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“Give me one more thing,” he says softly, treading water just beyond my reach. “One more question I want you to answer before I finally decide whether or not to trust you.”
“I don’t care if you trust me,” I spit. “Your help means nothing anymore!”
If Diego is out there, Franco is better anywhere than with me. Even with Braulio. I’ll have to find a way to wire him money. Get him somewhere safe with people who can take care of a six-year-old child.
Whatever it takes, I have to try.
“Did you hear me?” Jaguar runs his thumb along my mouth, forcing me to meet his gaze. “I will admit that you never cease to amaze me, Tiena. Braulio was supposed to threaten you. Rough you up, perhaps. But kill you? I didn’t think the bastard had it in him to go that far. He likes his women on leashes, under his control. He doesn’t have the balls for murder. You must have one hell of a secret in that skull, chica. Whatever it is, it’s now mine.”
“And I’ll never tell you a damn thing. Never,” I add, emboldened by agony and adrenaline. “Not everyone can be manipulated by fear.”
“Ah, you will be. Or you forfeit that precious son of yours. A good mother wouldn’t do that, would she?”
Fear shoots down my spine, but I don’t allow it to distract me. “I’m of better use to him dead than alive,” I say, meaning every word. “And I’m not afraid to die, Jaguar. I’m surehetold you that, didn’t he? Threaten me all you want. I don’t fear pain. I fear…”
Him.Diego.Only now can I admit that.
“I don’t know what deal you made with him, but it will backfire. You think he’s let you have me, but he hasn’t,” I say, tripping over my words. God, I can’t stop looking for him, craning my neck to see beyond Jaguar. Only his posse is in view, though. “He will always own me. You will only ever have pieces. Just scraps. Never the whole thing.”
Even I don’t have that luxury. For the first time in a decade, I feel like I have no control of my own limbs. I’m just a creature composed of fear and pain, eager to escape her next dose of both.
“Oh no, you don’t.” Jaguar grips my arm the second I try to move and wrenches me toward him. “Come here—”
I lunge away though I know escape is futile. I’m not fast enough. I’m not strong enough. Nevertheless, I am skilled enough in the ways of violent men to know exactly when to let go. When to allow his full force to pull me along without resistance.
I practically sail through the water in the direction of the ledge. And when my head strikes off the firm surface, I know that, before everything goes black…
I’m smiling.
CHAPTERTWELVE
Everything hurts, but if the pain was all I had to contend with, I’d be a happy woman. After all, agony and I are old friends.
This sensation, however, is new. Someone bandaged me while I was out. They drugged me too, but not with the harsh, sharp substances I grew accustomed to all those years ago. The feeling is softer, more soothing than stimulating—a mild analgesic and perhaps something else so that I don’t feel as shaky as I should.
Whoever my nursemaid was, they dressed me, too—in a stiff, cotton button-up that feels several sizes too big.
The inside of my mouth tastes like cotton, and the air… It smells like cheap perfume, nail polish, and sweat.
“Tiena?” I hear myself rasp. She’s the only person in the world I know of who reliably smells like all three. How fitting would it be for her to turn up now?
“You’re awake.” The voice is haughty like hers, but too high-pitched.
When I peel my eyes open, the blurry figure I find perched nearby is not my sister. She’s too pale, and her hair is far too bright. As my vision comes into clearer focus, I realize she’s a beautiful carbon copy of the rest of the girls in Jaguar’s harem.
She wears a tiny bikini top paired with white shorts and sits with her back to me on the edge of what seems to be a large bed. Her large blue eyes flick over me in disapproval, and with a sigh, she stands and runs a manicured hand through her blond hair.
“He wants you in his suite. Follow me.”
She heads for the doorway, but I don’t move. Jaguar can wait. No longer am I in the mood to jump for his approval.
“You are one dumb, crazy, psycho bitch. He’ll make you regret this,” the woman remarks before flouncing away.
Unconcerned, I roll over to put my back to the door and focus on taking in the rest of the room. It resembles the one I got dressed in what seems like a lifetime ago. I wonder how many spare bedrooms he has, rented out to the various floozies he utilizes to keep up appearances. The man is smart. He uses his harem not only to fuel a healthy appetite for sex, but for a more important purpose—anonymity. It makes him seem aloof and unwilling to attach himself to one key woman. As Braulio is finding out, when the world knows the main woman you stick your cock into, you have a key weakness for anyone to exploit.
Diego made the same mistake, but he did not fear me, as Braulio sometimes seemed intimidated by Tiena. No. I would rather die than betray him, so no one could ever use me against him. Love he called it. I think a better phrasing was a complete and total corruption of my soul.
Despite the depth of his ownership, he isn’t here now to claim me. I feel his absence in my bones the way I could always sense his nearness back then. If Jaguar did have him lurking out of sight somewhere, he’s gone. I guess my display wasn’t good enough.
