Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Lover boy’s not far off. When we get outside, hit her head and knock her out.”
Something in me snaps. I’m not a rag doll to be beaten and abused. “No!” Panic sweeps through me. I struggle against the restraints and scream. I kick at the guard and try to get away, but there are too many of them and only one of me. I can’t get away, no matter what I do.
They drag me out, blindfolded. I’m crying freely.
A blow strikes the back of my head and the world tilts. The last thing I see is the cold, bleak sky as I slip into darkness.
CHAPTER THREE
Ollie
My men have been on the prowl now for two days, searching high and low for Renata Carerra. There are two things I know for sure: she’s not far, and she’s betrayed my family.
I’ve looked in every nook and cranny in Colombia to no avail, but Isabella says she hasn’t left Colombia yet, so I keep hunting.
I pace in the living room of my brother Lev and his wife Isabella’s Colombian home. They reside in both New York and Colombia, as they shoulder leadership roles as the bridge between the Morales family cartel and the Romanov family’s Bratva.
“I can’t find her,” I tell Isabella, running a hand through my hair. “Maybe she’s fled the country.”
Every step closer fuels my anger, but beneath it, a darker need coils tight. No matter what she’s done, no matter what she still might do—she’s mine.
Isabella, a bit older than Renata and a bit wiser, only smiles and shakes her head. “I have contacts, Ollie, don’t forget, and I have it on good authority she’s here.” She takes a long sip from a glass of water. “Trust me.”
Fine, fine. I’ll trust her.
Jesus.
“I would know,” is all she says. “Keep looking.”
I’m about to leave when I finally get the call I’ve been waiting for. “Sir? We found her. I dropped a pin with her location to your phone.”
My heart thunders, warring emotions choking me. Relief. She’s alright. Rage. The fucking traitor.
Where has she been? What has she been up to? What has she done?
“Put it on speaker,” Isabella says behind me. I give her a sharp look as Lev turns the corner. I’m not in the habit of taking orders from someone I hardly know, especially a woman, but Isabella is the one in charge of the Los Sangre Dorada, and she’s borderline insane to boot.
My brother levels his gaze at me, so I tap the speaker button.
“They have her.” I swallow. “Is she alright?”
Why do I care? She betrayed my family. I don’t look at Isabella and Lev when I ask.
“Not that badly. A little beaten up, but conscious.” A shadow crosses Isabella’s face. In the not-so-distant past, the two of them were best friends.
I frown. This isn’t adding up. If her brother was alive and had her in his custody, she’d be dead by now.
“I’ll be right there.”
I disconnect the call and turn to Lev and Isabella. “You were told about Santiago?”
Isabella gives one sharp nod. “Good riddance.” Loyalty to the LSD is of paramount importance to Isabella, for good reason.
“Were you debriefed regarding the conversation I had with him before I put a bullet in his skull?” I take my gun out and check that it’s loaded. Isabella casts a quick glance down.
“We’re not in the Wild West here in Colombia, Ollie. You must be careful. There are very strict gun laws in Colombia. We don’t have the connections and immunity you do in the States.”
Fuck.
I grumble and tuck it away.
“No,” Isabella says. “I have not been debriefed.”
I blow out a breath. “They said Carlos isn’t dead.”
Lev and Isabella share a look before she glances my way again. “Is that so?”
I look at her in surprise. Did she hear me correctly? Carlos Carerra, Colombia’s most wanted next to the late Javier Morales, Isabella’s brother, was once thought dead.
“You aren’t surprised.”
She sighs and shakes her head. “Not at all. I half expected as much. First, it was too good to be true that we ended both my brother’s reign of terror and Carlos’s in one fell swoop. Second, Carlos is too fucking mean to die.”
We’ll fucking see about that.
“Bring her back, Lev.” Isabella’s gaze grows cold as ice. “I need to have a…talk…with my former friend. Woman to woman.”
Lev eyes her thoughtfully. I nod to them both and head to the car.
I park a block away from where the pin marked their location, conceal my weapon, and march down the street. My anger toward Renata grows with every step I take.
I have to take her back. If what we’ve been told is true, Carlos will be on the prowl for her. Hell, he might be the reason she’s here.
The two men Isabella assigned to me stand in a darkened doorway at the end of the street. There. They’ve got her. She’s here.