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“I have more than solid evidence. I have myself.” He frowned at her, tilting his head sideways. “There’s a lot more than what I’m about to tell you, Abe. Do you remember when I wrote to you during that deployment a year ago? You were in Africa somewhere, and I told you I had to have my gallbladder out.”
“I remember. The scar seemed wicked for that kind of surgery.” She nodded, biting her lip.
“That’s because it wasn’t gallbladder surgery.” Abe stiffened, and Lyra suddenly realized they’d gained quite an audience. There were dozens of men and a few women standing around them. “It was my punishment for not attending dinner with one of my uncle’s clients. He took my left kidney. He said he would take pieces of me every time I disobeyed him, promising that the next time, it would be something far more valuable than a kidney. He would take an eye, arm, or leg.
“That’s when I told Carr it had to stop. It had to end. He agreed, and we began working on a plan to get me out of there. The day Carr took me, my uncle demanded a meeting with me because I’d missed another dinner with one of his clients. This time, I did it intentionally. I knew who it was, and I knew what he wanted. Or, I should say, who he wanted.”
“His client wanted you?” growled Abe.
“Yes. And what my uncle would do to me paled in comparison to what this man would have done.”
“Who was it?” asked Luke, staring at the young woman.
“Quetzalcoatl. He prefers to go by Quetz.”
“Jesus,” murmured Abe.
They were all very familiar with the name. Quetzalcoatl was an Aztec and Mayan god. He was known as the patron of rain, science, agriculture, and much, much more. The name means Feathered Serpent, and he was known for always having a snake on his wrist. Usually, poisonous.
“I’d been to another dinner when he was present. I was probably twenty. He stared at me as if he could count the freckles from five hundred paces. It gave me the creeps, but my uncle said I had to stay.
“After dinner, my uncle provided entertainment,” she said with disdain. “There were several young women and men. Probably only in their late teens, maybe early twenties, but I highly doubt it. They were ordered to dance and entertain the guests. They’d been taught a dance routine. It was, um, very erotic.”
Abe looked up at Luke and Cam, then around at the other faces.
“There was one girl; she was very young. I don’t think she was even fourteen. Quetz said he wanted her. God,” she said, closing her eyes, “I can still hear that girl crying, begging them to not let him take her. I didn’t see her after that, but I overheard one of the guards saying that he’d brutalized her. Raped, sodomized, beaten, and bitten by his pet snake dozens of times. She was a child. When I asked my uncle about the girl, that earned me a slap. It was the first of many more to come. It was as if once I’d seen one thing in his business, now I was fair game. I think in his mind, there was no escape for me.”
“That’s exactly what he thought,” said Luke. “He thought that since you were family, in his control, and he kept a leash on you, you’d never run. I am surprised, though, that he allowed you to spend so much time with Abe.”
There it was, thought Abe. The question everyone had been holding in. Was Lyra using him for information?
“At first, he didn’t care all that much. I was occupied, attending school, and out of his hair. Then suddenly, he took a huge interest. I think he figured out who and what Abe is. I would sneak out of the house, but one of his men would always follow me.”
“So, you led them right to my home?” scowled Abe.
“I-I guess I did. I never thought about it. I just wanted that time with you. I’m sorry, Abe.”
“Don’t be,” he said, softening. “I just wish you’d told me. I’m going to see if my commander will send a team to check out my apartment. If he knew where I was living, he might have sent someone to try and find out information on me.”
“Oh, no,” she gasped. “He could be coming here!”
“Honey,” laughed Abe, shaking his head. “There is nothing in my apartment with this address, a phone number, nothing. I didn’t even have photos of my parents in the apartment. They won’t find a thing.”
Lyra yawned, big and loud, and Abe laughed.
“Come on. Let’s get back to the cottage.”
“But, where’s your cottage.”
“My cottage is your cottage, Lyra. Mama Irene gave you my cottage.” Lyra stared at him, then looked off toward the kitchen at the little white-haired woman speaking to the staff. “She knew I would be coming home soon. I don’t know how, but she knew.”
“I don’t care how she knew,” said Lyra. “Seeing you today was the best thing that’s happened to me in months.” Abe nodded, kissing her.
“Me too, babe. Me too.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Getting to know Lyra’s body again was well worth the wait. Abe took his time exploring, loving, tasting, touching. He wasn’t just a Latino male. He was from double Latino heritage. And that meant romance and passion all the time. He’d watched the tender way his father treated his mother and vowed that he would one day treat his woman the same way.
