She watched in horror as the guard jerked the unconscious woman to the edge of the bed. He used a knife to cut the tattered material hanging on her skin. The motion woke her, causing her to flinch beneath his palms. Luis’ hands gripped her upper arms, his fingers digging into her flesh as he held her still.
“This is your fate soon. Boss may want you untouched for now, but once you are sold, your fate will be the same.”
Everly squeezed her eyes shut, but the sound of the woman’s cries tore through her chest. Tears rolled down her skin, sending a burning reminder she was not in control of her life anymore. The sounds of the girl’s whimpers caused bile to creep up her throat. Something inside Everly broke. She could feel her heart blackening with every grunt and cry that echoed off the walls. Never in her life did she think of herself as a person capable of killing someone—but now, now she couldn’t wait to drive a blade into the man responsible for all these women’s pain. She couldn’t wait to see the look in the monster’s eyes when she ended his life.
She didn’t know how or when, but she was going to kill Darby.
Cristianpacedtheoffice,his mind racing with possibilities of how to find the woman who was now haunting his every thought. He’d gone as far as nicknaming her Mi Cielo, which translated to My Sky—a name that he picked because of her cerulean blue eyes.
“Are you sure you don’t recognize the name Darby? Maybe you overheard your father speaking about him?”
“No.” Katya stretched her legs out in front of her. “I tried to avoid my father and his business dealings whenever I could. I did however have some luck with a resort in Brazil. It seems they’ve had several cases of female guests disappearing, only to have their bill paid in full by a mysterious donor.”
“And they didn’t think to report this to the police?”
“Why would they? It’s not completely unheard of for women to hook up with someone while on vacation. Don’t start blaming them, Cristian.”
Cristian stopped in front of her. “Well, are you going to tell me what you found, or am I supposed to guess?”
“Apparently, the front desk clerk recognized the photo of her, but they wouldn’t give me any information on her over the phone—we’ve got to go in person to get what we need.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. We fly out in an hour.”
Cristian grabbed his notebook and the photo of the woman he had become consumed with. Once they were safely tucked into his backpack, he slung the bag over his shoulder and stopped in front of Katya.
“Let’s go now. I’ll call the pilot on the way and tell him to ready the plane.”
“A tad bit anxious, aren’t you? I need to talk to Matias first, then we can go.”
“We’ll stop by the warehouse on the way. He needs to know what’s going on, and he said he had some information that may tell us something.”
Katya shook her head and stood. “Fine. Let’s go then, Mr. Impatient Pants.”
She followed him outside and climbed into the awaiting car. Cristian was seated in the front seat, staring out the passenger window as their driver navigated toward the warehouse. Katya couldn’t help but giggle.
“What?” Cristian grunted.
“You. You're all brooding and shit. This girl has you tangled up in knots, like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
Cristian groaned and shot her a dirty look. “I just want to end this. These women deserve freedom from that monster.”
“Yes. But she is the one you’re willing to set the world on fire for—and you haven’t even met her. What happens when you find her, and she doesn’t like you? Have you considered that?”
“I’m no fool to the fact I mean nothing to her. She’s a stranger to me just as much as I am to her. But that doesn’t stop the internal war I have inside of me that’s raging to find and save her. I’ll set her free—even if it means walking away.”
Katya narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips. She knew it was going to be harder than he realized, especially if his heart had already settled on this mystery woman. They pulled into the mining yard and parked outside the main warehouse. Katya bounced out of the car, eager to see Matias.
Cristian was shocked they hadn’t married yet. Matias was ready months ago, but she wasn’t. He followed her inside and smiled when he saw them wrapped up in each other’s arms.
He scoffed as he rolled his eyes. “Think you two could dial it down a little?”
“One day you’ll have someone you won’t want to be apart from and all you’ll want to do is hold them in your arms.” His brother kissed Katya, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
“What do you have for us? We need to make it quick; Katya and I are flying to Brazil.”
“You might not have to take that trip.” Matais walked to his desk and pulled out some papers. “Before I hand this to you, I need to know you’ll wait to do anything. Going off like a wild bull will only put us at risk.”
