by Cassie Wild
The last thing I remembered…
The door opened, and Duardo was standing there again.
Memory swam back, and once again I was backing away from the man staring at me with dispassionate eyes.
“Hello, Daria,” he said. He came into the room and closed the door, eyes locked on my face the entire time.
There was something unnerving about the way he watched me. I backed up a few more steps. The bed bumped against my knees, and I knew I’d run out of room to retreat.
“Duardo,” I said quietly. “Where am I?”
He waved a dismissive hand. “That is not important now.” He gestured to the chair. “Mind if I sit down?”
The word yes leaped to my lips, but I swallowed it before it could escape.
Did it matter whether I gave my approval? If I said no, would he leave me alone? Ha! I thought. I gave a cool nod. I was fighting the urge to fling myself at him and pound on his chest, demand to know what was going on. Another part of me wanted to curl up into a ball on the bed and hope he just…disappeared.
He lowered himself into the seat and gestured to the bed. “Please. Have a seat. I know the,” he spread his arm out to encompass the room, “accommodations are somewhat Spartan. Did you sleep well?”
My mouth went dry. There was something about the polite way he spoke that was at odds with the look in his eyes. I found myself considering whether or not I could use the small lamp as a weapon.
On further study though, I decided that would be a very bad idea.
“I slept well enough,” I told him. I sat on the edge of the bed and tucked my hands between my knees. I looked around the room and asked, “What am I doing here?”
He leaned back in the seat, lounging as comfortably as if he sat on a throne.
“You caused me quite some trouble, Daria. Do you know that?”
My heart started to thud in hard, slow beats against my ribcage while a quiet terror bloomed inside my mind.
“I never meant to cause anybody any trouble,” I told him honestly.
He flicked his fingers dismissively, eyes still intent on my face.
I really hated the way he was watching me.
“I believe you never meant to cause trouble. That and your friendship with Isabella is why I’m going to be more lenient than I’d normally be. You owe my family a debt, Daria. It will be paid.”
My mouth dropped. “What debt? Are you talking about the airline ticket to come down here for the wedding? Isabella said she’d handle it.”
“No.” He laughed then, but there was no humor in the sound, and it didn’t show in his eyes, either. “It has nothing to do with the wedding, nor the plane ticket. No, this is about what happened at the club. You insulted one of our best customers. We had to make restitution. That is the debt.”
My heart lurched against my ribs hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.
Brooks had warned me this was going to happen. He’d tried to take care of me, had tried to warn me.
I hadn’t listened.
Now, in this moment, I would have given anything to turn time back just a day. Even twelve hours. If I could just wake up in that little shed at the marina and go back to the boat I’d liberated from Brooks, I’d find a way back to him. Granted, I’d have to refuel the boat, but I’d prefer to be handling that problem rather than the one in front of me.
“He attacked me,” I said, my voice shaking.
He shrugged, as if my accusation was something he heard ten times a day. “You went into the room, Daria. You agreed to the price, and you went in there of your own accord.”
“I went in there to dance.”
But there was no sign in his eyes that the panic in my voice had any effect on him. He looked like we were discussing something completely inane, like whether or not I’d like some sugar in my coffee.
“What exactly do you want from me?” I asked, trying to pretend my voice wasn’t shaking. That I wasn’t shaking.
I was shaking all over, and it was getting harder to sit there without giving in to the urge to cry. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could manage to hold back, to maintain control. If I thought tears might make him back down, I would have given in to the urge. But it wouldn’t change anything, and I’d just be humiliated for breaking down in front of him.
“I expect you to pay the debt, of course.” He said it so…levelly.
There was no emotion in his voice.
He straightened from his slump and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees.
“As I said, because you didn’t set out to cause problems and because you have a relationship with Isabella, I’m going to be lenient. You have a choice on how to pay off your debt. You can be one of the dancers at our top club. It’s one step above the club where you did your wet t-shirt dance. I watched the video of you dancing, so I feel sure that you can pay the debt off by dancing there. You’ll become a favorite, no doubt.” His eyes dropped lower, lingering on my meager chest. “Or you can use…other methods.”
“You’re talking about whoring me out,” I said, my voice stiff.
“If that’s the term you prefer to use, who am I to argue?” He shrugged, clearly unconcerned.
“That’s what you’re talking about, though, isn’t it?” Oddly enough, the quiver was gone from my voice, and I no longer had the urge to ball my hands into fists just to keep from crying.
“Yes.” He lifted a black brow. “And if you refuse…well…I do have some customers who care little about words like yes or no. Refuse, and I’ll introduce you to them.”
For a few seconds, I didn’t quite understand. It was like he was speaking to me in some language I’d spoken long ago but had since forgotten. The words were familiar, but they just didn’t click.
Then they did, and horror filled me.
“So, you’re not just talking about whoring me out. You’ll sell me to be raped if I don’t agree,” I said, my voice wooden.
“It’s not the option I’d recommend you take, Daria. The other two are much more…civilized.”
I couldn’t understand the bland way he discussed my possible rape…no, rapes. He’d said customers, not customer.
An odd sort of numbness fell over me as I stared at him. He was serious. He was completely serious.
This was what Brooks had been trying to protect me from. I’d just been too naïve to understand the gravity of my situation, and now it looked like I would have plenty of time in the future to regret it.
“I’ll give you until tomorrow to think about it,” Duardo said, rising from the chair. He opened the door, paused and looked back. He gestured to the single door the room boasted. “There is some aloe in the bathroom. You need to deal with that sunburn. You don’t want to make your…debut looking like a lobster.” A smile edged up the corners of his mouth, and this time, it was a real smile. “That wouldn’t be a good look for you. Somebody will bring you food in a little bit.”
He shut the door behind him, and I heard the distinctive sound of a lock.
I pulled my legs up and rolled to the middle of the bed, closing my eyes.
What in the hell was I going to do?
Chapter Ten
Brooks
The tall spire of luxury apartments stabbed into the air.
Sean had told me the name of the place where he and Isabel were going to be living when they were in Miami. Neither of them had wanted to stay at the Castellanos estate, so they’d found an already furnished apartment. They’d spent the past few days getting settled.
Pulling up in front of the building, I eyed the valet. I had no idea how long I might be there, but I wanted my car ready when I came back out. The valet beat me to my door, and when I stepped into the cool of the building’s overhang, he greeted me with that professional demeanor employees develop when working with the very rich.
I pulled a fifty from my wallet and held it out. “Can you keep it close by?”
He inclined his head as he deftly took the bill. His a
nswer was a slight widening of his grin.
He pocketed the bill and took my keys as I turned to enter the building.
I greeted the doorman and gave him my brother’s name, then had to wait for him to contact the newlyweds. It was only a minute before I was cleared to pass through the ornate doors.
The lobby of the building was done in the minimalist style that had become popular recently, all black and white, save for a few accents of red in the form of an armchair, a painting on the wall and the crystal vases that held dozens of roses.
I took all of this in as I made my way to the elevator and hit the button for Sean and Isabel’s floor.
The elevator ride was quick and smooth, and there was nobody else in the car, leaving me to plan my approach.
I wanted to talk to Isabel, and only Isabel, but I already knew Sean was home.
He wasn’t going to be happy about my visit.
I wasn’t happy with his in-laws, though, so I figured it made us even.
He opened the door just seconds after I knocked, dressed in jeans and a silk button-down that hung open over his chest. I glimpsed Isabel behind him, curled up in a big chair, a drink in one hand and the TV remote in the other.
She waved at me as I came inside, and I nodded at her.
Sean was quiet as he dropped down on the couch tucked against the far wall. It was big enough to seat seven or eight people and deep enough that it could double as a bed. But Sean sat perched on the edge of the cushions as if he was prepared to come flying off at any provocation.
The glint in his eyes had me a little concerned.
I sat at a forty-five-degree angle from him. Directly across from me sat Isabel, and she paused in the middle lifting her glass to her lips.
I’d seen the hope flicker in her eyes when I first came inside. Now, something she saw on my face had her lowering the glass and shifting in the seat until she sat upright. She put the glass down on a huge glass and steel coffee table and gazed at me.
“Did you find Daria?” she asked softly.
I flicked a look at Sean.
He met my eyes with a hard look. “She told me what’s going on. If you’re here because of Daria, you need to just get the hell out. I won’t let Isabel get tangled up in this.”
“You won’t let me?” Isabel said, ire in her voice.
But Sean didn’t look away from me. “This shit is getting out of hand. Basilio is about ready to explode. You need to stay out of it. It doesn’t concern you.”
I stared him down. “And what if it was Isabel in trouble? Would that concern you?”
“That’s different. She’s my wife.”
“And if it happened before you got married, would you bother trying to help her out then?” I fired at him.
“You don’t even know Daria!” He rose from the couch, eyes burning.
“I know enough.” I stood as well and crossed my arms over my chest. “I know she was offered money to go dance and some fuckhead manager at the club neglected to tell her that she was also going to do whatever the fuck Leon Delgado wanted. She didn’t sign on to whore herself out when she walked inside that club.”
“I guess she’ll be more careful next time,” Sean replied in a tone that made me regret that he was my brother.
“You son of a bitch,” I said quietly.
It wasn’t my comment that really got his attention though.
It was Isabel, and the quiet way she rose from her chair and left the room.
Sean shot me an ugly look and followed her.
He hadn’t even left the room before a door slammed somewhere in the apartment—hard. He spun back to me and approached, jaw tight. I didn’t move as he reached up and jabbed me in the chest with his index finger.
“You’re going to stay out of this, Brooks. The Castellanos are serious about this. They had to pay that shithead Delgado thousands to keep him happy. They aren’t going to turn a blind eye to the problems Daria caused them.”
“The problems she caused,” I gritted out, my voice so low and tight, I barely recognized it. “She didn’t cause a problem. She is the victim here.”
“What the fuck do you care? You don’t even know her!” He jabbed a thumb toward his chest. “I know her. I’ve known her for years, and you’re more bent out of shape about this than I am.”
“Maybe that should tell you something.”
He shoved his finger into my face. “Listen—”
I knocked his hand aside. “I think I’m done listening to you, Sean.”
He shoved me, but I’d barely rocked back on my heels when fury lit a fire deep in my gut. I retaliated by delivering a hard fist into his jaw. His head snapped back, but he barely budged. He’d always had a face like a rock.
I thought I was ready for his next response—this wasn’t the first time we’d gotten into it. But instead of the haymaker he normally responded with, he delivered a short-armed jab straight to my nose.
I whipped back, but not in time. He made contact. The slight adjustment I made probably kept me from getting a broken nose. As it was, I could feel the familiar trickle of blood running down my face.
I ignored it and closed in on Sean, hammering at him. The fury I’d been dealing with the past few days, the fear, it all exploded out of me, and I unloaded on my brother.
He fought back, and he fought hard.
My ears were ringing from a blow he’d delivered to the side of my head, and I was winded from the punch I’d taken to the gut.
But he wasn’t as invested in this as I was.
I rushed him, and we ended up on the floor, him pinned underneath me.
He heaved, trying to dislodge me.
“That’s enough!” Isabel shouted from above us.
Neither of us paid her any attention.
I rammed my forearm up against Sean’s throat, glaring down at him while the rage burned through me.
“I said, enough!” This time, Isabel didn’t rely on words. She doused us with a pitcher of water.
The shock of it cleared my head enough for me to stop and think about what I was doing. I was still shaking with anger, but this wasn’t my brother’s fault.
I shoved off him and spun away to pace a few steps, breathing in raggedly.
“Here,” Isabel said, pushing a washcloth into my hand. “For your nose.”
I nodded and stared out the enormous picture window behind her as I pressed the cloth to my nose.
Behind me, Sean grumbled as he got up.
I turned to look at him.
“You’ve got a mean right hook,” he said, rubbing his jaw.
“You’ve got a face—and a head—like a rock.”
Isabel stepped between us. “I want you both to shut up, right now.” She shot us both a dirty look, then turned on Sean. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing from you. First, I find out all this shit about my family, and now, I suddenly learn that you’re okay with my best friend getting set up to be raped?”
Sean opened his mouth, then closed it. He tried again after a few seconds. “I never said I was okay with any of this, baby. But I don’t want you getting involved. It could be dangerous.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “There’s no danger to me.”
“You said yourself, you just found out what your family is really about,” Sean said. He stopped rubbing at his jaw and moved toward his wife. “Do you have any idea what they’re capable of?”
She curled her lip. “My father would never allow my brothers to do anything to me, even if they were tempted to try. He’d kill them himself if I got hurt.” She said it with the certainty of a woman who knew exactly how much power she held over the men in her life.
Considering how naïve she’d been up until recently, I was surprised to find myself agreeing with her.
Basilio was an old-fashioned, chauvinistic piece of shit, but he adored his daughter. It was obvious to anybody who ever saw them together.
She turned her back on Sean and looked at me. “I assume you came
here for something other than just to beat up my husband.”
I gingerly lowered the washcloth and checked the area below my nose. It seemed the bleeding had stopped. Meeting Isabel’s gaze, I offered a short nod.
“Daria made it to Cuba,” I told her. “She was able to find somebody who let her use the phone to call me, and I was on my way to pick her up. But apparently, Duardo had men there.” I flicked a look at Sean. “He and one of his goons broke into my place down there. They beat the shit out of Duncan, my chef, and the groundskeeper. Enrique, my groundskeeper is old, and they beat the shit out of him. An old man with a bad heart. Can you believe it? He might not recover. His heart keeps acting up, and the doctors don’t know if he will survive.”
Isabel pressed her fingers to her mouth, her lashes fluttering as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.
I half-expected her to start crying, but she squared her shoulders and looked back at me. “And Daria?”
“Duardo had men watching out for her. After he couldn’t find her on the island, he must have reached out to his people in the area. When she got to Cuba, one of them spotted her and called Duardo. I think he took her.”
She dashed away a tear and nodded, her gaze averted. “What do you need from me?”
“Have you heard anything? Have your brothers or your father said anything to you?”
“Me?” She laughed weakly and moved over to the chair she’d been sitting in earlier. She sank down as if she no longer had the strength to stand, then looked up at me. “Apparently, my family doesn’t tell me anything. Just like my husband.”
Sean flinched at that.
She looked up at him, then at me.
“Do you have any idea where she might be?” she asked. Her eyes had gone dark and misty, but she fought back the tears as she stared at me.
“No.” I shifted my attention to Sean as I added, “But I’m going to find her.”
He opened his mouth.
Isabel cut him off. “Yes. We will find her, Brooks,” she said, giving her husband a venomous look. “And we’ll do whatever we can to make that happen sooner rather than later.”
Sean snapped his mouth shut.
