Note: I was going towait until Monday to post this next chapter, because I'm not sure some of it works. But, since my beta said she was going to try and take a look at it this weekend, I figured I'd post it and then make the changes later if there's something that is too terribly out of place.

Also, part of this chapter is probably too graphic for some readers, so I have cut certain portions out for this posting. It will be posted in its entirety on my site when I'm done posting the complete story here.

Chapter 3

"Diego, come away," Victoria insisted. She stood over the exhausted man as he sat staring at the empty bed. The doctor and Padre Benitez had taken Alejandro's body to be prepared and post the funeral announcement they had spoken with Diego about earlier. "You need rest. You've not slept in days."

Diego turned tired, tear-filled eyes on the woman he loved but said nothing.

"You need sleep," she said sharply. "Just a few hours. The service is this evening. You have time. "

Diego dropped his head into his hands. "He is lost to me now. All because of some foolish thought that I could do some good for the people of this oppressed pueblo!"

"No, Diego," Victoria rested a hand on his tense arm. "You've saved countless lives."

"And ended the one that meant the most to me," Diego's eyes bored into hers as he turned and stared at her. "I deserve this pain."

She grabbed his arms when he turned away. "Your father would not have wanted you to give up Zorro's crusade because of the possibility he may be injured as a result. I took a shot for Zorro once, and I would do so without hesitation again!" After a few moments of silence, when he didn't respond, she continued, "There are people who need you now. I need you. Felipe needs you." her eyes softened and her next words were far softer. "For the first time in your life, think about yourself, your health and your safety."

"Those who need me end up dying because of my mistakes," Diego said, the fire in his eyes dying to a smoldering flame as he thought about her words.

"Zorro's work has never been a mistake."

"I was careless, cocky, overconfident and it cost my father his life."

"No. Ignacio de Soto's relentless oppression of this pueblo cost your father his life."

He offered no resistance and said nothing when Victoria simply took his hand and led him down the hall to his own bedroom.

At the entrance to his room, she stopped and crossed her arms expectantly. She wasn't moving from the room until she saw him slip beneath the covers and succumb to at least a few hours sleep. The funeral was not until the evening and she wanted Diego to be as well rested as possible or, she feared, he may do something that he would later regret.

"I can't," he stared at the bed and then at the door.

Victoria frowned, moved to the door and bolted it shut. "Two hours, Diego. Please."

Since the day his father was shot, Diego had felt his life spinning out of control. Everyone needed him; His strength, his instruction, his leadership. He'd always had the ability to control the outcome of events, as Zorro, and even to some extent as Diego. But now, even though it was the woman he loved telling him to relinquish what remained left in his life to control, he reacted poorly to her demand.

Though he loved the woman before him with all his heart, had pledged his body and soul to her in marriage, he simply refused to give up those last tattered shreds of his control.

His eyes flashed angrily. "My father is dead and you would confine me to bed?"

For the first time, the anger and pain in his eyes scared her. When he backed her up against the door, her heart thudded so sharply against her chest that she knew her body radiated the fear she felt.

She reached a trembling hand toward him, sliding it along his jaw to cup his cheek. "Diego. Please."

He blinked rapidly, his anger melting into humiliating shame. "Dios," he backed away immediately, "I'm sorry." He turned from her, shaking.

Victoria's momentary fear melted away and she wrapped her arms around him from behind, assuring with that simple gesture that all was right between them.

He turned within the circle of her arms and embraced her so tightly, she squealed in surprise.

"I'm so sorry." His eyes, full of remorse, bore into her very soul. He peppered tiny kisses along her forehead, eyes, cheek, and neck, clearly ashamed at his behavior. He clung desperately to her, determined to show her with actions as much as with words how sorry he was. But when their lips met, some thread of tightly reined control snapped and his mouth devoured hers in a breathless kiss that shook them to their very core.

Their lips didn't part until he lowered her gently onto his bed and trailed a line of moist, heated kisses down her neck. He didn't stop to contemplate exactly how she had ended up in his arms or lying beneath him on his bed. His conscious mind only registered that she was here, she was willing, and he wanted her.

Heated emotion born of heartache and guilt propelled him to take liberties he would not have normally taken – even with a woman that was now his wife.

Her breathless moans as his hands found and caressed every bare inch of her skin compelled him to slip those hands beneath her blouse to fondle very sensitive breasts.

With reckless abandon he kissed her, gentle, yet determined hands working to remove first her blouse and then her skirt. Soon, she lay beneath him as naked as the day she was born and his eyes hungrily drank in the beautifully delectable sight.

Desperate to forget the pain of his father's death, he clutched Victoria to his chest, delighting in the feel of her soft, willing body beneath him.

Conscious only of his own needs, he used her body to assuage his grief. All too soon, he cried out against her lips as the release he so desperately craved tore through his body.

He collapsed into her arms, his body trembling. After a few moments, Victoria could feel his shameful tears and she closed her eyes against her own.

Sense returned to his mind in a rush and he lifted his head, lips parted in astonished shame, "Oh Dios, Victoria! Why didn't you stop me!" Remembering her body tense and her soft cry as he took her echoed relentlessly in his ears. But he hadn't stopped long enough to see to it that her body became accustomed to his intrusion. He had simply pressed on taking without giving a single thing back.

A small smile spread across her face and into her eyes, "I didn't want to." A small hand trailed down his cheek.

He shook his head, resolutely straining to regain complete control of his trembling body. When he closed his eyes yet again only the feel of her small hand cupping his cheek drew him out of the shameful depression gripping his mind.

"Diego – look at me," she implored, eyes tender.

Unable to deny her anything, especially now, he slowly gazed down at her flushed cheeks. Her inviting smile and her bright eyes drew him in and he became lost within the circle of her loving embrace.

She twisted a lock of dark hair around her finger and pulled his head close, "I love you and if I've been able to give you some pleasure during this painful time – Make you forget, if even for a few moments –"

A look of pure horror crossed his face at the thought of her giving herself to him only out of pity.

He quickly slid off her, uncaring at his nakedness, and backed away. "Oh my God," he whispered, shaking his head in disbelief at the very thought of her so casually throwing away her sweet innocence simply because she pitied him.

She sat up and his eyes widened at the sight of the redness staining her thighs. Overwhelming guilt at what he had just done caused him to groan in denial and he covered his face with his hands and sank slowly to the floor.

It took a split second for her to realize what he was so horrified about and she hurried to correct that very wrong assumption.

"Diego!" Victoria launched herself out of bed. "No, No!" When she knelt beside him, she reached for him but he shrank away from her touch. "Oh, Dios mio. No. Look at me." She slid her hand beneath his chin and pulled his head up.
He dropped his eyes, unable to meet her gaze.

"Don't make me slap you to get your attention," Victoria said a bit too harshly and winced at the tone. But she had to make him understand.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, tears slipping unbidden from beneath his closed eyelids.

She covered his hands with her own and brought them to her lips. "I didn't do this out of pity, Diego! Do you think I could do such a thing? Even for you?"

A moment of silence passed before he lifted his eyes to hers. "Then why did you?" He asked softly.

Victoria slid a hand into his hair and down his cheek. "Because I wanted the same thing you did. To be loved and feel loved, to escape the pain for just a few moments, to forget that a man I love, a man who has been so like a father to me, died today."

The reminder of his father's death caused a sob to escape his throat and Victoria embraced him wordlessly.

"I shouldn't have taken you like that. It wasn't right. It –"

"It was what we both needed, Diego. I have no regrets," she leaned against him and he instinctively opened his arms. Straddling him, she settled into his lap and embraced him tightly.

Without further words, he crushed her to him, embracing her so tightly she thought he would squeeze the breath right out of her. They sat on the floor for a very long time, naked as they day they were born, simply holding one another, taking what comfort they could in this time of overwhelming grief.

Funeral arrangements were made for later that evening.

Victoria sat beside Diego, her hand firmly placed in his throughout the entire ceremony. When tradition dictate he move, or stand, she was beside him, her hand always touching his.

Such closeness drew some very strange looks, but no one dared speak. The entire pueblo knew how close the de la Vega family was and no one was willing to upset Diego any further by mention of propriety. Neither Diego, nor Victoria thought to inform any of them that they were already married.

The church was filled and overflowing with people. Friends and acquaintances alike came to pay their respects and Diego took their condolences with a forced smile and nod of appreciation.

Even the alcalde had come, but wisely chose to remain in the back of the church, so as not to stand out too noticeably. He was fearful not only of the retribution Zorro may take because of Alejandro's death, but of what a letter to the King of Spain, as Diego had threatened, would do to his career.

As the ceremony ended, Diego passed de Soto without a look and entered the carriage, Felipe and Victoria at his side the entire time.

A much smaller burial ceremony would be taking place in the privacy of de la Vega garden. A few close friends and the de la Vega staff were the only ones invited.

Mendoza had been one of those lucky few invited to the intensely private ceremony. The padre spoke softly, of love and sacrifice, secretly hoping that his words would sink into the tortured, guilty heart of Alejandro's only son.

As the wooden casket was settled it into its final resting place, beside his mother, sister and brother, Diego bent slowly and gripped a handful of dirt. Bringing his closed hand to his lips, he kissed it before tossing it atop the casket.

A vaquero held one shovel and offered it to each person in turn to repeat what Diego had done with his bare hand. Everyone participated, honoring the man that they had loved as a friend and father.

Once everyone had said their farewells, and the casket was completely buried, Diego sank to his knees. The padre stepped away and closed the gate into the private garden, leaving Alejandro's family alone to say one final goodbye.

Victoria, not caring about her clothing, knelt beside Diego, and clutched his hand. Large tears fell from her eyes onto the freshly dug sand, mingling with his. Even through his own grief, Diego looked up and beckoned to Felipe, who was crying silently behind them. The boy took Diego's hand and in that moment, he truly felt accepted as a part of the family.

That evening, Victoria lay in Diego's arms, unable to sleep. Her head was pillowed in the crook of his arm, her hand resting on his bare chest.

"Please promise me, Diego, that you won't take revenge." Her fingers traced the muscled planes of his chest. Everything had happened so quickly in the last twenty-four hours but Victoria was concerned that her husband would do something rash. She couldn't bear for him to be taken from her too.

When he didn't answer, her fingers brushed across one nipple, and then the other, drawing a long, breathy sigh from his lips.

"You know that you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you took matters into your own hands." Victoria turned her head and pressed her lips to his chest. She could only hope that the rational part of his mind would outweigh the part that demanded retribution.

His body was tense and she could feel it.

"I can't just sit idly by and –" He gasped when her mouth covered his nipple and began to suck softly.

He threaded long fingers through her dark hair and tugged gently. "Victoria –"

"Promise me," she murmured against his chest.

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

She mouthed the words again and he acquiesced – partly. "I promise I will not kill him."

She accepted his words, for now, but they would talk more about it later.

The next day, Diego sat at his father's desk, writing a very lengthy and detailed letter. He'd just finished and affixed the waxed de la Vega seal when Victoria stopped at his side, glancing down at the determined, hard look in Diego's eyes.

"Do I want to ask what that says?"

"You can ask," he answered cryptically.

She slid her hands to his shoulders and began rubbing gently. "I don't need to ask, Diego. I was there when you threatened the alcalde with a letter to the King."

"Ah, yes," Diego closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her tender hands.

After a few moments of silence, Diego opened his eyes and turned the chair to face her. She didn't resist as he rested his hands on her hips. "Whether by Zorro's hand, or by my own, Ignacio de Soto is not long for this pueblo."

Victoria inhaled sharply, afraid to ask what he meant. But she need not have wondered because he told her anyway.

"Zorro delivered a letter to the alcalde that stated in no uncertain terms that if the man set one toe out of line, and Zorro had to appear to set it right, it would be the last day he would draw breath."

Victoria nodded. She knew something like that was coming. She failed to question just when Diego had had time to deliver this letter. He'd spent all evening in her arms, or so she thought. She'd ask him later. "And the letter to the King?"

"Is simply to inform him of what has been happening here. To advise of a family member's death and the cause of that death and to let him know I will be waiting for a reply to my – grievances."

"I know that look, Diego," Victoria said with narrowed eyes. "What else have you failed to mention?"

Diego shrugged, "Oh, only that if I don't hear from the King within a specified period of time, I will be contacting my family's lawyer to press charges against the crown's appointed government official." He leveled a stern gaze at her. "The death of a member of the royal family, no matter how distant that relation, and by a court appointed official no less, is not the kind of press the King needs at this time. Not with a revolution threatening to take hold in the colonies."

Victoria gaped at him. "You're manipulating him into removing de Soto from office."

"The King of Spain is manipulated by his governors and his officials on a daily basis," Diego stood and kissed her cheek, "I hardly think he will care one way or another to be so used by a member of his own family." He offered her a squeeze of the hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a rider waiting outside to hand deliver this."

She stared after him, unsure whether she should be proud of the man she loved or afraid of his shrewd ability to manipulate another so easily.

TBC

Trollie – I expected that reaction. But two posts from you on one chapter, I feel honored….What more could I do to be evil? Well, I could have Diego kill de Soto in cold blood and have him arrested and hung by the magistrate . . . Could have the de la Vega lands taken away…. There are many things I could do to be even more mean, but, well, who knows, maybe I will! This story is a huge departure for me. I don't usually like to kill main characters, but it worked so much better for the story.

CW – I wrote it both ways and the story just flowed so much better if he died, so I stuck with this version. It's far more realistic and I wanted to go with that. Plus, if gave me a bit more flexibility with the characters.

Gizmama – well, at least you didn't call me mean! Thanks for the review:) Glad you're liking the story even though it's a sad one.

WolfDaughter – de Soto gets what he deserves - in a way. This story is really more about how Diego deals with the death of his father and his reactions to those close to him – as you'll see how he treats Victoria in this chapter. Grief can be a powerful thing.

Smithcrafter – That's exactly what I was looking for when writing this story. Something new and somewhat original. Some kind of twist people aren't expecting. I wrote it both ways, and then the other way just stalled when I was writing so I moved to this version and it nearly wrote itself – so I kept it.

FishDK – thanks for the comments. I wanted a bit more realism and I wanted a story with a bit of shock value.

Beverly – Well, I don't want the readers to get too used to happy endings. Not every story has one :)