Chapter 19 #2
“Goddamn phone,” I muttered, scrambling to yank it from my back pocket with trembling fingers while my eyes locked on the immobile man as I checked the name on the caller ID, then silenced it.
Just as I did, the man stirred, the chair creaking slightly, and I froze. Then my instincts kicked in and I was moving toward him.
Once I reached him, I pressed my fingers against his wrists, checking for a pulse.
“Hey. Stay with me,” I said, even though he was a pig. He deserved a cell, a trial, but not this slow bleeding out in a dungeon that smelled of rot.
The restraints were cutting deep into his flesh, blood dripping onto the stone. My hands were already working on trying to unbind him and failing.
So I tore his clothes off, trying to stop the bleeding. His skin was freezing. His breathing was shallow. I fought for him anyway, counting his heartbeats, refusing to let death take him without a fight.
Then his chest stilled and the pulse vanished under my fingers.
I stayed there, shaking, my hands stained red.
What the hell did I get myself into? Kian didn’t seem like a man who’d do this. Maybe I was fooling myself, because he did promise to protect me, and this might be his version of that.
Taking a dazed step away from the body, then another, I slowly turned and made my way back up the stairs and out of this cruel, decrepit place.
I had just reached the top of the stairs when my phone buzzed and I noticed it was Violet again.
I answered it in a whisper. “Hello?”
“Sophie, it’s me. I have to talk to you.”
My stomach churned. “Okay.”
“Why are you whispering?”
I swallowed, letting out a strangled breath while my ears rang with terror at what I’d just seen. But the last thing I wanted to do was pull Violet into this mess.
“No reason.” I cleared my throat before continuing, “What’s up?”
“I had to call you right away. Your DILF is dangerous.”
“He did tell me as much himself,” I rasped more to myself than to her. I couldn’t help but take a whole new meaning from his proclamation. Maybe it was a warning. I let out a sardonic breath, staring at the red evidence on my free hand.
“What?” she squealed. “And you’re okay with it?”
Was I? I didn’t think so, but the man didn’t seem like a threat to me. It could be that he took the protection of my honor to extremes.
Or am I so lonely that I’d become blind?
“Hello? Are you there?” Violet’s voice pulled me out of my monologue. “Do I need to come and rescue you?”
“I’m here, and there is no need for rescuing.” Yet. “Plus, remember what I told you? He saved me twice.”
“You crazy woman, he’s the head of the Albanian mafia and the Brazilian cartel.”
My ears still buzzed with adrenaline. “I misheard you. Say that again.”
“Kian Cortes runs the Albanian mafia and the Brazilian cartel. He’s a hard-core criminal.”
My eyes snapped down the stairs where all the tools, hooks, and chains suddenly made sense.
Imports and exports, my fucking ass.
I gulped.
“Sophie, did you hear what—”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard you.”
My mind splintered into a hundred different directions, each thought racing ahead of the last, colliding and collapsing into a tangled mess I couldn’t untangle fast enough.
“He’s not like…”
I barely registered the rest of what she was saying. One question kept echoing louder than the others, sharp and unwelcome.
Was he working with Jacqueline?
The idea lodged itself deep, unsettling everything. I replayed every conversation, every pause, every look. He didn’t seem to be a danger to me, but I couldn’t swear my life on it.
Jesus Christ, why couldn’t I catch a break?
The sound of the door opening echoed through the dungeon and I whirled around.
“I have to go,” I whispered, then ended the call without waiting for her response, my eyes locked on the door opening until a familiar set of dark brown hair and eyes came into view.
I exhaled loudly. “Dina, you scared the living daylights out of me.”
Wearing white pants and a pink crewneck shirt, she looked around slowly before settling her gaze on me. “What are you doing here?”
“Kian said I could explore. He didn’t set any boundaries,” I rattled on, nervous energy coursing through me. I extended my arms. “Besides, what the heck is this place?”
“A hidden door is usually a clue that a space is off-limits,” she retorted, ignoring my question.
“Well, too fucking late now,” I hissed, my hands landing on my hips defensively. “He left me alone to roam after plucking me from my hotel. Now I find a man here beaten and I learn Kian is a criminal! I should have been informed of that before he brought me here.”
“That man down there harassed you,” she argued. “And hurt many other women. Hurt them badly.” She sighed. “We did our due diligence before bringing him in. We have credible evidence pointing to him being a rapist.”
Okay, it wasn’t a bad argument, but hiding him in a basement was just creepy. “Kian should have turned him in to the police.”
“So? What are you going to do about it?” she challenged. She didn’t seem bothered by her boss’s occupation at all.
Maybe she was violent too?
Technically, I could take her on. I was bigger and taller than her. Shit, I hoped she didn’t know some self-defense techniques. My aunt took me to a karate class once and I cut it short… after five minutes.
“Would you have refused to come if you knew who he was?” she asked when I remained quiet.
“Well, he’s a freaking villain, isn’t he?”
She shrugged. “Well, you’re the one who kissed him first.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I huffed. “What happened to women sticking together?”
“I’d stick with you if you were right,” she shot back. “But you aren’t.”
“What do you mean, I'm not right? He’s a mobster! An international criminal! That fucking man down there is dead.”
“I don’t see a problem,” she said calmly. “And I’m happy he’s tied up and got a taste of his own medicine. I wish Mr. Cortes ruled the entire underworld.”
“There’s still time.” I scoffed. “Jesus, talk about ambition. And no, it’s not a compliment.”
She took a few steps, then leaned against the cold, damp wall. I shuddered. I wouldn’t touch anything here, including the walls, with a ten-foot pole.
“Gone are the days of heroes and villains. All that’s left are men like him.”
I stared at her speechless for a moment. “Is that like his criminal motto?”
She rolled her eyes. “I heard him say it to you.”
He must have brainwashed this poor girl. “Listen, Dina. Criminals are bad news all the way around. We need to get out of here.” Then realization hit me. “Crap, my car.”
I’d left it at the hotel. How in the hell would I make my getaway?
“What about it?” she asked.
“I left it at the hotel.”
She shook her head.
“Your car has been returned to the rental company,” she said. “I can drive you anywhere you’d like, or Mr. Cortes assigned a few of his cars to you if you wish to drive.”
“Well, that was…” Nice. “…unnecessary.”
“You could do much worse than Mr. Cortes,” she started, drawing a scoff from me.
“That’s a pretty low bar, Dina.”
“I disagree,” she claimed stubbornly, devotion shining in her eyes. “He might run the mafia, but he doesn’t tolerate anyone who hurts the vulnerable. He’s a protector.”
“But he also kills people.” I pointed down the stairs where the evidence lay. Kian’s offer to eliminate Jacqueline made sense now. The guy was probably in the habit of eliminating people daily.
Dina shrugged. “Not sure why that bothers you. He’s a bad man.”
“Just so we’re clear, who’s a bad man? This dead guy or Kian?”
“The dead guy.” She actually rolled her eyes. “You really need to thank Mr. Cortes.”
“I’m a healer, not a killer,” I spouted. “I’m not thanking him for killing a man. He should have put him in jail, not sliced and diced his fingers and…”
Why was I arguing with this woman when I was clearly getting nowhere?
“I thought you just delivered babies,” she retorted.
I huffed a breath, torn between arguing and applauding her quick thinking. “Listen, I need to get out of here and think this through. Can you drive me to some nice Copacabana spot?”
“You’re planning to get drunk?”
I scoffed. “Certainly not, knowing I’m living under a criminal’s roof. I need my wits about me.”
But who could ever resist a margarita on vacation? Not me.