“You’re taking this personally.”
“Damn right, I’m taking it personally. She invaded my fucking privacy for ten years!” Tomas rubbed his hands down his face and reined in his temper. “I’ll be careful.”
He studied Tomas for a moment, gaging his friend’s emotional state. Tomas was the calm one in the group. The level-headed, stern-faced, untouchable guy who handled his problems on his own and avoided drama like the plague. He would deal with this as quietly as possible.
“All right.” Luke blew out a breath. “I’ll arrange an escort with La Rocha to get you out of here.”
“You’re coming with me.”
“No, I’m not. I planned this out before you showed me the email.” He glanced at Vera, bracing for her fury. “I’m going to make an offer to buy Vera, an offer the cartel can’t refuse, and you’re going to take her with you.”
“No!” Tomas and Vera shouted in unison.
“They won’t let me go.” Vera raged, shoving him in the chest. “Even if they agree, I won’t. I’m not leaving without you.”
“They will, and you don’t have a vote in this.”
“You son of a bitch.” She spat a rapid-fire barrage of Spanish before switching back to English. “I will fight you and—”
He clapped a hand over her mouth and hauled her against him. “Shut up and listen.” He looked at Tomas. “There’s a massive wall surrounding this compound. How many properties in California are built like this one?”
“A lot,” Tomas said. “Paranoid rich folks, hiding their dirty deeds from outsiders.”
“But you’ve spent the last few days studying the layout, memorizing every detail. Once you’re outside these walls, you’re going to pass along those specs to the team. They can survey maps and fly a chopper over the region. You’ll find your way back.”
Vera squirmed and bucked in his hold until he released her.
“Great.” She spun away, panting through labored breaths. “You can both leave and return with your army.”
“I’m not going anywhere until every single person who hurt you is dead.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
“What happens, Vera, if all three of us leave and never find our way back here?”
Her stubborn chin tipped down, her eyes blazing with rancor. “The girls remain enslaved, and the bad guys win.”
“I won’t let that happen. What did you see on the other side of the wall?”
“I’m not agreeing to this.”
“Answer the question.”
“A junkyard.” Her nostrils flared with indignation. “The compound is bordered on one side by a massive graveyard for old cars.”
A grin pulled at his lips as he turned to Tomas. “How many properties in California are surrounded by a stone wall and a junkyard?”
“Probably not more than one.” Tomas’ mouth twitched, unleashing a matching smile.
“Excellent. I’ll arrange your immediate departure and negotiate a purchase price for my mouthy new sex slave.”
“You can go right to hell, Luke!” Tears welled in her eyes, and her hands balled into infuriated fists. “I won’t let you do this. They’ll kill you. No. You know what? Fuck that. I will kill you.”
She could despise him and curse him to hell. He would still win.
Sending her far away from this place was priority number one, even if he had to shackle and gag her to see it done.
Luke had to shackle and gag her.
By nightfall, Vera still wouldn’t see reason. She threatened to scream his secrets from the rooftops if he forced her to leave without him. She would never blow his cover, but he didn’t put it past her to race off and hide somewhere on the property.
He didn’t have time for that. So he bound her with rope and silenced her with a strip of cloth. Then he ordered Tomas to carry her to the waiting limo. The sight of her thrashing and heaving with every fierce breath in her body gutted him at a depth that couldn’t be mended.
He was hurting her in his attempt to save her. Taking away her right to choose. Removing her free will. It was the worst possible thing he could do to her.
Except risking her life.
From where he stood, ensuring she lived superseded all ethical and moral obligations.
Maybe his decision was selfish, but at that moment, watching Tomas wrestle her into the back of the limo, he realized he would never survive her death. He couldn’t even consider the possibility.
He remained on the sidewalk, stomach knotted, lungs collapsing, fighting like hell to maintain his ruse as a wealthy, suit-wearing, heartless slave owner.
His face felt like marble, his numb hands clasped loosely behind him. He was a stone-cold monster, who had just purchased a trafficked girl.
His first and last.
The negotiations with Hector’s four sons had dragged out for two hours in Marco’s lavish office. Over tequila and cigars, Luke cajoled, and the brothers strung him along with no real commitment to his offer.
His top price was one million. Six-hundred thousand of that was his own money. Van had given each of his ex-slaves that amount. It was the only money Luke had to his name.
Before he left Colombia, Martin and Ricky had offered their portions, as well. They desperately wanted Vera to be returned to Tula. Tomas had also thrown his share into the pot.
In total, Luke had two-point-five million to bargain with. But he’d had no intention of draining his friends’ bank accounts.
He was a fool.
Marco haggled with him for two hours. Marco’s brothers wanted no more part of the negotiations. Selling Vera meant surrendering their bait for their father’s killer. Of course, they didn’t know that Luke was privy to Vera’s true identity.
It had been several months since Hector died. Vera believed they were losing patience, and it wouldn’t be long before they killed her. She was a liability. A flight risk. Too smart for her own good.
In the end, Luke bought her freedom for three million dollars. A bid the cartel hadn’t been able to refuse.
If they suspected he had something to do with their father’s murder, he was the one they wanted anyway. Not Vera.
To seal the deal, he announced that he would be staying on the property for the remainder of the week with the possibility of purchasing a second girl.
Dollar signs glowed in four pairs of gluttonous eyes.
Another three-million-dollar purchase? He didn’t have that kind of money. But they didn’t know that.
When he’d left Marco’s office, he’d sent a message to one of the burner phones that Matias Restrepo carried. The cartel jefe agreed to cover the half-million that Luke was short for the purchase of Vera.
It was a huge ask. Camila’s husband had already invested a hefty chunk of change into this operation. If Luke succeeded in taking down La Rocha, maybe he could liquidate La Rocha’s assets and recoup the investment. But there was no guarantee.
There was no guarantee he would ever see his friends again.
From within the limo, Tomas signaled him to approach. With a calming breath, he moved on lead feet and bent into the open doorway.
Shackled to one of the long benches, Vera sank her teeth into the gag and glared at him with pure venom in her eyes. A wet sheen shimmered along her lashes and welled in the corners.