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Alejandro looked between the knife at my throat and his uncle. ‘Please let her go, Carlos. You can have everything. I don’t want any of it without her.’
‘Fuck you, hijo de puta!’ he snarled. ‘I would die before I give her back to you.’
Alejandro took a deep breath before he spoke. ‘Ahora.’ Now.
I heard another whizz of a gunshot as Alejandro lunged forward, grabbing the blade of the knife before it sliced through my throat as Carlos dropped to the floor.
‘Jax, get Lucia,’ he shouted and Jax started jogging down the stairs and over to Lucia.
Alejandro dropped to his knees in front of me. He pulled the rag from my mouth with his bleeding hand and I gasped for air. Then he worked quickly, cutting the ties at my ankles before moving behind me and cutting my wrists free. My arms burned with the pain of a thousand needles as I pulled them toward my body. Then he was on his knees before me again. Brushing my hair from my face as the blood from the wound on his hand dripped down his arm.
‘Alana. Princess. I’m so sorry.’
I wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging to him as though I would never let him go as I sobbed against his shirt. He ran his hands over my hair and pressed his mouth to my ear. ‘I love you so much,’ he breathed. ‘I need you to know that I have never regretted marrying you. Not even for a single breath. I would give up everything I have ever known if it meant not losing you.’
My heart swelled in my chest and my sobs grew even more persistent. Then he was standing, lifting me into his arms. ‘I’ve got you, princess. You’re safe now,’ he soothed in my ear.
We both looked over at Lucia. She was in Jax’s arms and had her head buried against his chest. ‘You okay, kid?’ Alejandro asked.
She looked up at him. ‘Yes,’ she sniffed as tears rolled down her face.
‘Come on. Let’s get home,’ he said as he started to walk toward the stairs.
I nestled my head against his neck, breathing in his incredible scent and feeling the relief at being close to him again settling over me like a warm blanket. I already was home.
CHAPTER 51
ALEJANDRO
My blood thundered around my body as I walked out of my uncle’s house with Alana in my arms. Adrenaline was still coursing through me and it would continue to do so until we were safely in Jacob’s car. I glanced behind me to see Jax carrying Lucia into safety. She looked unharmed and I felt a rush of relief. That kid had already been through enough in her young life.
Alana, on the other hand, was covered in blood and had cuts and bruising to her face and body. I’d given her a cursory check over and they all appeared to be superficial, but I’d have a doctor check her out as soon as we got home.
It was the psychological scars that would take the longest to heal though. I knew that. I felt bile rise in my throat as I recalled what Carlos had said about his men violating her. I wished that I had been able to make them pay the way they deserved to, but there hadn’t been time. I planted a kiss on her head and made a silent promise that I would never let anyone touch her ever again.
Jacob was pulling the car up when another car approached from the distance. I looked across at Jax. I held onto Alana awkwardly with one hand for a moment while I took my gun from its holster. As the car approached, I recognized it as my Uncle Phillipe’s. He was either here to help, or to kill me.
Phillipe jumped out of his car. ‘Alejandro!’ he shouted to me.
‘How did you know we were here?’ I snapped.
He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. ‘Your father told me. I came to help.’
‘Well, everything is taken care of.’
‘Everything?’ he asked solemnly.
I nodded. ‘What needed to be done, is done.’
He nodded but tears filled his eyes. ‘Maybe now he will find some peace.’
‘I hope so,’ I said.
‘I’m happy to see you all safe,’ Phillipe said as he started to walk back to his car. ‘I’ll send someone to clean up inside and I’ll meet with you tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow,’ I agreed.
Then Jacob was opening the car doors. Jax placed Lucia in the back seat and slid in beside her. I climbed in through the other door, holding Alana close to me. ‘Do I not get my own seat again?’ she said with a faint smile.
