by Erin Trejo
“How are things coming along?” I groan when I hear that voice come over the line.
“You would know had you drug your ass home. What is it I can do for you Donald?” I snap into the phone. I’m in no mood to deal with him today.
“I want to know how things are going, Cole. Where are we with our arrangement?” huffing out a breath, I massage my temple with my free hand.
“We are on track. I have no new updates for you right now. I’m pretty confident that I told you I’d call you when I did. Unless, of course, you have something for me,” I respond. Donald chuckles into the phone.
“I think you’ll enjoy what I have for you.” Before I can respond the line goes dead. My heart beats faster wondering what the hell he’s done. We may have had a deal but he is on the wrong side of it. I sit back in my chair when I hear someone knock. Informing them to open it, Brady walks in.
“You want anything for lunch?” he asks. I shake my head waving him off but he doesn’t leave. He takes a seat on the chair across the room and glares at me.
“What the hell happened? You look pissed,” He says, reclining in the chair. The sound of heels clicking on the concrete pulls my attention back to the door. She walks in with so much grace and poise. My eyes travel over her trench coat covered body down to the red heels that make her three inches taller. My cock instantly wants her just like it always does.
“New shoes?” I ask nodding toward her feet. Tala’s smile takes my breath away.
“I thought I deserved them. You did splurge a little on them since they are the new Giuseppe Zanotti’s,” She winks as she makes her way toward me. Once she’s next to my desk, she leans down, pressing her lips to mine before pulling away. When she turns to move away, I grab her around the waist, pulling her into my lap.
“So, I bought you new shoes today? What do I get in return?” I ask her seductively. Tala quivers in my arms.
“I’m still here.” Brady makes himself known. He should already know that I don’t give a damn if he’s here or not. If I want her, I’ll take her.
“There was a problem with the Gonsalv account. That’s what I came by to tell you,” Tala says directing the conversation back to why she’s here. Since I’ve moved her in over a month ago, we’ve fallen into a comfortable routine. We both work at home mainly but she likes to go out and be herself. I don’t stop her from doing so but I did make her quit her job at the bank. Too many things could backfire while she’s there and that’s a chance I wasn’t willing to take.
“Which is?” I tense beneath her. Tala stands and moves to lean against the side of the desk, her arms crossed over her chest.
“I’ve tracked all his accounts. Either he’s opened a new off shore or something is going on. Two of the three accounts are nearly empty. I’m talking less than a million in each,” she says with a stern look on her face.
“That means nothing.” I wave my hand through the air dismissing it.
“It does when there are no records of withdrawals. His third account is two hundred dollars, Cole. A man like Gonsalv doesn’t walk around with two hundred dollars in a bank account. Something is wrong here.” I watch the conviction in her eyes. This is why I wanted her on my team. She’s smart and pays attention. Nothing slips past her. When Tala does a job, she’s all in. My cock responds to her. He knows her and he fucking likes what he sees in her. I shove out of my chair, grabbing her around the back of her neck, dragging her mouth to mine. I kiss her hard and vicious before pulling back.
“What are you thinking?” I ask her with my face mere inches from hers.
“He’s playing games. He can’t hold his legitimate money in off shore accounts. It would catch attention. He’s up to something.” The way the words leave her mouth, I want to take her over my desk. When I first brought Tala into this world she held some knowledge on her own. The longer she’s by my side, the more potential I see in her. She can handle more than I thought she could and she isn’t easily broken. She’s smart. She knows what she’s looking for without having to be told. I made the right choice pulling her in with me. If Donald was to find out, that could end badly for the both of us. Keeping him in the dark has been a priority since the first time I laid eyes on her. He’s the reason that she knows much more than she should. I blame him for the intelligence that she has. If she hadn’t seen it before, she would have been easy to walk past but Tala has always been different and that’s what makes her so damn dangerous.
“I need to get going. I’ll see you at home for dinner.” Tala stands, pressing her lips to mine once more before turning on her heel and walking back out the way she came. Brady blows out a breath as I look over at him.
“What?”
“Nothing. She has your balls in her hands, huh?” He asks. I shake my head but I can’t stop the smirk that crosses my face.
“She has something. She makes me feel whole, Brady. No one has ever done that.” He nods his head.
“I know and that’s what worries me. I don’t want her fucking up, Cole. It’s not that I don’t trust her but she’s still new to this life.” His words hold some truth but Tala has taken to this world easier than I thought she would. She’s stepping into her own and becoming something bigger and better. Along with me, she is growing and becoming the woman that she’s supposed to be.
“She’s always been a part of this life, Brady. I’m just helping her find her true calling,” I tell him.
“Which is what?”
“My second in command.”
Chapter 19
Tala
I walked out of the warehouse with my heart on my sleeve. Cole has quickly become something stable in my life. He’s a lifeline that I didn’t realize I needed. It’s strange that I can feel that way after being on my own for so long. Living with Cole has been the hardest yet it isn’t hard at all. I love being with him. He did just as he said and has given me space. I’m free to come and go as I please and he doesn’t typically make anyone come with me. I suppose that is a plus in the grand scheme of things because I still enjoy my time with Jamie. I can only be thankful that Jamie has some of his own people in place to keep our meetings under the radar. I haven’t told him that I moved in with Cole and a part of me hates that I’m not being honest with him. Jamie doesn’t bring up Cole much anymore but that doesn’t bother me. There is nothing for us to discuss. As I walk out of the main doors of the warehouse, I stumble coming to a stop.
“Who the hell are you?” I ask when I come eye to eye with a man that looks as though he belongs in prison.
“I could ask you the same but I already know you, Tala Gregoria.” His teeth are stained yellow and every time he smiles my stomach churns. I take a step back, trying to reach behind me for the door handle. If I can pull it open, I can yell for Cole.
“I don’t know what you want but Mr. Frost is right inside,” I tell him. I try to keep the professionalism in my voice. I don’t know how many people know that Cole and I are together and the less I need to worry about the better.
“It’s not Mr. Frost that I need to see right now. Walk quietly and get in the car,” he says keeping his evil stare on me. I shake my head as I look between the other guys that are now closing in. My heart beats rapidly in my chest as I look for a way out. There isn’t one.
“Don’t do this. You will regret it,” I warn them. Cole won’t let this slide. The man with the yellow teeth chuckles and takes the final step toward me. My back hits the steel of the door before his hand comes up to my neck. My pulse is racing.
“I asked you nicely. I won’t ask again.” His breath smells like stale liquor. Vomit rises in my throat. His breath skates over my skin making me shiver from repulsion.
“Please.”
“Don’t beg. Just get in.” His growl makes me jolt. Pulling me around by my neck, I trip nearly falling to the ground but he’s there, lifting me in his arms before throwing me in the car. I let out a strangled scream but I know no one heard me. Yellow teeth climbs in behind me, pinning me to the seat.
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br /> “Drive!” He roars. The car shifts into gear, throwing me against the back of the seat as it takes off. My heart pounds but I know I need to remain in control.
“What do you want? Money? I can get you money,” I plead with him. He doesn’t say a word and that sets me on edge. “Please. Just tell me what you want?” I beg. He sits as though he doesn’t hear a word that I’m saying to him. My mind races. Thoughts of what could happen to me. Thoughts of when I was a child and saw and heard too many nightmares that my father had been involved in. It all slams into my memory at once. My heart trembles inside of me.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask. “Answer me! What do you want?” screaming louder gets me nothing. Yellow teeth turns his hideous glare to me, causing my stomach to roll once more.
“Shut up or I’ll shut you up,” he grits his teeth and stares at me. If I thought Cole was evil before, this man is worse. You feel his rage vibrating off him.
“If they paid you, I can pay more. Just please.” My begging is doing nothing but I have to try. Yellow teeth nods at another man that I hadn’t noticed behind us. His hands come over the seat, wrapping around my neck. Lifting me slightly, I struggle to breath. A slight prick stings my neck.
“What are you doing? Stop!” I scream. The men in the car laugh as my consciousness slowly begins to fade. The last thing I remember is yellow teeth laughing and whispering.
“Mr. Frost is going to love what we do to you.” Then everything around blacks out.
Chapter 20
Cole
I’m wound tight. My body is coiled and ready to fight. Thoughts of blood and broken bones dance in my mind. Tala never came home for dinner and she isn’t answering her cell. Before she moved in, I’d say this was a common occurrence for her but now? No, she wouldn’t do this.
“Maybe she had enough, Cole,” Brady says. I spin around and let the fury in my gaze speak to him when my mouth shouldn’t. “Just saying, man. Calm down. We got Dale on the cameras. If he picks up anything, he’ll call.” I ignore his ignorant rant as I pace the floor. I’m thirty seconds to tearing this city apart when my front door flies open. My stomach fills with anticipation but it slowly fades when a screaming Jamie storms through it.
“Where the fuck is she?” He roars. His hands are fisted at his sides, his eyes as wild as mine. What the hell is he so pissed for? She doesn’t belong to him, she’s mine.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask him, watching him for any sort of reaction.
“Where is Tala? What the fuck have you done?” He growls loudly. I take a step toward him, watching his eyes for any sign he may give.
“You come into my house, Agent and ask me questions?” I grit my teeth and make sure I emphasis the word agent. Saying the fucking word leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Before things can go any further, Jamie moves. His fist swing, connecting with my jaw. The hold I had on myself snaps. I lose all control and see red. My hands clench as I retaliate. I swing, connecting with his eye. Jamie stumbles back but quickly regains his balance.
“Where the hell is she? She never showed up!” he screams. Never showed up? What the hell is he talking about?
“What the hell do you mean?” My hands are poised and ready to attack and the moment he opens his mouth, I do.
“She was supposed to meet me and never showed. She hasn’t answered her phone or texts.” I can see the fear in his eyes but that doesn’t mean shit to me at the moment. I warned her. I told her to stay the fuck away from Jamie. I move in once more. Fists fly. Blood is drawn. Bones crack with each punch that connects until we’re being yanked apart.
“Enough!” Brady roars as I cut my eyes to him. “She’s missing. We know that. We don’t have time to fight it out right now. We need to find out who the fuck has her and get her back!” His words ring true in my ears but the thought of her being near Jamie pisses me off. I warned her! If I find out she’s been with him behind my back, I will murder them both. I will watch the blood slowly leave their bodies as they drift away.
“Cole, come on. Let’s call Dale. See what he has.” Brady tries his best to defuse the situation but it’s not that easy. He’s my goddamn blood and he’s been going behind my back with Tala. She’s fucking mine! “Cole! I mean it!” Brady snaps pulling my attention to him.
“Get the fuck out of my house, Jamie. If you ever come near her, I will kill you. I will make your death as long and as painful as I possibly can,” The warning is real. I’m not bluffing. Never have and never will. If I find out that he comes near her after I find her, I will murder him.
“I’m not leaving until I know what you’ve done,” He growls. I take a deep breath in and out. Calming the urge to snap his neck as I stand here, I look him in the eyes.
“She belongs to me. There is nothing you can do about it. If you come near her- “he doesn’t let me finish. He steps closer, his hands balled into fists.
“Yeah, I heard you. You’ll kill me. Now it’s my turn. If anything happened to her because of you, I will kill you and I will enjoy every second of it.” The moment is tense. The air is thick. Neither one of us have ever been the type to back down.
“Cole. It’s Dale,” Brady’s voice breaks the silence. I grab the phone, pulling it to my ear.
“Tell me where she is,” I growl into the line.
“She was taken but I don’t have a location. It was outside your warehouse, Cole. They grabbed her as she was leaving.” Closing my eyes, my world slowly blurs. Everything that I’ve worked for slowly slips away. Nothing matters to me anymore but her.
“Find them, Dale. Find where they took her or I will slit your goddamn throat. I will come for your family and make them all pay.” My tone is deadly low. Dale knows I mean business. I hit the end button handing the phone back to Brady. My mind is whirling but I’m close to my breaking point.
“Call Marshal. I want city wide security footage sent to my phone with the car Dale saw. I want people out there on the goddamn street reporting to me every ten minutes.” As low as my voice is Jamie should run. He should hide and never show his face in front of me again.
“If anything happened to her, Cole,” Jamie begins. I lift my head and burn my gaze into him.
“I’ll kill everyone that laid a hand on her. I will rip their fucking hearts out with my bare hands and you, Agent Frost will have every reason to take me in.” Turning on my heel, I stalk rapidly toward my office. I need to get away from him before I lose it and blow his head off. Patty trails behind me as she usually does when she’s waiting on Tala to get home. I drop into my chair, anger and rage warring with each other inside of me. Blood rushes my ears. I close my eyes as Patty leaps from the floor to my lap giving me one more reason why I shouldn’t have fucking meddled in Tala’s life. At the time, I didn’t realize what my actions and forcing her to work for me entailed. I didn’t realize that the feelings I had for her would grow and blossom into something so goddamn real that I contemplate my whole life. Complications aren’t something I have because I pay handsomely to keep them under control. Bringing her into my life and into my home created a complication that is now irreparable. I’ve made a mistake. I’ve let my guard down and that may now cost Tala her life or sanity. Two things that I didn’t think about because I’m selfish bastard that only wants what he wants and isn’t afraid to take it just like I took her. I fucking formed her into what I wanted. I made her believe that she had a choice at being with me when in reality I would have tied her to the bed and locked her up just so that I could keep her. Now I sit at my desk while someone has the woman that stole more than a couple million dollars. She stole my goddamn black heart and there is no way I can get it back. She’s taken more from me than I have from her but she doesn’t even realize it.
“Dale’s got a location but- “Brady cuts off his sentence as I jerk my head up to face him.
“But what?”
“They aren’t enemies of ours, Cole. They’re Jamie’s.” Swallowing the lump in my throat, I shove out of
my chair, dropping Patty to her feet before reaching into my desk drawer and pulling my gun.
“He better hope he left.”
“He did.”
“Good. Let’s go do what we do.”
Chapter 21
Tala
A rat runs past me, squeezing through the small hole in the wall. I wished I could do the same. My body aches, the cuts burn. I was never a crying kind of girl but when they took what wasn’t theirs to take, I lost it. Every thrust, every sickening kiss on my skin sent me crawling further into my darkness. Raped. Beaten. Bruised. Broken. Yellow teeth even pissed on me. I’ve never been more disgusted or angry in my life. I blame Cole. I blame him for everything that I’m going through. He made someone mad and now I’m being used like a piece of trash because of it. How did I let myself get lost in him? How did I believe that he’d protect me? I knew who he was. I knew he was someone that had the potential to ruin me and I let him. I let him use me and dangle me from a string. He pulled and tugged making me do what he wanted and I fell right into it. I sob quietly as my body screams in pain. Everything hurts. Breathing is killing me. Thinking has my head throbbing. The door opens slightly, a tray shoved inside before it slams closed again. If that’s food, I refuse to touch it. I won’t give them the satisfaction of eating. I let my eyes drift closed. Images of my mother before she left dance behind my eye lids. She’s so beautiful. She’s so perfect yet she didn’t really want me. She left me here. Alone. At first, I thought she was only doing what she thought was right and me being an adult, I should be able to handle my own life right? It was wrong. I wished she was here. I wished she would come find me and take me in her arms like she did when I was a child. Then there’s Cole. The man that I was slowly falling in love with, the reason I’m being used and broken. How was I so naive? How didn’t I see what was right in front of me? I knew he’d ruin me. I knew he’d fuck me over and yet I let myself fall right into his ways. As I drift in and out of consciousness, I hear a commotion outside the door. Gunshots ring through the air. I want to duck and move but I have no strength left to do it. Lifting my head, it’s just no use. After all the things that they have done to me, I can barely move. The door splinters open and a shadow stands at full height nearly taking over all the light. I blink my eyes but I can’t focus.