Sweet Collateral

by LP Lovell

  The minutes tick by, turning to hours, until the darkness starts to turn to gray, and the first rays of dawn break the peacefulness of the night.

  “I can’t sleep,” she finally murmurs.

  Placing my finger beneath her chin, I tilt her head back until I can place my lips to hers. “Try.”

  Her eyes lock with mine before dropping to my lips. “No.” Shifting, she throws a leg over my hips and straddles me. “Distract me.”

  “Avecita,” I groan as her heat presses over my cock.

  “Make me feel something good, Rafe, before you take it all away.” She knows already.

  I pull her to me and her lips land over mine. She tastes like honey and warm sunshine and everything that I crave so deeply. She’s my addiction, my weakness, the cause of my own personal torture, but I don’t care. I’d give anything for this, to keep her right here.

  Her tongue skates over my lip, demanding and begging at the same time. She wants me to take her pain away, and it’s all I want for her. Her fingers slide beneath the waistband of my boxers, freeing me. And then she’s pushing her own underwear to the side and guiding me into her. She feels so good, like coming home after long months away. Her hands clamp around either side of my face, her forehead touching mine as she rolls her hips. The breath that leaves her lips is shaky and ragged—pain and pleasure blending in a perfect symphony.

  She makes me lose my mind until nothing outside of her exists. The warmth of her body, the scent of her skin, the hot breaths rushing over my lips. I need it all. Sitting up, I grip her hips and force her over me hard and slow, scraping my teeth down the side of her throat. Her head falls back, and waves of golden hair tumble down her back, kissing the curve of her waist.

  There’s something desperate and feral in her movements, as though she’s chasing her own demons while she fucks me. And I let her. I fist her hair and pin her in place with her back bowed and my cock buried inside her. I let her ride it out like an exorcism until she falls apart in my arms, my name falling from her lips like her own prayer. When she’s done, I release her and pull her tight to my chest. Wetness dots my chest, and I know she’s crying. It makes telling her that much harder. My teeth sink into my lip at the thought of causing this woman who I love any more pain. How much is one person expected to take before they can finally take no more?

  “He wants to trade,” I finally say.

  “What does he want?” she asks without lifting her cheek from my chest.

  “The women. He wants twenty of them to breed.” I physically feel the heavy thump of her heart and hear the strangled gasp as she drags oxygen into her lungs. Then she simply sits up, climbs off me and goes to the bathroom. The door shuts, the lock sliding closed.

  I knew this would break her.

  77

  Anna

  The water from the shower pounds over my skin, but it does nothing to calm my thoughts.

  My daughter is lost to me. Trapped in that place, fated to become a mindless killer with no concept of humanity. She’ll never know kindness or love. She’ll barely be human by the time they’re done with her.

  Twenty women. Twenty innocent people who have just been rescued from a horror I know all too well. They’re free, not property to be traded. He knew we would never do it. That’s why he made the offer. An impossible offer. He wasted Rafael’s time by even meeting with him.

  God, it hurts. This constant ache sits behind my ribs, as though my heart is physically straining under my grief. A choked sob rips from my throat, and for a second I allow myself to just cry. Pulling my knees to my chest, I place my forehead against them. I cry until my eyes sting and my entire body hurts.

  There’s a gentle knock on the bathroom door. “Avecita.” I can’t face Rafael right now. I can’t let him see that this is destroying me this much. “Please let me in,” he begs, and that pleading note in his voice has me feeling guilty all over again. I’m riddled with it, so what’s a little more?

  Pushing to my feet, I slide the lock back and sit on the edge of the bath. The door glides open, revealing Rafael.

  “I know it hurts,” he says.

  “There has to be another way.”

  “There isn’t.”

  “His family? His business? There must be something we can threaten…”

  He shakes his head, lines of defeat sinking into his face. “I checked every possible avenue before I ever met with him. So did Samuel. So did Nero’s guys.”

  They’ve all been in on it. All trying to save my child. And some of the most ruthless, powerful men in the world can’t come up with anything.

  I shake my head. “I wish I didn’t know.”

  “Didn’t know what?”

  “That she existed. To know that she exists, but be completely unable to get to her…” I rub my hand over my chest.

  Rafael inhales a deep breath. “But you are able to get to her.”

  My eyes snap to his. “That’s not an option.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  “You can’t sacrifice them, Rafe.”

  “I won’t be. You will.”

  “What?” I cry. “Why would you say that to me?”

  Those dark eyes turn cold. “It’s called a sacrifice for a reason. Because it should hurt to make it. You just have to work out your priorities, little warrior. Those girls? Or your child?”

  “It’s not a choice!” I shout.

  “It is. It’s just a hard one that must be made. The very act of not making it is in itself a choice.” I hate the implication that by not choosing I’m choosing the women over a child.

  “There has to be another way,” I whisper. “What if Violet was one of those women?”

  “Violet was family. Family comes first. Blood comes first.”

  “But Violet was a whore, just like those women.” Worse, Rafael’s sister was a willing whore, selling herself for money. These girls have been forced. And the Russians will do more of the same to them. “They deserve a life.”

  He offers me a sad smile. “Avecita, you aren’t naïve enough to believe that life is about what you deserve.”

  “I can’t do it.” My chest hurts and more tears break free.

  “Then don’t.” He places a finger beneath my chin, forcing me to look at him. “But you will have to live with the consequences of that, Anna.” He pushes to his feet and walks out, leaving me to cry myself dry for the second time this morning. And finally, when I can cry no more, I realize; I have to make this decision. Rafael isn’t going to protect me this time.

  There’s only one person I want to speak to right now. One person who I trust to look at this with any kind of objectivity: my sister. Cool, rational decisions are her forte. I dial her number and place the phone to my ear, waiting for it to ring. It doesn’t. Instead, it just cuts to voicemail. I try again. And again. Voicemail, every time.

  “Una it’s me. I, uh, I need to speak to you.” I press a hand to my forehead, feeling a pounding headache starting to settle behind my eyes. “Call me, please.”

  I sit on the balcony, my mind numb as though it can’t possibly process any more thoughts. I stare aimlessly at the sun, watching it rise high into the sky before starting to fall again. I frown when I hear raised voices from downstairs. Pushing to my feet, I leave the room and follow the sound.

  “Stand down!” I hear Samuel shout before I’ve even rounded the corner. When I do, I find Una standing in the entrance hall, guns pointed at the heads of two of Rafael’s men. There are five in total, including Samuel, and four of them are aiming weapons at her. Her eyes meet mine, and a cocky smile pulls at her lips.

  “Hello, sister.”

  “Lower your weapons,” I order the men surrounding her. They glance at me but don’t react. “Lower. Your. Weapons,” I snap, and this time they listen. Una’s smirk stretches to a grin.

  “Well, well.” She shoves her guns back into the holsters at her thighs. “Authority suits you, Anna.”

  I turn and lead her away from prying eyes. />
  “What are you doing here?”

  “Rafael called last night.”

  “Of course he did.” He always knows what I need far before I do.

  “Tell me what you need, Anna. I can kill Dimitri Petrov, or exert some pressure.”

  “No. I just…need advice.” She cocks a brow in surprise, and I lead her through the back of the house, out into the gardens. “I guess you know Rafael met with Dimitri Petrov.”

  She presses her lips tightly together. “I do. He told me about the deal.”

  I stop walking and turn to face her. “He says the choice is mine, but how can that be a choice? I need your rational judgment. You always think with your head.”

  She drops her chin to her chest and drags a hand through her hair. “Not always.” She looks up, those violet eyes of her meeting mine. “I have one exception.”

  “Dante.”

  “Dante.” She nods, her eyes going distant as a soft smile touches her lips. “I could try to explain it to you, but words would fail. The moment I looked in his eyes, my entire world shifted. He became my reason for everything.”

  “I can’t…I don’t know what to do.” My voice wavers, and I fight back the tears I didn’t think I had left.

  In a rare show of affection, she cups my cheek, forcing me to look at her. “You haven’t carried her. You haven’t given birth to her. You’ve never even met her. But trust me, when you look into her eyes, you will know. You will love her in ways you never thought possible.” I close my eyes and a teardrop tracks down my cheek. She brushes it away with her thumb. “I know this is hard, but believe me when I say, I would sacrifice a hundred innocent women for my son. A thousand. It’s being a mother.”

  More tears pour down my face because I know what I’m going to do, and it feels like I just stepped right into the fires of hell. For her. My child. A stranger. My daughter.

  “I need you to do something for me, Una…”

  78

  Rafael

  I find Anna out by the pool. She has a glass of whiskey in her hand I watch from the shadows, as she downs the whole thing. Reaching below the sun lounger, she picks up a bottle and pours another.

  “Why bother with the glass?”

  She doesn’t even look at me as I drop onto the lounger beside her.

  “It’s more civilized.”

  I smile, despite the ominous air that clings to us both. “Have you made a decision?”

  “Not one I’m sure I can live with.”

  I move into her line of vision. “I’ll help you live with it.”

  “I don’t think even you can save me from this, Rafe.” She looks at me, her eyes full of heartbreak and unshed tears. “Make the deal,” she whispers.

  “Okay.” I lean over and kiss her forehead, inhaling the scent of her raspberry shampoo. It reminds me of her, of innocence and light. But she’s not innocent anymore, and I’m not sure how much light will be left by the time this is done.

  I glance out of the window of the car, watching, as twenty women are loaded onto one of my cargo planes. My stomach knots and bile creeps up my throat. Carlos stands on the tarmac, overseeing the entire thing. None of us like this, but he’s made his feelings clear. He’s a father. He would do the same thing for his kids.

  Samuel sits next to me in the driver’s seat, his thumbs tapping erratically over the steering wheel. “This is wrong, Rafe.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” I snap. His hard gaze meets mine. “There is no easy decision here.”

  “You go too far for her.”

  “Sam, how many innocents have we killed? How many years have we turned a blind eye to the Sinaloa sex trade?” He says nothing. “Anna pushed to take down the Sinaloa. Anna was the one who made sure those girls were saved.”

  “Only to sell them out.”

  “Twenty. Twenty are being traded. Hundreds have been pulled from the Sinaloa brothels.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “It’s not right. But they would still be in those brothels if it weren’t for her.”

  “They’d have been better off than with the Russians,” he says quietly.

  I can’t have this conversation with him anymore. “Tell the pilot to prepare for takeoff,” I open the door, stepping out onto the runway. I walk over to where the private jet lingers. Una and Anna are seated side by side, talking in low whispers to each other. Anna has barely spoken to me in these last two days. The only person she seems to interact with is her sister. Una, for all her sins, seems to be helping.

  I watch as she strokes Anna’s hair away from her face, and holds her hand. Maybe she can understand this better than anyone because she is a mother.

  “You okay?” I ask Anna.

  “Yes. Let’s go.”

  The flight is quiet, but by the time we land, the tension is palpable, not only from Anna but all my men. None of them like this. I’ve only brought my most trusted guys for this very reason. I know they will follow my orders regardless of their own opinions.

  The cargo plane lands an hour after us, and the girls are moved into a truck. Anna watches on, refusing to look away, as though to force the torture upon herself. Una finally tugs her in the other direction. We’ve already agreed that Anna won’t be at the trade. She’s too emotionally invested, and I don’t want to risk Dimitri seeing a weakness. I need this to go smoothly.

  Una glances at me, and nods once, before ducking inside a low sports car. Anna peers through the window, offering me a sad smile before they pull away in a cloud of squealing tire smoke.

  “Okay, let’s go,” I say, hopping into the passenger side of an SUV. Samuel drives. Carlos and Lucas sit in the back. The rest of the men are guarding the truck. I don’t trust Dimitri not to try and shaft me on this somehow.

  The closer we get to the Elite compound, the more isolated it becomes, until houses are spaced miles apart rather than feet. The roads are flanked by dense forest for as far as the eye can see, and the green canopies give way to endless gray skies.

  Finally, the road breaks, giving way to a track. From a mile away, I can see the perimeter fence, topped with razor wire. I know the base well, but only from blueprints. I spent hours studying them when Anna was brought here, looking for a way in, a breach, a weakness. And I know there is none, which is why this trade is happening.

  We roll up to the gate, and armed guards check over the vehicles before waving us through. What looks like a massive reinforced steel door opens, and a man steps out, leading six others. All dressed in black, all armed to the teeth. Elite soldiers.

  I get out of the car, and Samuel and Carlos follow suit, falling in beside me.

  “Rafael D’Cruze,” the man says in his heavy Russian accent.

  “Where is Dimitri?”

  “The boss could not be here.”

  I clench my jaw at the insult. He makes me trade twenty women, and he doesn’t even come in person. “I want to see the child.”

  He tilts his head to the side in that predatory way that all the Elite seem to have. “I have orders to check the stock first.” Stock. I inhale a deep breath, clenching my fist tight enough that my knuckles audibly crack.

  I gesture to the truck. “They don’t leave that truck until I see the child.” The man eyes me coldly before passing by and glancing into the back of the truck. “Bring the child,” he orders one of his men. He disappears back inside the concrete-walled compound they came from, and a few seconds later he brings a woman out. She’s holding a child, bundled in blankets and clutched to her chest.

  I step forward, and she hands the baby to me, her expression devoid of anything. I glance down at the tiny baby, and my heart falters for a second. Bright blue eyes, the exact same shade as Anna’s, meet mine. Her lips are a perfect pink cupids bow, slightly parted as she stares at me with an awareness a baby so young should not have. I stroke a hand over the fine layer of downy gold hair on her head and I swear to God, this tiny thing owns me every bit as much as her mother in an instant. The urge to get her out of danger
rides me hard. Tearing my gaze away, I turn to Carlos and hand him the child.

  “Take her. Leave.” He nods sternly, taking the tiny bundle from me and striding back towards the car. He gets in, and I watch him pass the baby to Lucas before he reverses and floors it out of the compound. The Elite soldiers start unloading the women. I swallow heavily and step back, watching them get walked, one by one, from the truck.

  I try not to see their faces, but it’s so hard, and the worst part is the resignation. They don’t look angry, or even sad, simply accepting. And I hate myself for letting this happen. I watch as the last girl steps off the truck, just as the first one reaches the door to the compound. She turns, glancing over her shoulder. Our gazes crash, and there’s a moment, an exhaled breath, a thundering heartbeat. I feel the judgment in her dark eyes, and I take an involuntary step forward as though I can save her from this fate. I blink, and when I open my eyes, hers are wide. She sways and then drops. It takes my mind a second to catch up, to acknowledge the familiar cracking of bullets splitting the air in quick succession. Several women drop to the ground, and then a bullet hits the front of the truck barely inches from me.

  “Fuck!” Samuel grabs my arm and drags me into the truck, shoving me in the back before he follows. The wheels spin and the vehicle pitches and lurches to the side as bullets hit the bodywork. We floor it out of the gate, and I look out the open back of the truck at the sea of fallen bodies we leave behind. Elite are scrambling to return fire, but it’s obvious they’re firing blind. Those weren’t short-range shots, they were sniper rifles.

  79

  Anna

  “Get ready,” Una breathes. “Just one more.”

  I inhale a deep breath, my finger trembling slightly as it lingers over the trigger. I stare down the sights of the rifle, seeing Rafael in the crosshairs. Samuel lingers beside him, ready to grab him as we discussed.