She shook her head.“No, I don’t think so.Diego said it was remote-controlled only.”
Enrique eased the vest off her arms before he hugged her close.
Her breath hitched.Her throat burned, raw from screaming.From Diego’s manhandling.She clung to Enrique and cried, grounding herself in his citrus-and-sweat scent and the safety of his embrace.“I had to stop him.Couldn’t leave you.”
“I know.”Enrique palmed her cheeks and feathered kisses across her forehead and nose.Then he brushed his lips across hers and drew a drop of her blood into his mouth.“You did what you had to, my brave fucking woman.”
She stared into his eyes.So much emotion.Pain, shock, fury.Pride.All directed at her.And love.She could bask in his love forever.
He wiped away her tears.“You’re free now.”
The tightness in her chest eased.A breathless laugh escaped her mouth.“Therapy was helpful.This was better.How did you find me?”
“Your watch.Where is it?”He grasped her left hand and lightly trailed his touch over the rope burn around her wrist.“Your rings?”
“In Diego’s pants pocket.He wanted to sell them.”
“Figures.”Enrique leaned over the dead man, fished out the jewelry, and returned everything to where it belonged.Then he stood and pulled her up with him.“I had Domingo install a tracker in the watch,” he confessed, nodding toward the computer genius who now stood watch over the kneeling prisoners, Diego’s henchmen.
Lourdes blinked hard, drawing back.“You put a tracker on me without asking?”
“That’s how I got to you in time.I’m not removing it.”
She opened her mouth to argue, then closed it.He wasn’t bluffing.She wouldn’t win this battle, and maybe, she didn’t want to.An extra layer of protection wouldn’t hurt.
Gunfire blasted.
She jumped and clutched Enrique’s arm.
One of the prisoners fell face-first in the dirt.Blood seeped out from the wound in his skull.
The other three kidnappers continued kneeling in a row, gazes down and hands linked on the back of their heads.
Bang!Rubén shot another man.
Blood sprayed the dirt.The body collapsed in a lifeless heap.
“Stay here, princess.”Enrique snatched up his discarded gun and joined his comrades.“My turn, Rubén.”
His friend stepped back, nodding in deference.
Heart pounding, Lourdes watched in a mixture of dread and sick fascination.
Enrique stood behind a trembling man and executed him without blinking an eye.As the body fell, he lined up his next shot and blasted a hole in Salcido, the last man.
The gunfire carried in thunderous applause.The sun finally sank, bearing witness no more.Deep shades of purple turned the jagged hills on the horizon into black teeth.
A strange peace settled over Lourdes.The cool breeze soothed her inner fire.
Enrique had offered no mercy.Asked no questions.Just delivered the swift, cold brutality of cartel justice.
He holstered the gun to his chest and returned to her.“Are you all right?”A hint of ice laced his voice as though he braced himself for her condemnation.
“I’m more than all right.I’m exactly where I belong—with you, my love.”She wrapped her arms around him.“Now, take me home.”
