Good question. One I'm not ready to answer fully.
"Let's just say I've got a personal interest in Los Cuervos." I can tell she’s going to need more before she trusts me enough to give me the answers I want. I shouldn’t— I know I shouldn’t, but I do it anyway.
I give her the truth.
"My stepsister, Adriana—she's in a coma because of their drug, Raven. Doctors don't know if she'll ever wake up. And if she does, they're not sure what kind of brain function she'll have."
Her face softens with genuine sympathy. "I'm sorry."
"They're monsters," I say, the edge in my voice unmistakable. "And you're trapped in their web. I want to know how and why."
She hesitates, chewing her bottom lip. "My brother," she finally says. "Jason. He owed them money. A lot of money. He was...addicted. To Raven. He died of an overdose a week ago.”
There it is. The missing puzzle piece.
“How old are you?” I ask gently.
“I just turned nineteen.”
"And now they're making you pay Jason’s debt by working at the club." It's not a question, but she nods anyway.
"How long before the debt's cleared?" I press, already suspecting the answer.
She looks confused. "The debt isn't cleared by me working there."
"Then what's the point?”
"To keep me where they can watch over me." Her voice drops to a whisper. "Until they can sell me."
"Sell you." My muscles tense, my fists clench so tight my knuckles crack. "What exactly does that mean?"
Her eyes drop to her lap. "I'm a virgin," she says so quietly I almost don't hear it. "Alonso says that makes me valuable. Soon there will be an auction. Men will bid on me. Whoever pays the most... gets me."
White-hot rage floods my system, a fury so intense I have to physically restrain myself from putting my fist through the nearest wall. These motherfucking monsters are auctioning off a nineteen-year-old girl like she's livestock.
A single tear slides down her cheek.
I stand abruptly, mind racing through possibilities. There's no way in hell I'm letting her be sold. No way I’ll even let her return to the club another night.
"Pack your things," I order. "We're leaving. Now."
Her eyes widen. "What? I can't leave! They'll find me. They'll kill me. They'll?—"
"They'll have to get through me first." I pull out my phone. "And believe me, sweetheart, that's not as easy as it sounds."
She stares at me like I'm insane. "You don't understand. They're everywhere. You can't fight the cartel."
A bitter laugh escapes me as I text Chaos a brief update and our location. "Actually, fighting cartels is exactly what I do."
"But why would you risk yourself for me? You don't even know me."
The question stops me short. She’s right. I barely know this girl. She's a complication my undercover gig doesn't need. My mission was intelligence-gathering, not rescue operations.
Yet from the moment I first saw her, something in me was drawn to her in a way I’ve never felt before.
"Let's just say I'm not the kind of man who can walk away from a woman about to be trafficked,” I finally answer. "Now pack your shit. Backup's coming, and we're getting you out of here."
Chapter 5
