Chapter 33
CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE
SLOAN
I could see he wanted to believe me, but he was fighting with my betrayal, and I couldn’t blame him for it. I did betray him in the worst way, and I had to live with that now. I didn’t know where things would go from here.
However, it felt damn good to get that all off my chest. I’d never told anyone who I was or what’d been going on because I had no one I could turn to, and I had expected that sad fate a long time ago. Not a day went by when I didn’t think about my mother. She was never far from my mind.
I dreamed about her often. She used to sing to us in bed. She had the most beautiful voice. My brothers used to come into my room, and she’d always open her arms to make room for them on my bed. Those were some of my best memories. I missed her so much. Living a life without her was as painful as living one with my father.
He still hadn’t said a word, and I was worried I couldn’t get through to him no matter what I confessed.
“I’m sorry, Luke. There’s nothing I can do to make this right by you. You may not forget, but I hope in time you’ll be able to at least forgive me.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but his phone rang, cutting him off.
Without looking at the screen, he answered, “Yeah.”
“Luke Jameson…”
The hair on my arms stood at attention when I heard my father’s eerie voice on the other end of the call.
“You have something that belongs to me, and I don’t take kindly to those who steal my precious belongings.”
“Fuck you,” he snapped, making me jump off his lap.
“Is that any way to talk to the man who knows where your brother sleeps?”
I snatched the phone out of his hand, impulsively blurting, “You won’t touch a hair on his head if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in prison. You know what they do to men like you in prison, right? I’m just saying.” Throwing his own words back at him, I mocked, “They don’t take too kindly to men who’ve pimped out their daughters since she was eleven years old.”
“Well, well, well… just look at the bad example Jameson has been on you, but don’t worry, I have no problem teaching you some more goddamn manners. How about I use a coffin instead of a cage next time?”
Not allowing him the pleasure to think he won, I spit fire, “What if I tell you I’ve been stealing evidence to pin you to an endless number of crimes in the name of your drugs and trafficking?”
An immediate shocked expression swept across Luke’s handsome face.
“You’re lying,” he responded in a hard-edge tone.
“Am I? I’m a Del Toro after all. You don’t think I’ve learned a thing or two. Especially when you love to keep me with your slaves. You don’t think I learned some names? Come on,” I baited. “You’re smarter than that, Papi. Every time you hit me, broke a bone, left a bruise… you don’t think I took pictures? I’d be stupid not to, and you’re always telling me I’m not a stupid girl. Did I make you proud, Daddy?”
“Where is this so-called evidence?”
“It’s with a friend.”
“You don’t have any friends.”
“I guess you don’t know everything about me.”
Silence.
My head pounded as adrenaline coursed through my blood.
“Sloan… let me remind you about the last time you didn’t behave.”
Chills stirred down my spine.
“Then don’t fuck with me.”
“What do you want?”
“You know what I want.”
“Baby, you know I can’t set you free.”
Luke didn’t make a sound, watching my every move.
“Why not?”
“Because I’d miss you too much.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word.”
“Is that any way to speak to the man who’s given you everything?” He sighed deeply. “Okay, baby. Have it your way.”
I jerked back, expecting a much different reaction.
“Here’s a word of advice.” He paused for a second. “Run…”
My heart dropped at the exact moment bullets started lighting the house on fire.
And that, that was definitely more his style.
LUKE
In two seconds flat, I kicked over the metal table.
“Fuck!” I seethed, fully aware they were using sniper rifles to break through the bulletproof glass.
The sounds ricocheted off the walls, surrounding the entire room. I sprang into action, tackling Sloan to the ground to shield her. I couldn’t return fire yet. Tucking her head against my chest, I tried to break our fall as I rolled us onto the wooden floor as best as I could.
She hit it with a loud, hard puff. The impact knocked the wind out of her. Violence had always been a part of our fucking lives, but it felt much more personal this time.
I sat up on my knees and returned fire. Once Sloan caught her bearings, she yanked up the bottom of my slacks to grab the gun I had hidden there from earlier that night as if she already knew it’d be there.
Only proving how much she really did know me.
She immediately flipped the safety on my piece and began shooting back in another direction where the shots were being fired. Shot after shot rang out around us.
“You follow me, and let me cover you!” I ordered. “Do you understand me? Or we’re not gettin’ out of here alive!”
She nodded, and I grasped her arm, dragging her ass up with me. I grabbed one of the men nearby who was already dead on the floor, using his body as a shield as we hauled ass toward the back door. We opened fire on anyone who stood in our way.
Ready to kill at a moment’s notice.
Acting on pure endorphins and fury from everything, I was pissed as fuck for all the above. More bullets sprayed throughout the entire space. Casings busted through the windows, ricocheting off the metal.
An all-out war had broken out.
All because of the woman I’d fucking die for behind me.
It was only a matter of time until their guards and men showed up to see who’d be the last man standing.
I pulled her much harder than I intended, unable to manage my own strength. Needing to get us the hell out of there, I knew it wouldn’t stop here.
This was only the beginning.
She tried to keep up with my stride as I rushed us over to my sports car, prepared to use it for an event like this. I needed something that went fast. Although her heels were making it hard for her to keep up with my stride, it didn’t mess with her aim. She was a hell of a shooter, and for a second, I wondered who taught her that.
If she did like she had with fighting or if it was something her old man or brothers taught her. Regardless, she was a natural. The clicking sound of her heels vibrated deep within my core with each step she took. One by one, it added to all the mayhem erupting in my mind.
The menacing expression on my face was enough to render her speechless when I demanded, “Get in the car.”
“Fine.” She smiled for a second before she snatched the keys out of my hand. “I’m driving.”
It made me want to fuck and strangle her all at the same time.
No one knew how to test my very thin patience like she did.
She jumped into the car, and I jumped into the back seat to grab all the guns I left in the trunk in case something like this occurred.
“Do you even know how to drive a stick?” I teased, trying to make light of our fucked-up situation.
“What do you think?” She dumped the clutch and floored it… Almost throwing my ass to the floor.