But there wouldn’t be any time to sit in the shade and sip iced tea. The clock was ticking, both on their rescue and extraction mission, and Barrera’s life.
The men led them inside and straight to a large sunroom. More plants, comfortable-looking furniture and lots of light made it pleasant. Another inviting area to lounge. Xander could imagine sitting there with a book and a glass of fine whiskey. Not that he’d ever had the time to actually do something so leisurely. No, his dangerous line of work constantly kept him on the move and looking over his shoulder. Hell, he’d be lucky if he made it to his golden years still in one piece.
“Where are my brothers?” Essie demanded, placing her hands on her hips.
Xander’s lips twitched. His Latina spitfire had just announced herself. As sweet as Essie was, she possessed a spark of wildfire in her soul that he admired and adored. One he would gladly let consume him.
“Essie!” A boy ran into the room and threw himself into her arms. Xander knew it could only be Tomás. They hugged each other hard, and he noticed how Essie checked him over.
“Are you okay?” she asked, hands on his arms, searching his face. “No one hurt you, right?”
“No, I’m fine. Why would anyone hurt me?”
Before she could respond, José Barrera himself walked in to join them, flanked by Manuel and Joaquín Cardenas. Xander tensed, hands curling into fists, his gaze clashing with Barrera’s. As usual, the drug kingpin wore a fancy suit and far too much gold jewelry. Clenching his back molars, Xander fought the urge to grab Barrera’s silk tie, wrap it around his neck and strangle the sonofabitch until his eyes popped from his skull.
“It’s a family reunion,” Barrera murmured, and Essie glared at him over Tomás’s head.
Holding himself in check, Xander looked from one sibling to the next, unable to deny a family resemblance. They all had dark hair and eyes, shared facial features and structure, but that’s where the similarities ended. Essie and Tomás had an innocence and warmth about them. José? All he exuded was cold calculation.
Essie’s hands held onto her younger brother’s shoulders, and Xander didn’t miss the protective gesture. Hell, he wanted to do the same to her. But he couldn’t allow José to know just how important his sister had become to him. Not long ago, he’d vowed to kill them all. And that was what he still wanted José to believe.
“And then there’s you, Hawke.” José sent him a hard smile. “Please explain to me how you and my dear, virtuous sister left together. Did you force her to aid your escape?” He turned his attention to Essie, eyes narrowing. “Or did she go quite willingly? Maybe even instigate the whole thing? I’m dying of curiosity.”
Oh, you’ll be dying alright.
Keeping his emotions locked down, Xander bit his tongue and sank his nails into his palms.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Essie asked. “You were going to force me into a marriage I didn’t want.”
“And now here we are again.” José made atsk tsk tsksound. “Be more respectful to your future husband,hermana. I wouldn’t blame him if he decided to teach you a lesson.”
The Cardenas brothers smirked. “We know how to inflict punishment while keeping the scars well-hidden,” Manuel assured them.
“Wise not to ruin her beauty,” Barrera agreed.
“Let’s get on with the exchange,” Xander interrupted. If he heard one more remark about them hurting Essie, his carefully maintained control would snap.
Essie pulled her younger brother in for another hug, her hand reaching up to lightly squeeze the back of his neck as she whispered something in his ear. Then she straightened up and gave him a little nudge toward Xander.
Before he could safely navigate to Xander’s side, José reached for Tomás, pulling him back. “I’ve decided things aren’t going to happen the way Mitchell Evans wants,” Barrera sneered. “If it were up to me, I would’ve slit that bastard’s throat when Lazaro imprisoned him last year.”
No one moved. Was Xander surprised Barrera was changing the plan? Hell no. He’d expected it. That’s why Essie had just stuck a tiny tracker on the back of Tomás’s neck, right beneath his collar. His team would extract them both while Xander dealt with Barrera.
“Tomás stays here, with me. Estrella, you go with them.” He tipped his head toward the Cardenas brothers, then nodded to one of his men who immediately escorted Tomás from the room.
“That wasn’t the deal,” Xander pretended to be pissed.
Jesus, Barrera is so predictable.
They’d all assumed he would do exactly what he was doing. Renege on his word like the lying, sneaky bastard he consistently proved to be.
“Is the boat ready?” Manuel asked Joaquín.
Boat?Xander’s head swiveled over to the brutal brothers.What fucking boat?
“The captain said he’s ready when we are,” Joaquín confirmed. Then he reached for Essie, yanking her between them. Xander didn’t miss the slightly panicked look that crossed her face. “We’re going to have so much fun breaking you in,nenita.”
Motherfucking sonofafucker.It took every ounce of his strength not to launch himself at the disgusting duo and crack their skulls together. Xander hated how the asshole was touching Essie, and he itched to break every one of his fingers.
