I closed my fingers around the gun. Alejandro’s voice echoed in my head.
Forty-eight hours.
My father’s orders were never disobeyed. The moment the Mexico contingent of the Carrera Cartel came after Eden, her death would be slow and torturous. They’d violate her in ways that forced crimson streaks across my vision.
If Mateo gave her a loaded injection of M99, she’d peacefully fall asleep within seconds. There’d be no pain—only eternal rest. I’d make sure above all else, no one would take her dignity from her.
What the hell?
Stumbling backward, I fought a wave of nausea that barreled up my chest. Pressing the hand holding the gun against my lips, I puffed out my cheeks, willing the impending dry heaves back down my throat.
I’m a monster.
Did I seriously just contemplate poisoning Eden because it was thehumanething to do?
Unlocking the front door, I pushed my way inside, angry at the world for mind-fucking me. The moment I reached Eden, she sat up, her eyes wide with dark circles lining the bottom. Leaning over with purpose, I tightened my grip around the metal in my hand, knowing I didn’t need forty-eight hours to make this call.
It was going on four days I’d kept her locked up. No one should have to endure that. My father was right. This ended now.
Capturing her wrist, I avoided her stare, as I pinched the metal and extended my arm in front of me. She gasped as one strangled word whispered past her dry lips. “Val...”
“It’s time,Cereza.” With a heavy heart, I inserted the key and unlocked the cuff. The metal clanked against the bedframe as it fell off her wrist and disappeared behind the mattress. We both stared at it, lips tight, the moment taking both of us by surprise. Finally, with no purpose for it, I let the key fall from my fingers and bounce on the floor. “I’m going to check on the stash houses. I’ll be back in a few hours. You can go where you want.”
Unable to take her incessant staring, I swallowed and reached for the door. Before I could turn the knob, she scrambled off the mattress, holding onto my wrist with both hands.
“Eden…” I closed my eyes, willing her to stop this game we’d been playing.
“Val…” Her voice broke, betraying a vulnerability I didn’t expect. “Before you came back, I had a dream that you didn’t…” She paused, her throat working hard to form the words. “I woke up, and no one was here. I was scared. It seemed so real.”
“You’ve been through a lot; that’s going to happen.” I hated how cold my voice sounded, but I had to start distancing myself from her. It wasn’t safe for either one of us to become attached.
A flash of irritation crossed her face. “No, jackass, it wasn’t about me.” As quickly as her anger rose, it faded, the memory shaking her confidence again. “I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t worry about me,Cereza.” A genuine smile crossed my lips. “I’ve been doing this for a lot longer than you. I’ve got a few of my nine lives left.”
Contemplating my dismissal with a scowl, Eden furiously rubbed her forefinger and thumb across the pendant hanging around her neck. Raising a questioning brow, I glanced down at the strong hold she continued to have on my wrist. Still in deep thought, she sighed, releasing my arm and taking a few steps backward, a worried line cresting in the middle of her forehead. Giving her an obligatory nod, I turned once more toward the door.
“Hey, Danger…”
Glancing over my shoulder, I watched as, in a rash moment, Eden slipped the medallion off her neck and pressed it into the palm of my hand.
“Eden…no.”
She shook her head stubbornly. “Take it. It’s for luck. It’ll protect you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Like it protected you?”
“We’re still alive, aren’t we?” she said, throwing my own words back at me. “Besides,” she lowered her eyes, a smile playing on the corner of her mouth, “it hasn’t been all bad.”
Before I knew I’d moved, I crushed her against me, dragging my lips across her jaw. Closing my eyes, I inhaled the familiar scent of her skin. Fusing our mouths together, I drank from her lips like a starving man. The woman had a way of being my verbal undoing.
And goddamn it, I was keeping her.
I kissed her once more and raked the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip. “I’m coming back tonight. This isn’t over.”
One corner of her mouth curled in a knowing smirk as she walked backward toward the bathroom. “I don’t suppose you have anything I could change into while you’re gone, do you?”
I never turned around as I closed the door behind me. “Why would I do that?”
