Outlaw's Virgin:: New Adult Romantic Suspense (Zodiac Alphas: Cancer Book 1)

by Gia Star

  “Do you trust me?”

  My words were precise. Her eyes locked into my level gaze. She said nothing. We stared each other down until I repeated my question.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then stop fighting me. Get your shit and get into the other car.”

  She gave me a dirty look as she shrank from her abrasive defiance and opened the passenger door. Speaking to her like that made me feel like a dick, but my nerves were shot and I was starting to feel the ache of a major headache coming on. I planned to tell her everything once we were en route.

  I attempted to assist Kara out of the ground, but she jerked herself away from me and stormed off to Steve’s truck. Steven opened the back passenger door for her. She didn’t even bother to acknowledge him; she slid in and went to the far passenger side. I gave him an apologetic shrug and he snickered. Steven never tripped over emotional theatrics.

  I jumped in the front passenger side. Steven turned to me. “Did you leave the keys?”

  “Keys?”

  “The car keys, man?” He held his palm out. “Give ‘em here.”

  He exited the truck, opened the driver door of my ride, put the key in the ignition and rolled down the windows. Once he did that, I saw him toss the keys on the driver’s seat. He made a hand signal to the men at the water, and one of them nodded in response.

  Steve put the car in reverse. Kara spoke up.

  “I don’t know what’s going on. But I know something’s not right, and I’m not leaving your side until I’m safe with Antonio.”

  Her voice was a fibrous blend of fear and frustration. Her eyes took in everything that was happening, and beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.

  Despite her demands, I scoffed. “You won’t be leaving my side at all then.”

  “What?”

  “Change of plans. I’m not taking you to Antonio.”

  “What do you mean, you’re not taking me to Antonio?” Her voice heightened in panic. “Where the fuck are you taking me?!”

  Steve smirked and slid his shades over his eyes. Kara was getting hysterical, and I could tell he was doing his best not to get involved. Meanwhile my headache was beginning to intensify, and I couldn’t hold back anymore.

  Mustering the last ounce of patience I had left, I made an introduction.

  “Steve, Kara. Kara, Steve.”

  “I’m sure the feeling’s not mutual, but the pleasure’s mine.” Steve’s eyes remained fixated on the road. “Just know I’m here to help you. I’m not the enemy.”

  “If you’re not the enemy, why the hell are we switching cars and why aren’t we going to Antonio?”

  “Because Antonio’s the fucking enemy,” I spat, getting sick of her paranoid attitude. It honestly hurt me to see she suddenly lost trust in me. After all we’d been through, you would have thought she realized I had her best interests at heart.

  I unlocked my phone and scrolled straight to the text messages Steve sent me.

  “Here.” I tossed the phone next to her, the grisly images bright and clear for her to see. “Since you’re so eager to go to Antonio so fucking bad, take a look at this. That’s exactly what you can look forward to when you arrive.”

  Kara

  The phone landed next to me with a thud, the slap echoing the level of disdain he held toward me.

  I wanted to curse him out, ask him what the hell was wrong with him.

  I had every right to be concerned. He was the one who demanded we leave quickly, only to take a detour. We were in the middle of a place I’d never heard of - Bullhead City - and I was the only woman around. These sudden changes had me paranoid, and wondering if I’d been fooled.

  Out here, in the middle of nowhere… You know what they did to women in places like this?

  But then I looked at the screen and lost it.

  “Oh, my god.” I gasped. Fear knotted my stomach, my lips trembled, and my vision blurred from tears welling in my eyes.

  “Yeah, exactly.” Luke spat. “That’s the real Antonio. That’s his ‘Outlaw Collection,’ his private torture harem. That’s what we’re trying to save you from.”

  “And you can thank Steve for that,” he added. My eyes jumped to tall, muscular black guy in the driver’s seat. His eyes were blocked from his shades, but he nodded lightly, tipping off his acknowledgement of my attention.

  “You didn’t tell me Antonio was this fucked up!” I shot at Luke. I was beginning to feel pangs of guilt for my behavior, but I didn’t care because Luke didn’t have to be such a dick.

  “I didn’t know Antonio was this fucked up. You can thank Steve for bringing this to my attention.” His confession was weary, as if the fight was leaving him. “I got a text from Antonio demanding you to be there by 2 PM. But right before we got on the road, Steven sent me the pictures and told me to meet him here.”

  “That’s why your attitude changed so quickly…” Realization hit my spirit. Luke grunted in confirmation, and remorse pushed anguish and mistrust to the side. He was fixated on saving my life, and he knew every minute counted. Meanwhile, I was being a happy-go-lucky nymphette determined to feel as much of him as possible.

  “I’m sorry.” I felt like such an asshole. “I just didn’t know…”

  “Yeah, I know.” Luke reached back for me and I leaned forward. He turned his head and opened his eyes. The sincerity in them pierced my soul. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  “But what if something happens to you?”

  Jolts of fear gripped my chest as I thought of Antonio. He was fierce for his vengeance against those who crossed him. He would be even nastier to those he considered loyal - and he treated Luke like his son. I felt faint at the idea of Luke standing up to Antonio.

  And losing.

  Luke’s gaze peered into my soul. He read my fear, sprinkled in my expression, and returned a silent message, eyes steely with resolve. “Nothing will happen to me.”

  “But-“

  “Nothing will happen to me that is not meant to happen to me. Owning women is one thing. Torturing them to death is another. He was my father.” His voice lowered bitterly as he remarked, “Now, he’s nothing more than a monster in a sharp suit. He used me, used my loyalty to commit unforgivable shit against people. I can’t do this anymore. Especially not if it means watching him do this to you.”

  He squeezed my hand. “Whatever happens, Kara… happens.”

  His declaration permeated the cabin with silence. Remorse settled into my soul. Luke was facing death for me. He was going up against the man who took him in, and he was fighting for my life, even though he knew there was a chance he wouldn’t make it out alive.

  I sat back, pulled my legs up onto the seat and curled into a ball, sobbing hysterically. This was so fucked up. All I wanted was a chance I didn’t have – a chance to make something of myself despite the tragedies. Instead I signed my life away to a man who planned to skin me alive and discard me afterward.

  Maddie… Aunt Cori… Mom.

  I would never see them again. Never speak to them again.

  And now… the man I love was going to die because of my hardheaded decisions. I would have his blood on my hands also.

  This was my fault. It was all my fault.

  I should’ve fucking listened to you Maddie, I thought to myself as I cried myself to sleep.

  I woke up in Luke’s arms. He was cradling me against him as we entered the room. I blinked and attempted to figure out where I was.

  “Where are we?”

  “Someplace you’ll be safe.”

  I looked around. The hotel was luxurious, quiet, serene, and attractive. He laid me on the bed, but I wrapped my arms around him when he attempted to step back.

  “Don’t leave me.” I whimpered. “Please.”

  “Babe, I gotta go.”

  “I don’t want you to die.” The tears returned, and my heart raced. I had the beginnings of a migraine, and all this craziness made m
y head pound harder, but I didn’t care. I always got migraines when I cried too hard, and this time I was crying for a damn good reason.

  “Babe, this shit is bad already. Really bad. But it’s under control right now, and we’ve got a plan in place. You have to let me go take care of this, otherwise, you have no idea how much worse this is going get if you don’t let me go right now.”

  I shook my head and started crying so hard I began shivering. My nerves were ravenous with fear for him, myself, and even Steve, who was standing in the doorway waiting for his friend.

  Luke did the best he could to console me, but I was a mess. I wouldn’t listen. All I could think about was losing a man I’d fallen in love with just as I’d given my heart to him. And I felt like shit, completely lost as to how I would pick up the pieces.

  It wouldn’t involve another loan from anyone this time around.

  Steve walked over and crouched down in front of me. He and Luke exchanged knowing looks, and he nodded.

  “Kara, can I say something?”

  I calmed down, bringing my shivers to slow trembles as I tried to chill out and listen.

  “I know you don’t know me, but there’s a lot going on right now, and there’s so much more you don’t know. It’s deeper than you can imagine, and I think you deserve to know the truth.”

  “The truth?” I asked. “What do you mean, ‘the truth’?”

  “Your father didn’t die in a car accident. Antonio had him ran off the road.”

  My eyes bugged as the anvil dropped on my heart. An acidic feeling filled my tastebuds as I digested the bitter truth. It all hit me so hard I nearly fainted.

  “What? Why?”

  “Your father owed Antonio money. A lot of money.”

  My eyes darted around the room wildly, as if there were some kind of marker, some indication to confirm this revelation.

  “Ask Cori,” Steven added. “She knows.”

  Aunt Cori’s mention made my heart jump. My brow furrowed. “How do you know my aunt?” I looked at him and Luke. “This is a joke, right? Because if so it’s not funny. Answer me.”

  Luke’s expression remained steady, as did Steve’s. “He has no reason to lie to you babe. Steve’s telling the truth. Cori knew about your dad’s loan.”

  I pushed away from him and stepped around Steve. “Where’s my phone? I need to talk to her.”

  “Your phone’s dead,” Luke said. He pulled out his phone. “Feel free to call her on mine.”

  I grabbed the phone and quickly dialed via speakerphone. The phone rang three times before she picked up.

  “Cori? Aunt Cori?”

  “Kara?” She replied, shock in her voice. “Are you okay? I’ve been worried about you! Thank god I can hear your voice.”

  “Yeah, it’s me, I’m fine. I’m with Luke. My phone died. We’re in Vegas, but I have to ask you something: Did you know about Dad’s loan to Antonio?”

  Cori gasped audibly and fell into silence, which filled the air. The elephant in the room choked up all the oxygen as we awaited her response.

  “Kara, it’s complicated.”

  “Tell me!” I shrieked, losing the last bit of patience I had for everyone. My life was shrouded in secrets, deadly secrets that were costing me my own life.

  “Yes.” Her voice was cowering. “Yes, I knew.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You were too young to know. Too young to be involved in these affairs,” she spoke up. “Your mother and I didn’t want you to know of your father as anything but the hardworking man who loved you.”

  Cori gave me a condensed version of events. My dad needed some money to take care of private school. He paid all of my tuition through senior year of high school. But Antonio wanted the money back almost immediately. Dad made as many payments as he could, but they weren’t fast enough. He was never late, just pushed to expediency, and almost sold our house to pay off the debt. One night, he left to go to the store, and he was ambushed by cars that forced him to smash into a tree.

  I never saw him again. But Cori knew. Mom knew. Everyone knew. Everyone except me.

  The shocking revelation numbed me, left me uncertain in how to proceed.

  “Your mother was sick with grief, Kara,” Cori explained, tearfully. “She didn’t know… how to deal. She felt horrible because Antonio came to her, proposed to keep your father alive if she agreed to work for him. She refused. To this day she blames herself for what happened.”

  “Work for him…?” Then it hit me. Visions of the women, grisly and tortured. I dropped the phone and ran to the bathroom, throwing up everything in my stomach.

  I curled into a ball. Antonio had twisted himself deep into my family tree, destroyed everything I had. This was too much.

  Luke placed a compassionate hand over my shoulder. Lowering himself to my ear, he comforted me. “I know this is a lot, babe. But there’s still time to save you, and the other women he hasn’t hurt yet.”

  “Kara… Kara I’m so sorry…” I heard Cori wail from the phone in the room. I heard Steven talk to her in a soothing tone, making a promise to have me call her back before hanging up.

  “It’s time.” He appeared in the doorway. “We’ve gotta go man. The guys are getting antsy.”

  “Guys?” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

  “Let’s just say, you don’t cross the men who’ve done your dirty work for you.” Luke pulled me to my feet. He gave me a deeply loving look, kissed me in spite of my sick state, and kissed my forehead. “It’s about to get ugly, but we’re taking care of him now.”

  “Let me come.” Hope sprang in my spirit. I wanted to see Antonio myself, smash his fucking head in for the pain he caused me, my family, Luke - and the rest of his victims.

  “No. It’s too dangerous. I refuse to have you there.”

  “You can’t leave me alone in here!”

  “I’m not,” he said, caressing my cheek. He nodded to Steve, and he stepped back and went to open the hotel door.

  “Hey, is she okay?” I heard a voice I thought I’d never hear again.

  “Yeah.”

  “Best Friend?”

  Maddie appeared in the doorway, wearing yoga leggings and a crop top. Aside of looking like she’d missed a good night’s sleep, her cat eye and nude lip were on point.

  I burst into unexpected tears of joy. My best friend, the one who warned me about all of this shit - she was here too, facing it with me.

  “You know I couldn’t leave you by yourself in this,” she said, embracing me. “Let’s stay strong. We’re here together.”

  A tall woman, toned and sleek, stood outside the doorway. She was feminine and sporty. She reminded me of a cross between Michelle Rodriguez and a Mexican Lara Croft. She held a gun at her waist, tucked safely atop her black cargo pants. It blended in nicely against her black tank.

  “Maddie’s here for support.” Luke walked over to the tall woman and gave her a hug. “Chica’s my cousin. She’s here for your protection.”

  “Luke…” My tone was a mixture of a question and warning.

  “No, she’s my father’s niece.” Luke tilted his head and held his hands up. “She’s genuinely blood.”

  Chica’s hazel eyes met mine. “Trust me, I want nothing more than to get at that motherfucker Antonio,” she spat, sourly.

  “You work for him, so what’s your beef?”

  “My uncle and my mom are siblings. Luke’s dad was absent because he was the run from him. So was my mother.” Her eyes flashed with hatred. “I had to work for him or get put to work for him. I made a choice I knew would come full circle. I’ve waited for this day since the day my mother died in captivity.”

  “Enough of the family reunion. We can catch up later.” Steven looked at all of us. I noticed his eyes danced slowly up and down Maddie’s body and lingered at her toes. Luke coughed and he averted his gaze by turning. “Aight man, let’s go.”

  Luke leaned in, kissed me once more, hugged Madd
ie and Chica. He pulled a gun from his waistband and another from his back pocket, both of which shocked me. I didn’t realize he was still armed.

  “For your protection,” he explained, handing Maddie and I a gun, “Just in case Chica’s not enough.”

  “Oh, I will be,” Chica asserted.

  Luke’s eyes fixed into mine. Words failed me at the moment, but I felt my chest swell with an intense feeling of love and fear. I realized this might be the last time I’d ever see him.

  “I love you.”

  Tears filled my eyes. “I love you too…”

  He smiled ruefully, turned, and walked out. I crumbled into tears and Maddie wrapped her arms around me. Once the door closed, Chica interrupted us.

  “Alright Lady Love,” Chica said. “No tears. It’s time for some firearm training.”

  Luke

  “Can you fill me in now?”

  Steven and I were in his truck and headed to one of Antonio’s compounds. He had several, but this one was the furthest and quietest sites.

  “It’s pretty simple. Antonio’s been getting out of hand with his loyalty issues. He wants complete obedience, and yet he has little to no respect for those of us doing his grunt work. His most dangerous adversaries aren’t other organizations. They’re those of us he wears out.”

  Steven gave several examples of recent situations that occurred with other guys in the organization.

  “Most of these guys were caught up the same way you were.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Antonio’s organization is built off the backs of emotional manipulation and provision for loyalty. He’s spent his life picking up ‘strays’ and turning them into his cronies. “Start ‘em off young, feed them, show them how good it can be. And when the time is right, put ‘em to work.” Steve bitterly mocked Antonio.

  The burn in my heart dug even deeper into my chest. It hurt to realize, again, that the man I loved, the only father figure I had - he was the very reason my life was as fucked up as it was. Yeah, my mom was a strung-out love addict, high off any man who would feed and fuck her, but she was harmless.