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“Will you take Evelyn back to the house, please? I need to handle this.”
“Massimo, no.” She gripped my forearm, clinging on tight.
The horror that darkened her lovely eyes made my chest ache. I never wanted her to witness anything like this ever again.
“I’ll make sure she’s safe,” Stefano promised, completely sincere for once. No matter his capacity for violence, he wouldn’t allow any harm to come to an innocent woman like Evelyn. He’d approved of my choice to defend her from the very beginning. When I’d found her in that basement and killed his rogue men to save her, he’d thanked me for ending them.
The fearsome drug lord would keep my fragile little butterfly safe while I dealt with this clusterfuck.
I brushed a kiss over Evelyn’s chilled cheek and entrusted her into his care. He steered her away from me, toward the exit.
“What will you do now?” Adrián asked, pale eyes sparking with curiosity.
“I’m going to find out which motherfucker put her up for auction.”
“And then?” he prompted.
“I’ll make the man scream. And the bastard who announced the auction. And every piece of shit who dared to bid on her.”
Adrián nodded, his cruelly handsome features twisting into a terrible grin. “Mateo and I would love to help.”
A lot of blood was about to be spilled, and I wouldn’t deny the sadist his due. I checked the exit, catching a final flash of Evelyn’s platinum hair as she was led away from the impending violence.
She would be safe back at the mansion. I’d do whatever was necessary to hide the darkest aspects of my world from her. I regretted that she’d witnessed the disgusting scene here tonight, but I still wouldn’t have changed my decision to bring her with me.
Even now, having her out of my sight irritated me like an itch beneath my skin.
“Weapon of choice?” Adrián asked smoothly.
“Knife,” I grunted in reply, distracted by thoughts of Evelyn.
“Excellent.” A blade appeared in my hand.
The familiar weight was reassuring. I’d learned to fight with knives during my youth in Le Vele. Guns were good too, but a knife was more personal. A gun put a man down without a fight. A knife let me feel their blood on my hands. I didn’t revel in their pain like sadistic Adrián, but there was something honest about ending a man with a blade.
And I would get to watch the light leave my enemies’ eyes as I made them pay for what they’d done to that innocent girl. I didn’t get off on violence, but I relished justice. My retribution would be swift and bloody, and then I could return to my sweet Evelyn.
Chapter 9
Evelyn
My stomach churned so violently that I thought I might be sick. I swallowed against the burn at the back of my throat and blinked rapidly to hold the tears at bay.
The man who’d just dismissed me after that horrific auction was a stranger to me. Massimo had barely even looked at me when he handed me off to his drug lord friend, Stefano. If I hadn’t seen the awful events with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed them.
Massimo had just bid on the right to take an unwilling woman’s virginity. He’d bought her body right in front of me.
The diamond necklace became an iron weight around my neck, a shackle. He’d told me I was his, and I’d foolishly thought he was mine. I’d debased myself for him. I’d eagerly welcomed him into my body, and I’d been an idiot to think I had some sort of hold over him.
The cold, hard facts were that he’d stalked me. And even though I’d willingly fled from cartel violence when I’d gotten on that motorcycle with him, he’d abducted me against my will. So many times, I’d said that I didn’t want to be part of his criminal world. I’d told him that I just wanted to go home to America.
But he’d kept me, regardless of my wishes. I’d thought it was because he cared about me as deeply as I cared for him, but if that were true, he wouldn’t have been capable of betraying me.
Pain knifed through my chest, increasing my nausea as I stumbled deeper into the empty mansion. Stefano had left me as soon as I locked the door behind me. He’d promised that no one would dare to cross the threshold, and he’d excused himself so he could go back to the club.
Maybe they planned to share the girl. The other two drug lords hadn’t stopped the disgusting auction.
My heart ached for her. She’d clearly been unwilling and terrified out of her mind.
