Chapter 28 Elena #2
Manuel: Yes. She will be at the gala.
Unknown Name: How did you swing that?
Manuel: That gringo who owns the beach bar down in Tulum, she’s staying with him. Family friends.
Unknown Name: She’s not fucking that guy, is she?
Everything in me stills when I read that text.
Manuel: No. There’s no way he would cross me. He does seem protective of her which I appreciate, you know how these ex-military guys are. Loyalty and shit.
Unknown Name: Yeah. You think he’s going to be a problem?
Manuel: No. He understands how the rules work down here.
Unknown Name: You don’t think he will have questions if she disappears?
Manuel: No. I’m playing this one differently, like you said, she’s special.
I am going to make her fall in love with me.
I’ve already asked her to move in after the gala once my wife has gone.
Once I have her heart, she’s going to convince her friends and family she’s in love. How can they say no to her happiness?
Unknown Name: But doesn’t her friend know who you are?
Manuel: Yeah. But he needs money to expand his business to more locations up and down the coast. That’s what he told Rosita when he fucked her for a ticket to the event.
He knows Nash did that.
Unknown Name: Guess he didn’t realize how much she likes dropping to her knees for you and spilled his secret.
Manuel: Rosita is so desperate. She’s no better than the whores in the villa. She thinks one day one of us is going to make her our mistress or woman, and she can live a life of luxury. She’s not worth it.
The villa? What fucking villa? Where is this villa? I click search on my phone for villa, to see if anything pops up. There are messages and emails about the villa but no actual name. Shit. Maybe Nash might know. Or I’m going to have to somehow work it into a conversation without raising suspicion.
Unknown Name: She should stick with fucking Gringo cock.
Manuel: So true.
Unknown Name: Does Pedro know about this girl yet? Or are you surprising him at the after-party?
Manuel: I’m presenting her to him at the after-party.
Unknown Name: Be careful, one taste and they might keep her.
Manuel: Then it will be my honor to give her to him.
Oh hell no.
Unknown Name: Did you get to taste Domingo’s new pet last night?
Manuel: No, she was Juan’s birthday present.
Unknown Name: Hope I get her for mine. She must be good for him to have kept her for so long, his playthings never last.
I need to save Pearl, it sounds like her time is running out.
Manuel: That’s because he has the attention span of a gnat. You know the gala after-party is a free-for-all. Whoever you bring is for everyone. Have you made your choice?
Unknown Name: Not yet. But I have a couple of girls in mind.
Manuel: Hope they are tamed. Not like the girls Marco brought last year, who were crying and shaking.
Unknown Name: That’s where the fun is though, breaking in those wild fillies.
Manuel: I don’t need my dick nearly bitten off like what happened with Adan.
Unknown Name: I don’t blame him for shooting her. The surgery to fix it was horrific. Now he has a disfigured cock because of it. At least it still works.
Manuel: I would have fucking shot Marco, too, for that stunt. I’m about to walk into a meeting. Talk soon.
I walk out of my bedroom after grabbing a handful of things and see Nash grabbing items out of the refrigerator.
“Are you okay? What’s happened?” Nash asks, stopping what he’s doing.
“You can’t trust Rosita. She is fucking Manuel. She told him that you want to expand your bar business and that’s why you fucked her for a ticket to the gala.”
Nash runs his hand over his head. “How?”
“I read his texts to his friend about last night,” I explain.
“Are you okay?”
My brows pull together. “No.” I can feel the walls shutting down, the coping mechanisms clicking in, the detachment from the events of last night happening.
“Elena,” Nash says softly as he reaches out and tries to soothe me.
“Don’t touch me,” I spit, pulling my arms away from him.
I can see the hurt on his face at my rejection, but he doesn’t push it.
“His friend asked Manuel if there was a possibility you could be fucking me which Manuel thought was hilarious because of your loyalty. At least he doesn’t suspect you.
” I shake my head. “What do you know about the villa? I can’t find anything on Manuel’s phone. It’s where they are keeping the girls.”
“I’ve never heard of the villa before,” Nash answers.
“Manuel’s going to steal me, keep me for himself. He believes I’m falling for him. He thinks he can offer you all these beach bars and you’re going to forget about me. That you’re going to give me over to him easily.”
“Like hell I am,” he answers angrily.
“You need to think about a Plan B after the gala. When I escape with Pearl, they are going to come for you. You were right.”
“I know.”
“You have to come with us when it’s time,” I tell him.
“Don’t worry about me, you worry about saving Pearl. I’ll sort something out. I can look after myself.” Nash scoffs.
“Doubtful, not against the cartel,” I snip.
“I’ve survived here for years.”
“Because you didn’t step on their toes. When they find Pearl and I gone, you will be the person he comes looking for. They won’t stop,” I tell him.
“You kind of sound worried for me.” He grins.
“For some reason, I don’t want them to put a bullet through your head.” Nash blanches at my words. “You have to be on that plane.”
“You want me to be?” he asks, catching me off-guard.
“If the decision is between you alive and dead, then yes, I choose you to be alive,” I tell him. “Also, Brooks will be upset if I leave you behind.”
“Guess, that’s that then,” he says, turning around and heading back to the kitchen, where he is filling up a cooler with food.
“Did you want me to answer another way?” I ask him softly. He ignores me. “You wanted me to say I wanted you dead?” I ask, raising my voice.
“No. I didn’t want you to tell me you wanted me dead. I wanted to hear stupidly that you might want me to come with you,” he yells back. Oh. That. We glare at each other as silence fills the space between us.
“Brooks and Sophie want you alive.” Nash’s shoulders sag at my answer.
I close my eyes for a moment and leave them closed while I confess to him, “I’ve shut down, Nash.
I have to, to protect my mental stability to finish this mission.
The shutters that have been wide open can’t be anymore.
I’m sorry.” I open my eyes and see the pained expression on his face as he looks at me.
“What the hell was in those text messages?”
“It’s not just the text messages, Nash. It’s everything.
I can’t be detached anymore to do my job.
When other men touch me, it makes me sick, I want to murder every last one of them and say to hell with the mission, not because what they are doing to me is bad, but because they aren’t you.
” Nash’s jaw drops at my confession. “The only person I want touching me is you, it seems.”