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A couple of hours later and we’re climbing up a hillside surrounded by desert for as far as the eye can see. The road drops off on the left, down a sheer cliff face, and to the right is a wall of rock where the track has been cut into the side of the hill. We pull up to an iron gate that cuts between two stone pillars. This is less Fort Knox and more gated luxury. The armed guards step aside, and the gate slides back, allowing us to pass through into a courtyard. In the center of the brick driveway is a little water fountain and the front of the terracotta-roofed villa is covered in hanging baskets. Little flowerbeds nestle beneath the windows, vibrant, colored flowers making the place bright and charming. It’s every bit as immaculate as the mansion, only prettier.
I slide out of the car and take my crutches, limping towards the front of the house. The tension is palpable here, more men, more heavily armed and all on alert. “Is Lucas coming here?” I ask Rafael when he stops giving orders and comes over to me.
“You seem fond of the boy,” he says casually while typing away on his phone.
“I like him. He’s nice.”
He snorts. “Nice?”
“Yes. You wouldn’t know much about that.” I sniff.
He laughs. “No, I wouldn’t.” When I shuffle inside the house, I find the doctor I first met at the mansion standing in the hallway, clutching a large bag as he shifts awkwardly. “Use the living room.” Rafael points down the hallway before he kisses my forehead. “Be good,” he demands as he walks away.
I glare at his back and then at the doctor, who ducks his head sheepishly. “I’m only here to take off your cast.”
I soften toward him a bit, but still, I’ll never forgive him for sticking a needle in me against my will. “Fine.” He walks down the hall and ducks into the first doorway. I follow. It’s a sitting room with a couple of sofas facing each other around a coffee table. The doctor props my leg up on the table and then opens his bag, plugging in a tool of some sort. He turns it on, and it lets out a low humming sound.
Ten minutes later, I’m staring down at the very pale skin of my lower leg. I wriggle my toes and slowly stand, easing my weight onto it.
“How does it feel?” The doctor asks.
“Fine.” It feels weird to actually have both feet on the ground after weeks of hopping around on one foot.
“Good.” He stands up, packs his things and leaves the room without a word. I walk over to the window and glance out at the scene beyond. Sprinklers arc high into the air, watering the emerald green lawns that surround the villa. Beyond the garden is a low wall, and beyond that…a sheer drop to miles and miles of desert. I can see the jagged line of rock formations on the horizon, breaking the endless blue sky.
My mind drifts to Una, and to the situation I now find myself in; because, in the blink of an eye, everything has changed. I’m no longer the girl who has no one—who is helpless. I have Una now, but only in theory. She’s still this fleeting fantasy, a dream that feels so real and yet so unattainable. And then there’s Rafael, the man who I know is so bad in so many ways, yet makes me feel protected and worthy. The man who freed me—because technically, I’m free now, aren’t I? Or perhaps Rafael just opened the cage door to let me fly into an aviary. I often wondered what I would do if I were truly granted my freedom. Travel the world? Dance in the rain? Fall in love? I never thought the man I’d fall in love with, would be my captor though. When faced with all the things I thought I would do, I find myself willing to sacrifice them all for that one thing: love. One word shouldn’t hold so much power, and yet even I, a slave, a whore—even I know that it is the very thing we all crave. I’m no different, just a broken girl seeking the rawest form of connection. Rafael soothes my fraught soul and heals my battered heart. Una is my sister, but I know, deep down, she’s not what I need now. He is.
Turning from the window, I drift through the house. Rafael’s men move around, taking dustsheets off furniture and bringing various items in. I walk into a living room, the feel of the cool terracotta tile under both my feet so welcome. There’s an open set of French doors on the far side, and they give me a glimpse of a sheltered courtyard. Pots of lavender and jasmine are dotted around, their scent filtering through the air as the late afternoon sun beats down on the stone slabs.
A small fountain sits in the middle with a statue of a woman adorning the center. Water cascades over her body, painting the grey lines of her form with a green tinge. The algae crawl over the stone, eating away at her features until they’re barely recognizable. There’s something sad about it, and I have the urge to clean her off, but I don’t. Instead, I go outside and lie on the bench beside the fountain, turning my face toward the sun.
“I thought I’d find you here.” I sit up and find Lucas leaning against the doorway, his scrawny arms folded over his chest.
“You came,” I say, a genuine smile pulling at my lips.
“Of course. I’m your bodyguard. Where you go, I go.” My smile remains at the idea of Lucas as any kind of protection. He’s so young and innocent, and I’m pretty certain Rafael only gave him this job because he had nothing else for him to do.
“Have you been to this house before?”
“Yeah, Rafael stayed here for a bit last year.”
“Why?”
He shrugs one shoulder. “His inner circle sometimes comes here if he thinks we’re under threat. It’s a pain because it’s far away from the city, but it’s almost impossible to attack.”
“His inner circle?”
“Yeah, Sam, Carlos, Maria, a few of the guys.”
“And you?”
He shrugs again. “Mum would kill Carlos if anything happened to me.”
“Does your mum know who you work for?”
“She thinks Carlos is in a gang. She wanted me to be a doctor, but I’m not smart enough.” He shrugs. “In Juarez, if you want to make money, then you work for the cartel. I’m lucky my brother is so high up.”
I drop my gaze to my hands resting in my lap. “You could do better.”
