Saved (Ruined MC Series #3)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Alejandro

“Stop here,” I commanded in Spanish to my driver when we neared downtown San Antonio.

My driver eased over to the side of the road, then hit his hazard lights.

I pushed open my door and stepped out. I hated driving through downtown, even if I was only riding passenger.

There were too many people and too many cars and not enough pedestrians or drivers paying attention to what was going on around them.

“Park and find us,” I told my driver. When he nodded at me, I closed the door. Miguel, my second in command, came to stand beside me. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks, his face screwed up in distaste.

“I hate big cities,” he grumbled.

“So do I, but we have business here,” I reminded him. We’d spend the night here in San Antonio after our meeting with the mayor, and then, we’d head back to Mexico in the morning.

“Business,” he muttered. But nonetheless, he walked forward with me, staying close to my side as we crossed the street. I knew two members of my security team were following close behind, and other members of my security were watching from other areas, moving as I moved and ever vigilant.

I was a wealthy, influential man that ran one of the biggest crime organizations on this side of the world, and with every friend I made, I also gained an enemy. I wasn’t afraid of death, but I had a lot of things I’d like to get done before I died. Dying would be an inconvenience.

The streets of downtown were bustling with people, many of them already drunk.

Almost everyone was too loud, yelling and hollering as if they hadn’t been taught how to act properly in public.

It did my head in, and by the time we reached Mokara Hotel & Spa, my temples were pulsing with a headache.

But despite the headache, it was still better than the constant stop and go of the SUV that would only turn my stomach and make me nauseous.

Miguel quickly got us checked in, and then, we were escorted to a small conference room at the back of the hotel, where the mayor and his assistant, a pretty brunette woman, were already waiting for us. They both stood as Miguel and I entered.

“Senor Garcia, it’s nice to see you again,” Jose Juarez greeted me. I shook his hand, then inclined my head to his assistant. I couldn’t remember her name for the life of me and had given up trying to remember long ago.

“It’s nice to see you as well, Jose.” I took a seat across from him, then leaned forward, linking my fingers together on top of the table. “I assume everything is in order?”

He nodded, his jaw tightening and his eyes pinching at the corners. “Yes. My men successfully intercepted the ICE team. The girls and boys were rescued and are awaiting transport to Mexico. They will be taken care of, yes?”

I nodded. “With the utmost care. I have a team that is already hard at work finding their families so they can be reunited.”

Jose had contacted me a few weeks ago, letting me know he’d received word girls and boys were being taken from the ICE detention centers and trafficked through the United States by ICE employees.

He knew there were very few he could trust with such delicate information, which was why he’d called me.

He knew I would rescue them and get them back home to their families.

“I would like to pay you for your troubles—”

I held up my hand, halting him there. “I won’t hear of it. Those children were ripped from their families in a brutal act pushed by the United States government. The least I can do is reunite them with their families.”

“They are screaming about the cartel, as well,” he warned me.

I snorted. “They can scream about the cartel all they want. It’s nothing but a bunch of noise. I’m not concerned with your government in that aspect.” I leaned back in my chair, getting more comfortable. “I trust if you get word of more trafficking, you’ll contact me?”

“Of course,” Jose promised. “They are my people, too. I’m doing what I can to keep ICE out of my city, but…” His voice trailed off.

“It’s not easy,” I finished for him. He nodded, his expression grim.

I opened my mouth to say something else, but the emergency alarms suddenly started blaring, damn near splitting my head open.

Immediately, Miguel had his gun in his hand and was tugging me up from my chair.

Two of my security members barged into the room, and without a word to Jose, they escorted me out, forming a tight circle around me.

When we got outside, I grimaced at the number of people piling up on the sidewalk and in the street. I was sure there weren’t that many people in the hotel. Mostly, it seemed to be tourists and citizens piling up to see what the commotion was all about.

Someone suddenly slammed into me, and I quickly reached up to grasp her arms to steady both of us.

Her head snapped up, and eyes as blue as the Caribbean waters met mine, knocking the breath from my lungs.

Her wavy blonde hair was messy and in desperate need of a good brushing.

With flushed cheeks and pink lips, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid my eyes on.

“I’m—I’m so sorry,” she choked out. And then, she yanked herself from my grasp and continued running away.

Running like her life depended on it.

I narrowed my eyes at her slim back, my jaw clenching.

Miguel cleared his throat from beside me.

I didn’t turn to look at him—just stared after the blonde beauty as she sprinted away from me, shoving through the crowd of onlookers.

Some disgruntled people yelled after her, but she just kept running as fast as her legs could carry her.

“Alejandro?” Miguel finally called.

She disappeared from my sight, turning down an alley. And I felt the loss of her like a punch to my gut.

“Find out who she is,” I ordered.

Something about her called to me, and Dios, I wanted her.

I was going to make that pretty beauty mine.