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)
“That was yesterday?” After she had sent him the video? Apparently, and she shouldn’t really be surprised. Hadn’t she wondered on their way here if it was possible Trees still loved her?
“You can be angry if you want, but I would do it again. For you, hermana.”
“What if I did not love him in return?”
Valeria’s gaze was softly chiding. “Why ask when you do? I had only to see the way you looked at him just now to know how you feel. But you are afraid. Is that why you fight him?”
Laila considered her sister’s question. The truth smacked her in the face. “Except for you and Jorge, everyone I love has been taken from me. It is easier not to love anymore.”
“Easier but empty. What sort of life will you have with no one in it? I can tell you. Meaningless. Jorge gives me purpose and a child’s love, but what I would not give for a man’s strong, protective arms around me. For him to give me more children and stand beside me as we raise them. I threw myself at Mr. Preston.” Valeria looked embarrassed. “He would not have me.”
Empathy softened Laila. Valeria had never expressed any of these feelings, and she was stunned by her sister’s loneliness. “I am sorry.”
“If I upset you, I am sorry, too. But I meant well.”
Valeria had. She always had. And Laila now had a lot to think about.
“Trees means to take me back to his house for ‘corrective discipline’ until I learn to stop playing cartel games. Do you not worry what that means?”
Her sister cocked her head. “No. Anything he does to you would be far less than the cartel. He is not a bully, Laila. He is not Victor Ramos. And if he teaches you to value your own safety, why should I balk at his method?”
“So you condone whatever he means to do to me?”
“I suspect he will do it with a loving hand.” She sighed. “Has he given you pleasure? When he took you to his bed, did he not show you the good parts of being a woman?”
“Yes.” Laila couldn’t lie about that.
“Then you have nothing to fear…except your heart surrendering itself to him.”
Laila was afraid her sister was right.
Laila visited with Valeria and Jorge for far longer than an hour. Trees hadn’t minded. She’d needed the opportunity to connect with her sister and cuddle her nephew. And he’d used the time to ask Kane questions about Valeria’s habits, actions, and communications. His fellow operative didn’t think Valeria was up to anything, much less no good. That told Trees Laila had likely hatched her schemes alone.
Now he intended to find out what she had up her sleeve next and put a stop to it—before it killed her.
They left the apartment as twilight was falling. With his palm lingering on the small of her back, he reviewed his plans. While he’d waited, he’d sorted through possibilities, discarded ideas, and settled on a strategy. He knew exactly what to do when he hit his door.
The forty-five minutes between now and the minute he had her naked and tied down for his punishment were going to chafe.
He drove fast, heading straight toward the setting sun. Silence prevailed.
Laila surprised him by breaking it. “Thank you for taking me to see my family. I have missed them.”
She seemed quieter, more thoughtful than earlier. Softer. He liked it. But he didn’t expect it to last. As soon as she understood his intent, she would fight back. There would be fireworks.
“Of course. They’re important to you. I would never keep you from them.” Unlike Victor Ramos.
Trees didn’t say that aloud. The dig served no purpose now. He had to stay focused on his objectives. Still, he couldn’t stop wondering… When she’d left his place with Ramos, had she really become the thug’s whore again, eager to take his cock hard and raw? Did she miss Ramos after selling him out to Montilla for her family’s safety?
Laila sent him a faint curl of her lips. “Where are we going?”
“My house.”
“How long do you intend to keep me there? I know I cannot stay with my sister; it is too dangerous for her and Jorge. But Victor is still alive, and he knows where you live.”
Was she saying in a roundabout way that she was worried about him? Or just her own hide? “Oh, I hope he steps foot on my property again. I will blow his fucking head off.” Ghost and Matt had offered to watch his six tonight to ensure Ramos couldn’t creep up on him. “Does the possibility that I might kill him upset you, Laila? Or did you stop caring about him and the rough sex he gives you once you sold him out?”
She dodged his question. “You cannot keep me against my will.”