She nodded.“Abuelo often votes for certain laws to benefit the Villegas Cartel, so Papá agreed to his terms.”
“Right, he didn’t want to anger the man.”
“The two-year mark ended a few months back, so I’ve been living on borrowed time.Even though Papá arranged for me to have bodyguards, my grandfather provided the apartment and a monthly allowance.”She huffed, so exhausted and emotionally drained she nearly melted right into the floorboard.Frustration ripped her words free.“I’m twenty-seven years old; I should be self-sufficient.Pay my own bills.Live my life without the need for an armed shadow trailing my every step.But no, I’m obligated to rely on the men in my life.”
“The bane of your birth.”
“Exactly.”Resentment sharpened her tone.“Part of my father’s conditions was that I couldn’t do anything to shame the family.Getting a job to earn money or enrolling in school were in thenocolumn.To him, women are trophies and unworthy of an education because they shouldn’t have a career to warrant needing a degree.We’re only good as cooks and baby-making machines.”She rubbed her lower stomach where she’d twice held her baby before the heartbreak of miscarriage stole them away.
She grasped Enrique’s warm, roughhewn hand, determined to make him understand.“You whisking me off like this isn’t going to change anything.Papáwillfind us.He will force me to marry Diego.If Diego no longer wants me, I’ll have another fiancé before the year is out.”
“You’re wrong on one thing, Lourdes.”He turned his hand over to hold hers and veered into the other lane to miss a tortoise that crossed the road.“The great Gerardo Villegas will not kill me.He may want to, but it’s not smart business.I’ve damaged the Lozano-Villegas alliance by taking you, but if I do right and marry you, we will strengthen the bonds of our cartels.That’s the whole reason your father arranged for you to marry Zayas.”
“To strengthen the bonds, I know.”While Diego was only a senior capo with the Lozanos, Enrique was the number two man and best friend of the current Lozano leader, Jacobo’s younger brother, Rubén.If anything, her father should’ve accepted Enrique’s suit over Diego’s.“That’s all well and good if war hasn’t already broken out.If Papá turns against Rubén, your life will be forfeit.”
“Again, not smart business.Your father is a businessman above all else.Both cartels will search for us.They will either join forces or work separately.Eventually, someone will find us.I’m not so arrogant as to think I can hide you away forever.Before that happens, we need to be on the same page.”
We need to be married.She heard his unspoken words loud and clear.
Manipulated into one marriage after another.Why couldn’t she choose who she wanted, or better yet, stay single?The four years she’d spent under Jacobo’s thumb were enough to last a lifetime.Only, would she have such a terrible fate as Enrique’s wife?Even though he’d kidnapped her, he hadn’t technically hurt her.Terrorized and angered her, sure.But that was the extent of his cruelty.If he were Jacobo or Diego, he probably would’ve assaulted her by now.
Of course.Now she’s rationalizing Enrique’s male-chauvinistic actions just as she had Jacobo’s when he hit her while drunk.She was stronger than this.No matter what happened, she couldn’t lose herself in fear and self-pity as she had before.Whether she married Diego, Enrique, or someone else, she had to be strong and resilient.She had to survive.
Lourdes pulled from his grasp.Enrique’s heart was in the right place, though he was going aboutsaving herall wrong.She had to protect him from his foolishness.Somehow, she had to escape and beg her father to grant him mercy.
“If I had the chance to go back in time and stop myself from doing this, I wouldn’t.”He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.“Give me time, Lourdes.You’ll see I’m right.I will make you happy.”
Happiness, hope, love—those were dangerous words.Everything she’d ever wanted.
Too bad it wasn’t meant to be.
Chapter Three
Enrique shifted inthe seat, his back aching from hours of driving.The rumble of his SUV coursed through his body as he wrestled with the wheel, keeping the vehicle steady over a merciless patch of potholes.He gritted his teeth, cursing the uneven, pockmarked excuse for a highway.How he longed to let the SUV rip across smooth blacktop, but he’d bet every peso in his bank account that a score of Villegas enforcers or on-the-take police thugs were monitoring the well-maintained toll roads.
As much as he’d told Lourdes it wasn’t smart business if her father tried to kill him, anything was possible.He’d insulted the Villegas jefe by kidnapping his daughter.That disrespect demanded retribution.
