Chapter 48
The squeal of tires roared as an SUV barreled across the jungle road. The headlights shone brightly, nearly blinding Rocco. The vehicle came to a stop. The shadows of two goons lifted Jemma’s limp body into the back of the vehicle.
His throat was raw from screaming her name. The words tumbled from his lips over and over as he scratched and clawed at the dirt, trying to free himself. His muscles shook with fatigue as struggled underneath the metal lid. He knew he could be doing more damage to his body but he didn’t care. Jemma had to know he would do anything to stop the bastard from kidnapping her.
“Jemma!” Rocco screamed again.
A man approached him slowly, blocking the bright lights of the SUV. He stopped outside of Rocco’s reach, staring down at him with a curious glare.
It was the man who’d tried to drug and rape Jemma at the club in La Placita. The man kissing her in the photos at the beachside restaurant in Dajabon.
The man from her past.
Rocco shifted his focus to the bastard, matching his steely stare. “You won’t get away with this. I will get out of here and I will hunt you down. I will find Jemma and make you regret the day you ever tried to take her from me.”
In a calm tone laced with pity, the man said, “Your loyalty is misplaced. You don’t know the woman you’ve been sharing a bed with but I do. I know her all too well.”
“I know everything I need to know about Jemma. She’s a fighter. She won’t give up and she will know deep inside that I will find her and save her from you.”
The man scoffed. “Like a siren, she lures men to their demise. You are only the latest caught in her web of lies.”
“Jemma has never lied to me.”
“Hasn’t she? Did she tell you about us. The history that she and I share? Did she?”
Rocco was quiet, rage wafting from him.
Jemma hadn’t trusted him with her secrets. He couldn’t help but wonder if she had, would things be different now? Would he have been able to stop her from being dragged away by a man who wanted to destroy her?
“Your silence speaks volumes as they say,” the man shook his head. “One day you will thank me for taking that bitch off your hands,” the man said with pity in his eyes. “She couldn’t tell you the truth because she’d have to reveal her ultimate secret—she’s a DEA agent.”
“What did you say?” Rocco asked, stunned by the man’s revelation. He’d thought Jemma’s situation with the man had been personal, like an ex-boyfriend. But maybe she’d been so determined to protect Rocco because this man was related to a past DEA case. But which one? This could be the key to finding her if he could keep the man talking.
“You heard me correctly. I’ve been where you are, seduced by her wiles and so in love that I didn’t see her treachery coming. Count yourself lucky that you didn’t endure the devastation of her betrayal,” the man said.
“Who are you? What did she do to you?”
“She destroyed me. Her biggest mistake was not ending me. Now I will repay her and destroy her life as well,” the man said, vengeance creeping into his voice. “If you get out of this situation, you should rebuild your life and forget all about Jemma. Don’t come after her because I won’t be as generous as I am tonight.”
With those final words, the man strode toward the SUV. One of the goons opened the back door and the man got inside. Rounding the vehicle, the goon got into the front passenger seat. The SUV executed a one-hundred-eighty degree turn and headed along the dirt road away from the clearing in the jungle, leaving Rocco covered in dust and … alone.