37. Elias
37
Elias
" T here's no activity. Does that seem normal to you?" I crouched beside the white walls surrounding the compound, my heavy flak jacket weighing down my shoulders, my rifle pinned to my chest, with my finger resting on the trigger guard.
Javier leaned in as we stood under cover of darkness. "Maybe everyone is sleeping."
"We're ready to approach," Ximén said through my earpiece.
I pressed the button on my chest. "It's a go, but remember, Andrés is mine."
Pressing my back against the wall, I signaled my men to move forward. They advanced with bent knees, walking in a crouch, hands on each other's shoulders exactly how the Mexican Army trained them.
A surge of adrenaline spiked my blood, my pulse pounding at my temples.
This is it.
He's in my grasp, and no one could take him from me.
"Tres. Dos. Uno."
A thunderous explosion reverberated through the air, sending a plume of dust and debris spiraling skyward as we blasted through the fortified gates. Two men at a time slipped inside, their comrades covering them like shadows, clearing the spaces ahead.
Javier and I brought up the rear, our boots echoing on the ground, grinding through the crumbling rock. At the heart of the compound lay a grassy area, an empty pool, and the skeletons of used lounge chairs.
I kneeled by the exposed cushions, surveying the darkness surrounding us. "This doesn't feel right."
"I agree."
Squinting, I focused on a rusted splotch in the empty pool. "I expected more guards."
This is strange.
"I don't think he's here anymore. "
I stood, moved to the pool's edge, and peered in. My jaw locked as my teeth ground together. "He's not."
At the base of the now-defiled oasis, splotches of rusty blood marred its once pristine foundation, each stain for at least half a dozen souls. The cement walls chipped away with bullet impacts, and the trail of blood puddled into the deepest portion of the pool.
An execution.
Just as she said would happen.
Ten staccato bursts of gunfire shattered the stillness of the night, and I whirled around. A subsequent volley of three-burst shots echoed in retaliation.
"Fall back, we'll reassess from the streets."
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
I crouched low, and Javier yanked at my flak jacket, propelling us toward the breached gate. Overhead, chunks of cinder and debris rained upon us as the common area transformed into a swirling, smoky haze.
A trio of explosions ripped through the compound, turning it into a fiery inferno. The men's agonizing screams and battle cries reverberated over their microphones.
We stumbled across the narrow dirt street, and I flung off my helmet, the flames licking at the sky. My men emerged from the smoke-filled gateway, one man favoring a limp, another trailing blood from his right arm.
"What the hell happened there?" I seized Ramirez, helping him to the opposite side of the road, my hand sliding through his warm, satiny blood.
"We were ambushed," Ximén said, his breaths short and gargled. "They were waiting for us to move deep inside the buildings."
"Where are the rest of the men?"
"Two went down in the firefight, and another didn't make it out before the explosion. There are more on the other side of the compound." His breaths labored. "Escaped through the back door."
Three men are gone.
For nothing.
He made a fool out of me.
I settled Ramirez onto the ground beside Manuel and Felipe—their breaths hard and raspy, their skin covered with chalky dust .
Javier bent over and tended to Ximén. "We need to get out of here."
"I agree." I snapped my fingers. "Eduardo, assist the men into the vehicles."
Police sirens wailed in the distance, and the simmering irritation heightened. My men dispersed into the five large SUVs, and we roared down the road, each vehicle veering off in a different direction, mine homeward bound.
"How do you think he knew we were coming?" Javier shed his flak and tossed it to the floor.
"I don't think he did."
"He ambushed us. That looks like he knew."
I shook my head. "He had one of two options." I ran my hand through my mussy hair. "One, Grace gives herself up, and he takes off, or two, she tells me everything she knows, and we storm his doors." I pushed back in my seat. "He knew I wouldn't give her up. He knew I'd get the information from her, and he waited for it."
Grace knew his dealings, the people coming and going. If she had told me his location sooner…
My fist clenched at my side, a wash of red staining the once-perfect image of Grace in my mind. My men died, and revenge fell through my fingertips because of her…
And, in turn, sealed her friend’s fate.
Mierda .
My heart thumped in my chest, and the tension simmered.
How was she going to take that?
"What are we going to do now?"
I hunched my shoulders, weariness sinking its claws into my bones.
Defeat took a sledgehammer to my spirit.
Each move I made, each stride I took, was like a dance, and Andrés was always two steps ahead.
How?
How did he know about the Generals?
My fist slammed against the vehicle's door, my knuckles popping with the repeated contact.
"Hey, it'll be fine. We'll figure it out."
The air hung thick with an uneasy silence, stretching the hours of the drive. We halted at the formidable gate, my guards flanking it. The vehicle edged up to the entrance, and as it opened, we passed through.
Which one of them has contact with Andrés?
Which one of them betrayed me?
The SUV stopped, and I stepped out, my gear tight against my chest as I stalked through the front doors, the morning light still hours away.
Grace rushed down the foyer toward me, her hair billowing behind her, her feet padding on the marbled floor.
Mierda .
Her wide eyes swept over my body, her hands gripping my flak vest as she glanced up at me, her unspoken question a sickness in my belly.
She glanced behind me, and I gave a subtle shake. "I'm sorry."
Her face quivered, and the tiny muscles in her cheeks trembled as she backed away from me. Her head shook from side to side, her eyes glossing over. "No."
"I tried."
"No." She stared at the ground, her hand rubbing her chest. "That's not true."
"There wasn't anything we could do."
Tears fell down her face in rivers as though a monsoon passed by, soaking her shirt.
My men filed into the house, bypassing her frozen frame, and disappeared deep into my home.
"I'm sorr—"
She lunged, her open palm connecting with my cheek. "Don't say that."
She backed away, her hand flying over her mouth. "Don't say that."
My jaw compressed, my teeth grinding as I stood stark still.
A tortured scream tore through the air as Grace's wobbling knees surrendered, bringing her crashing to the floor.
I collapsed beside her, tearing off my flak vest and casting it aside, my cheek aflame and raw.
Grace's forehead pressed into the floor, her fists pounding the marble like a wrathful drumbeat. Her sobs transformed into primal, guttural wails until all that remained were torrents of tears and the weighty rhythm of her breath.
Gathering her in my arms, I cradled her fragile frame as silent cries shook her shoulders.
"You promised me." Her fragile accusation hung in the air, settling over my shoulders in a shroud of inadequacy.
"I know." I sighed, the warmth of her soft body melting into me. "He blew up the compound when we arrived." I smoothed her hair over her head. "He wasn't there."
"It's my fault." She sat in my arms, her eyes darting to the cheek she'd slapped.
"Don't cry." My thumb traced the path of tears on her face, attempting to soothe the storm within her. Each gentle touch became a conduit for more tears—my efforts seemed futile against the overwhelming tide. "I'll find them."
She pulled back, her bloodshot eyes contrasting with her green iris. "It's too late." She hiccupped, her chest compressing. "The only way to do that is to give me back to him."
"No."
I squeezed her tighter.
She's not leaving me.
She couldn't.
I won't allow it.
She's mine.
"I'm of no use to you anymore. Give me up. Use me as bait. What do you have to lose?"
Everything.
A visceral surge gripped my heart. "Is that what you think?" I stood, swiping her hand, and dragged her along with me onto the patio, keeping our voices down from waking Mamá. "You know, you confound me."
I plopped her on the lounge chair and hit the liquor bar, pouring myself a healthy dose of whiskey.
She sat with her arms tight over her chest, her eyes brimmed with tears, her button nose red, a stark contrast to her pallid complexion.
"You think you're my latest prize from my enemy? Is that it?" I swallowed the drink, its vanilla, smokiness lingering on my tongue. "If that were the case, if you were so ready to die, then why not act as bait before? What's changed?" I filled the cup again. "You can't make up your mind, and now we're in this predicament."
"I know, okay." She stalked toward me, snagged the full drink from my hands, and swallowed it with a grimace. "I'm not perfect. I'm doing my best…making it up as I go." She slammed the cup down on the table. "I don't have all the answers. I wish I did."
"You're so infuriating." I set my jaw, my molars grinding into dust reminiscent of the plaster that went into the air hours before.
She tipped her chin. "Then get rid of me."
"I can't." I lunged for her, taking her into my arms, and slammed my mouth on hers. "I've tried."
I pushed her into the side of the house, her hair tangled in my fist.
When did our roles shift?
How did I become her willing captive?
I'd offer her the world, surrendering everything she desired, as long as those enchanting emerald eyes glowed with happiness—as long as she remained by my side.
She pushed at me, her hands connecting with my chest in a firm hit, her lips tearing from mine. "Try harder."
I tightened my hand in her hair, tipping her head to the side. "I've given it my all and have failed on more than one occasion." My hips ground into her. "You're the only failure I'll allow."
Her teeth imprinted on her lower lip as she bit down, her swollen eyes roaming mine.
I dipped down, my finger lifting her chin. "And you're just going to have to come to terms with that."
Her teeth released her lip, and she moaned, firing up my blood and sending it straight to my groin. Her hand found the back of my neck as she pulled me tighter into her.
Her leg lifted as I pressed into her, my hand finding the back of her thigh and wrapping it around my waist. "You're mine, and that aging piece of shit out there isn't going to change anything between us."
My hand slid away from her hair, tucking it beneath her other thigh, and walked her to the lounge chair. I laid her out on the cushion, and my hips pressed between her legs as if the world would cease to exist if I weren't planted between them.
I kissed her, plunging my tongue between her soft lips, my hands grazing her belly as I gripped the bottom of her shirt and dragged it over her head.
Her skin pebbled beneath my touch, her arms wrapping around me, our kiss a burning inferno of pent-up frustration and unspoken, all-consuming desire.
Our hands made quick work of our remaining clothing, my pistol placed off to the side, her panties in my teeth, her scent greeting my nose, causing me to salivate. The need to devour her ravaged my soul.
I laved between her folds, running the flat of my tongue from center to clit.
She writhed, a living divination of a goddess painted in the strokes of perfection, and she was mine .
Her hand settled in my mused hair, a gasp forming on her lips. "More."
I locked onto her clit, suctioning it between my lips and flicking with my tongue, her thighs clenching around me as she cried out, her body jerking.
My arms snaked beneath her shaking thighs, her nails scraping my skull .
"Oh, God." Her hips bucked in reckless abandon. "I'm coming."
My cock surged against the lounger, my hips rocking into it, needing to be inside her and erase the bitter taste of another failed mission. A fresh wave of moans turned her languid as I kneeled above her, wiping the warm juices from my chin, a deep smile embedded on my face.
She stilled, her thighs spread wide, allowing me to revel, my cock bobbing above her, ready to sink into her wet heat.
I settled between her legs, my hand braced beside her head as I took a nipple into my mouth, my teeth scraping the peaked flesh. The head of my cock pressed against her and plunged inside.
She cried out, showering the rafters with her whimpers.
My hand slapped over her mouth. "Let's keep this between us, angel ."
I moved as deep as I could, thrusting hard and fast as her walls constricted around me, creating a delicate friction my hand couldn't replicate. "Come for me. Let me feel your sweet pussy tighten around me." My lips brushed her ear. "Think you can do that for me?"
She nodded. "Yes," she whispered with a breathless gasp.
"That's good, amorcita ."
Her shoulders relaxed as she moaned, her hips moved with wild abandon, thrusting against me.
Sweat dripped down my exposed back, her nails clawing down into me as she screamed into my hand, the cords in her neck bulging, her face reddening.
" Dios mio ." I pulled my cock from her dripping core and picked her up, then took her place. Grabbing her hips, I forced her to spin, pinning her back to my chest. "Do that again for me."
My finger dipped into her mouth, her tongue and lips sucking as I drove inside her with hard thrusts.
Fuck .
I wouldn’t last much longer. Not with her moans vibrating my chest and her pussy sucking me down like it had starved for centuries.
Her breaths quickened along with her pace, her sensuous moans mingling with my heavy grunts.
"Yes, mi amor .
Our bodies unleash together, my cock pulsing deep inside her, claiming the last piece of her reserved for me. Our labored breaths mingled in the cool morning air. We collapsed onto the lounge chair, my chest against her back, her face pressed into the cushions, a smile wrinkling her cheeks.