The savage soul I can no longer control.
El Fantasma.
* * *
“Maria,put the gun away. Let’s talk about this.” I step into her.
Hard steel pokes under my ribs. “He’ll be here any minute.”
“That doesn’t matter. We have time to figure something out.”
“You don’t get it, Dante.” Maria laughs coldly. “I’m not a pitiful little creature who’ll believe your lies now. I asked you a second ago if you wanted to pick me. You made your feelings perfectly clear.” Her pupils eclipse blazing copper. “Well, guess what… I was gathering information on you and your lucrative business. There was a point when I thought we had something special. That we might’ve broken out on our own and rivalled the Columbian cartel.”
“Maria?” Miguel’s voice booms from behind me.
I spin around to face the bastard who got my sister pregnant. Two goons flank him on either side. “What’s going on?” The fucker actually sounds confused.
“Your pretty little girlfriend heard your conversation earlier and ran home to her big brother. If it wasn’t for me, they’d be long gone by now,” Maria explains.
Gabriela whimpers. I inch back, reaching for her hand. “I’ve no idea what the fuck is going on here, but leave my little sister out of it. Take what you want and let her go.”
Miguel saunters further into my home with a smug look on his face. “Oh, I took what I wanted, alright.” When he reaches her side, he leans in and sniffs her hair, then places a chaste kiss on her cheek.
Unbridled rage fizzles through my arteries. I lurch forward and throw a fist at his chin. He stumbles. Instantly, powerful hands snare my biceps from behind. A low kick to the back of my knees shunts me to the floor. My knees scream, smacking the hard tiles.
“You’ll pay for that,” Miguel hisses, stretching out his jaw. With my elbows secured behind my back, Miguel spits a gob of blood and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “I need your list, Dante.”
“Let her go, and I’ll give it to you,” I challenge. With the odds stacked against us, bartering with my client list is the only way to get Gabriela to safety.
“I don't think you understand. I’m not asking for it. I’m telling you to hand it over.” He covers the floor with three confident strides and returns the punch I dished out first. Splintering pain rockets through my skull.
“Please, Miguel.” Gabriela frets, trying to reason with the demented father of her unborn child. “Don’t hurt him. If you feel anything for me at all, let him go, and we’ll give you the list.” Miguel’s hurtful laughter lights me up in flames. He never cared for her. “Miguel… I’m,” she begins.
“Gabriela! No,” I snap.
She doesn’t listen. Whether it’s a last attempt to figure out if he cherishes her or if it's a tactic for our release, nonetheless, she tells him. “I’m pregnant. We’re having a baby together.”
An earthquake of fury shudders through me when Maria appears to Miguel’s right. “I’m done here. This is your mess to clear up now.” My eyes burn into the back of her skull when the bitch whispers into his ear, grabs her purse and leaves.
Miguel shakes his head and rubs his temple. His eyes narrow on the trembling hands covering my sister's belly. They don’t settle on her stomach with kindness; they’re chaotic and sharp. He pulls out a gun and signals to the men behind us. When I wrestle, a jab collides with my skull. Gabriela screams. My blood boils to scorching. A daze of semi-unconsciousness slows time.
He snares a wad of hair at the crown of her head. “We used condoms, dammit,” he snarls.
“Please... Miguel… Don’t hurt us,” she pleads. “You don’t need to do this.”
His fingers unravel from her sun kissed locks. The same hand drags over his clean-shaven face. “This is a big fucking inconvenience, Gaby.” His face angles with teeth bared, and our hateful gazes clash. “Hand over the list, Dante.”
The buzz in my head intensifies. I nod once. “Let her leave, Miguel,” I hiss when my captor jostles me to my feet. “She’s pregnant. Do what you want to me, but get her the fuck out of here.”
“This won’t end well for any of us. I’ll let her go when you get me the fucking list.”
The twitchy finger on his handgun screams to my instincts. There’s no way he’ll let us go that easily. And if he does, every asshole on my client list will come after me. And Gabriela will mother this motherfucker's child.
“It seems to me like you need those names more than you need my sister. So let her walk out of here, and I’ll hand it over without a fight.”
That suggestion meets a dark chuckle. My jaw blazes when his knuckles crack into the bone. I hear her screams as his men prevent my retaliation. Punches strike. Blood spatters. My stomach cramps from the hard blows.
“I don’t need you, Dante. Not when Gaby knows where you stash all your shit. That’s the benefit of fucking your sister. She trusted me.”
