Dante prowls closer with his muscles flexed and fists twitching. “Iwillkill you. Do not look at her, speak to her or even think about her. Now get back inside the hut before I really lose my patience. You won’t get within an inch of that woman, so stop wasting everyone’s time and… MOVE.”
Miguel shakes his head so the damp hairs on his head flick back and forth. “I’m the one holding the weapon. You’re unarmed, and your men have stood down. All it takes is a squeeze of the trigger. Just like before.” Miguel’s nostrils flare dangerously. “You actually care about the whore, don’t you? Now, that’s hilarious.” As he slides the barrel of his rifle to the right, teasing his aim at me, Dante bounces with it. “Is she your weakness? Something I can use to barter for freedom?”
“No one leaves here alive unless I say so,” Dante hisses. “And I’ll never agree to it.”
I’m losing my mind. I wish a thunderstorm would rip open the sky and wash this hideous man into the river. But of course, I don’t have the privilege to grant those wishes. All I can do is stand by and watch it unfold as Dante remains in the line of fire.
He subtly angles his physique, strategically guiding himself and Miguel’s aim away from me. Within a few strides, he’s pivoted and engaged in a war of dare.
My skin heats, and everything tells me this is it. Dante’s life hangs in the balance of a murderer with no ethics. His harsh voice sinks into me, and I quickly realize I want more than laboratories and experiments. I want this man alive. Not injured. Not dead.
We deserve a proper farewell. A final moment together, just the two of us. With feelings and hope for something different than the lives we’re living now.
I carefully inch the backpack from my shoulders and lower it to the ferns at my feet. Swiftly hunkering to my knees, I tug the zipper slowly trying not to make a noise. I know how this world works, not the world I grew up in––the world Dante created.
“Who wanted my list?” Dante demands, hedging closer to the opening of darkness. “Who gave you the order?” His men move in around him.
Miguel sways. “Maria said…” He stamps his foot, his movement a little haphazard. “What the hell have you done to me? That wasn’t coconut water, you bastard.”
The wave of confusion contorting his face seems to please Dante. “Nope, and I think you had a bit too much. Greedy cunt.”
I smile inwardly, knowing the sensation of his serum all too well. The swirl of truths that belong hidden inside your mind are coaxed to the surface with ease and abandon.
Now that I’m a good foot of distance away from the standoff, I take it all in. Rattled at the fact Dante isn’t the least bit concerned how Miguel could shoot a hole in him. How he’s calmer now they are facing a different direction. What I don’t understand is why his armed men haven’t taken Miguel out already. What are they waiting for?
I should be grateful he moved the threat. I’m not. He’s the one at risk now. Dante is in danger, and I can’t watch his suicide mission without doing something. A diversion at least could spare him seconds to dive for cover.
“What did Maria want with my list? Was she planning to sell it for money?”
“No,” Miguel answers through gritted teeth. “You’ve actually poisoned me?” he continues with a crack of indignation hitching his voice. “I swear this to you, Dante Valez. You will fucking die. If not by me, then by the men you go after next. You’re not a ghost anymore.”
Rummaging blindly inside the bag, my fingertips run across the pointed blade I tossed in earlier. I duck into the shadows of a fern and quickly secure the knife in the sock lining my shin. The handle digs into my flesh, snug to my lower leg. Adrenaline numbs my senses, so I’m running on pumping blood and a savage snarl of protection.
With the two men occupied in a back-and-forth dispute, I crawl on hands and knees through the undergrowth, closing in on Miguel, who has his back to me.
A branch snaps from behind. My head whips around to the sniper propped against a palm tree. His brow scrunches, and he mouths the words ‘stay back’. I ignore his silent warning and wait. If there’s an opportunity to distract Miguel, I’ll use it.
“You drank a truth serum.” Dante folds his arms over his bare chest.
Miguel coughs into his shoulder, and for a second, I think he might vomit. “Yeah, yeah.” He sneers, staggering to balance himself. “You think I’ll believe that mumbo jumbo bullshit.”
“Let’s go into the hut and talk about it. I bet you’re too warm out here. You’re not used to this climate, right? It’s cooler in the shade. You’re sweating like a pig.” Dante’s swings his head around to where I was standing before. I watch how his lungs implode and his eyes dart from sapling to tree. When he doesn’t find me, he exhales in a gust of relief. “You owe me answers.”
“I’m not going back in that dark hole,” he snorts nastily. “Looks like your whore has run off.”
“Call her a whore once more and I’ll slice your mouth from ear to ear.” Dante’s fists strain to stay by his thighs.
“I bet the whore closes her eyes when you touch her with those fucked up fingers.” Dante shifts in his boots. His lips tighten to a firm line as if he’s biting his tongue. “I asked you a question, Valez. Do you have a thing for dirty whores?”
A forest of fire scorches from his gaze, his torso ripples from constraint. “Once more,” he warns, baring his teeth. “Call her that again and I’ll fucking strangle the truth out of you.” Dante moves closer so the target on his chest nudges into the rifle. “She means more to me than you’ll ever understand. Men like you don’t feel. You just fuck. You’re incapable of cutting out your own heart to save something rare.”
Shock overrides the danger I’m in. He admitted it. Right there under the see-sawing palms. An ugly temper evolves inside my chest. Circumstances have forced him to fight our connection and keep me at arms-length because of this man. The homicidal man jabbing the promise of death into Dante’s ribs. Our days are numbered, each and every one. So I may as well live them to the fullest and prove my eternal loyalty to this man.
“You like whores now that you’re a wild animal. Oh how far the good-looking Dante has fallen. Your sister wouldn’t approve.”
With a brutal snarl, Dante snatches the thin barrel with a ruthless grip. “Tell me why Maria wanted the list before I finish this once and for all.”
“She’s not… Damn… I’m not telling...” Miguel does his best to fight the swirl of serum bending his mind to free the truth. He cocks the rifle, ready for attack.
