AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I lurch to my feet, but nudge the keyboard in the process, illuminating the computer screen. What I find there, has me so riveted I can’t move—it’s another view of the hidden cameras, including one of the outdoors where Franco and Jaguar toss a basketball back and forth. The main difference between this one and the one upstairs?
There is sound. It’s low, but crackles through the computer’s speakers. Franco’s voice, bubbly and high-pitched. Jaguar’s patient responses.
If he has that camera rigged for sound, I am sure all of them are.
Including the one near where I spoke to Pedro.
Damn him.
CHAPTERSIX
Irefuse to let the horror consume me just yet. Instead, I follow his request to the letter—I read through every school brochure and settle on three that Franco might enjoy. Armed with those options, I finally join him and Franco on the terrace.
They’ve left their basketball game in favor of sitting by the pool with their feet dangling in the water. Franco is giggling, chattering away about various sports, while Jaguar nods his head, seemingly enthralled. The second I come close enough, he tilts his head my way, missing nothing.
“Look who’s decided to join us,” Jaguar says, flicking his gaze in my direction.
Rather than decipher the searching glance, I look past him. “Franco, can I speak to you for a moment?”
“Yes!” He bounds to his feet, and I lead him inside to a leather couch in a living room large enough to contain my prior apartment. Seated beside him, I take his tiny hand in mine. Then I sigh.
“Franco, remember what we talked about last night? About starting a new school?”
He nods.
“I want you to look through these and pick the one you like best. I’ll be right outside, okay?”
“Okay!” He flips through the brochures while I reluctantly return to the terrace.
Surprisingly, Jaguar is still at the water’s edge, but he doesn’t react as I come up behind him.
Warily, I break the silence first. “I want to demand something of you.”
His only response is to incline his head. “Oh?”
I don’t let the chilling reply deter me. “If you truly care about Franco and his happiness, then you’ll help me keep him blissfully unaware of anything going on with Braulio. You help me shelter him. As soon as he can be enrolled in a school, you help me get him there. And then after…”
As I trail off, Jaguar claps. “Oh yes. Now we get to the good part—” His laugh cuts me to the bone. Almost as deeply as his piercing stare does a heartbeat later. “Where you tell me what you’ll promise the monster in return for bestowing upon you such gifts.”
I stiffen, sensing the emotion lurking beneath that statement. He’s angry, but I try to ignore it for now.
“You can do whatever you want to me—without involving another person. Not Pedro. Not Franco. Not a baby. You can punish me if you want—”
“Oh, I want.” Suddenly, he snatches my hand and brings the fingers to his mouth. With our gazes locked, he kisses the knuckles one by one. Each brush of his lips makes my heart beat faster. “Very much. I think you’ve found your sole bargaining chip, chica. But what will you use once I take what I’m owed out of that beautiful hide? I’m not sure if you’ll have much left to be honest.”
I swallow hard. He’s right. I have nothing to bargain with. I can only beg. “Just promise me—”
“I am not a child, Lupe,” Jaguar warns, releasing my hand. “I don’t need you to make me pinky swear and promise to be a good boy. I will uphold my end of our bargain—you should have no doubts about that. But I won’t have you scurry away from me without upholding your end.Claro?”
“I know,” I rasp.
“Good.” His lips part into a devious, heart-stopping grin. “What a good girl it seems you can be. Now that we have that unfinished business out of the way, there is something else we need to discuss.” His tone switches, heralding an abrupt change of subject. One look at his eyes tells me I’m right even before he says, “Braulio.He’s gone under the radar, it seems. Even my best men couldn’t get a read on him. Do you know what that means?”
I bite my lip to stall having to answer. The truth is, I’m not sure what his sudden disappearance means—for Tiena or me.
“It means,” Jaguar soldiers on. “That he is either dead or somewhere safe, plotting against you. We need to ferret him out. I can only think of a handful of ways in which to do that.”
“And they are?”
