Chapter 10
By the time Cristian had made it to the warehouse, his blood was like a raging firestorm coursing through his veins. This man Darby had destroyed so many lives, and now he thought he could demand that Cristian give him back Everly. Well, it would not happen.
His brothers smiled as he stepped into the cool metal room.
Bastian was propped against the wall behind a man strapped to a chair.
Matias was seated in front of him, his leg crossed over his knee.
It was as though he was relaxing with an old friend.
But the swollen and bruised marks riddling the man's skin proved otherwise.
“Brother.” Matias grinned. “You made it just in time to watch me destroy this motherfucker.”
The man grunted, tugging at his restraints. “Fuck you.” His thick Spanish accent echoed around the room. “I’d rather die than tell you anything.”
“You’re going to get your wish.”
Cristian stepped forward and grabbed his shirt. “Why’d you do it?” He spoke in Spanish, ensuring the man could understand him. “You sealed your death certificate when you did.”
“He paid me a handsome sum.”
“What is that money going to do for you dead?”
The man’s eyes lost their focus as he realized the money would be no use to him. He had sold himself out for nothing.
“He won’t stop until he gets her back now. Her pussy is gold to him, and he wants her for himself.”
“She belongs to me.”
“He knows you tricked him. You’re as good as dead and then he will come for her.”
Cristian gripped the man’s face, his fingers digging into his flesh. “He can come, but he won’t touch her ever again.”
“As long as she is a virgin—Darby will stop at nothing. She is too valuable to him. Why didn’t you just pay him?”
His nails dug in deeper, breaking the tender skin pinched beneath his grasp.
Every word made his anger palpable in the room, like a thick fog rolling in across the ocean.
He watched in fascination as the man’s eyes bulged with the reality of what was happening.
Cristian twisted his neck, forcing it into an awkward position.
The snap resounded through the room, echoing off the metal framed building.
He released the man and watched as his body crumpled to the floor.
“Damn, Cristian.” Bastian snickered. “You didn’t waste any time, did you?”
“He was useless. Marco!” Cristian called out for one of his men, nodding when he arrived toward the dead man. “Take his body and dump it on Juarez’s property. I want the others to know their fate if they continue to betray us.”
Marco immediately got to work, dragging the body from the room.
“We need to come up with a plan. Darby will be here in a week—and if that moron was telling the truth, the only thing that will stop him from wanting her is—”
“Don’t.” Cristian cut Matias off. “She deserves to be free of him without a price.”
“Fine, Brother.” Matias moved toward the door. “Let’s go back to your place and discuss this. We need to figure it out.”
Cristian followed his brothers out and climbed into the awaiting car. He wouldn’t force Everly to do anything to gain her freedom. There had to be another way to stop Darby. He’d spill blood to keep her safe, even if it meant starting a war with a man whose reach was larger than theirs.
He found his brothers waiting for him in the living room of his house.
They both looked at him with somber looks.
Looks that made his skin crawl. Darby wanted Everly because she was a virgin.
And the man he had just killed made it clear her virginity was the only reason he was coming after him.
He had known from the start it was a risk playing a game with the money.
But he never expected Darby to find out his real identity.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, Cristian.” Matias paced the room. “But we cannot afford a war with this man.” He spoke in Spanish as a precaution. With Everly in the house, Matias was worried she would hear and try to make a run for it.
“I don’t care. I won’t force Everly to do anything against her will. There has to be another way.”
“You can’t be that stupid.” Bastian shook his head. “You would really risk the family for a woman?”
“Matias did. Why should I be any different?”
“Perhaps it’s because Matias and Katya were an actual couple—kind of.
Your girl has no interest in you in that way.
So, I’ll say it again.” Bastian held Cristian’s gaze as he spoke.
“As long as that woman is a virgin, she’s a liability.
Either we pay him the actual money—which we won’t.
Or you eliminate the only thing making her desirable to him.
He won’t want her if she isn’t worth gold anymore. ”
“No one is to touch her. I won’t force her, and neither will anyone else in this house. Darby won’t lay a hand on her—virgin or not.”
Matias’ eyes widened as he stared over Cristian’s shoulder. He didn’t need to turn around to know Everly was standing behind him. His body tingled from her presence anytime she was near.
“Don’t I get a say?”