“Fuck you. You won’t shoot.” The man spit at Leif, and Leif took the shot. Carmen screamed as blood sprayed all over her from what remained of the man’s head. Caleb came up behind her and grabbed her before she could collapse. Leif was on the floor checking Victor, relieved to find him breathing. He spared a half second, noting that Caleb still had his gun trained on the other two men, knowing Caleb had them in check the entire time he’d been dealing with tattoo boy.
“How is he, Leif?” Before Caleb could answer, Carmen was on her knees beside her baby brother.
“He’s alive. He’s got a huge lump on his head. We need an ambulance.”
“I’ll call. I’m calling the cops and Charlie, too.” Caleb pulled out his phone, still watching the other two men.
“Mr. Leif, can I move him?” Leif knew Carmen wanted to hold her brother, but it was best not to jostle him.
“Let’s wait for the ambulance.” He drew the young woman away from her brother and looked at her face to see a large bruise forming. She was also moving slowly. “You need to be looked at, too, Carmen. What were you thinking? Why did you come here?” Leif felt a pang of guilt when she started to cry. More than anything he wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her everything would be okay. However, it was more important right now for him and Caleb to get to the bottom of things.
“Sheriff Meade said that Pedro had betrayed us, that he probably helped the people take us prisoner. He said that’s what gang members did, and that’s all Pedro was, a gang member who sold his own family. I knew that wasn’t true. I knew he was in trouble. I knew that Tito wouldn’t have lied to Papa.”
“I didn’t lie to you, Carmen.” Leif looked over at one of the two young men kneeling on the floor with Caleb’s gun trained on him. The boy sounded heartsick.
“You Tito?”
“Yeah, and I didn’t lie. Sammy told me that Pedro had been taken by the Rateros, Carmen. He said that unless we got them five laborers for the fields, they would kill him. They knew that most of our families were here to work the fields.” Leif looked at the kid and saw he was almost in tears.
“Did you talk to anyone from this other gang?”
“No, only Sammy did.”
“What kind of proof of life did they give you?”
“Huh?”
“What proof did you have that Pedro was still alive?”
“Sammy saw him.” Shit, this was not good. Leif looked up at Caleb and read that he was thinking the same thing.
“After you delivered the Velardes to the Rateros, why didn’t you get Pedro back?” This time the other kid spoke up. He looked to be no more than seventeen.
“They upped their price. They demanded two more adults who could work the fields, or we could bring them one more girl Carmen’s age. They said that Maria, Lupe, and Anna were too young and didn’t count, they weren’t good for anything.”
“Bastardos!” Carmen swore, and her look told Leif she was ready to kill.
“When they said they wanted another girl Carmen’s age, we knew this was bad shit,” Tito offered. “We thought about going to the police, but Sammy said it was too late. We were in over our heads. Sammy’s been negotiating with the Rateros since then for us.” Leif just bet he had. Pedro had probably been dead since the first night he went missing.
Suddenly, Carmen began chattering to Tito and the other boy in staccato-clipped Spanish. She was clearly angry. It was easy to read their obvious apologies, but that it was getting them nowhere. She continued berating them, until finally her yelling grew loud enough to stir Victor.
“Carmen?”
“Victor!” She turned her attentions to her little brother, and another torrent of Spanish began. Leif really needed to learn Spanish. Tito motioned him over, so Leif left the siblings and went over to him.
“You don’t think Pedro is okay, do you? You think that Sammy lied to us, don’t you?” Tito sounded like he was pleading with Leif to tell him this wasn’t true. God, the kid was so young. But he was old enough to decide to be in a gang.
“Yeah, I think your good friend Sammy was working his own racket to get field laborers, and by the sound of it starting to work the sex slave trade, too. If he didn’t use Pedro to work in the fields, then yeah, I think he had no use for him. You two were just his unwitting recruiters.” Leif saw the kids’ eyes well up.
“We grew up together. He was my best friend.” Leif heard the sirens and turned to wave them in.
Chapter 11
Betty and Charlie managed to convince the hospital staff that Victor was a foster child under the Hutchins’ care. Victor was admitted for overnight observation, with the possibility of extending his stay depending upon their findings. He definitely had a concussion. Meanwhile, Carmen was treated for bruised ribs and a contusion. By the time Leif, Caleb and Isabella returned to the men’s home, everyone was exhausted, and all Isabella wanted to do was sleep.
She looked at the pair who had rescued Victor and Carmen. They were heroes to her mind and heart.
“I’ve got to shower. I feel odd as a brunette,” Leif said, indicating the black paint in his blonde hair. He still had black streaks on his face and hands, despite using a paper towel to rub most of it off at the Hutchins’ house. When Leif paused to look at her, Isabella wondered if he expected her to say that she wanted to shower with him. She couldn’t imagine ever being so forward as to suggest such a thing. He headed down the longer hall, toward bedrooms she had yet to see. She stood in the living room with Caleb. It was awkward.
“Let’s get you seated on the couch.” Caleb walked over to her, and before she could react, he had placed the crutch she was using on the floor and swept her into his arms. He sat her against the arm of the sofa, so she faced the kitchen. Then he plumped pillows behind her back, and beneath her leg.
“Are you comfortable?”
How could she not be? But did he have to carry her?
“I like carrying you. I like taking care of you.” Isabella was humbled that Caleb understood every nuance in her facial expressions—that he completely understood her. His smile made it hard to do anything but smile back.
“I like your smile, Bella. You don’t do it nearly often enough.” She thought about it.
“I smile a lot, Caleb.”
“With the children, yes, but not with adults. With adults you’re serious. You’re in your head most of the time. You’re always thinking through how you should respond, like you’re unsure if you’ll be accepted. I’ll always accept you, sweets.” He bent down and brushed his lips against hers. He felt good and warm and almost loving to her. He stood up.
“Did Betty feed you?”
“Oh, yes. She made breakfast for me.”
“But did you eat?” Oh, she had forgotten how clever these two men were. It really was disconcerting.
“I’ll take that as a no.” He turned toward the kitchen. She really liked the open floor plan of the house. Actually, there was nothing about the house that she didn’t like. Sometimes she thought about buying a house with the money in her portfolio, but it seemed like a luxury she didn’t need. No, she was doing what her Papa had taught her. She was young and capable of work and now was the time to make money and save. She really needed to pick up her final paycheck from Murphy’s. What kind of part time job was she going to pick up now?
“Isabella? Baby, your food is ready.” She was so tired. Leif had joined her in the middle of the couch, propping her legs on his lap. He looked tired, too. She smelled something wonderful, realizing there was food on the bar between the kitchen and living room.
“I’m going to bring this on over. You guys stay there.” Caleb brought over a tray laden with bacon, eggs, French toast and orange juice.”
“I’m not going to protest, if you feel like serving.” Leif leaned his head against the back of the sofa, his legs stretched out in front of him.
“Yeah well, unlike you, I didn’t do any acrobatics tonight. I figure you’re an old man who gets a day to r
ecover.” Caleb laughed as he pulled the ottoman over to the couch and put the tray on it. He handed each of them a loaded plate.
“I can’t possibly eat all of this.” Isabella looked at the food piled on her plate and thought Caleb must not be used to women. When she saw his perplexed expression, she knew that she was right.
“Whatever you don’t eat, I will. Trust me.” Leif picked up his fork and started eating with gusto. Well, she was hungry, so she’d eat what she could, trusting the men not to let the rest of her food go to waste. She watched as Leif’s energy level increased with the food, though he didn’t start talking with Caleb. Though she knew that neither man was extremely talkative, there was usually a free and easy exchange between the three when they were together at the school lunch table. They were all quiet together tonight, however. As a matter of fact, Isabella noticed that the three of them were even avoiding eye contact with one another, which was unusual. Now that she thought about it, she recalled Leif and Caleb talking quietly with Sheriff Meade away from everyone at the hospital, as well. Bad news is coming, she thought. Something had happened that neither she nor Betty and Butch had been told.
Isabella carefully set her plate on the ottoman and wiped her lips. She waited until Leif finally turned to her. She knew that Leif would not mince words with her the way Caleb would when he was trying to shield her. He was what they would call a “straight shooter.” She waited, a tactic that usually worked, but apparently Leif was using this ploy, as well.
“Please tell me what is wrong. My guessing at what happened has me more worried than knowing the facts.” She folded her hands in her lap in a gesture that commanded the truth.
“We don’t know anything for sure, so there is no point in telling you things that would just amount to conjecture on our part.”
“But you do know some things.” Carmen had been reticent, too. Isabella planned to go back to the Hutchins’ home to talk to her tomorrow. Today was just too soon to press Carmen again after she’d suffered the trauma of seeing someone die. Leif finally answered her.
“We know that not only were the kidnappers involved in human trafficking for slave labor. We’re also pretty sure they’ve gone into sex trafficking, as well.” Isabella nodded.
“You don’t seem surprised,” Caleb said as he ferried the dishes into the kitchen. How could she explain this to them, when she couldn’t make sense of it herself? Her suspicions that sex trafficking was part of all this just came from a feeling she had. The officer she had met from the state police had seemed truly evil.
Caleb came back and crouched down beside her, while Leif began to lightly massage her feet. “Bella, you can tell us. We’re not going to judge you for your instincts. Leif and I wouldn’t be alive today if we hadn’t trusted our instincts while we were out on missions.”
She couldn’t explain it. Sometimes she just felt so overwhelmed by the wrongness of the world. What she had seen, what she had felt. It had torn her apart. It still was. But somehow her time with these men was like an island outside of time, providing her soul a healing balm of goodness and comfort. She felt guilty that she was allowing herself to feel good when there was so much bad in the world, when Carmen and Victor’s parents were still at risk.
“It’s okay you know.” She looked at Caleb. Somehow she could see he had read her mind.
“But it isn’t.”
“It is Bella. You deserve comfort. too. You deserve care and happiness.” She stared into his beautiful green eyes and just wanted to touch him. Caleb’s presence was so comforting to her, though she couldn’t say why. None of this made sense to her. How had these two men come to mean so much to her? How on earth could she care for two men? What would her parents have thought?
“Isabella.” Leif’s voice was a command. She trembled, but with her desire, not with fear. The terrible events of the day left her longing for the comfort of something pure. She wished to bathe in a truth that brought joy and solace, rather than more grief. She looked at Caleb and Leif and melted. Parts of her body were getting moist, recognizing what her heart was only beginning to know, that her relationship with these men held the clean, blissful truth that shifted everything she had once believed. She moved, but that only made the slick folds of her vagina slide together, causing more juices to flow.
“Leif, why does this happen?” she asked, knowing he held the answers to her body. With that one question, the air in the room turned thick. With the gentlest of touches, Caleb brushed his hand against her cheek, and she turned to face him.
“Is it so bad, Bella? What you feel for us? Is it so bad?” She pondered his question. She considered Olivia a good friend, a nice person, and someone she respected. She had met many people in these triad relationships. Was this something bad? No, she’d certainly seen nothing bad. She was always honest with herself. That was a promise after her sophomore year. She reached out and cupped Caleb’s cheek.
“No, it’s not bad. It’s unexpected.”
“Do you like it, Isabella?” Again, Leif’s tone was commanding. She looked deeply into Caleb’s eyes as she reflected on Leif’s question. She bent while parting her lips. Isabella was ready to take the kind of kiss they had taught her to need. Caleb’s lips were full and warm and perfect. He finally withdrew from their embrace, grasping a fistful of her hair and tugging strongly, satisfying a need that she didn’t even know she had.
“Answer Leif, Bella.” His voice was now a command. Her nipples tightened, and she sighed in pleasure.
“I more than like this.” Her eyes cut over to Leif. “Being with both of you is a dream I never knew I had.” Those were the right words. Not for them, but for her. She smiled. Caleb had said she rarely smiled, but it was rare that she said had something so worthy of a smile. She was thrilled to see both men smiling, as well. Caleb, well, he smiled all the time. Leif was like her, though. His smiles were saved for something special, and he clearly thought her words were special, too.
Leif’s smile was the same one she’d first seen when she was hospitalized. That was the day she’d first laid eyes on the dimple he displayed on the side of his mouth when he knew he was being charming. And he wanted her, ordinary Isabella Camarena. How odd! Even after telling them both of them her darkest secrets, they didn’t seem to care. They still wanted her. Nevertheless…
“And now, she frowns.” Caleb tugged even harder on her hair. She wasn’t feeling quite as much pleasure, this time, but maybe that was for the best.
“God damn it, Bella.” Leif moved with lightning speed. Before she knew what was happening, she was released from Caleb’s hold, and swept up in Leif’s arms being taken to the bedroom.
She was laid on the middle of the bed with utmost care and then Leif left her, but Caleb was there, stripping her naked. Leif brought in a duffel bag, took his shirt off, and went into the bathroom.
As Caleb knelt over her, she looked up at the two men. She was dazed. Everything had happened so quickly. It dawned on her that she was beginning to like being naked in front of them. They both seemed angry and she didn’t like that part. She preferred their smiles, their approval. She swallowed twice before finding her voice.
“What did I do wrong?”
“You doubted us! Worse than that, you doubted yourself. We were done with that. We’re done with that forever.” Leif’s face was made of stone. Surely, no smile could ever have been there. She kept searching for some crack in his armor, but his blue eyes had turned diamond hard. She had never experienced anything as sacred and powerful. He was right, her every doubt should have been burnt to ashes. Why weren’t they?
“One night can’t wash away years. It helped so much. I can lie here with both of you, now. I feel more worthy and clean than I have in years.” She bit her lip hard, trying not to let any tears fall. Their holding her accountable for her self-regard was a good thing, nothing to feel sad about. Then again, these men had given her the gift of their acceptance and she still hadn’t accepted herself. No, that wasn’t true. She
had accepted herself, she just hadn’t forgiven herself. How did you forgive yourself when you knew in your heart that what you did was wrong?
“You are wrong. I don’t doubt you and I don’t doubt myself. I know myself. I just can’t seem to forgive myself for what I’ve done.”
* * * *
Caleb thought that it was somehow appropriate that Isabella was stripped naked in their bed as she made that admission. It wasn’t Isabella, the woman, speaking. The woman was past this. Isabella, the woman, had spread her wings and embraced her life. She was breathtaking in her intensity. No, this was the girl Isabella had been, still struggling with forgiveness. He looked over at Leif, and saw that in this, they weren’t on the same page. Once again, his friend was getting ready to do his Dom thing. He intended to spank, punish, or administer some other asinine disciplinary act upon Isabella until he’d convinced her that she was worthy. Caleb stretched his neck back and forth. Fuck, maybe it would work, but his gut said no.
“Bella, do you trust us?” Caleb asked. She reached out and gripped his hand. Caleb marveled that Isabella was fond of giving such loving touches, even when she was in pain.
“Of course I do.”
“That’s good, Isabella, because tonight is about trust,” Leif chimed in. Yep, Leif was using his fucking hard-ass voice, and he was opening that goddamn duffel bag. He’d be tying her up next.
“Close your eyes, Bella. I want you to think about something for a moment. Will you do that for me, sweetness?” She closed her eyes, just as Leif pulled out some padded handcuffs. Jesus, the man sometimes didn’t have a clue. Caleb drew a line across his throat and Leif glared at him. Caleb repeated their “kill” gesture, more dramatically. It was rare that Caleb was this insistent, so Leif put his toys away and put the duffel on the floor. Now that Leif was under control, he could focus on Bella.
Isabella's Submission [Fate Harbor 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 16