Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
“Don’t threaten me, chiquita.”
When he made to grab her face again, she pressed the gun to his forehead. “Do not threaten me, Victor.”
He scoffed. “You think I could not wrest that gun from you? Are you still that naive?”
“You could,” she acknowledged. “But then you will never know what I know. You will never be king. And you will never give your brother the tribute he deserves.”
Victor hesitated, then backed away with a grunt. “All right. Keep your guns. I don’t care. Now tell me everything.”
“Not so fast. I have more demands. Not only will you not touch me, you will leave my sister and Jorge alone.”
He shook his head. “The old man wants them. If I seize them first, I have a bargaining chip—”
“You will not need them. There is another one, a better one,” she insisted, making things up as she went.
But then she realized it wasn’t untrue. She could use the Edgingtons’ sister, Kimber, to her advantage—all while helping to win the woman’s freedom. If she finessed Victor just right, it would work.
“You lie.”
“I do not. But before I tell you more, you must agree that my family is off-limits.”
“If you’re not lying to me, if you know of more effective leverage, then I agree. I have no use for Emilo’s shrew or his snot-nosed boy.”
Laila tried to hold down her giddiness. She almost had Victor where she wanted him. So, so close… He just had to accept one more condition. “Excellent. You must also abandon this pointless revenge against the man who has been keeping me here. He is simply a paid operative doing his job.”
Victor raised a brow. “Pointless? He killed my brother. But I am curious, chiquita. Why do you care what happens to this man? Is it because he killed for you? Because he means something to you?”
When her heart started pounding and she had to resist the urge to fidget, she worried he could see right through her. “He means nothing. I merely prevent you from making a stupid mistake. I told you he is not a man to cross. If you do not want to fight him while doing the far more important work of deposing Geraldo Montilla, forget this man.”
“He fucked you.”
Oh, he did much more than that.
Heat rushed to Laila’s face and she hoped Victor didn’t notice. “Of course he did. He is a man—a very large one. I had no way to stop him from taking what he wanted.”
Never mind that, last time, she had ached to give herself to him.
He shrugged, as if the possibility that someone else had raped her meant nothing to him. “Why do you care whether I seize Geraldo Montilla’s throne? Are you hoping for money?”
Dipped in rivers of innocent blood? “No. I want peace. If you rule the cartel, the threat to my family is gone. You become rich and powerful beyond your dreams while Valeria, Jorge, and I are finally free. Our paths will not cross again. I believe it is, as the Americans say, a win-win. Do you not agree?”
Victor stared so long she felt dissected. Could he see through her, down to her half-truths and lies? The urge to squirm rode her, but Laila tamped it down and waited, preparing arguments in case she needed them.
“You are right,” Victor conceded.
Somehow, she kept in her giant sigh of relief. “As soon as you leave, I will call you with the first piece of information you need. Every few days, I will deliver more until—”
“You negotiated your terms. Now I will negotiate mine. I have only one.” The way he smiled told Laila she would hate it. “You come with me.”
Horror gripped her until she couldn’t breathe. “No. Impossible. This man—”
“Forest Scott?” She must have looked surprised because he slanted her a superior glance. “Did you think I wouldn’t learn about my adversary before I came to kill him?”
Of course he would. Victor wasn’t lazy, just half-witted. “He is very dangerous. He will come for me.”
“Because you mean something to him?” Victor sauntered closer, his stare speculative.
I love you, Laila.
The memory of Trees’s sweet words made her heart ache. Would she ever hear them again?
Probably not, and she couldn’t let her anguish about that make her decision. Survival didn’t care about her feelings. Or his. Saving her family, Kimber Trenton, and Trees was more important. Someday, Trees would move on. Since he was a good man, he would find someone worthy of his love. Her heart would be a casualty, but for his safety and his future, that was a small sacrifice.
“Pay attention. I told you he is merely paid to keep me here, but he values his job. He is a professional. He will not admit defeat.”
“So we’ll make him.”
“Are you listening? He will be a thorn in your side you do not need while you must concentrate on taking down Montilla.”