The Vargas Cartel Trilogy: Books 1 - 3

by Lisa Cardiff

  I’d hoped Ryker would want to spend the day with me. I needed him, more now than ever. I was scared out of my mind about so many things, but now I feared he planned to abandon me. Ignacio had never held his tongue before. That he felt the need to do so now could only mean Ryker had given up on me. Our baby. Us. My vision tilted as the realization slammed into me like a swift punch to my gut.

  My gaze drifted to Dr. Mendez. His greedy eyes darted around the room, drinking in my anguish like a glass of ice water on a hot day. I swallowed hard, making a heroic effort to stifle my rising dread.

  “Right,” I said, my voice flat. “Do you know if my suitcase is around here somewhere? I’d like to get dressed so I can go for a walk later.”

  “No. Not today,” Ignacio answered.

  My eyes narrowed, and my heart drummed to a panicked beat. “So, I’m a prisoner again. Is that what you’re trying to say? Here, I thought Ryker rescued me, but I guess I just exchanged one sadist cartel warden for another one.”

  “Dr. Mendez, can you step outside for a minute?”

  “Por supuesto.”

  “Those are Ryker’s rules, not mine,” Ignacio said after Dr. Mendez stepped into the hall. “You can take it up with him. If it were up to me, I’d have you on the next flight back to D.C. You don’t belong here. You’re not right for him anymore.” His lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes darkened into twin lumps of coal. “You’re a liability and Ryker doesn’t need any distractions right now. He owes me.”

  Pain rippled through my chest, and I struggled for my next breath. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  His smile turned reptilian. “We made a deal. I helped him rescue you, and now he has to help me.”

  I circled my arms around my waist, trying to hold myself together. My nerve endings prickled. “Help you with what?”

  Ignacio angled his head to the side. “Rever’s gone. I needed a new successor. Now I have one.”

  My hands shook as I threw the sheets off my body. I bolted out of the bed like it was on fire. It took all my power not to wrap my hands around his neck and strangle the life from his body. I dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands until I mentally winced.

  “You’re lying,” I hissed. “He would never agree to that. He doesn’t want anything to do with your perverse cartel. He doesn’t want anything to do with you. He promised me.” My voice fractured on the last word, making me sound pathetic. Weak. Vulnerable. At that moment, I was all of those and worse.

  Ignacio rolled his eyes. “For God’s sake, Miss Covington. Grow up. That’s exactly what he did, and you don’t have anyone but yourself to blame. You did this to him. You shouldn’t have left that hotel. You shouldn’t have come back to Mexico.”

  A rush of saliva flooded my mouth, and nausea rolled through me as the last three months finally caught up with me.

  Lies.

  Betrayals.

  Secrets.

  Fear.

  My pregnancy.

  Being taken as a hostage.

  Now this…Ryker had pledged his future to the Vargas Cartel. No wonder he had fought me every step last night. He was going to push me out of his life. It was only a matter of hours, and I’d be alone again in a prison of my making, but this time I’d have a child. A hurricane of sadness slammed into my chest.

  “Please,” I begged as an unhinged sob sloshed out of my mouth. “Please don’t force him do this. He doesn’t want it. You’re going to kill him.”

  “It’s already done. He gave me his word. You know him well enough to know his word means everything.”

  What about his promises to me? Did they mean less than his promises to Ignacio?

  Every time I thought I’d made progress and put the past behind me, life punched me in the face. I couldn’t take anymore. The last thread of the rope tethering me to reality severed. All of my disjointed emotions twisted like a tornado inside my gut.

  Suffocated by his betrayal, I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t form a coherent sentence. My limbs trembled like branches in a windstorm. With one hand, I clutched my chest trying to calm the frenetic beat of my heart. With the other, I reached for the headboard to brace my weight, but I didn’t move fast enough. The room swirled before my eyes in a blur of jewel tones and surprised faces.

  Pain vibrated up my knees, and my head snapped forward, crashing into the tiled floor. Blood burst from my nose, and streamed down my face. A shower of white stars flickered behind my eyes. I licked my lower lip, and the warm metallic taste of copper coated my tongue.

  A hand stroked the back my head. Two sets of dark eyes searched mine. Two mouths moved open and closed. Shouts and rapid-fire questions echoed through my ears, but I couldn’t understand anything. I didn’t want to. It was too hard. I didn’t want to fight any longer. My emotions turned off like a spigot. Numbness slithered through my veins like a lethal injection. I felt so heavy.

  Too heavy.

  Too tired.

  Worn out.

  Just like that my eyes slid closed, and I embraced the darkness. I invited it in, and willed it to claim me. Giving up had never felt so peaceful.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ryker

  “She fainted?” I squeezed my phone against my ear as I ran up the front steps of the Vargas compound. “How the hell did that happen?”

  “Calm down,” Emanuel said. “Dr. Mendez took care of her. She’s resting in your room.”

  “Is he still there?”

  “No, he left, but you can call him if you have any questions.”

  I pressed the code to unlock the front door and flung it open the minute the light flashed green. “I’m here. Where’s Ignacio?”

  Emanuel sauntered around the corner and slipped his phone into his pocket. “He went to his room to rest. He wasn’t feeling well. He’s still not one hundred percent.”

  “Did he do something to upset Hattie?”

  Emanuel rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced to the side. “I don’t think he did anything to her.”

  Anger vibrated through my nerve endings. “But he said something, right?”

  “Apparently, he told her you intended to stay in Mexico and work with Ignacio.”

  “What the fuck? Why would he do that?”

  He shrugged. “How the hell am I supposed to know? I wasn’t there. It probably came up in conversation. It’s not like he lied to her. He told her the truth. She didn’t like it. She fainted.”

  “I wanted her to hear it from me,” I growled.

  “Then you should’ve told her this morning instead of hiding your head in the sand.”

  I pointed my finger at him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Shut the fuck up.”

  Smirking, he raised one eyebrow. “Or what?”

  I shoved him in the shoulder. “Get out of my face or I’ll take this up with Ignacio.”

  “Oh please.” He snorted. “Ignacio listens to me. He trusts me. Look what happened with Rever.”

  “What are you talking about?” I spat.

  “I discredited him.”

  “He did it to himself.”

  He chuckled. “Maybe so, but I gave him the push he needed. He’s not that smart. I planted ideas in his head, and he took the bait.” He shrugged. “Then lo and behold, Ignacio started doubting him, pushing him, and he spiraled in a mess of his own making. Now he’s holed up in some shithole in Panama with that Alvarez whore.”

  I didn’t think. I lunged for him. My hand curled into his shirt, and I pinned him against the wall. His head whipped backward, crashing into the wall like a rag doll. The heel of my hand pressed against his windpipe. His eyes bulged. I wanted to kill him. I was so sick of this shit. I didn’t want anything to do with Ignacio, Emanuel, or the Vargas Cartel.

  “You think you’re smart enough to manipulate me?”

  “I know I am,” he croaked.

  “You don’t know anything.”

  He spat on my face. Saliva dripped down my cheek. “I got rid of R
ever and I’ll get rid of you too if I feel like it. You think Ignacio’s in control, but he’s not. I call all the shots.”

  Poison laced laughter exploded from my mouth. “What happened to all that sanctimonious bullshit about not wanting to lead the cartel and being happy with your lot in life?”

  “I could wrestle control from Ignacio in a second if I wanted to.” He snapped his fingers. “That should tell you something.”

  I slammed his body against the wall. “That I’d be doing Ignacio a favor if I killed you.”

  “Rever was too impulsive, and I’m starting to think you’re not much better.”

  My fist had a mind of its own. It landed in the dead center of his right cheek. His head jerked to the side. Fire shot up my arm, and my knuckles buckled, but I didn’t care. I welcomed the pain.

  “Listen,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “I don’t give a shit about the Vargas Cartel or Ignacio’s legacy. You can have the cartel. I don’t want anything to do with it, but don’t play mind games with me. You won’t win.”

  The veins on the side of his neck bulged, and his jaw muscle ticked. “Is that a challenge?”

  “Make what you want of it. All I ask is that you stay far away from Hattie and me. When it comes to either of us, keep your opinions to yourself.” I shoved him to the side. “Now get the fuck away from me before I change my mind.”

  Emanuel ran his hand down the side of his swollen cheek. “Ignacio won’t like this.”

  Smirking, I raised one eyebrow. “What gave you the impression I give a shit what Ignacio does or doesn’t like?”

  “What won’t I like?” Ignacio said as he strolled into the room.

  “I thought you were sleeping,” Emanuel said, his eyes boring into the wall above Ignacio’s head.

  Ignacio leaned his shoulder into the wall, his narrowed eyes boomeranging between Emanuel and me. “How could I sleep with this noise? Now are either of you going to tell me what the hell is going on or do we have to play twenty questions?”

  I stuffed my swollen hand in my pocket. Not that it’d conceal what happened. Emanuel’s face looked like he had a third eye growing out of his cheek. “We had a disagreement.”

  “A disagreement that ended with your fist in his face,” he said wearily.

  I glared at Ignacio. “Something like that.”

  He scowled for a second, then his hardened stare cut to Emanuel. “Do you have something to add or did you suddenly become mute?”

  Emanuel folded his arms across his chest and drummed his fingers against his biceps. “It was a misunderstanding, but we’re good now.”

  “Is that right, Ryker?” Ignacio asked.

  “I don’t trust him.” Ignacio sliced his hand through the air in front of him, interrupting me. “No,” I said, shaking my head. “I know you trust him, and I know he’s worked for you for a long time, but that doesn’t mean I should trust him with my interests. With the people I care about. I don’t think you should either.”

  Emanuel scoffed. “Your cryptic bullshit doesn’t make sense. I know you have a long résumé back in the States, but you don’t know anything about the way things work in Mexico.”

  “And you just proved my point.” I pinned Ignacio with my eyes. “He’s trying to undermine me just like he undermined Rever.”

  Emanuel chuckled. “You don’t need me to do it. You’re doing a good job all by yourself.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Juan Alvarez is alive. You killed his son. You helped kidnap his daughter. If you intended to escalate the war between the two cartels, you succeeded. This whole mess is going to get a hell of a lot bloodier before it’s put to rest.”

  Ignacio’s mouth tugged down in a disapproving frown, and he scrubbed his hand down his face. “I don’t have time to mediate this pissing contest right now. What’s done is done. As for Juan, we’ll figure out how to deal with him later. He’s a sick fuck, but he can’t do anything from his hospital bed. We still have time to come up with a plan.”

  I clenched my hands. “But you had time to spill all my secrets to Hattie,” I said bitterly.

  Ignacio rolled his eyes and blew out an exaggerated breath. “So what? I ripped the bandage off. It had to be done. You were dragging your feet. You and I both know she doesn’t belong here. The quicker you sever your connection with her, the quicker you’ll learn what you need to know to help me.”

  I took a deep breath, struggling to maintain control. “I didn’t need your help with Hattie. I had everything under control until you opened your mouth.”

  Ignacio raised one brow. “Really?”

  “I planned to talk to her tonight,” I said through gritted teeth. Less than a week with the Vargas Cartel, and I was already losing my sanity. It was like living in a den of poisonous snakes. I couldn’t trust anyone. Not even my own father.

  Ignacio stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Then, take care of it. I heard she’s awake now. The last time I checked, your friend Noah was in there with her.”

  “He’s not my friend. I hardly know him.”

  “Well, Hattie seems to like him. Maybe he’d be willing to take her off your hands.”

  Ignacio intended to piss me off. I knew it. He knew it. Unfortunately, the knowledge that he wanted to provoke me didn’t stop the anger from swirling in my gut like the flames of hell.

  “Yeah, well, unlike you, I don’t make other people do my dirty work.”

  Ignacio’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You’re smart enough to put the pieces together. Figure it out,” I said as I stalked down the hallway.

  I had agreed to Ignacio’s terms, but I couldn’t go through it. It was like all the pieces finally slid into place. I wasn’t going to bend to Ignacio’s will. I made a bargain with him. I gave him my word, but he owed Hattie. He owed me. I considered my debt to him paid in full. Right then, I promised myself, I’d find a way out of the Vargas Cartel’s web or die trying. Life was too short to let Hattie slip through my fingers. If I lost her, then I didn’t have any reason to live. I understood that now.

  I needed to fix the mess I’d made. Plain and simple. I promised I’d take care of Hattie, and for some reason, I’d convinced myself that meant pushing her out of my life forever. That might’ve been true on some level, but deep down I knew I wanted and needed her more than anything or anyone. As a kid, I learned if I wanted something I had to fight for it and never give up. In the midst of this whole debacle with Ignacio, I’d forgotten that, but that would change starting right now.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Hattie

  “What the hell are you doing in here?” Ryker roared the minute he walked into the room. The door thudded against the doorstop.

  I slowly lifted my gaze from the creamy sheets covering my legs. I’d been drawing circles on the individual threads for the last twenty minutes as I explained bits and pieces of my situation to Noah. I didn’t understand why I decided to unload on him. He’d helped me last night without comment or judgment, and something about his compelling caramel colored eyes convinced me to confide in him.

  Noah leaned back against the headboard and propped his hands behind his head. His leg brushed against my thigh. Ryker’s gaze laser focused on the brief contact, and his jaw clenched.

  “You’re full of sunshine today,” Noah said.

  “I asked you a question.”

  Noah patted me on my leg, and I turned to look at him. Really look at him. He was cute. No, cute was an understatement. He was downright sexy. He had dark hair, exotic hooded eyes framed by heavy lashes, and lips perpetually curved up at the corners. If my heart hadn’t chained itself irrevocably to Ryker months ago, my stomach might have flipped every time his gaze landed on me. As luck would have it, I felt nothing except a detached appreciation like I was admiring a designer handbag or a beautiful sculpture.

  “I’m checking in on our girl. I wanted to make sure she was feeling better. She was pretty ou
t of it when I helped her to bed last night,” Noah answered, a huge smile spreading across his face.

  Ryker’s vein ticked in his neck like a time bomb waiting to go off. “Well, you can leave now. I’m sure you have somewhere to be.”

  Noah shot me a sideways glance and winked. “I don’t actually. Hattie was just telling me how she wanted to fly backing to the States tomorrow. She needs to find a place to live and get caught up on some requirements to finish her degree. I have some business to take care of in D.C., so I agreed to accompany her and help her get settled. That is, if you’re too busy?”

  Ryker’s hands flexed. “You’re leaving?” he barked, his words hanging in the air with the weight of a storm gathering on the horizon.

  “That’s the plan,” I replied. I kept my voice empty of emotion, painstakingly ignoring the leaden weight ballooning in the pit of my stomach.

  His forehead scrunched. “You weren’t going to discuss this with me first.”

  I blinked away the urge to cry. Since the doctor left two hours ago, I’d been on an emotional rollercoaster. “Noah, can you give us some space? Ryker and I need to talk.”

  “Sure,” he said, clearing his throat. “I’ll be around here all day if you want to finish our conversation.” He kissed me on the top of my head and jumped out of the bed. I could still smell a whiff of sandalwood as I watched him disappear down the hallway.

  Ryker settled into a chair in the corner of the room, his long legs bent at a ninety-degree angle. He propped his elbows on this knees and knitted his fingers together. His shirt pulled against his wide shoulders. Lines bracketed his mouth. Even vibrating with anger, his graceful movements drew me to him like a magnet. I couldn’t look away. Somehow, he magically soothed and unnerved me at the same time.

  “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” His voice dropped a fraction. “Why you’re trying to run away without talking to me?”

  If I weren’t so frustrated with him, I would feel guilty about considering Noah’s offer to accompany me back to D.C., but given Ignacio’s revelations I refused to second-guess my actions. Ryker’s feelings were the least of my problems. I had to pull my life together and figure out how I was going to raise a kid alone. Ignacio didn’t come out and say Ryker planned to kick me out of his life, but I knew it was only a matter of days. The writing was on the wall last night, but I’d been too blinded by my need for him to see the truth.