by Bex Dane
"Falcon called me in when you headed to the border. We clocked Soraya entering the cantina, and we took up position outside. We listened to the phone call and knew trouble was on the way. We went back to the hotel to get more gear. By the time we returned, the buchon had you both in the back room. The rifle we positioned in the kid's hand was marked with the sign of Reynosa's biggest rival, making it look like the kid had turned on the boss."
"Gratitude, brothers. For me. For her. I know I didn't ask for it, but you saved my ass. I owe you huge. Thank you for saving her."
"She clearly means a lot to you," Rogan said.
"She does. That's why I'm going after Greco myself. You guys watch her for me."
Falcon shook his head. "I'll do it for you. Make up for this."
"Nope. Want you on her while I track Greco down."
"Hold up," Dallas interrupted. "Give the hit on Greco a little more time."
"Helix caught up to me once, not risking it again."
"Trust me on this. My best men are on it."
I did trust Dallas. When we served together, he'd saved our necks many times with his intuition and practicality. He had a huge team of Special Forces operators at his disposal. One of them should be able to ice Greco for me and collect the bounty. "Alright. One more week. Let's go pick up the RV at La Real Inn. Not leaving that rig behind unless I'm forced to. We'll split up. Rogan and Dallas go back to Boston. I'm assuming you want to get back to your women?"
"Truth." I locked eyes with Dallas in the rearview mirror. "I left Cyan alone in bed for you."
Rogan nodded. "I never leave Tess longer than absolutely necessary."
So we'd agreed. "Falcon, Soraya, and I will take the RV to my beach house in Galveston."
Falcon swung the car around and headed back to the hotel to get the rig. "See, I told ya you needed me."
Chapter 17
We retrieved the RV and made it through the border without incident. Falcon's maniacal grin had not left his face in the six hours we'd been driving through Texas. He sat in the driver's seat with his hands high on the wheel.
"You take too much joy from the slaughter," I said to him. "Lives were lost. Are you totally immune to it?"
"I've been a sniper and a hitman. You have to be immune. Killing Manuel fulfilled a long-time fantasy of mine."
His fantasies involved murdering five people. Mine involved Soraya naked. "You never should've put Soraya in the crosshairs like you did."
"You took her to Mexico. Not me."
"Your idea." He intentionally sent us in to find trouble. He knew Manuel had a vendetta against him, and he sent us in blind.
"Shoulda known not to trust me."
"Fuck you." Falcon frustrated the hell out of me but for some intangible reason, I still trusted him.
"C'mon, Torrez. If you had a chance to legit wipe out Greco and his top four with no repercussions, you wouldn't send a woman in with me as a decoy?"
I understood where he was coming from, but not with my girl. "I might, but I'd let you in on the plan before I sent you."
"You had to know." He gave me a side-eye raised brow.
"I had a feeling. But no idea how fucking insane you are."
He threw his head back and laughed. "Totally. Now you're completely aware. Any further missions between us, you must admit you have been informed of my loco-ness."
I headed to the back to check on Soraya. My weight tipping the side of the bed woke her up. She blinked away sleep and propped up on her elbows. She looked out the bedroom door to the empty eating area. "Where is everyone?"
"Rogan and Dallas flew back to Boston." I pressed her shoulder to encourage her to lay[1] back down.
She pushed up in the bed and leaned against the wall. "Who's driving?"
"Falcon. He's coming with us to my beach house in Galveston."
She swiped her hair from her face. Her mouth turned down. "Torrez. I'm sorry. I was stupid. I created so much trouble."
"It's okay."
"It's not okay. I betrayed you." She covered her eyes with her hands. "Can you ever forgive me?" She peeked through a space she made by opening her palms.
"Is that what you want? My forgiveness?" She lowered her arms and I caught her gaze. "Because you chose to leave." I kept my voice soft, but the pain her betrayal caused me rang loud and clear.
"That was a huge mistake."
"You told them you weren't with me." She shook her head slowly. "If you want out, you don't need my forgiveness. You're free to go."
"Please, don't." She lowered her head and rested it in her palm.
"If you believe I'm the bad guy keeping you against your will, you're free to go. I won't hold you back anymore."
Her sweet worried eyes peered up at me. "I don't want to leave you."
"And I should believe you now?"
"Yes. I was scared. I panicked and ran." She placed a delicate hand on my thigh. I wanted to kiss her fingertips, her neck, her breast. Kiss away all the pain I'd caused her. "It wasn't rational," she continued. "Everything I did and said was stupid. I let my fears rule, and I almost got us both killed."
"You did."
"When I saw them hurt you, I died inside. I couldn't stand it. If they killed you, I would've asked them to kill me too. A strong, fierce, undeniable force took over my heart. Love…"
Staring into her beautiful eyes, I asked her, "Love?"
She nodded. "More sure than life itself. I felt it for you before, but I doubted it. I didn't believe I could be loved, but I saw in your fight how much you loved me and I believe it now."
Shit, if going through hell made her realize she loved me, then I'd do it over again and beg Manuel to spear my balls with an ice pick.
"I do, Teimosa. Glad you finally see it."
"I'm so sorry." She sounded tortured and sincere.
"Loyalty is important to me." She needed to get that if she was gonna love me. "You'll have to trust me one hundred percent." I leaned in close and held her cheek in my palm.
She tilted her head into my hand. Her big brown eyes looked so vulnerable and childlike. "I do. I promise. If you can forgive me, we can make it through anything. We're super powerful together."
"I can forgive you." My thumb caressed her skin. "It's forgotten."
She smiled.
"We need time," I said. "We both need to heal." This would all pass and we could pick up where we left off.
"Okay."
Bringing my lips close to hers, I pinned her with my eyes. She held her breath, waiting for what I would say. "But as soon as possible, I'm fucking your ass."
"Oh my god." Her mouth dropped open in a shocked O.
"We get to my beach house, you heal. We'll get rid of Falcon because I don't want him listening in. Then I'll fuck your ass. You'll be mine. You can't leave me after I've claimed your ass."
A shy smile grew on her sweet lips. "That's ridiculous."
"Is it? You'll see. Once you've felt me inside you like no one has ever been before, our souls will be bonded forever."
"Will it hurt?"
"A little. But you'll like it."
She shivered and bit her lip.
"I'm not leaving!" Falcon's voice from the driver's seat penetrated our bubble in the little bed.
"Fuck you!" I yelled back.
"I'm staying to watch you fuck her ass. Now that's something I need to see." He kept talking to himself in Spanish, going over the details of what he would see.
I slammed the thin door and locked it. He would never see shit. I'd never let anyone see Soraya naked and definitely didn't want an audience when we did it that way for the first time.
Chapter 18
I helped her back down to the bed and curled in behind her. The RV rocked and the engine hummed. She lay quiet for a long time, but didn't sleep. The warmth of healing floated between our bodies. I'd forgive her and we'd be closer than ever before.
"A beach house in Galveston?" she asked.
"Yep. It's amazing. Right on the
ocean. Private boardwalk to the sand." One of my favorite houses of all I had built over the years.
"Will I meet your kids?"
Her mentioning them tugged at the empty space in my heart when I was away from them. "Hope so. I want you to meet them. I've got video surveillance set up on them. But still want to be close in case Greco has figured out their location."
"Will I meet your ex-wife?" she asked a little more quietly.
"Unfortunately, yes. Jacqueline comes with the kids. I'll try to minimize your exposure to her."
She turned around and looked in my eyes. "It's okay. I'm curious to see the woman stupid enough to let you go."
"She didn't. I left her. I tried to stay for my kids, but a man can only stand by watching his wife cheat for so long before his own needs take over."
"What do you mean?"
"I stayed faithful."
"You did?"
"The last time I had sex with Jacqueline was when Peyton was conceived."
"Wow. You sacrificed so much for them."
"I had to. They needed me to look out for them. Ironic part is as soon as I left, she changed her tune. Stopped sleeping with Greco. Wanted me back. Even after years of telling me I was shit. The second I left, she started begging."
"But you never went back?"
"No. Damage was done. Talked it over with my kids. Made it clear I wasn't leaving them, just her. Anything they needed, they could ask me. She didn't treat them right, they let me know."
"And did she treat them right?"
"Surprisingly, she's a good mom. I made sure she spent the money on them first before she got any spending cash. Kept her in line. Now she's remarried, she's his problem. Kids are older, I send the money direct to them."
"What's her new husband like?"
"Puny. White. Salesman. Safe. She had enough adventure I guess and went the opposite route. You can still do that, you know? Find yourself a man who won't have my history and the risks that come with being with me."
"No, never. I don't want anybody else. I want you no matter the risks. I love you." She said it again. Felt just as good to hear as the first time.
"Love you too, babe. So much. I'll make it good for us. You'll feel safe. I promise."
"I don't need safe. I like life on the road. It's fun."
I laughed. "We'll have other kinds of fun. After you're healed." I peeled the bandage back on her neck and checked the wound. Bleeding stopped. "This one will heal faster than the one on your breast. A slice heals faster than a tear." I kissed the skin of her neck next to her bandage. "I'm sorry, Teimosa. I'm sorry you were hurt." If the blade had gone half an inch deeper, she'd be dead.
Her hands wrapped behind my neck and rubbed my scalp. "It's okay. I'm fine. How are you?" She pulled away and looked down at my pants. "Did they hurt your balls?"
"A bit of blood. Amazing how a tiny cut in that spot can hurt so bad. But it'll heal. I'll still be able to have kids." Her eyes popped wide open. "Do you want kids?"
"I… I don't know. I didn't with Yegor. I took birth control without him knowing. I was going to pretend to be infertile to avoid having children with him."
"It's been a long time for me, but if you wanted it, I'd love to have kids with you. They'd be so beautiful if they looked like you."
Her head fell back and she sighed. "It's nice to think about. I've always dreamed of being a mom. I've never seriously thought it would happen."
"Start thinking. Anything you want can happen now. Make a list of your all-time most unattainable dreams and prepare for them to come true."
"Okay." She snuggled deeper into my arms. It felt good. "And what do you dream of, Torrez?"
I kissed the top of her head and thought about it. It had been a vague picture before now. But driving out to my beach house, with her in my arms, talking about my kids, it all came into focus. "I dream of holding you like this forever. Want you in my kitchen, singing bad rap songs in your red pajamas. Want to take you out and show you off in your sexy dresses. Want my kids close by and you by my side every day." I turned her to face me. Her eyes glistened. I was getting through to her, and my plan was coming to life with my words. "I wanna take you to Kemah Boardwalk with the kids. Ride the roller coaster. Eat funnel cakes and laugh in the summer air. Most of all, I want you sleeping next to me every night. Listening to the ocean. Watching the seasons change. Want to wake up and your face is the first thing I see, your tits, the second, and want your sweet pussy to be my breakfast every morning."
Her cheeks turned red and her faced curled into an ugly cry as the first drop escaped her eyes. But Soraya was never ugly. Her ugly cry was adorable, just like everything about her. "You want to be a lawyer, I'll drive you to law school and back every day. I'll deliver your resume to all the top firms till you have the perfect dream job. You want to be a model, we need to talk because I don't trust that dude who offered you a modeling contract. But I check him out, make sure he's legit, you can be a model in Paris if you like. I'll be sitting in the front row at every show. Grinning like a fool because that's my girl up there."
That was it for her. She dropped her forehead to my chest, gripped my biceps, and sobbed. "What is it, babe? No one's ever cared about your happiness before? Those days are over. Our lives revolve around your fulfillment. Because if my girl is happy, I'm happy too."
"Oh, Torrez, that's so beautiful." The wistfulness in her voice told me she still didn't believe it could happen for us.
"It's within our reach. Don't tell yourself it's not."
"I want to make you happy too." Her head popped up and I smiled into her red eyes. "You've had so much negative in your life. From your dad, to your ex-wife, to Greco. All of them beating you down, telling you you're shit. Have you ever had a positive, healthy relationship where the woman cared about you and respected you?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Why?"
"Good question. Easy answer is I was focused on work and the kids and didn't want to bring anyone into this mess. Harder answer is I didn't trust anyone to get close and never let a woman in."
"Didn't anyone try? I can't imagine a man like you walking around Siege doesn't get a lot of attention."
"You know about Siege?" The backdoor activities at Siege were top secret except for the folks who chose to participate.
"Know what? I know it's a nightclub and there's lots of hot commandos and girls looking to snag one. Is there more to it than that?"
"Yes, but I can't tell you about it, and it doesn't matter to you. There were women at Siege who wanted to get close to me. I kept them at a distance."
"But you let me in?"
"You jackhammered your way in. Blasted through all my defenses the first night."
"Good. I'll be the one then. The one to tell you over and again how tremendously awesome you are. You need to hear it because you've gone too long without it. You've earned my respect and love."
I kissed her and she smiled. "We could be so good together, Teimosa." I spoke against the tears wetting her lips.
"Yes."
"Rest now. Heal. When you wake up, the world will be yours."
"Okay. Will you stay?"
"I will stay. Never leaving you. I will stay."
Chapter 19
Soraya
Torrez squeezed my hand and rang the bell of a giant estate home in La Marque, Texas. Arriving at dinnertime made me nervous. I didn't want to interrupt them if they were eating. I adjusted the buttons of my blouse to line up a bit straighter, cover more boob. Darn, I should've dressed more conservatively to meet Torrez' family. Oh well, skinny jeans and red sparkles is who I am, so they'd be getting the real me.
"They're fake." Torrez glanced at my cleavage.
"No they aren't." I let go of his hand and tucked my hair behind my ears. "Don't piss me off right now. I'm already nervous."
"Not yours. Hers." He tipped his head toward the front door.
"Oh…"
I masked my surprised laugh as a skinny blonde
woman opened the door. Her eyes bugged out and scanned me from head to toe and up again, narrowing when she saw his arm leading behind my back. Being scrutinized by this stranger with a long history with Torrez rattled my already frayed nerves. Too bad Falcon wasn't here for moral support, but he'd left for town saying he didn't do ex-wives or kids.
"Soraya, this is Jacqueline." After Torrez motioned from me to her, the warmth from his palm returned to my spine like a comforting hug.
"Jackie." She corrected Torrez with frustration in her tone as she tilted her head and offered me a stiff smile. Both her hands clasped my one right hand. The oversized ring on her left finger flopped to the side, like a lollipop ring with a huge jewel-shaped candy.
Torrez was right. Jackie had looks traditionally considered beautiful, especially in America. Tall thin frame, long platinum hair, sleepy princess eyes, tan skin, white teeth.
An oversized leather belt cinched her shirt around her miniscule waist. Her tight top and leggings had a Peg Bundy feel to them. Her nails were done in baby blue to match her shirt and her square earrings. Her white platform pumps matched her belt and her pants. I kinda liked her style. It was unique and bold, not afraid to let it show she took care of herself. A twinge of jealousy ran down my spine. Her boobs looked sexy, and she was thinner than I'd ever be.
The gentle touch of Torrez' fingertip traced my arm from my elbow to my shoulder. They're not real. Ahh. That helped. Torrez had made it abundantly clear he loved my curves. Jackie was all pointy bones and sharp edges.
I straightened my spine and gave her a confident smile. "Pleasure to meet you, Jackie."
"Come in." She pursed her lips and stared at Torrez' backside as we walked past. She made an appreciative "mmm-mmm" sound.
Holy crap. She still checks him out? You know what, biatch? He's not yours anymore. He's all mine.
Just to piss her off I patted Torrez three times on the most tantalizing part of his ass, the round of his left butt cheek. The part I can touch whenever I like.
Screw her. Eat your heart out, Jackie.
As if he sensed the tension between us, Torrez adjusted the position of his gun in his hip holster. His T-shirt hung over his jeans enough to hide the fact he was carrying a gun, but he made that gesture for Jackie's benefit.