Page 69 of Rami

Rami’s stomach lurched. “How do you know?”

“Because Juan Fernando, the leader of this operation, marks all his trafficking victims that way.”

Rami squeezed his temples together and paced. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

They’d known every step. Had sat and watched and waited for the moment to swoop in and take her—take back what they thought was their property. Their piece of merchandise they’d tagged like cattle.

A red cloud of rage blocked the edges of Rami’s vision. He’d kissed and touched almost every inch of her, had probably touched the skin right on top of the damn thing that’d led the cartel right to them.

And he hadn’t known. Hadn’t even fucking crossed his mind.

Taschen’s hard grip closed over Rami’s shoulder, forcing him to face his friend. “Easy, dude. It’s not like you could’ve known.”

Rami dragged his hand through his hair and moved out of Taschen’s reach. There was no point arguing. The fault lay solely with him, and he’d have to live with the fact that he hadn’t done his job. Hadn’t protected her.

He could do this. He could find her. After all, he’d found her in Mexico for god’s sake. He’d pull out all the stops, use all the equipment they had, if—

Holy shit.

He snapped his gaze to Taschen. “You got your drone?”

His friend’s eyes rounded. “Yeah, man. I’ve always got it in the car for fieldwork.” His mouth split into a grin. “There’s the Rami I know. Let’s bring your woman home.”

Rami grunted. The old him would have wiped the smirk off Taschen’s face and corrected his stupid ass because before, he didn’t have a woman.

But he sure as hell did now.

CHAPTER 19

The sound of rushing water penetrated the fog surrounding Ivy’s brain. Pain pulsed against her skull. She’d do anything for an ibuprofen right now. Something hard and sharp dug into the back of her head, and the stiffness at her lower back told her she wasn’t lying down.

What the hell happened to me?

She swallowed, but the action only assaulted her dry, battered throat.

Memories crashed together in her mind. Running. Screaming. Abusive hands on her skin and body—

No.

This wasn’t the usual barrage of nightmares that taunted her between dreaming and waking. These were new.

Voices carried to her ears and a breeze touched her cheek. She shivered and peeked open her eyes. She sat in the forest, her back against a tree and a rope wrapped around her chest, tethering her in place. Dampness from the ground soaked through her pants, and she fought a shiver.

Her teeth threatened to chatter, either from the cold or stark terror. She scanned her surroundings, and her gaze locked on a clearing. The van that had taken her was parked near a campfire. The driver was talking on the phone and the other man, Gabriel, sat on a fallen tree, his head in his hands as if he had the world’s worst migraine.

A tremor wobbled her lips. She hadn’t killed him. Instead, she’d thrown a rock at a huffing grizzly.

He’d retaliate. Images of all the ways they could torture her flashed through her mind, and a little moan escaped her lips. She clamped her teeth down on the sensitive flesh, punishing herself for being careless.

Rami.

She craved his comfort. Would do anything just to see his face. His clear, earnest eyes were beacons in a sea of turmoil.

A clip moved through her mind as though she were watching an action scene from a movie: Rami running across the parking lot and an SUV barreling after him.

It’d all happened so fast. She’d heard a crash but hadn’t seen what’d happened. But even before that, he’d been injured.

He’d been shot in the store. More than once. And because she’d been dragged by her hair and hung upside down over Gabriel’s back, she hadn’t been able to visually assess Rami’s wounds. Had any bullets missed the vest?

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