Darby was still standing around when he noticed his driver. The man seemed oddly familiar. He couldn’t remember how many of his guys had moustaches; they laughed at it and called it old-fashioned. His appearance seemed off. Darby tossed thecigarette underneath his feet and crushed it beneath his toe. He marched towards the driver to have a word with him. There was a route they would follow, one that was only known by him. He wanted to know how smart this driver was by asking him if he’d known about the secret route.
Bastian’s hands trembled as he noticed that Darby had been staring at him for too long. He would be royally fucked if Darby figured him out. He held his breath as he walked closer.
“Hi.” Darby relaxed against the car. “I don’t recognize you. Are you one of Luis’ new men?” he added. “Perhaps I’ll drive today,” he joked.
“No, I can’t let you do that. Masters don’t drive, they sit down and watch.”
Darby felt the man’s accent was different from everyone else, but he couldn’t put his finger on what made this man different. He fetched his phone to make some phone calls to the man who had purchased Everly.
Darby noticed a car moving up the driveway and shoved his phone into his pocket. “That’s weird. He’d told me he would come in the evening.” Darby knew that the man was always on time. His men opened the gate and allowed the SUV to pass. Darby froze. It was Matias Silva in the passenger seat. He was certain that he had left him for dead.
“Fuck!” Darby reached into his belt to retrieve his gun, but Bastian punched him in the back of the head.
Matias and Cristian exited from the car, both holding weapons in their hands. “Don’t move if you want to live. We have this place surrounded,” Matias warned the other men who were caught off guard. Just as he spoke the words, three vans filled with armed men pulled in behind him.
Darby smiled. “You think you’ve won? You don’t know shit. She has been bought and paid for. You take her now; you’ll have an evil bigger than me breathing down your neck.”
“Where is she?” Cristian asked. He didn’t care about the bullshit threats from Darby. They’d caught him completely by surprise, and he wouldn’t get away this time.
“Inside,” he replied lazily.
Before rushing into the building, Cristian signaled his men to hurry towards the back. Bastian dragged Darby over to an empty van and tied him up. Darby let out a chuckle as he watched the man pulling down the drive. “I told you. You’ve fucked up. Her new owner is here. He’ll kill you for doing this.”
Cristian turned toward the car and cocked an eyebrow. His gun was trained on the darkened window. His stomach rolled with apprehension as the glass slowly started to ease down, revealing the man inside.
“What is going on?” he asked in Spanish.
“Darby is trying to sell my wife to you,” Cristian replied. “If you think you are going to take her, you’ve got another thing coming to you.”
He watched with fascination as the man exited the stopped car and walked over to Darby. “Is this true? You dare sell me a woman who is spoken for?”
“He’s lying.” Darby spat onto the ground.
“He looks like a man hell bent on avenging someone he loves. How dare you tangle me in this mess.” Cristian watched as the man withdrew a gun and fired a single bullet into Darby’s head. “I have no desire to be part of whatever war this is—unless you want to make it so.”
“No. We only want the women here and his wife,” Matias spoke.
“Then I’ll be off. May we never meet again.”
They watched as he climbed into the car and drove off. “Who the fuck was that?” Cristian turned toward his brother.
“A man we do not need a war with, trust me.”
Cristian nodded and started toward the house. “Get the women loaded. I’ll find Everly.”
Shecurledupina corner in her room when she heard the gunshot. It had only been one, but in her heart, she feared it was Bastian that had been at the receiving end. Her only joy was that Cristian had found her, and that Matias was alive.
“Get up, bitch.” Luis burst into her room and jerked her up by her hair. “You’re going to finally get what you deserve.”
Luis threw her down on the bed and dug his knee into her back. She felt the tip of something metal slip beneath her dress. Her heart pounded as she thrashed beneath him.
“Get off me.”
He punched the back of her head. “Shut up, bitch.”
Everly closed her eyes and prayed someone would find them and stop this madness. She heard the ripping of fabric as he tore her panties from her body.
“Please,” she whimpered as all sounds faded in the background. This was what she deserved. Her decision had led her to this point, and now she was going to pay.
