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)
Her head slid back. She moaned, a long, high-pitched wail of need. “I locked myself in this room when I heard him shout for you. He threatened to burn the house and kill you, so I—”
“Rushed out to stop him because you were afraid of being burned alive? This room is fireproof. You should have stayed hidden and safe.”
“And sacrificed you?” She shook her head feverishly. “No. Not when I could save you.”
“You came out of hiding to protect me?” Did she comprehend how insane that sounded? Trees was well over a foot taller than her. He outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. And he’d been trained by the best to be a lethal son of a bitch. But she’d put herself on the line to save him? “How did you think that was going to work?”
“I talked him out of revenge by focusing him on another target for his violent urges. I could not bear him plotting your death or destroying your home.”
“Fuck the house. I bought this place for the land and the privacy, not the structure. Did you really think you needed to protect it with your life?” And why would she?
She squirmed, gyrating against his now-still fingers. “I saw an opportunity to accomplish many goals at once.”
“Explain that.”
Laila hesitated. Apparently, he’d ventured on to something she didn’t want to admit. Trees wasn’t about to let her hold out. He dipped his head and tormented her clit with his tongue again until it was hard as a stone, until she bucked in silent pleading, until he wrung a loud wail of surrender from her.
“Laila? Explain.”
“Okay. I-I ache. I cannot…”
“Think? Yeah, you can.” He brushed his thumb over her again, giving her enough friction to tease but not enough to send her over. “Don’t filter. Use the first words that come to your head.”
She nodded, gasping. “My plan was meant to save you and your house while distracting Geraldo Montilla, who would then focus more on Victor and less on my family.”
“And put Ramos on Montilla’s radar?”
“Yes. I hoped Victor would fight back and weaken Montilla.”
Was she serious? “Did you grasp that it would probably mean Ramos’s death?”
She hesitated, licking her lips, squirming again. The answer she was withholding right now was the something she didn’t want to admit. Was she afraid he wouldn’t give her this orgasm if she said she hadn’t meant for Ramos to get hurt?
“Tell me,” he demanded, dropping his voice. “Now.”
“Yes,” she gave in with a cry. “I suspected Montilla would kill Victor. I hoped for that.”
She expected him to believe that after the video she’d sent? Trees scowled. “Bullshit. How about the truth this time?”
“It is the truth!” she insisted. “After that, I planned to find Kimber’s location to give EM a reason to hunt down Montilla—”
“So we would off him for you and your family would finally be safe?”
“Exactly.”
He had to give her credit. If that was the truth, her plan was both ballsy and brilliant. And something he absolutely itched to spank her ass for.
But she’d also given him a lot to unpack in that statement. He started with the things she was most likely to answer without pushing back. “So…the distraction to focus Montilla’s attention on Ramos? Is that why you helped him steal the Ferrari?”
She nodded. “It was my idea. I convinced Victor that if he could show the cartel he was clever enough to take the man’s prized possession, then perhaps everyone would think the old man incapable of continuing the operation and that he should be replaced by someone as daring and crafty as Victor.”
Trees didn’t ask if Ramos had been dumb enough to believe it. Obviously he had. Laila had appealed to the man’s ambition and vanity and said exactly what he’d wanted to hear. “And you’re seriously telling me you wanted Montilla to kill your lover?”
“He is not my lover. He is my rapist.”
“That’s not what you said in La Pesca. You insisted that you enjoyed everything he did to your body and that you were with him of your own free will.”
“I said what I had to so that you would not fight Victor in the street. I knew he would do his best to kill you,” she argued passionately. “When he shot you, I died a thousand deaths.”
He wanted to believe her, but they were a long way from trust. “Why should I buy that after you criticized me for being suckered by your ‘sad story’? Which lies are the genuine lies, Laila? You sent me a video of you two fucking, so it’s a little hard to believe you didn’t leave me because you have feelings for Ramos and that you weren’t helping him for your own greedy ends.”
“I swear, I only meant to protect you.”
“By spreading your legs for him, filming it, and sending it to me with a kiss-off email?”