. The request was simple and always the same. She wanted to become pregnant soon after marriage and give birth to a boy. That way, her father’s bloodlines and land holdings would continue on for generations. She was the last hope since Teresa was unable to bear children.
    Unwilling to reminisce on tragedies of the past, Maria concentrated on her sister’s upcoming nuptials. Since her measurements had drastically changed, the first item on their agenda was a meeting with the seamstress so Maria’s maid of honor dress would be altered to fit her new curves. Maria thought the dress was a hideous color and design, yet the low neckline would accentuate her cleavage.
    Everything would be perfect if her stomach would stop rumbling. She’d asked the stewardess for water so many times during the flight she’d lost count. Maria didn’t understand why her guts rolled or why she was so damned thirsty. Thirst gave way to hunger during the last ten minutes. She was ravenous, and for some strange reason, craved meat. Raw meat. Gobs and gobs of it. Maria almost laughed out loud at the thought of shoveling the nastiness into her mouth. She was a vegetarian, and had been since she was fifteen, yet when she tried to eat a fresh carrot she’d brought with her, nearly puked.
    Maria was on her period, so she couldn’t be pregnant. Looking around the cabin, Maria wondered if she’d come into contact with someone who had the flu or a cold. Everyone looked healthy, so maybe someone at the airport in San Salvador had been ill. Considering the city was a cesspool of filth and people, it was the most likely place she’d picked up a bug of some sort.
    When the pressure in the cabin changed as the airport came into view, Maria reached up and wiped her face. Heat radiated from her cheeks and forehead. She groaned. A fever meant she truly was coming down with something.
    Brushing the annoying symptoms away, she stared at the beautiful diamond on her finger. Teresa would be so jealous when she saw the enormous rock in person. Twisting