by Julia Sykes
I’d instructed one of my men to check into the room, so I wouldn’t be seen by the staff. He was waiting for me, opening the door when I knocked. I ordered him to leave as I carried Samantha inside and laid her down on the bed. I tucked her under the covers, just as I’d done every night since I’d forcibly brought her into my life.
I ran my fingers through her silken hair one last time. She didn’t stir.
My hand clenched to a fist, and I forced myself to pull away. I didn’t allow myself to linger any longer. It wouldn’t be long before Cristian figured out what I’d done, and I needed her to be safely back with her fellow FBI agents by the time that happened.
I left the motel room, feeling the sound of the door locking behind me deep in my chest. I walked stiffly back to my car where I’d left it across the parking lot. When I slid back into the driver’s seat, I took a deep breath and shoved down the anguish that threatened to choke me.
Clearing my throat, I put in the call to the cops, leaving the anonymous tip telling them where they could find Samantha Browning. I ended the call and waited. It only took fifteen minutes before police cars arrived, along with a black sedan. Two men got out of the sedan, weapons drawn.
I put my BMW in drive and pulled out of the parking lot. She was safe.
Now, I had to face whatever punishment my brother chose to dole out.
Chapter 21
I reached into my pocket and fisted Samantha’s collar in my trembling fingers as I rode the elevator down to the basement. It had taken less than twenty-four hours for Cristian to summon me to the dank space where he’d savor my screams.
Sweat beaded on my brow, but I didn’t even consider running. Samantha was safe now, surrounded by FBI agents. But Cristian would need to discipline me for defying him. If Samantha were still within his grasp, he’d hurt her to torment me. Now, his only option was to cause me physical pain to exact his retribution. I’d take the agony willingly. Anything to satisfy his sadistic need to punish. Anything to guarantee he didn’t go after Samantha, despite the security around her.
The elevator doors slid open, revealing my nightmare.
Samantha was stripped and strung up for my brother’s torture, her pale skin glowing under the spare lightbulb that lit the basement. Her wrists were cuffed above her, forcing her onto her toes in a stress position. A bruise darkened her jaw, and blood dripped from one corner of her lips.
“Samantha,” I snarled her name, launching myself toward her. I didn’t know how Cristian had gotten to her, but the logistics didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting her away from him.
“Stay right there.” My brother’s voice cracked against the concrete walls. His knife was at her throat. He applied pressure, and a crimson line appeared beneath the blade.
I froze in my tracks, still several yards away from where Cristian stood behind her, holding his knife against her vulnerable artery. My entire body shook with impotent rage and horror.
I’d done everything in my power to protect her. How had he gotten to her?
“Be a good boy and have a seat, or I’ll cut her open right now. Do you want your pet returned to you scarred or dead?”
“Let her go,” I ground out, my muscles flexing with the need to unleash the violence pent up inside me. “I know I’m the one you want to punish. Just let her go.”
“And send her back to the feds, like you did? I don’t think so. Samantha has agreed to work for me, once we’re finished here. Sit down, hermanito. Or I’ll slit her open and let you watch her pretty insides spill all over the floor.”
The gory image made my stomach turn. I couldn’t risk Samantha. Helpless to do anything else, I obeyed. A growl slipped through my teeth as I moved stiffly to the metal chair. Sitting in it willingly made my skin crawl. This was where Cristian had started working on me the last time, when his knife had sliced so much deeper than my flesh.
The two guards who always watched Cristian’s back were at my sides, shoving my shoulders so I dropped down onto the metal seat. I didn’t resist as they tied my arms behind me and trained their guns on the back of my skull. I’d do anything my brother asked of me, if only he’d spare Samantha. With his knife at her throat, I had no choice but to comply with his demands.
“That’s better,” Cristian said with satisfaction.
He withdrew his blade, and she heaved in a gasping breath.
“How should we punish my little brother for his transgressions?” he mused. He cupped her breast, squeezing hard. Samantha winced, but she didn’t cry out. Undeterred, Cristian twisted her nipple cruelly, until her pain left her lips on a rough shout. Tears slipped down her cheeks as he took his satisfaction in the sound of her agony.
Driven by blind rage, I tried to push to my feet. The guards behind me applied pressure to my shoulders, forcing me down.
“He doesn’t like that,” Cristian observed. “I thought you enjoyed when she cried, Andrés. Or are you the only one who’s allowed to enjoy her tears?” He leaned forward, so his face was close to hers. His tongue snaked out to lick at the wetness on her cheeks. She shuddered and flinched away.
“I should fuck her raw while you watch,” he continued, his tone conversational.
“You said…” She gasped for breath. “You said this was for show. You promised I could hurt him if I worked for you.”
Confusion fogged my mind, even as my gut tightened. Samantha wanted to hurt me? Cristian was the one torturing me by making me watch while he touched her. I didn’t understand her words.
Cristian laughed, running his hand along the curve of her hip.
“She’s a vicious little thing,” he said. “No wonder you couldn’t manage to break her. Is that why you’re so obsessed with her? All of your other pets were very obedient by the time you handed them over to me.”
She paled, her eyes going wide as they fixed on me. I’d never told her about the women I’d trained in the past. I’d never told her about how I’d taken my pleasure from them before my brother inevitably stole them away. The horror in her taut features told me she found me repulsive. I’d kept those women because I’d been starved of devotion, affection. I’d known Cristian would take each of them away, but that hadn’t stopped me from hoping he wouldn’t. It hadn’t stopped me from indulging in my dark needs.
Samantha had been meant to be mine to keep, but Cristian had taken her, too. Or maybe she’d never been mine.
She’d just said she wanted to hurt me.
I had hurt her. This was only what I deserved after what I’d put her through.
“Let me down,” she insisted with vindictive fervor. “Give me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want.”
“Savage,” Cristian remarked with approval. “Your little pet is going to cut you up for me,” he told me. “You risked your life to set her free, and she came back here to kill you. But don’t worry. I won’t let her take things that far. You’ll survive this, and I’ll patch you up again after. I’ll always take care of my baby brother.”
She’d said she loved me. Had it all been a carefully crafted deception? Or had she come to her senses when I’d released her, realizing that I’d used and violated her? I didn’t blame her for hating me. Not after I’d fucked her while she was high on Bliss and helpless to resist me.
I met her pale gaze and nodded my silent agreement. I didn’t begrudge her the retribution she deserved. If she needed to hurt me, I’d take it. Especially if it saved her from Cristian’s knife. It seemed she’d made a deal with him: she’d work for him in exchange for the opportunity to punish me for my sins.
Cristian unbuckled the cuffs around her wrists, and she dropped to the concrete floor. I jerked with the impulse to catch her, despite everything she’d just said about wanting to harm me. I didn’t care how she felt about me or what she might do to me. I would always protect her, regardless of the circumstances.
“Get up,” Cristian said coldly. “You have work to do.”
She pushed to her feet, turning to tak
e the knife he offered her.
She moved with more brutal coordination than I’d ever seen, punching my brother in the throat at the same time as she grabbed the hilt of the knife. I bellowed out my fear for her as the guards’ guns left my skull to turn on her. Shots blasted through the room, and her body jerked slightly. She moved quickly, darting behind Cristian for cover as he choked and clutched at his throat. He dropped to his knees, and she followed him down, crouching at his back. Her fingers fisted in his hair, and she pressed the blade against his artery.
The guards stopped firing at her.
“Drop your weapons,” she ordered. “Do it, or I’ll kill your boss.”
They slowly lowered their guns to the ground, keeping their eyes fixed on the knife at Cristian’s throat. He was still choking, unable to draw in air. Samantha had gotten in a solid punch. Pride heated my chest as my fierce gatita took full command of the situation. She hadn’t intended to hurt me and work for my brother. She’d been playing him. The relief that washed through me made my head spin.
She loves me. Everything we’d shared was real. The few minutes I’d thought she hated me had been far more agonizing than any torture Cristian could have devised.
“Untie Andrés,” she barked.
The guards complied, sealing their fates. The need to protect Samantha gave me almost inhuman speed and strength. I moved with vicious precision, snapping both the men’s necks in a matter of seconds.
I prowled toward my brother, closing the distance between us. When I reached him, I dropped down onto one knee, so I could look into Samantha’s eyes. They were sharp with adrenaline, but her fingers were loose around the knife. Despite her violent precision in taking down Cristian, she still didn’t have it in her to kill a man. My sweet, innocent Samantha.
I’d do it for her.
“Hand me the knife, cosita,” I ordered, my voice smooth and calm as I settled into my decision.
She allowed me to pluck it from her fingers, but her other hand remained fisted in his hair, holding his head in place. My gaze slid from her to my brother. He was still struggling to draw in air, incapable of crafting any cruel words. He’d taken everything from me: Valentina, Abuela. He’d tried to take my Samantha.
I’d never allow that to happen.
A feral snarl rumbled from my chest, and I slashed at his face. He screamed as the blade grated against bone and teeth, revealing a flash of white through the crimson gore. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the sound of his suffering. Then, I looked my brother in the eye for the last time. I drew the knife back and slammed it into the center of his chest, twisting it to shred his black heart. Cristian’s entire body shuddered before going still. His lifeless form sagged against Samantha, and they both fell back.
Something was wrong. She didn’t try to push him off her. Blood pooled on the concrete beneath both their bodies.
I heaved his dead weight off her, and panic sharper than Cristian’s knife pierced my heart. A dark hole had been torn through her right hip, and blood seeped from the open wound where one of the guard’s bullets had caught her.
“Sirenita,” I said, strained. “Stay with me.”
“I came back for you. I’ll never leave you,” she promised, her voice faint. “I love you.”
I scooped her up, and a strangled cry ripped from her throat. I rushed toward the elevator and started speaking to her in Spanish, promising her that she was going to be okay, that I’d keep her safe. She pressed her cheek against my chest, and her eyes fluttered closed.
Her blood soaked my crisp white shirt, but there was nothing I could do to stem the flow.
As soon as I got back to my penthouse, I grabbed up my phone from where I kept it in my desk drawer. My private physician answered on the second ring, and I ordered him to come to me, explaining Samantha’s injury.
I laid her out on the bed and waited for the doctor to arrive with his team. A hospital would be more sterile, but I didn’t have time to take her. My physician lived in the next building over, and he’d get to her much faster than an ambulance. Still, the few minutes it took for him to arrive seemed to take an eternity.
I didn’t want to let go of her hand, but I stepped back, allowing him to work. He managed to stop the blood loss and patched her up enough so I could move her. We couldn’t linger here, or the feds might close in on us. They’d separate us, and I wouldn’t allow that to happen.
Satisfied that she wasn’t going to bleed out on my bed, I decided it was time to get out of Chicago. I put in a call to ready my private jet. We’d leave the city before the FBI could locate my home. Then, I’d get her more medical attention, and we could figure out where to go from there. I was sure my clever Samantha would have a plan for our future. As long as I kept her by my side, we’d both be safe.
Samantha’s eyes finally cleared, focusing on me when she woke from a natural sleep. I’d made sure the doctors kept feeding her painkillers over the last several days. I couldn’t bear the thought of her hurting, so I’d mostly kept her under. I’d made a large donation to the hospital in Cancún, and they didn’t ask questions when I made demands to ensure her comfort.
“Andrés?” Her voice rasped from disuse.
I picked up a cup of water from the tray next to her bed and helped her drink. After a few sips, she cleared her throat and tried again.
“Where’s Cristian?” Her eyes widened as her memory resurfaced. “Oh.”
I squeezed her hand. “He’s gone,” I confirmed. “He’ll never hurt you again.”
“I’m glad,” she said with sudden fervor. “If he’s dead, he can’t hurt you, either.”
“How did he get you away from the FBI?” I asked the question that had been burning in my mind ever since I’d entered that basement to find her strung up for torment. I didn’t understand how Cristian had managed to capture her, and I hadn’t stayed in town long enough to figure it out. I’d abandoned all my people, my drug empire. I didn’t want it. I never had; I’d simply been born into it.
Running away with Samantha, knowing we were free from Cristian, was the sweetest relief. And now that she was awake and alert, peace settled over me.
“He didn’t get me away from the FBI,” she responded. “I left them. I came back to save you.”
My hand tightened around hers. “You what?” I demanded.
She speared me with a level stare. “Did you really think I was going to leave you alone with Cristian? Knowing he’d hurt you for letting me go? Do you think I’d ever leave you for any reason? I love you, Andrés. I won’t let anything keep us apart. Not Cristian, and not you.”
I stroked her palm with my thumb. “I didn’t want to let you go. It was the only way I knew to protect you.”
She blew out a sigh. “I understand. Just don’t try to do it again, okay? I’m safest with you.”
“You are,” I agreed.
She shifted toward me, then stopped on a wince. “I got shot, huh? So, what’s the damage?”
“They had to remove one of your ovaries, but you’ll make a full recovery.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “Does that mean I can’t… Can I still get pregnant?”
I smoothed her hair back from her forehead. “Yes, cosita. You’ll be able to have children.”
Her features softened with relief before her quick mind moved on. “Where are we, anyway? Please don’t say a hospital in Chicago, because it’s going to be really hard to get away from my friends a second time if they find me.”
“We’re in Cancún. I took you out of the country.”
She nodded. “Smart. Where are we going next?”
A small smile curved my lips. “I thought we could figure that out together.”
She beamed at me. “Cool. Well, I was thinking like, a private island or something would be good. As long as I have an internet connection, I don’t mind being isolated. I mean, I’m not exactly a people person, and neither are you. I can move some of your money to an offshore account, so we have e
nough to live. And I’ll move my money, too, but I’ll be honest, that’s not going to buy the private island. I figured we can donate the rest, you know? Do some good with it.” She barely drew breath as she laid out her plan, her clever brain working in overtime. By the time she finished, a wide grin split my face. Samantha really was adorable.
“A private island sounds perfect. I’ll have you all to myself.”
She poked my chest playfully. “And I’ll have you all to myself. This goes both ways. You’re mine, Andrés.”
I took her hand and placed it on my heart. “Yours,” I promised.
Epilogue
Two Months Later
“I have something for you, gatita.” I leaned over Samantha from behind, wrapping my arms around her. She jolted, shocked out of her focused state. Then, she shivered and sighed as I kissed her neck.
“Put your work away,” I commanded.
“But I’m super busy,” she protested.
We might have made our home on our little slice of paradise over the last two months, but my clever Samantha hadn’t been wasting her time lounging on the beach. She’d insisted on shifting back into hero mode, taking down bad guys from the safety of her ergonomic chair.
After sending all the information on my laptop to the FBI, she’d ensured that her friends at the Bureau cleaned up what was left of my former criminal organization.
That hadn’t been enough for her. She attained a sense of purpose and satisfaction out of helping others, and she insisted on continuing to fight crime. I allowed it, as long as she did it under my watchful eye.
Her hacking skills really had been wasted in her brief time serving as a field agent. My Samantha was brilliant and as fierce as ever. She could do far more damage from behind her screen than she could with her fists.
I also allowed her to keep in touch with her former co-workers, even though I didn’t care for her continued interaction with her male friends. Knowing that she’d safeguarded our location and it was untraceable eased some of my worry. And knowing that an ocean separated the men from my pretty pet helped suppress my violent impulses when it came to asserting my ownership.