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 sister held Jorge tighter. “I did not say you could hold him. I said you could meet him.”
“He is my flesh and blood. I would never hurt him.”
“Merely kill his mother,” Valeria shot back.
“I can concede a child this young requires a mother. You will not be harmed. You have my word.”
“Forgive me if your word means very little to me.”
Montilla’s expression turned to thunder. “Bring me my son!”
Laila reared back. His son? The old man wasn’t senile. Had he actually fathered Jorge?
At her side, Valeria’s spine went even straighter. “After what you did to Emilo, the last person he needs as a father is you.”
Laila gaped at her sister. Jorge was truly Geraldo’s son?
“What did I do? I gave Emilo every advantage,” the old man growled. “Ungrateful, inept prick.”
Valeria scowled. “You indulged and corrupted him. He was a sniveling boy, playing at men’s cartel games. You turned him into a criminal, even as you undermined his every move. You ensured he could not lead without your permission, then you constantly told him that nothing he did was good enough.”
Fury twisted the old man’s face. “He was not fit to follow in my footsteps. His mother was weak, which she passed on to Emilo and his sister, Clara. Good riddance to them both. They were foolish enough to let their emotions overwhelm them. And they were both stupid enough to let themselves be killed by Pierce Walker. They got what they deserved. But this boy will be different. He belongs to me.”
Valeria clung to Jorge tighter. “He is mine. I gave birth to him.”
“I say now he is mine.” Montilla stood, rising to his full height. Suddenly, he looked a lot less injured and a lot more vital. “Once upon a time, you begged me to fuck you. Because you wanted a real man. Because you knew where the power in the cartel truly lay. This boy is my price.”
Valeria scoffed. “I only fucked you so my sister and I would be protected. I never expected to get pregnant.”
Laila blinked at her sister. Had she offered herself to Geraldo Montilla to buy their safety?
Montilla looked amused. “I did. That was my goal. Or will you try to convince me that Jorge is my son’s offspring?”
“He could be,” Valeria hedged.
“If that was so, you would not have run from my son in fear when you realized you were pregnant. But you fled because you feared he would be suspicious. And you knew he would have killed you for the truth. So you escaped with Colonel Edgington and his sons, leaving your younger sister without any help, ally, or hope for the future.” He tsked. “Not very sisterly of you.”
Valeria sent her the briefest glance filled with shame and apology, then she glared at Montilla. “I left so you could not corrupt or abuse my child. The world did not need another Emilo.”
As much as Laila felt shocked and betrayed by all her sister’s secrets, she couldn’t argue with Valeria’s conclusion. Laila had found ways of coping with life under the thumb of Victor and Hector Ramos in her brother-in-law’s compound. As a baby, Jorge would have been utterly vulnerable.
Montilla stalked closer to Valeria. “Give me my son.”
At Hunter’s signal, every operative he’d brought raised their weapon and pointed it at the drug lord. “We are not the police or the DEA. We aren’t here to threaten your business, but you made a simple fucking agreement: fifteen minutes with Jorge and Victor Ramos’s lousy ass in exchange for my operative. You’ve got five seconds to comply or I’ll blow your fucking head off.”
Montilla stared him down, looking simultaneously amused and annoyed. “Do you really believe you can compel me to do anything? For every gun you have trained on me, I have one pointed at each of your men. Would you like to see your brothers die? Mr. Scott in the basement? Everyone else who relies on you for a paycheck? And I assure you, once they are gone, your clients will suffer most. Valeria is young enough to breed again several times if I desire. And Laila will make a more than acceptable whore for my men.”
Terror clawed through her. After knowing the pleasure of Trees’s touch, she couldn’t imagine enduring sexual violence and abuse again. But how could she stop what seemed like an inevitable slaughter?
One thing she had learned over her years of captivity was that no one expected her to be a fighter or capable of foiling the plans of dangerous men. She’d use that to her advantage.
Clandestinely, she looked around the room for some way to hide Jorge and her sister while she reached Trees. She glanced over her shoulder at Hunter Edgington. He had a scheme in mind. She saw it on his face. Laila wished she knew what.