MY EYES ARE closed but the small girl hums a sweet song from a Disney movie as she unpeels her Band-Aids and places them on my face. One by one. The birds chirp and a small breeze blows, but I’m too weak to open my eyes. Her hair must be long because it brushes against my arm. I’m numb. So numb. My mother is going to be so upset with me. That is, if I make it out of here alive. I’d gone into this dumb mission of mine a few months before my eighteenth birthday, thinking I’d steal the coke and make a quick sale to get her some medications she could take to make her feel better.
And now…
Now I’m screwed.
Camilo, our country’s biggest cartel leader, has all but gutted me. And if it weren’t for this little girl, he would have succeeded.
With each passing second, I grow weaker. I never had any siblings, but I know that I would feel protective over them. Especially a little sister. This little girl—who can’t be very old, based on the sound of her voice—is someone I will protect.
She continues humming, and I latch on to the sound of it.
Maybe I’m already dead. Maybe this is heaven. Maybe she’s an angel.
The warm breath has her hair tickling my arm again. I suppose there are worse ways to die and worse places to end up. If I had to spend the rest of eternity in this moment, I could.
I’m at peace.
“Fuuuuck,” I wake with a hiss and squint against a bright light. “What the fuck?” Pain throbs from my chest, and I’m disoriented. Am I almost eighteen again? Am I bleeding out on the grass?
“Diego,” a familiar voice chokes out.
Is that my mother?
“I was so worried you wouldn’t come to!”
I blink my eyes open, and Tatiana comes into focus. The fog dissipates and everything comes back to me like a ton of crushing bricks.
“Vienna,” I snarl, ignoring the biting pain in my chest. “Where is Vienna?”
Jorge stalks over to the bedside. “She’s with them. I watched her climb into the car with the youngest Rojas brother.”
I scrub at my face but it pulls at my chest. When I look down, I can see I’m sporting fresh new stitches from where Vienna stabbed me. “What did you give me?” I demand.
Tatiana holds up her hand in protest. “Nothing, just like you requested. However, you drank too much alcohol before this, which was not what I requested. It made your blood thinner, so you bled more. You’re lightheaded from the blood loss but you’ll be okay with rest.”
“Rest?!” I hiss as I sit up. A blanket has been thrown over my waist but my cock is still sticky from being inside my wife recently. “How much time has passed?”
Jorge holds up his phone to show a tracker. “Almost two hours.”
“Why didn’t you fucking wake me up sooner?” I snarl and sling the sheet away, uncaring if they see my fucking cock. Tatiana reaches for me when I stumble, but I swat her away. “I’m fine. I need clothes and some goddamned coffee. And I need us to leave in the next five minutes.”
I walk past Jorge and head toward my bedroom. Blindly, I grab a pair of holey jeans and a white T-shirt. Then, I throw on some socks and a pair of boots. Once I’m dressed, I storm into my office, feeling much clearer in the head. My chest hurts like a motherfucker, but I’ve received and lived through worse stab wounds.
“Where are they headed?”
“West. They haven’t stopped,” Jorge tells me. He begins checking his weapons.
I locate my Glock and holster. The movement is painful, but I finally get it strapped to my back under my shirt. My favorite knife gets hooked to my belt, and I snag my cigar from the ashtray. Once it’s ready and lit, I inhale a plume of smoke and motion for the door.
“Let’s go,” I order, the cigar wiggling between my teeth.
He follows me out and Tatiana meets me in the hall. Her medical bag is on one shoulder and she holds a thermos in her hand.
“You shouldn’t be smoking, Diego.” When I glower at her, she quickly continues. “Coffee. And I have food in my bag for you to eat along the way.” She lifts her chin bravely. “I’m coming with you.”
I shake my head as I storm past her. “Fuck no.”
“Diego! Yes!” she hollers after me. “You’re not well, and I need to make sure you remain okay. And what if…” she trails off. “I need to be there for Vee.”
I freeze at her words. She’s right. Vienna and I discussed this at great lengths. I was sickened as she detailed out every single thing Esteban and Oscar had ever done to her. There was more of the same where they were concerned. We both knew this going into our plan. If she hadn’t been so goddamned adamant, I’d have told her the fuck with her plan.
But my scarlet-headed vixen?
Nobody tells mi diablita no.
Not even me.
You let her wreak her havoc.
She’s a storm and a hell-raiser.
And I have her back, which is why we need to get the hell on the road.
“Let’s go,” I bark out. “I want more men on this with us.”
Jorge nods and pulls out his cell to make his orders. As we climb into Jorge’s SUV, I notice several of my men emerge from the tree line, assault rifles in hand.
“They’re right behind us,” he assures me as we tear off down the driveway.
I set my cigar down in the ashtray and regard my right-hand man. “Where do you think they’re going?” I ask and twist my wedding ring around my finger.
Jorge scrubs his face. “I don’t fucking know.”
I pull out my phone and call my little American friend. She answers on the first ring.
“Is Vee okay?” she blurts out in greeting.
“She will be if you continue to uphold your end of the deal, cariño,” I grumble. Getting her to help me was like pulling fucking teeth. Eventually, she pulled the strings I needed her to because a deal is a deal and, like me, she’s not one to break her word. “Is your boyfriend’s dad still tracking the earrings?”
She swallows loudly into the phone. “He is. We’re watching it on the monitor now. It’s moving in the same direction as the phone. Oscar and Vee are together.” She lets out a teary sob. “How could he do this to her?”
I don’t remind her that he’s a fucking Rojas. He’s not my friend. Oscar is the scum on the bottom of my shoe. “It doesn’t matter,” I snap. “He did it. He’s probably still fucking doing it. I want you to call me if anything changes on the GPS location of either trace.”
“Of course,” she breathes. “Diego…bring my friend back home. I can tell you care about her. It surprises me that you care about anyone but yourself, but apparently you do. You looked after and protected me. I know you’ll do the same for her. Thank you.”
My chest tightens. A year ago, I’d have laughed if someone would have told me I’d befriend a little feisty American and marry her even feistier best friend. “I love her, Gabriella.”
She sniffles. “I know you do.”
We hang up and Tatiana shoves a sandwich in my face. “Eat. You need the protein.”
Jorge snorts, and I roll my eyes as I take the sandwich. I chomp on it but it only reminds me of my wife. That fucker never fed her. Fucking sandwiches like once a day. Bile rises in my throat at the thought of him torturing her further. I swallow down my bite and then toss the sandwich out the window. Tatiana grumbles, but I ignore her as I chug down the hot coffee instead. Once I’m feeling better, I prepare my cigar and relight it, sticking it between my teeth. Nothing will bring me comfort right now, but this is a start.
Be brave, mi amor.
Be fucking brave.
I jolt awake at the sound of my phone ringing. “Yes?”
“The cell phone is gone. They must have destroyed it,” Gabriella tells me, her voice urgent. “The earrings are still picking up a signal. But Diego?”
“What?” I demand.
“They’ve been stopped at the same location for the past fifteen minutes. It’s a location we know…”
“And?”
“Buenaventura. Camilo’s old shipyard.”
I seethe into the phone. “You mean my new shipyard.”
“They’re there. If it’s yours, why haven’t your men called to tell you?” she questions.
Because I’ve been fucking betrayed. I should have known Esteban and Oscar would have been able to sway some of their old men. “Call me if anything changes,” I bark at her before hanging up.
“What is it?” Jorge demands.
“Buenaventura. They’ve taken over. Alert our men,” I growl. “We’re about to fucking go to war.”
We’re still two hours behind when Vienna left with Oscar. It pains me knowing she’ll be in their custody for two minutes, much less two hours. My wife is strong and brilliant and tougher than nails but…
Esteban is fucking crazy.
Fury bubbles up inside of me. The men who betrayed me will all die. One by one, I will end them all. I’ll save Esteban for last. I’ll slice him up, like I sliced up his father. The Rojas fucks will be nothing but shit on the sole of my shoes when I’m finished with them.
I unsheathe my blade and it glints in the morning light. I’m going to fuck them all up. Nobody hurts my wife and lives to tell about it. Fucking nobody.
“This is such a bad idea,” Tatiana complains from the backseat. “Ever since you met this girl, your life has been topsy turvy.”
I inhale a sharp breath. “Ever since I met her, my life has come into focus. I love her and I’d take a million stabs to the chest if it means I’ll get to have her in the end. Vienna is a flame I want to get burned by, don’t you see? I don’t want to feel safe and secure if I can’t have her. I’d much rather live and die fighting as long as I can do it with her.”
Tatiana reaches forward and clutches my shoulder. “I just worry about you.”
I turn and give her a wicked grin. “You should worry about them. They’re all about to be slaughtered.”
She frowns and nods. “I knew that day you showed up on my operating table that you’d be trouble. And yet…” she trails off and flashes me a proud smile. “You’re always worth it because you’re the boy I could never have.”
Warmth floods my chest, and I close my eyes as we continue our drive. My mother would be proud of me. Not for the cartel shit and all that comes with it. She’d be proud of me for loving Vienna and finding a motherly friend in Tatiana. Integrity was always a big deal for my mother, which is why I’ve always kept my word in every situation. “A man’s word is his honor,” she’d said. I’m sure she’d be proud of the man I’ve become.
Now I need to continue to live up to her expectations.
I’ll fulfil them all.
And that starts with rescuing my queen.
I’m coming, mi diablita. Just hold on for me, beautiful.