Chapter 31 Selene
Chapter thirty-one
Selene
What if he never comes? What if he doesn’t care that much? After all, I’ve fulfilled my end of the deal, and I’m now nothing but a liability to Cortez.
My heart clenches as I dart a swollen eye around the area. It’s nighttime. Broken down vehicles, worn-out tires, and metal parts litter my vision. Other than it being an abandoned scrapyard, I don’t know where we are. Maybe in the middle of nowhere.
After he caught me with the phone, I was blindfolded and tossed in the back of a van.
We’d been riding for hours until we arrived here.
I struggle to break free from the tight rope binding my hands, but it’s no use.
Once again, my eyes scan the area, but this time I’m looking for sharp metal. If I could just—
My thoughts are halted when a car in front of me starts and zooms out of my line of vision. In its place there now stands a neat truck, the back open.
Inside it, there’s a pile of thick blankets, boxes, and metal scraps, but I know it’s all a facade. There’s only one thing Ramirez could need all these for.
“You will cooperate this time.” His voice forces my gaze toward him as he appears from between a row of cars. Ramirez is standing a few feet from me, holding more ropes and duct tape.
“You will lie quietly in the back of that truck. We’re crossing the fucking border to Mexico.”
My heart doubles in pace, and I swallow thickly, but I don’t let it show. “I’d think you should know me by now, Ramirez.” I shrug casually, ignoring the ache in my chest and shoulders. “I’m not one to stay still.” I feel my busted lips stretch painfully as I smile.
He growls, and before I know it, his foot lunges at my belly, but I quickly turn so it hits my side. “Stupid bitch!”
Pain shoots through my side as I hunch but the only thing I can think about is my baby. I hope to God that they’re okay.
Growling, he yanks my hair to hold my face in place towards him. His breath comes out in short pants. Mine, too.
“You’re a fucking coward,” I sneer, looking him in the eyes angrily. “Otherwise, you’d have stayed to fight! Why did you run? You should have waited for Cortez to beat your fucking ass—”
A slap collides with my cheek, plunging my teeth into my lips. I taste blood on my lips and instantly turn to spit in his face.
I don’t know where Cortez is or if he is coming. But I have nothing to cling to but hope.
Ramirez lunges a kick at my chest, yanking me again by my hair before I curl into myself. “You will cooperate. Not just on the trip but through the search,” he breathes angrily. “When we get to Mexico, you’re showing me where that money is or I swear I will kill you.”
Ramirez’s sick smile is the last thing I see before a handkerchief covers my face from behind, and I black out.
***
I stir awake slowly.
I groan, trying to rub my eyes when I realize my hands are bound. My legs, too. The screams that fall from my lips are also muffled by tight duct tape over my mouth. Fuck!
My bones feel limp, and a splitting headache sprawls across my forehead. Squirming, I try to sit up, but the constant bumping of the car makes me unsuccessful. Wait. Bump? Is the truck moving? We’re actually en route to Mexico?
No. No. No. I attempt to touch my stomach, but I can’t. Tears sting my vision and trickle down my cheeks. I can take all of the assaults, but I won’t forgive myself if anything happens to my baby.
All of a sudden, my head slams into the rear of the truck as I feel the vehicle spin violently. Dizziness washes over me as something slams into the truck from behind, jerking me against the truck. Metal scraps tear into my skin, drawing blood, until the truck hits something and stops.
Then I hear it. The roar of engines. Heavy orders in Italian. Cortez!
My pulse spikes as I struggle endlessly against the blankets, now kicking. Gunshots rip through the air, and I am still for a moment before trying to scream, but it comes out muffled.
“Ramirez!” The hair on my nape rises when I hear Cortez’s voice. Another round of gunshots ricochets through the air, and a grunt of pain follows.
“Bastard!” I hear Ramirez growl.
“Where is she?” Cortez roars.
“Dead,” Ramirez laughs. “I fucked your little fiancée before putting a bullet into her skull.”
My eyes widen, and I start to kick violently. Can somebody fucking notice me?
“…Her pussy was so damn tight…” Ramirez continues in a mocking tone.
Suddenly, a sound tears through the air. Guttural, animalistic and so deep that it elicits goosebumps on my skin. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the sound came from a beast, not a man.
“You bastard!” Cortez roars, and a sickening thud strikes the ground. I’m almost losing my mind in this damn maze of blankets when the wrappers are yanked off me. I inhale greedily, and the first person I see is a bleeding Alej.
His whole head is soaked in blood. Fuck. He quickly brings out a knife, cuts the rope binding my wrists and yanks the tape off my mouth.
“Cortez!” That’s the first thing I scream, and when I see him, my heart falters. His gaze softens for a moment before he turns back and collides his fist into Ramirez’s stomach.
A smirk tilts my lips. Karma is a bitch!
But Ramirez barely folds. He lunges a kick and almost immediately lunges another, which Cortez dodges. My anger grows as I continue to watch fists crash against each other.
I want nothing more than Cortez to just whip out a gun and shoot the scumbag. But both guns being discarded a short distance from them on the ground tells me either they’ve decided it’s not a gunfight or the clips are empty.
In a flash, Cortez meets Ramirez with a blow to his face and slams his shoulder into Ramirez’s chest. They both fall to the ground, loud grunts spilling occasionally with sickening thuds. And that’s when I notice the bodies of all the men from both sides sprawled dead across the clearing. Oh, God!
I look around, realizing how we’ve swerved from the road into the plain clearing by the side.
Cortez drives his elbow into Ramirez’s throat as Ramirez drives a punch to his gut.
“You think you’re better than everyone. But you’re just like us!” Ramirez roars, rage clearly overtaking his eyes.
Cortez grunts, finally straddling him and pinning a hand around his neck before raining blows on his face.
The sound of bones crunching fills the air, and my insides turn with joy. By the time Cortez is done with his assault, Ramirez’s face is bloodied, his body barely moving.
With clenched teeth, Cortez mutters something in his ear and that’s when I see it—the short, sharp piece of scrap metal Ramirez is slowly fisting.
“Watch out!” Just as I yell, Ramirez stabs Cortez in his shoulder. Cortez let out a loud grunt, falling off him. I turn to Alej and see his fist tighten against his gun. Of course. This is personal for Cortez and that’s why Alej can’t interfere.
Now having the upper hand, Ramirez smirks and then rams into Cortez. But his attack doesn’t hit the target. Cortez angles himself, and instead, Ramirez’s neck is impaled on the metal piece in Cortez’s shoulder. Cortez releases a painful grunt as it seems the metal sinks deeper into his shoulder.
Blood spurts out of Ramirez’s neck as he chokes for a moment before his head goes limp.
A wave of relief washes over me when Cortez turns to me. Holding my gaze, he yanks Ramirez’s limp body off him and pulls the metal piece out of his shoulder.
He strides in my direction, ignoring his bleeding shoulder wound and bloody hand from the sharp metal, barely standing straight. When he reaches me, my breath seizes in my lungs.
For the longest moment, we just stare at each other, my heart thudding in my chest. Indecipherable emotions swirl in his eyes.
I don’t know what to think.
Is he mad at me? Does he know about Luca? Does he believe m—
My thoughts are cut short when he raises his hand and softly brushes my cheek. Then he says with a grunt, “Fuck. You are one troublesome fiancée.”
I smile, shaking my head. “Thank you...for coming.”
Without another word, he carries me bridal style in his arms. Any other man would be doubled over in pain, but Cortez carries me like I weigh nothing, moving like the gash is barely a scratch. I lean against his chest, letting his heartbeat soothe the ache in my chest.
“I-I’m sorry I left,” I start, licking my lips. “I shouldn’t have lied. But I was…scared for my brother. The items I stole were meant fo—”
“I know,” he tells me. “I know what you did and why.”
The dented car door opens in front of me and he places me inside gently, sliding in next to me.
“Still, what I did was wrong,” I whisper, feeling guilty. Tears prick my eyes. Tricking him, his men and Aliyah.
I wince when I take in his bleeding shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
He doesn’t say anything but simply studies my face, his jaw clenching each time his eyes catch a bruise. Then he trails his gaze down my body. I know he’s checking for injuries, but fuck, his eyes are doing things to my insides. Even in this moment, with both of us bruised and bloody.
My breath comes out shaky as I exhale, licking my chapped lips. Then, before I know it, he carefully tugs me onto his lap and kisses me, his hands wrapping tightly around my waist as if scared I’ll disappear.
And for the first time, I feel it. How he’s holding me like he doesn’t care about anything else in the world, how he’s kissing me without restraint. I feel the raw need…without the usual calculated distance or pretense. Just all of him, given freely to me. And I’ve never been happier.
***
After the doctor stitched Cortez up and dressed our injuries, Cortez decided to give me a bath.