THIRTY-SIX
“And who the hell told you to bring me a couple of perras blancas?” Luciana wasn’t in the mood to curb her attitude. Manuel had brought two white bitches into her home. “I thought I sent you out to clean up Frank’s mess and erase any trace of him.”
Manuel was always cool under pressure, and today was no exception. That was part of his appeal, the reason Luciana kept him around longer than she normally kept a man. Plus, he was good in bed. It wasn’t often a girl came across a sexy, dangerous type man with a big dick who knew how to use it.
She…liked him, she thought grudgingly, but she’d never tell him that. To care was a weakness she couldn’t afford as the head of the cartel. Being a woman had already placed her at a disadvantage. If any of these men knew that she had feelings of any kind, they’d swoop in like the vultures they were and try to take what was rightfully hers.
She couldn’t allow that.
Hands clasped in front of him, legs spread shoulder-width apart, Manuel merely met her expectant stare with cool indifference while maintaining his always professional façade. “They’re Spartan women,” he stated. “I thought they could be of some value.”
Luciana narrowed her eyes at him then the women. They were weak, cowering together on the floor, and one was crying. She detested them. But Manuel had a point. “Their men will come looking for them.” Especially the pregnant one.
“They won’t know where to start. Not unless we tell them where to look.”
Luciana nodded, considering her options. She could keep them, torture them, and eventually kill them. Maybe she’d mail pieces of them back to their men first… Or she could sell them into the trade her brother had been building. Business was always good there, rich scum always looking for a prize, a commodity, and they were willing to pay top dollar. The pregnant one would fetch a pretty penny, as there were always some sick pricks out there with kinks that could be hard to supply.
But Luciana wasn’t particularly interested in maintaining the human trade side of things. She preferred the usual guns and drugs angle. Less risk, more gain.
“The other mess is cleaned up?” she inquired.
“Yes, we left no trace.”
“Good. Send notice to the Spartans that we have their women. Give them two hours to respond and meet our demands.”
“What demands?” Manuel asked.
“I swear you all behave like children, unable to process simple thought. Do I have to do everything? Come up with something,” she barked. Then she thought better of it and immediately held up her hand. “Ransom them. Tell the president that he has two hours to surrender his territory and agree to work with us or I’ll start shipping their women back limb by limb instead of piece by piece.”
The women in question made some little sound of fear, and Luciana smiled grimly in their direction. “Don’t worry, ladies. I’m sure they’ll act quickly, and you’ll be back home in time for supper.” If not, they had their lovely men to thank for that.
“You’re a monster, just like your brother,” the redheaded one sneered back at her.
Luciana cackled. Apparently, her reputation preceded her. “No, niñita, I’m very different, you will find. Ricky wasn’t the creative type, you see. He got his best ideas from yours truly. Isn’t that right, Manuel.”
Manuel nodded, ever the faithful servant.
“You see,” Luciana said, “my men know who the mastermind of this operation truly is. Ricky was just the face of it, taking all the accolades. Your men did me a favor when they disposed of my brother. It allowed me to finally take my place at the head of the table.”
“Oh, so you’re the snake that everyone has been talking about,” the one with the red hair said conversationally and with a smirk that made Luciana’s hackles rise. “I thought it was him.” She pointed to Manuel, who was nothing more than a grunt.
This puta dared call her names and insult her position? She’d put her in her place, teach her some respect. Rising from her seated position, Luciana crossed the room in a hot second, ready to slap the taste out of the whore’s mouth, but Manuel was there in an instant, cutting her off at the pass.
“Hold up, corazón. Don’t wanna damage the merchandise, sí?”
Ah, Manuel. Always so logical and levelheaded. She’d cut his smooth tongue out while he slept! Shaking his hand off hers, Luciana seethed. “Don’t ever touch me unless I allow it,” she hissed. “And don’t ever tell me what to do again, or I’ll fucking gut you.”
The bastard didn’t even have the decency to pretend to be afraid. In fact, he smiled.
Hijo de puta!
Luciana stepped back, afraid of what she might do if she didn’t. She wasn’t through with Manuel just yet, and she tended to be…passionate. It was better to cool off before she did something she’d regret later. But when his usefulness ran out…
“Get them out of my face,” she snarled. “Throw them in a room and put guards at the door. No one goes in or out unless I say.”
Manuel nodded, his dark eyes glittering. He was barely withholding a smile, and as pissed off as she was, Luciana couldn’t deny the desire that exploded inside her when he gave her that look. He’d be buried inside her within the hour.
Turning on his heel, Manuel yanked the women to their feet with both brutal hands and marched them to the door where two guards stood waiting. “Take them to the south wing guest room. Tell the cook we have guests. They should be fed three times a day until he’s told to stop. Comprendes?”
“Sí, sir.” The two meaty guards escorted the females out, leaving only Luciana and Manuel. Manuel closed the door and flipped the lock, securing their privacy.
When he turned around, Luciana was ready. Fingering the deep slit of her blouse that ran down the middle of her cleavage, she said, “You interfered with my authority in front of my men. You embarrassed me.”
Manuel smirked, shaking his head as he approached with long, smooth strides. He was dark and sexy in his tailor-made black slacks and royal blue button-down. The platinum watch on his wrist and chain around his neck glinted as they caught the light coming in through the window.
He was a god, someone meant for power.
Too bad Luciana wasn’t inclined to share. And too bad Manuel was the type of man looking to climb to the top. She wasn’t fooled one bit by his confident, possessive nature. He was only fucking her because he had his eye on her position. She’d let him think he had a chance while he still held her interest, then she’d dispose of him like she had all the men who came before him.
They didn’t call her The Mantis for nothing.
“You don’t get embarrassed, amor,” Manuel soothed in that sensual voice of his. When he stood before her, he wasn’t gentle. His hand shoved through the hair at her nape and grabbed hold, yanking her head back. Towering over her, he brought his mouth down to hers, his warm breath coasting over her lips. “You and I both know you got hot. You love it when I take control when I tell you what to do.”
He was wrong about that. She loved when he thought he had control, knowing she held every ounce of it. She loved knowing she held his life in her hands, and he was too stupid to think she would snatch it away if the mood suited her. That’s what made her hot.
Right now, he was so wrong, and that knowledge made her sopping wet.
Poor, pathetic fool. She could kill him anytime she wanted.
Sliding her hands up his strong arms, she allowed herself to appreciate the feel and the view. “You have me all figured out, don’t you, chico guapo.” And what a handsome boy he was.
The way he smiled back let her know he was taken in by her meek act. Her fingers drifted into his hair, pulling just enough to elicit a hiss of appreciation from him. His gaze dropped to her mouth, and she knew he was putty in her hands.
“Yes, I do. You’re a tough woman, Luci,” he purred, “but for me you are soft.” His hand slid down from her waist and dipped between her legs, moving her skirt out of the way so he could push his fingers inside her panties and then into her. “And wet too,” he growled.
Without a second’s thought, Manuel took her mouth in a kiss as brutal as he was, bruising her lips as he sought to control her.
But he would never have control of her, Luciana thought wildly. He would only think he did, and that would be his downfall.
Latching onto him, Luciana molded herself to his strong, hard, lean body and moaned with abandon. “Oh, Manuel, take me. Fuck me. Make me come,” she begged, knowing that’s exactly what he liked to hear…and proving she truly was a master of the game.
***
The call came in minutes after the first. Blake was beside himself with grief, but at least Ash was okay.
It had been Ash who’d called first, reaching Blake on his cell phone. He’d been avoiding Gabby’s texts, needing space to calm down and sort things out, so he hadn’t been home when she’d gone missing.
And he was blaming himself like they all would had it been their woman who’d been kidnapped.
Repo understood that pain, though. Ginger was gone, too, and now he knew without a doubt that she hadn’t just disappeared of her own accord. She’d been taken, kidnapped. And whoever was behind it had also taken Gabby and was probably behind shooting him as well. Once they had solid evidence on Tanner, he was the first one Repo intended to flay for setting the ball rolling.
What the hell had they done to incite that kind of hatred, that kind of betrayal?
At least they hadn’t taken the kid. Ash was Blake’s son from his first and longest relationship. It had been volatile from the start and hadn’t ended well, but at least he’d gotten something good out of it.
What did Repo have to show for his time with Ginger? Not a damn thing. The last words he’d spoken to her had been apathetic, and the last memory he had was of her dejected expression before she walked out the door.
He hadn’t gone after her because he wasn’t sure what to say to fix it.
But that was a lie. He knew exactly what he should have said, but he’d let his pride rule him. And now she was gone, and it was all his fault. Had she stayed with him, had he fought to keep her, she’d never have gone back to that hovel and would be safe right now.
While the first call had all of them rallying together and riding out to Blake’s place to secure the kid, the second call had left them reeling even harder.
Luciana Cruiz. He hadn’t heard that name in ages. Once, he thought, maybe, but only in passing years ago. It was easy to forget she existed, the daughter of a kingpin and the sister of a crazy lowlife they’d been only too happy to dispatch.
Apparently, no one, not even him, had given her a second thought. It wasn’t common practice for a woman to head that kind of business, but she’d stepped fully into her role, and what do ya know? She was as crazy if not more so than her brother.
And she was holding his woman captive. He would kill her with his bare hands when he got ahold of her.
“We have less than two hours to decide what we’re going to do,” Country said. He was standing in the living room, arms folded over his chest, his expression a solid granite wall as he looked at Blake’s crumpled form.
The man was a complete mess, hands rubbing the top of his head and down his face continuously. At least Talia had the boy in his bedroom, comforting him with…whatever women did to make little kids feel better in a bad situation.
“The way I see it, there’s only one thing to do,” Repo spoke up.
“You want us to give up everything we’ve worked for and turn it over to those yahoos?” Cricket asked, and that was the fuck-all wrong thing to say.
Blake’s head jerked up, and there was fire in his eyes. “You think we should let them kill my wife and kid? Is that what you’re saying?”
Cricket held up his hands. “Calm down. I didn’t say that. I just think…fuck! There has to be another way.”
“If we give into their demands, they win,” Moose said next. “But if we don’t, we lose, too. At least if we let them win now, we can go at them hard later and take back what’s ours.”
The way he talked, Repo was starting to believe the man didn’t have any idea his nephew might be caught up in all this, which was a damn good thing.
Country pointed at Moose while looking at Blake. “Moose is right. We need to pretend to lose now so we can win later. We can’t risk Gabby and Red in the short-term. We have to think long-term right now.”
Repo agreed. He wouldn’t risk Ginger any more than she already was. What good was territory if he didn’t have her to share it with?
That was the exact moment he realized that he needed her more than he’d ever been willing to admit, even to himself. Before, he’d merely decided he wanted her and sought to obtain her. Now, he knew he needed her even more than he wanted her. The thought of something bad happening to her, of never being able to see her again, of her being absent from this world, shattered something inside of him. Was that how she’d felt when he’d been in the hospital?
Ginger was wrong. She was more than property to him. She was the partner he’d always wanted. The one person he wanted to come home to each night, to share his troubles and joys with and vice versa. She didn’t think he valued her, but he did.
And he’d fucked up by not telling her that.
Now he may never get the chance.
“So, what do we do now?”
The question came from Blake, and as the president, he’d left them all speechless. He was the one supposed to be leading them, not the other way around. But these were special circumstances, they understood that. It still didn’t make being placed in that position easy, group or no group. They were used to being told what to do, and now they had to decide what to do to save their president’s wife and child. One thing went wrong…? Well, Repo didn’t want to think about that. Nothing could go wrong. Lives depended on them. Ginger’s life depended on him.
“The only thing we can do,” Country said with grim determination. Talia chose that moment to reappear, but she didn’t interrupt. She just stood to the side, catching Country’s eye, as he continued. “We’re going to call the number he gave Blake back and tell them it’s a deal. Our territory for Gabby and Red. Then, once we’ve made sure everyone is safe, we’ll take them out.”
“You mean we’ll start planning how to take them out,” Moose said, his tone questioning.
But Repo knew the answer to that. He was on the same page as Country. Looking to Moose, he said, “No, we take them out. Tonight.”
Blake nodded in agreement. “Contact them. Let them know we agree to their terms and set up a meeting place. I want my wife back.”
Not a damn word was said after that. They all knew what was coming next, and whether they wanted to admit it or not, they were all scared. They’d be crazy not to be. Their next step would be making peace with God or whatever entity they believed in, then they would ride out and leave their fate to the universe to decide.