Total pages in book: 767
Estimated words: 732023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3660(@200wpm)___ 2928(@250wpm)___ 2440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 732023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3660(@200wpm)___ 2928(@250wpm)___ 2440(@300wpm)
My stomach churned, nausea rising in my throat. “Andrés…” I said his name shakily, struggling to get my tears under control. I wanted to weep for him, but that wasn’t what he needed from me. He needed me to be strong. He needed me to show him that his scars only made him more beautiful in my eyes. They were marks of his defiance, of his goodness. He bore them because he’d tried to put a stop to his brother’s evil.
I leaned in and brushed my lips across the deep furrow in his cheek. “I love you,” I said with the weight of an oath. “We’re going to get away from your brother. Together.”
His brows drew together, his face twisting in lines of anguish. “I have something for you,” he said instead of responding to my fervent declaration. I didn’t like that he was avoiding what I’d said, but he pulled me into his lap, cuddling me close.
I sighed and pressed my cheek into the crook of his neck, relief washing through me at the feel of his strong arms around me.
He shifted slightly, reaching for something on the cart beside the bed. Confusion threaded through me as he uncapped the syringe.
“Lauren already gave me the birth control shot,” I told him.
One corded arm wrapped around me, pinning me against his hard body as he carefully slid the needle into my upper arm.
“It’s not birth control. I should have sent you away hours ago, but I had to see your lovely eyes one last time.”
“What are you…?” My tongue grew heavy in my mouth, and lethargy rolled over me as my eyes drooped closed.
“I can’t protect you,” he said, pressing a kiss against my motionless lips. “Goodbye, sirenita. Te amo.”
I knew what it meant. I love you.
Chapter 24
I awoke to the sound of someone’s fist pounding on wood. Forcing open my sandpaper eyelids, I struggled to assess my surroundings. In my gut, I knew something was wrong. The bed beneath me, the too-rough sheets that covered me, the slacks I wore.
Wrong.
I could still smell Andrés’ unique, masculine scent. But that was because I was covered by one of his huge shirts.
The pounding increased in volume, escalating to banging. The sound reverberated in my skull, and I winced, my aching brain working overtime to process everything.
“Sam!” A familiar voice bellowed. I glanced toward the locked hotel room door that separated me from my friend.
“Dex?” I rasped, my throat too dry.
Wood splintered, and the door burst open. My best friend rushed toward me.
“No,” I breathed.
Dex couldn’t be here. That meant…
“No!” Anguish wrapped around my heart.
Andrés had sent me back to my friends, back to safety. And he’d left himself at his brother’s mercy. Cristian would punish him for letting me go.
“It’s okay, Sam. It’s me.” Dex stopped a few feet away from me, keeping the same careful, respectful distance he always did.
“Are you hurt?” Jason asked. He stood even farther away, barely inside the broken doorway. Tension gripped his body, and his dark green eyes studied me intently. His lips twisted in disgust when his gaze fell on Andrés’ shirt covering me. It obviously belonged to a man; it nearly swallowed my much smaller frame. “Who did this to you?” he ground out, clearly putting two and two together. He saw my state of dress and assumed I’d been violated by my captors.
“Where is he?” I asked thickly, struggling to control my tongue. The drugs lingered in my system, sapping my strength and dulling my mind. All I knew was I had to get back to Andrés before Cristian hurt him.
“Who?” Dex asked, kneeling beside the bed so he could study my face. “Who were you with? We got an anonymous call saying you’d be here. Are you…” He eyed Andrés’ shirt, his pale blue gaze igniting with rage. His jaw clenched, and he took a deep breath. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.” I slurred. “I have to go.”
“Go? Sam, you’ve been missing for almost a month. You’re not going anywhere.”
I tried to sit up, but the world wavered around me, and I dropped back onto the pillows.
“I have a bus on the way,” Jason said.
I didn’t want an ambulance. I didn’t want to go to the hospital. I wanted to get back to Andrés before something terrible happened to him.
But I couldn’t seem to move. I could barely think. I heard Dex talking, but I couldn’t quite focus on what he was saying. The room kept sliding into darkness. Every time the world disappeared, I tried to force my eyes back open.
I was fighting a losing battle. Everything dissolved around me, until all I had left was fear for Andrés.
***
When I finally came back to full awareness, I found myself in a hospital bed. Dex was standing at the threshold to the room, his massive body blocked by a short nurse who was clearly struggling to hold her ground.