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)
No, I needed to personally get up there and get both my man and the computer. The guard and I were only three yards away from the elevators when something sharp pierced my lower back. Pain lanced through me as electricity jolted my system. I lost control of my limbs, and I dropped to the hard marble floor, my guns slipping from my hands as I went down.
Fuck!
I knew what a Taser felt like. I also knew I wouldn’t be able to move for another minute or so.
The guard I’d taken as my hostage bent down and scooped up my weapons, training one on my heart.
“Wait,” a new, unfamiliar voice said. “We need to call this in and see what the boss wants us to do with her.”
A second man appeared over me, holding the Taser that had taken me down.
Yes, I wanted to say. Call Andrés.
The words were an unintelligible groan.
“Took you long enough to get here,” the guard complained. “She could have fucking shot me.”
“You’re lucky I came back from my break early, then,” the second man said coolly. “Cuff her,” he advised.
The guard nodded and grabbed the handcuffs attached to his belt. He quickly secured my wrists at the small of my back while the second man pulled out his phone and placed a call. He spoke into the receiver in rapid-fire Spanish that I couldn’t follow.
I’d been disarmed and restrained in a matter of seconds.
I really sucked at being a field agent. As soon as Andrés got me out of this mess, I promised myself I’d never fight crime in person again. I could work far more effectively from the comfort of my ergonomic chair behind my computer screen.
“Moreno wants to see her,” the second man said, ending his call. “Get her downstairs.”
Downstairs? Not up?
The two men gripped my upper arms and wrenched me to my feet. I couldn’t support my own weight, so they started dragging me the short distance to the elevators. Once we were inside and the guard had pressed the button for the basement, I started to regain some control over my muscles.
I’d only just managed to get my legs to support me when the doors slid open, and my knees gave out.
Andrés wasn’t waiting for me. Cristian was.
Chapter 25
“Samantha,” his accented voice caressed my name. “I thought you were gone.” His sharp smile flashed in the dim light of the spare bulb overhead. I recognized this as the same room where he’d brought me when he’d initially captured me. The day he’d given me to Andrés.
I didn’t respond. What was I going to say? The phantom chill of his knife on my skin made me tremble as fear pulsed inside me.
Andrés will come, I told myself. He’ll find me. He always did. He’d come charging in and kill everyone who threatened me.
Wouldn’t he?
Did that vicious protective streak extend to his brother? I wasn’t certain Andrés would be able to challenge him.
He will. For me, he will.
I hoped I wasn’t lying to myself. My own fear of Cristian was enough to blow all the wits right out of my mind. I couldn’t imagine the clawing, instinctive panic Andrés must lock inside every time he faced his brother.
The men holding me upright dragged me forward. I tried to dig in my heels, but my feet stumbled uselessly as they closed the distance between me and Cristian. His black eyes—so like Andrés’—studied my face, searching.
“You came back,” he said, his head canting to the side as his eyes narrowed at me. “Why? My men say you were armed. Were you going to kill Andrés?”
“No!” The word popped out before I could hold it back.
“Then why return, when my brother set you free?”
“I…” I swallowed hard and braced myself for the lie, drawing on a defiant mask. “I came to kill you. I was trying to find you. I was going to deal with him after.” I couldn’t tell him about my feelings for Andrés. If I did, he might hurt him again.
Andrés had warned me about Cristian, even in our early days together. The sadistic bastard liked to force you to watch while he hurt the person you loved most. When Andrés had first told me about his brother’s sick proclivities, I’d feared for Dex’s safety. Now, I feared for Andrés. I had to make Cristian believe I saw Andrés as my cruel captor, and that I was coming for revenge on the Moreno brothers.
Cristian laughed, the sound rich with genuine delight. “You do want to kill him? He’ll be so devastated. He does tend to get a soft spot for his pets. You, especially. I thought he was actually going to try to attack me when I told him I’d ordered Lauren to dose you with Bliss. He didn’t like the idea of other men fucking you.”