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Lafayette, Louisiana
Laila woke groggy and disoriented. Her head felt fuzzy. How long had she been out? She had no idea. She wasn’t even sure where she was except in a moving vehicle with the sun beating through the windshield, blinding her sensitive eyes. Every one of her limbs seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
“You awake?”
That voice…it was familiar. She’d heard it in her sweetest dreams. But it also haunted a nightmare that tugged at the edge of her consciousness.
Instinctively, her heart beat faster. Her breaths came quicker.
It took all her concentration and most of her strength, but she turned her head and found the man who stopped her heart. “Trees.”
The last time she’d seen him, at her condo in Mexico… It all rushed back. “Where are you taking me?”
“Right now? To Valeria. We landed in Louisiana about twenty minutes ago. She and Jorge are eager to see you.”
Panic filled her. She tried to swim through the thick cotton wrapped around her thoughts and remember why she shouldn’t want to see her sister. It was like casting a line into a yawning abyss. “No. I cannot.”
His face softened. “You’re worried about their safety.”
“Yes.” That was it.
“We aren’t being followed. I’m making sure of that. You’ll have an hour with them.”
Then what?
Laila’s mouth felt dry and sour. A result of the drug he had given her. She swallowed.
As if Trees had read her thoughts, he handed her an unopened bottle of water. His other hand was curled around the wheel. The sunglasses perched on his nose, his head-to-toe black, not to mention his size, all made him intensely intimidating.
She took the cool plastic, screwed off the cap, and downed a few sips. It helped, but she still didn’t feel like herself.
Laila shifted in her seat, startled to see that he’d clothed her in a bright sundress and a sweater. Where had these clothes come from? Had he dressed her himself?
That wasn’t all she noticed… Despite the fact she’d been out for hours, her sex still felt sensitive, swollen. Memories rushed sensations through her body, as if every nerve ending remembered the pleasure only he seemed capable of giving her.
Again, he read her mind. “We should talk about what happened.”
“No. You should return me to Mexico.”
“That’s not happening. Is your pussy sore?”
She closed her eyes, an unwanted thrill burning her skin. He knew the answer. He must. The way he’d growled the question… She heard the pulse of his excitement. Giving him the truth terrified her. It would make him more feral. More relentless. More possessive. It would embolden him to lay claim to her. Best to come at Trees sideways. “Is Geraldo Montilla dead?”
He pressed his lips together. “We don’t know. My gut says no. Injured, yes. I know that because I shot the bastard myself. Now answer my question.”
She didn’t. Her heart went to her throat. “You were involved in Kimber’s rescue?”
“How did you know about that?”
Carajo,she had said too much, so she gave him the one answer that might shut down conversation. “Victor.”
Well, his phone had given her the information. It wasn’t a total lie.
“Why weren’t you with him when I found you? Last we heard, Montilla sent his hitmen after Ramos at some motel—I guess that’s where you filmed him fucking you—but by the time they arrived, Ramos was gone. So were you.”
So Victor hadn’t been captured and offed by Montilla’s men. Then where was he?
“Laila?” Trees prompted impatiently.
Admitting that she’d ditched Victor days ago would only encourage Trees in his insistence that she belonged to him. “I-I…um, have a headache.”
From the middle console, he pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen and a granola bar. “I thought you might.”
Laila took the items with a frown. She didn’t understand Trees. He’d threatened her, he’d unleashed his sexuality on her, he’d withheld orgasm, and he’d abducted her. Why was he caring for her now? Being considerate?
She studied him as she chewed a couple of bites of the bar, then downed a pair of the tablets and drank more of the cool agua. His strong profile, his control of the wheel, his focus on the road… Something about all that aroused her. She shifted in her seat. Her sex burned. “Thank you.”
As she set the bottle in the cupholder, Trees zipped his gaze her way. “Why, Laila? And before you think of lying to me, I know you hadn’t been with Ramos for a while. Your sister told me.”
Why would Valeria give up her confidences? Come to think of it, Trees should never have been able to find her…unless her sister helped. Had Valeria divulged her secrets in some misguided attempt to protect her?
Laila’s ire rose. Valeria must know she was doing her best to keep her family safe. More than anyone, her sister should understand the consequences of failure. Laila had to be the one to get the cartels off their backs. Jorge needed his mother. Valeria must stay alive to raise her son. While Laila often wondered…if something happened to her, who, besides her sister, would even miss her?
She turned again to look at Trees. He might. This big, dominating bundle of muscle and testosterone seemed determined to have her. To own her. He might mourn her death and yearn for her if she was gone. But why?
If he loved you two weeks ago, could he have truly fallen out of love after you sent him one awful video?
Why did the possibility that he still loved her make her heart flutter? Why should his feelings matter?
Because he did. Because she loved him. Lying to herself about that was foolish.
“I tried to give Victor’s location to someone in Montilla’s organization in exchange for information that might ensure my family’s safety.”
He raised a brow. “You tried?”
