"Did you see that?" I asked.
"See what?" Battista asked.
"That muthafucker knew me," I said, looking in my rear view mirror, watching as the Suburban disappeared.
I flew on to the 5 freeway headed for my apartment, pissed as hell.
GONE, GONE
SIERRA
My ears perked up as the door creaked open behind me, followed by a pair of slow footsteps over the old wooden floor.
"Good morning, or should I say afternoon, Sierra," the man's voice said.
My head sunk as far between my shoulders as my restrained wrists would let it. His rough finger slid under my chin, lifting my face toward the ceiling.
"You're gonna respect me enough to answer when I speak to you," he said, his dark black eyes glaring at me with all the evil the world had to offer.
I ripped my chin away from his finger, shifting my gaze toward the floor. He chuckled, stepping toward me just as his phone rang.
"Hello?"
"The guys said there were three punk ass Americans downstairs and one of 'em was a gringo. I have a big shipment coming in soon and I don't need this extra aggravation. How much longer do I have to hold on to this bitch?" he asked the person on the other line as I listened intently, hoping to gain insight on who had ordered my capture.
"Listen. It wasn't just the bar, Oscar said he thought he saw your gringo on 24th street," he said, pacing back and forth.
"I'm doing you this favor. Don't forget what you promised me in return…once she's gone."
She's gone? Where was I going? Does he mean gone, gone?
"Fine, I'll keep her alive, but yes, I'll do the other thing."
What other thing?
My stomach began to churn with worry, hoping beyond hope Chance had figured out my message. I was banking on the fact he knew me well enough to know I was in distress, and I would never take the baby…his baby… away from him.
The man hung up the phone, slipped it into his blazer pocket, and paced around me. His movements were slow, like an animal stalking its prey. His finger slid down the length of my arm, then back up, resting his palm on my shoulder.
"You have such pretty skin. Smooth. Not too light, not too dark. Just right. You're like fuckin' Goldilocks," he said, massaging my neck.
I didn't reply.
"Has anyone told you how beautiful you are?"
He moved in front of me and took hold of my chin, positioning his face not even one inch from mine. "I'm fuckin' talkin' to you!" he yelled, his spit splattering on my face.
I closed my eyes.
"Answer me!" he yelled again, slapping me on the cheek with all his might.
My head jerked to the side, the bitter taste of blood filled my mouth, and I could feel the inkling of a cramp on the right sight of my lower abdomen.
Please Lord, please protect my baby.
Another slap to the same cheek forced blood to spill from my mouth.
"You think you're slick, huh? Just 'cause I can't kill you, doesn't mean I can't touch you here and there. It's up to you if you wanna make them soft or hard."
He crouched down in front of me. "You like it hard or soft, mija?"
I shifted my gaze from the floor, wanting to tell him he had fucked up and stolen the wrong woman. He had stolen Jesus Ortega's sister. But then I realized he might be working for Jesus, and if he wasn't, I didn’t want to let him know the prize he had just scored. Jesus would pay top dollar to get me back, just to parade me around the streets of Tijuana and leave me in a dirty gutter with a slit throat.
"Soft or hard?" he whispered in my ear.
I was so angry all I could see was red, and before I knew it I had spit blood in his face.
"You fuckin' bitch," he said, using the pocket square from his blazer to wipe the blood.
He reached back, and with all his might, back handed me on the other cheek. My world instantly went dark.
CHANCE
"Let's head back to the apartment. I have a cache of guns I've been hoarding for a while."
"Legal?" Battista asked.
"Does it really matter? None of this shit is legal," I replied.
"We could always call the cops you know," Hill chimed in.
I glared at him. "From the sound of that asshole last night, they won't do shit to help me. I'm doin' this shit! I'm getting her and my baby back. With or without you two."
"Hey, hey. No one said without us. I was just throwin' the obvious out there."
"Well, keep the obvious to yourself."
"I'm gonna call IT for a layout of Aguirre's Bar and have 'em email it to me," Hill said, pulling his phone from his pocket.
Turning into my apartment parking lot, I saw Nicole leaning against her car talking on the phone. She hung up as soon as she saw me drive by.
"What the fuck is she doing here again?"
"Who's that, LT?" Battista asked.
"My ex-girlfriend."
"She's fuckin' hot," Battista said in awe.
I turned to him. "Are you serious right now?"
His eyes widened. "Sorry."
I pulled into my spot and hopped out of the car, headed to my front door.
"Chance," she yelled, waving from her car.
Shaking my head, I opened the door. "I don't have time for this ex-girlfriend bullshit."
Battista was the last one in, but Nicole slipped in right behind him.
"Chance, why are you ignoring me? I know you saw me."
"I don't have time for the game you're playing, Nicole. Oh, and these two are off limits," I said, pointing at Battista and Hill.
Battista mouthed the word damn before taking a seat on the couch.
"I'm here to make sure you have your head on straight. That letter this morning wasn't an everyday grocery list. She said some hurtful things, and I wanted to make sure you're okay."
"I'm fuckin' fine," I said, walking to my bedroom.
"Where are you going?" she asked, following close behind.
"We found her…well, we think we found her."
"Sierra?"
"Who else?" I asked sternly, turning to her, aggravated by her questions.
She backed up. "How do you know?"
"I heard her scream at Lopez's place in National City, " I said, kneeling in the closet.
"You're going off a scream? Lopez is a dangerous guy. Are you sure you wanna take him on because of a simple scream?" she asked, kneeling next to me, pressing her hand on my shoulder.
I shrugged her hand away. "You don't need to be here for this."
"I'm not leaving you, Chance."
I stopped prying the fake heater grate from the closet wall and looked at her. "What is your deal, Nicole? What are ya' tryin' to gain from all of this? This ain't you. You don't care about other people."
"Stop trying to put me in that box. That was then. Like I said, I've been through some things…things that have changed me. I wanna help," she said softly.
Who is this woman?
She was definitely not the same woman I had kicked out on her ass the day I found her in bed with Sebastian.
I nodded. "Fine, you can stay, but stay out of the way."
"Don't tell me what to do."
"And there she is." I chuckled, shaking my head.
She turned to me and sheepishly smiled. "Rome wasn't built in a day."
"No. I guess it wasn't," I shifted my gaze back to the grate, finally prying it off, revealing a cache of guns, and boxes of ammo.
"Has that always been there?"
"Yeah, since I moved in."
"So they were here when I lived here?"
"Looks like we both had secrets, huh?"
Grabbing an old gym bag, I began to fill it with a couple .40 S&W's, an M16, four .357 SIG Sauers, and last but not least, my favorite 9mm Beretta, which I lovingly named, Riley Ann.
That woman…now that was a spit-fire if there ever was one.
"You look like you're getting ready for war."
"Pretty much," I sai
d, picking up the bag, heading for the living room.
Resting the bag on the coffee table, I said, "Battista, Hill, this is Nicole."
They both shook her hand, Battista taking quite a bit more time with his turn.
Hill sat down with a piece of paper and pen in hand. "Okay, I spoke with IT. They confirmed there are a few rooms the size of small bedrooms sitting above the bar. She could easily be held in the one situated right above where the bartender was standing," he said, circling the square he had drawn out as he spoke.
"We can do one of two things, LT. Quick and dirty, or…"
Battista raised his hand. "I vote for the one that doesn't get us killed. I'd like to live to touch another pretty woman someday," he said, looking at Nicole.
I cleared my throat. "Okay, we go in at night then. Quiet," I said, looking over Hill's crude drawing.
Nicole's phone began to ring inside her purse. "Excuse me. Probably work," she said, pulling her phone from her purse.
"Hello," she said, walking into the kitchen.
Battista was still staring at her when I snapped my fingers in his face. "You had a good look. Take a fuckin' picture."
"Aren't you done with her?"
"Do what the fuck you want. Just wrap it up or you're gonna have to see a corpsman sooner or later for some antibiotics. She's about as loose as they come."
"I dunno. I gotta pretty big dick." He laughed.
"Can we focus more on Sierra, and less on your dick?"
He shifted his gaze back to the coffee table. "Sorry, LT," he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"You're acting like a fifteen-year-old boy, Battista."
"Well, she's pretty as hell, LT."
"Yeah, that's what got me, too," I said, locking eyes with her.
Hill chimed in. "Shit, this is gonna be all over the news tomorrow if it goes down wrong."
"And we could be lookin' at a court-martial. You boys ready for that? You can still back out."
"Fuck that, LT," Hill said.
"Brothers for life," Battista said, smacking his hand on the coffee table.
Nicole walked back into the living room. "Well, if you boys are done with your dick measuring contest, I'd love to have a chat with you, Chance."
Reluctantly, I stood from the couch and followed her into the bedroom.
"What it is, Nicole? I seriously don't have time for this."
She looked at me solemnly, and without warning, she wrapped her arms around my neck, planting a hard kiss on my lips. I must admit I didn't push her away as fast as I should have. The taste of her sweet cherry lip gloss brought back fond memories of when we were in love. Memories of when she was the most important woman in my life. She grasped on to a fistful of hair, squeezing it tightly between her fingers.
My senses came back to me, snapping me out of her web and back into reality.
I pushed her away. "What are you doing?"
She wiped her lips with the back on her hand. "I didn't see you in a rush to stop me."
"I'm in love with someone else," I said in a low voice, hoping the guys wouldn't hear.
"If you're so in love with her, then why do you keep inviting me back in?"
"I don't! You keep pushing your way in."
"Oh, a little thing like me could never push around the big bad SEAL. Not Lieutenant Chance Carmichael," she mocked sarcastically.
"Why are you fuckin' clouding my head right now, woman? I need to have a clear fuckin' mind for this shit," I said through gritted teeth, rubbing her lip gloss from my lips.
"Because I still love you, Chance," she said, resting her hands against my chest.
"You what?"
"I can't lose you again, and if you go up against Lopez, you're gonna lose."
I slapped her hands away from me. "You lost me the day you invited Sebastian, into your panties," I said, walking toward the bedroom door.
I felt a slight tug at my wrist, keeping me from leaving. I turned back to see her unbuttoning her blouse, the edges of her black lace bra peeked through the ever-increasing opening.
"What are you doing?" I asked with my eyes fixed on the milky white flesh of her ample cleavage.
NICOLE
"Giving you what you want. What every man wants," I said, sitting on the bed with my shirt completely unbuttoned.
"Put your muthafuckin' clothes back on."
I finished pulling off my shirt and threw it on the floor, then proceeded to unhook my bra. It was too late to turn back now, and if this was the only way to get his mind off that woman, then so be it. We belonged together, and I was going to use every weapon in my arsenal to get him back. If I could touch him in just the right way, I knew he would come back. Men were easy that way…always thinking with the wrong head.
The way his eyes were fixed on my breasts, I just needed a few more seconds, and a little bit more bare skin to snare him.
"What aren't you getting? This is the woman I love now, and she's carrying my baby girl. You're like a fuckin' cancer. You take and take."
"Fuck you, Chance. We have history," I yelled, letting my bra slip out of my hands.
"Exactly! History. Past. It's over," he hollered, chopping his hand through the air.
My eyes narrowed, and the ache between my legs, quickly turned into anger. I picked up my blouse and slid it back on before storming out of the room.
"You're fuckin' crazy, Nicole," he said, as I flew out the front door, slamming it behind me.
CHANCE
"What the fuck happened in there?" Hill asked, watching as Nicole stormed out of the apartment half dressed.
"She was just reminding me of why we didn't work out."
Battista looked toward the door, dumb-founded. "You want me to go check on her, LT?"
"Shut the fuck up, Battista," Hill said under his breath.
I shook my head. Battista was an amazing SEAL, but when it came to women, he was about as dumb as a box of rocks.
TIME
RICARDO
"How much longer before we get the shipment of drugs in?" I asked Oscar, my second in command.
"We got a few more days. I'm just worried that having that jàina here is gonna ruin shit somehow," he said with a tinge of worry in his voice.
"Eh, it's just one bitch. Plus, my return on this deal is priceless."
"Yeah, you never told me how much you were getting for this job. I mean, how much could a nobody like her really get?"
"It's not money I'm interested in. I got money. I got enough money for the rest of my life," I replied with a smirk, leaning across my desk to fill my glass with scotch.
"Then what is it about her that's so special?"
I poured an extra glass of the dark amber liquid for him, and slid it across the smooth wood-grained desk.
Wrapping his fingers around the small glass, he asked, "Well?"
"Why do you think any of this is your business, Oscar?"
"You're my business…so she's my business," he replied sternly.
"Are you really takin' that muthafuckin' tone with me?"
No…no, boss," he stuttered, waving his hands in front of him.
"This is personal. Like I said…I got money…I just need someone to share it with."
"Fuck, share that shit with me." He chuckled.
I laughed. "The day I wanna slip my dick into your mouth, then we'll talk," I said, taking a sip of the alcohol.
"Uh…yeah. You can keep your money, and I'll keep my ten percent," he replied, tossing back the liquid.
He cringed at the burn as it went down.
"That's the strong shit," I said, toasting my glass in the air.
He cleared his throat. "It'll definitely clean out my insides."
"So the shipment…tell me about it," I asked, pouring another glass.
"Once we get the drugs, I already got the guys ready to hand them out to the girls to sell to their johns."
"What's our cut from the Italians?"
"Well—"
"Well
what?" I hollered, slamming my glass on to the desk, shattering it into a thousand shards.
"We're doing this for a little less than usual."
My left eye began to twitch as the fury in my belly washed over me. "What the fuck do you mean a little less than usual?"
"The Italians said if we took a smaller cut, they wouldn't cut into our turf."
I grabbed the crystal carafe filled with scotch and threw it at the wall. "Are you trying to say they threatened us and you folded like a little bitch?"
"I thought you would be happy that I kept them from muscling in on us," he stuttered.
Infuriated, I pulled my .380 from my shoulder holster, hidden inside my blazer, and cocked it.
"What…what are you doing, boss?" he stuttered, holding his hands up.
I aimed the gun at his forehead. "All you did was make us look weak, and ripe for a takeover!" I bellowed, squeezing the trigger as he begged for forgiveness.
The bullet sliced through the middle of his forehead, stopping him mid-sentence. His face, eyes wide and mouth ajar, was forever frozen in time. Slowly, his limp body slid off the leather chair and on to the floor.
I shook my head with slight regret. "Fucking Oscar. Always thinking on your own."
I picked up my phone and called down to the bar.
"Hello?"
"I need a cleaner."
"What happened, boss?"
"I need a muthafuckin' cleaner!" I barked, slamming the phone on the desk.
Oscar had been my oldest friend, and as much as I loved him, he was out of line. I walked by his body, taking one last look before I left.
"Fucking Oscar," I whispered, angry he made me kill him.
I answered the knock at the office door, and walked out as the cleaners walked in to manage Oscar's body.
BETTER YOU THAN ME
SIERRA
I woke up alone, dressed only in my panties and bra, chained to the wooden bed, situated in the corner of the room. A tear cascaded over my temple and into my ear, as my hopes for rescue dwindled.
Betrayed: A Bad Boy Military Romance Page 6
