He backhanded her across the face. Pain flared across her flesh, and she cried out, trying to blink away the tears stinging her eyes.
“Where is Diego?” he demanded again.
“He moved out of my house a couple of days ago. I don’t know where he is now, I swear.”
Aria expected another backhander or perhaps a slap, but what came at her was the man’s fist and as it connected with the side of her face, her cheek exploded with pain. She cried out again, this time more loudly. She wished she could keep quiet because she didn’t want to give this man anything, especially her fear, and definitely not her tears, but she wasn’t that brave. A tear escaped her eye and slid down her cheek.
“Where is Diego?” the man asked again.
This time, Aria didn’t even consider giving him the same reply. She didn’t know how many more of those punches she could take.
“He might be staying at his friend’s house,” she said quickly. “Mario. I can give you his address.”
He nodded. “Give it to me. We will go to look for him. If he’s not there. I will ask you again, but next time, I won’t be as nice.”
That was nice? She shuddered to think what his bad side looked like. But if they found him, they had no more use for her. All she could do was buy herself some time. Jake knew she’d been taken. Maybe Nash could find her. It was her only hope. Nash would come. He’d promised. He’d said there was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep her safe. She just prayed he’d make it in time.
Not five minutes later, two of the men left for Mario’s house, leaving the man with questionable personal hygiene behind to watch over her. Aria only hoped the men didn’t run into Nash’s SWAT team at Mario’s house because if they didn’t come back, body odor man looked like the type who would kill her first then ask questions later.
She was still trying to get her hands free of the ropes when he entered the room, his eyes roaming salaciously over every inch of her. He sauntered up to her and the smell of stale sweat nearly made her gag. He trailed a finger along her cheek and she winced at the pain that shot through her.
“Pity to mark such pretty face,” he said in broken English. “Diego picked well, no?”
When his finger trailed down to her lips, Aria whimpered. She turned her head away from him, revolted. She did not want this vile, dirty man touching her or to be anywhere near her, but the way he was looking at her told her he had other ideas. He grinned, revealing yellow teeth, and when he leaned in close to her face, the smell of tobacco almost overrode the stale sweat. She gagged then, unable to help herself.
He ignored it.
“My friends be long time, no? What we do until then?”
The man’s finger slid down her chin and neck then lower to her breasts.
“Get off me,” she said, unable to take his dirty hands on her for another moment.
This time she expected a punch, but he didn’t deliver it. Instead, he stood up to his full height then pulled a knife from a scabbard in his back pocket. Its edge gleamed in the dim light of the room. It looked dangerously sharp, and Aria had no doubt he knew how to use it.
“You don’t make nice, I cut that pretty face of yours.”
As if to prove his point, he trailed the knife over her swollen cheek, bringing the tip right up to her eye. A whimper escaped her lips. She was going to be raped. At least, she was sure the man thought that was about to happen. But as she was secured to the chair, he’d have to untie her hands first and when he did, Aria would give him the fight of his life and then some. Nashwascoming, and that gave her all the strength she needed. She might have been kidnapped, but she wasn’t ready to become a victim.
Chapter Nine
Nash
Nash had always prided himself on being level-headed and good in a crisis, but with his mate kidnapped and no leads on where she’d been taken, it was all he could do to keep his bear from bursting out of his skin and going on a murderous rampage…starting with that waste of oxygen abusive asshole husband of hers. And if he’d thought for one moment it would help, he’d have let his beast have its way. When he found her, if the cartel had harmed a hair on her head, he was going to tear them to shreds.
Nash had never felt anguish like this in his entire life. He didn’t know how he was managing to hold it together when all he wanted to do was rage and scream and punch something or someone, preferably the men who had taken his mate, but he knew he had no choice. If he lost his cool, he could lose a lot more than that. He could lose Aria.
That thought alone was enough to steady him. He took a deep breath before pushing open the door to the interview room where Diego awaited him. In all honesty, Nash was surprised that Flint had let him question Diego. He’d thought after everything that had passed between them, Flint wouldn’t let him anywhere near the man, but Flint had said their history might work in Nash’s favor—Diego would be fearful of him. He’d believe Nash to be a loose cannon and wouldn’t want to get on his bad side. Nash had to promise Flint that he had control of his bear side before the team leader would let him get anywhere near the room, but Nash swore he didn’t have anything to worry about on that score.
It was a promise he intended to keep. All that mattered to Nash was getting his mate back and until she was safe in his arms, Nash’s bear was on lockdown. He needed a level head until she was home.
“What’s going on?” Diego demanded as Nash entered the room. “I’ve been in here for an hour. You can’t treat me like this.”
Nash battled the urge to tell Diego to shut the hell up unless he wanted to find himself locked up in a dark hole for the rest of his short and miserable life. But if he was going to find Aria—and he was—then he needed Diego on his side. Nothing else was as important as that one objective—not even bringing down the cartel. Not even his animosity to the man who’d mistreated the most important woman in his world.
“Aria has been kidnapped by your old…colleagues,” Nash said.
Diego didn’t even blink. “Why is that my concern?”
