My head feels numb.
And the haze of memory pushing against the walls of my mind sends off the warning that tells me I’m in trouble again.
As the thought strikes me, my awareness returns, but I’m still dazed. I can’t remember what happened to me, and I hope like hell I won’t wake up in Raul’s dungeon again.
I shuffle, and my nerves spike when a heavy hand rests on my belly and smooths over my skin.
When fingers flutter up to my breasts and roll back and forth over my left nipple, I open my eyes, and every muscle in my body goes weak when I see Ivan staring down at me. He’s sitting next to me and is the person touching me.
I jump back and crawl away, crashing into a headboard. I’m on a bed.
Where am I, though?
Where the hell am I?
I remember what happened as the question of where I am comes to my mind.
“Thought that might wake you, Sleeping Beauty,” he says, running his gaze over my body. “Although I’ve wanted to play with those since I first met you.”
“You bastard. Where have you taken me?” I look around. It’s bright daylight. The sun is beaming brightly through the window, but it looks different.
I can’t glimpse anything more than the sky, but the sun shines differently to how it did in New York.
He notices me looking through the window and nods.
“You can feel the difference, can’t you? I always do, too, just after the plane lands.”
“Plane? Where am I?”
“Mi amor, do you not recognize your homeland?”
“Mexico,” I choke out.
My God, I’m back in hell, a new hell with this devil.
With a wide, toothy grin, Ivan stands.
“Yes, you’re back here, and now you belong to me.”
“No.” I shake my head.
“Yes.”
If he thinks I belong to him, he must have done something to Mikhail.
“What did you do to Mikhail?”
“I took care of him. My worthless piece-of-shit brother should be fucking dead by now.”
Pain assaults my ears and rages through my body. I’m so choked up I can’t even breathe.
Mikhail is dead? No.
Tears pour from my eyes, coming straight from my soul.
“You killed him!”
“Not me personally, although I wish I could have done it.” He nods with regret in his eyes. “My aunt deserves all the credit.”
