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CHAPTER4
Lyse
Iexpected to be taken to the Castillo compound and locked up, but the longer we were in the dark SUV, I came to realize that wasn’t Omar’s plan. I had been prepped for being taken hostage before — Apá wanted both Matteo and me to know it was always a possibility — but training wasn’t the same thing as being huddled in the front seat of the enemy’s car, driving into the night.
I watched the road signs and did my best to memorize them. Once I could contact Apá or Felix, I would tell them exactly where I was, confident in my ability to remember. Omar Castillo wouldnotget what he wanted from me, whatever that ended up being.
But when he turned onto a road and headed toward the marina…everything stopped. Panic spiked through my veins and wrapped around my heart, squeezing it until I couldn’t draw a breath.There’s no way he’s going to put you on a boat, I told myself over and over.It makes sense to put a safehouse near a marina for a quick exit.
My fears were quickly confirmed when he turned into the marina’s parking lot and cut the engine. “Where are we going?” I asked before I could stop myself. What was wrong with me? I was so good at holding my tongue literally any other time, but now?
Omar smirked at me, humorlessly, and it was truly unfair to be this close toLa Bestia. The man was terrifying, to be sure, but he was also handsome. Devilishly so. “It would be better for you if you didn’t ask questions.”
I sank my teeth into my tongue to stop the torrent of words that wanted to fly free. When he came around to open my door, I thought about kicking it open and smashing him in the face or clinging to the door handle and refusing to go with him, but considering how easily he threw me over his shoulder at the Biltmore, I could only imagine how easy it would be for him to break my fingers so that I couldn’t grip anything at all.
I climbed out of the SUV, hissing a little as my bare feet touched the crushed oyster shell gravel. Omar’s big hand wrapped around my wrist again, and he tugged me toward the dock. The gravel sliced into the balls of my feet, dug into my heels, and by the time we stepped onto the wooden dock, my feet were a bloody mess. I could hear the water slapping against the pilings, but I couldn’t see it. My heart leaped into my throat.
I couldnotget on a boat. I couldn’t swim.
When I hesitated, Omar pulled me along until we stopped at a slip with a fairly large boat. “I can’t—” I started, but he simply picked me up and set me onto the boat’s deck before climbing aboard himself.
He pointed at a seat that was directly in front of the wheel. “Sit and do not move.” I sat where he indicated and wrapped my hands around the nearest rail, gripping it until my knuckles ached. Omar untied the boat from the dock before he went to the steering wheel and started the engine.
He quickly backed out of the slip and steered the boat out into the pitch blackness.He’s going to dump me, I thought, holding even more tightly onto the rail as if it would save me.He’s going to throw me out of the boat; no one will ever find me.
I tried to tell myself that I wasn’t making any sense, because why would he take me if he wanted to kill me? He could have shot me at the Biltmore if that were the case…but logic was taking something of a backseat at the moment.
“You know I’m a Castillo, yeah?” Omar asked, and I nodded, tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. “Answer me.”
My jaw was tight, but I somehow formed the words. “Yes. You’re the enforcer.”
Omar chuckled, and it was an ugly sound. “Enforcer,” he said, as if he were molding his mouth around the word. “My brother’s protector.” His voice took a bitter note. “I failed at that because of your family.”
My stomach filled with ice. Angel Castillo was the newly appointed head of the family, and Apáhatedhim. What had he done? “Did my father—?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know,” Omar spat.
“I don’t,” I insisted. “I promise that I don’t.”
Again, he let out that bone-chilling laugh. “I suppose you don’t,” he mused. “You were too busy with preparations for your fancy engagement party.”
The words brushed against my skin like broken glass.Don’t talk to him, I chided myself. There was no point in making conversation withLa Bestia. He was more animal than man—the level of violence tonight proved that—and given the amount of damage he took himself, I had no idea how he was even still standing.
The boat bumped along over waves, and my stomach twisted sickeningly. I was suddenly glad Apá hadn’t allowed me more than a few bites of dinner; it seemed like a kindness now. “Seemed like a nice party,” Omar continued. He would almost sound friendly if it weren’t for the undercurrent of bitter anger. “Your husband-to-be is quite a step up from some low-life cartel boss, huh?”
I sank my teeth into my tongue again until I tasted blood. Between his taunting and the splashing of the water, I was in hell. How had I ever thought being at home was bad? This was far, far worse. As we dipped and bounced again, I groaned, wishing I had somewhere to lie down.
“Does your fiancé know about what your father and brother get up to?” Omar asked, and then chuckled, as if he’d made some kind of joke. “Of course he does. You were probably a part of that deal, I imagine.”
“Fuck you.” It was something I had never dared say aloud, not even in the privacy of my room, but there seemed to be no point to keeping my mouth shut now. Before he inevitably killed me, I wanted the opportunity to say the things I had never been brave enough to say.
Omar didn’t react to my words at all; instead, he continued to taunt me. “Shall I include Felix on my list? Right behind your father and brother?”
I looked back at him, glaring when I saw the savage grin that cut across his face. He was trying to goad me.Pendejo, I thought. Felix held little love in my heart, but Matteo… “My brother had nothing to do with whatever my father did. Apá barely lets him do anything yet.”
Omar snorted. “Now you want me to spare Luis’ssecond in command?” Again, there was that ugly laugh.
“He’s twenty-three; he’s acting as my father’s—”
