Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
Xander prepared himself for the hot sting of another bullet piercing his skin. Would it suck? Like a sonofabitch. Would he gladly take it if it meant saving Essie? One hundred fucking percent. She was worth every risk.
Barrera pulled the trigger and nothing happened. Just the soft click of a gun with no more bullets.
Xander slammed into José like a ton of bricks, lifting the man off his feet.
They tumbled to the ground, a mass of expletives and flailing limbs.
Xander landed on top of him with all of his weight, driving his knee into the man’s gut.
Barrera grunted in pain, struggling to escape, but that wasn’t about to happen.
Xander unleashed his inner beast, allowing the fury to take hold.
He powered his fists into Barrera’s face until his knuckles split and bled.
Barrera bellowed out a cry of pain and fury when his nose broke, bringing Xander a sick sense of satisfaction.
He wanted nothing more than to continue beating on him. To crack more bones, shed more blood.
Until he heard Essie cry for help.
Shit. He started to get up when he saw Lex sprinting through the water.
“I got her!” Lex shouted, dropping down beside the pit. He leaned forward, grabbing onto Essie’s outstretched hands and began to pull.
While Xander let his focus drift to Essie for mere seconds, Barrera managed to grab his jeweled dagger from his jacket pocket.
Xander caught the quick movement from the corner of his eye and wrenched backward just in time.
The blade’s tip swiped across his neck but only managed to nick the top layer of skin.
“Let her die, take your revenge,” Barrera said, making strange hissing sounds as he struggled to breathe through his broken, bloody nose. “My sister’s blood for your sister’s blood. Then we’ll be even.”
He made another wild swing with the blade, and Xander caught his wrist, holding it between their faces. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed to slits. “That’s the difference between you and me,” he seethed.
They struggled, grunting, each man fighting to push the knife’s deadly edge into the other’s face.
“What is?” Barrera scoffed, managing to twist his wrist, lining up the sharp end with Xander’s left eye. Pushing it closer.
Xander felt himself losing. His arms shook as the knife’s blade edged closer and pain seared like a trail of fire up his wounded side, radiating down his arm.
“I’d never hurt your sister… the way you hurt mine,” Xander growled. Barrera slammed the jeweled dagger forward, missing his target when Xander jerked to the side. With the last of his sapping strength, Xander spun the knife back around and sank it into Barrera’s eye socket.
With a pained scream, Barrera flailed backward, tripping in the surf and landing on his knees.
Spinning around, Xander raced over to help Lex pull Essie from the suctioning depths of the quicksand. She fell forward, and he caught her, wrapping his arms around her as she coughed and choked on saltwater.
He pushed her wet hair back, searching her big brown eyes.
“Are you okay?” A stupid question, all things considered, but he needed to hear her voice.
Hear her confirm she was alive and out of imminent danger.
She nodded, clinging to him. “You’re so damn brave,” he told her, wincing as she shifted against him.
Pulling her into his uninjured side, he led her to a more stable section of shoreline.
“I thought I lost you,” she cried, clasping his face in her hands and looking at him as though he were the most precious thing she’d ever seen. “I thought—” A half-sob, half-hiccup escaped her.
“It takes more than a bullet to kill this devil.” He gave her a weary, crooked smile.
“You’re not a devil,” she chastised, shaking her head as she turned to fully face him. “You’re a hero. My hero.”
She pressed her salty lips against his, and Xander was fucking home.
Because that’s what Essie was to him. Warm and welcoming.
A safe place to land. And those were things he’d never truly had.
Not growing up when he’d had a mother who took off and left for days at a time.
Not when he was with the CIA, running around the world and facing off with bad guys.
And certainly not when he’d been so focused on revenge that he’d hidden down in Mexico for three years, trying to find Barrera, dismantle the Lazaro Cartel and kill every last narco all on his own.
At one point, he would’ve sold his soul to achieve his revenge. Now, he was glad he’d kept it. Because there was no else he’d rather give it to than Estrella. His star.
It had taken a little help from his friends, and falling in love with his mortal enemy’s sister, but he’d finally found peace. Somehow, he and Essie had become each other’s escape and salvation.
Behind them, a rage-fueled cry pierced the air. Essie tensed, yelling a warning, as Xander turned to see a crazed-looking Barrera barreling straight toward them. He’d pulled the dagger out of his eye and gripped it in his hand. Aiming it straight for Essie.
Xander shoved Essie behind him, getting ready to take the blade to his own chest when a gunshot rang out. Jolted off his feet, Barrera fell onto his back and landed in the surf, bright red blood saturating the fabric over his heart.
Xander’s head snapped over to where Lex was lowering his gun. Releasing the breath he’d been holding, he gave Lex a grateful nod. Then he pressed a kiss to Essie’s temple and turned her face against his chest.
“Don’t look, mi Estrella.”
The bastard might’ve been evil incarnate, but he was still a man she’d once called her brother.
None of this was going to be easy for her to deal with, especially the aftermath.
That’s when grief snuck up on a person, leaving them confused and bereft.
But he vowed to be there for her. To hold her hand and give her a shoulder to cry on any time she needed one.
“That guy was a pain in the ass,” Lex grumbled, sliding the pistol back into its holster.
Xander wanted to laugh at Lex’s assessment of the situation, but every movement suddenly hurt too much.
“You’re bleeding,” Essie cried, her eyes widening.
Glancing down, he noticed a fresh stream of blood soaking through his shirt. Far too much. He must’ve torn his wound open during the scuffle with Barrera. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and, without warning, blackness began to close in.
“Essie!” He grabbed her hand as he slumped sideways. Right before he passed out, he heard her cry for help.
Seeing her big, strong, brave man crumple in her arms terrified Essie like nothing else. She pulled herself together as Lex helped her drag him further up onto the shore. It was mere moments before the rest of their team came pounding down the beach, kicking up surf and sand.
Wes immediately dropped down beside them, peeled Xander’s wet shirt up and cursed. One look at the ragged, raw tear oozing blood sent panic flaring inside her. “Is he going to be okay?” She clutched Xander’s hand tightly, willing his gorgeous blue eyes to open.
He had such soulful eyes. Dark as midnight, yet bright like twin sapphires. She needed those eyes open and on her again. If anything happened to him, she didn’t know what she’d do. She’d only just found him. If he left her—
“He needs stitches, but he’ll be alright,” Wes stated, applying pressure to the wound. “Hawke is one tough fucker.”
“You can stitch him up on the plane,” Brandon said, grabbing one of Xander’s arms while Chaz took the other. “We need to get out of here before any guards show up.” Essie jumped back as they hoisted Xander up, bracing him between them and carried him away from the water.
Everyone jogged toward the landing strip, Lex racing ahead to get the plane started. So much happened, and now her worry circled back to her little brother. “You found Tomás?” she asked, simultaneously hopeful and terrified of their answer.
“He’s waiting on the plane with Jayson,” Corey told her.
Thank God. Hurrying to keep up with their long-legged strides, Essie prayed they would make it off the island without further incident.
Now that José was dead, would someone else step up and take his place?
Or would the Villarreal Cartel wipe out whatever remained of the Lazaro Cartel?
The Mexican drug wars seemed never-ending, and she wanted to get as far away from them as possible.
She wanted to live somewhere safe, and with the man she loved.
The moment they made it onto the plane, Tomás ran over, almost tackling her with his fierce hug. “Everything is going to be okay,” she assured him, watching over his head as Wes got to work stitching up Xander’s side. “You’re safe.”
Tomás pulled back, looking up at his big sister. “José is crazy. He told me you died.”
“Shhh.” She ran a soothing hand up and down his back. “He can’t hurt you. I’m here.”
Comforting her brother with soft words and promises of safety for them both, she guided him to a seat. They sat down and buckled up as the plane began to move. They took off without incident, and she watched closely as Wes finished up with Xander.
“Stay put,” she told Tomás. “I’m going to check on Xander.”
Making her way over, she lowered down beside where he was stretched out on the row of seats. The other men stood or sat on the floor, watching closely as she took his hand in hers. “How is he?”
Wes closed his med kit. “He’ll be fine. I cleaned the wound really well and he’s all stitched up. He’ll be out of it for a bit from pain and blood loss, but he’ll come around.”
Her attention flickered away from his bandaged side and up to his throat. There was a thin red line of dried blood where José’s knife had nicked. She shivered, knowing it could’ve been so much worse.
“Don’t worry, Essie. He’ll be back to his normal pain in the ass self in no time.” Wes gave her arm a light squeeze then moved away to give her some privacy.
Releasing a huge sigh of relief, she lowered her head, closing her eyes and pressing her forehead against his shoulder. Gratitude washed over her. “I love you.” The words came out so hushed, barely a whisper, but she needed to say them. Even if he couldn’t hear her—
“Say it again.”
Her head snapped up at the sound of Xander’s rusty voice. “Dios mío, I was so worried about you.” She leaned forward, pressing kisses all over his face. “Don’t you ever get shot again. Do you hear me? I forbid it!”
He chuckled then flinched. “Ow. Yeah, one hundred percent do not recommend it. But all the kisses are helping.” Their gazes locked. “Was I dreaming, or did you say what I think you did?”
“In case you need clarification, I love you, Xander Hawke.”
He swallowed hard, searching her eyes. “I’m glad. Because once this plane lands, I’m never letting you go. You’re mine.”
She pulled back, looking into his deep blue eyes. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Whatever you want, mi Estrella.” He squeezed her hand. “For better or worse, I’m all yours.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “Oh, it’s definitely for the better, mi amor.”