Page 42 of Scarred Souls

“Weirdo.” I laughed. “You could’ve stripped down to your briefs.”

A grin that promised nothing but trouble formed on his lips. “Who says I’m wearing any?”

I really should’ve considered that before demanding he join me.

My eyes raked over Vaughn’s corded neck as drops of water trickled down his ink-covered skin. The black shirt clung to his broad torso, highlighting every glorious muscle along his shoulders, biceps, and pecs. I wasn’t sure why he’d left it on. All I knew was it was a damn shame and completely unfair since he’d seen me in nothing more than a scrap of Lycra.

I returned his smile with one of my own. “What about your shirt? Surely you could’ve taken that off. Or is Mr. Dark and Dangerous suddenly shy?”

He didn’t answer, but his expression hardened as if my small jibe had offended him. Whatever. If he was going to dish out sass, he’d better be prepared to take it.

He broke eye contact before saying, “We’re here. So talk.”

Grim, you’re the most confusing person I’ve ever met.

I wouldn’t let his Jekyll-and-Hyde personality ruffle my feathers.

My toes dug into the liquid sand. Thinking about the night on Alvarez’s yacht always made me edgy, so I drifted out a little deeper where I couldn’t reach the bottom. Feeling weightless in the ocean never failed to provide relief, even in my darkest moments.

Treading water, I asked, “Do you know how I ended up with Alvarez?”

Vaughn swam closer. The palm trees onshore and the cloudless azure sky outlined his profile. His face was all sharp angles—high cheekbones, strong brow, square jaw. There was nothing soft about Vaughn, and something about that made my insides clench.

“I know a little,” he replied. “Why don’t you fill in the blanks?”

“Natalie, a friend of mine from college, was drugged and taken from a club in Jersey. There’d been a lot of women going missing along the east coast. Only a few months earlier, I’d asked my father if he was responsible. He said it was the Alvarez Cartel in conjunction with the Wolf Street Mafia. The Philly mob was kidnapping women and sending them to Mexico, where it was easier to smuggle them abroad. So I suspected Natalie didn’t have much time. If she left Mexico, I’d have no way to find her.”

Perhaps sensing my uneasiness, Titan paddled out to meet me. “I’m okay, boy,” I said, giving him a pat on his back before he returned to shore. Daphne and I had never officially labeled him a therapy dog, but Titan always knew when my anxiety level was on the rise.

I checked on the pack. The dogs were amusing themselves by chasing seabirds, digging, or wallowing in the sand. A few splashed in the shallows. They were used to my daily swims and wouldn’t venture far.

Confident that they were all okay, I continued with the story. “I had to do something, so I swallowed my pride and called my father. In all our years apart, I only ever asked him for two things. To end my engagement to Jorge and to save Natalie. Carlos denied me both.” I gritted my teeth, frustrated to this day that he’d done nothing to intervene. “He might have refused to help, but I still had power. I just needed to be smart about how to wield it.”

One good thing had come from witnessing Carlos’s scheming ways. I’d learned how to manipulate from the master.

Vaughn pressed his lips together and shook his head. “So you came up with a batshit-crazy plan to fly to Guadalajara and trade yourself for Natalie.”

“Don’t say it like that.” I flung a piece of floating seaweed at his chest. “We don’t all have a team of mercenaries at our disposal. I did what I had to. I knew it was dangerous and risky, but I wanted to help Nat, and given the complicated place I was at in my life, I felt like being reckless. I’d almost completed my studies, which meant I’d soon be forced to return to Mexico, marry Jorge, and be inducted into the family business. My future wasn’t bright, you could say. Mostly, I was sick of standing by when I knew how many people were suffering because of the cartel. I didn’t want to hide from the reality of that anymore.”

Vaughn nodded as though he understood.

“I spoke on the phone with Alvarez and struck a deal. Me in exchange for Natalie’s freedom. He seemed surprised but more than happy with that arrangement.” I shrugged. “Anyway, it all went to crap when we met to make the trade. Instead of letting Natalie go, Alvarez kept us both. He had us loaded onto his motor yacht and taken out to sea for safekeeping. From our locked room below deck, we could hear Alvarez and his men partying. There was loud music and laughter. We’d flinch every time gunfire rang out and they whooped and cheered. They were celebrating my capture, certain that it would force my father to concede territory to secure my release.

“Then Alvarez’s men dragged us topside. There were bottles of champagne and expensive mezcal on every surface, a half dozen naked women in a hot tub, and a private chef cooking lobster on an open grill.”

A shiver slid up my spine as I recalled that night clearly. The drunk guy at the bar, sleazing all over an unimpressed bikini-clad woman. A server walking through the party, handing out shots of clear liquor. The gentle rise and fall of the yacht as it traveled through inky-black waters. And seated at a semicircular sofa with women fawning over him, Alvarez leered at me like I was about to become the evening’s entertainment. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. I’d never expected the Pacific Coast Cartel’s biggest enemy to treat me kindly.

“We were brought before Alvarez so he could record a video to taunt my father. Before he had the chance, his satellite phone rang with news from the mainland. Rather than negotiate for my release, Carlos had waged an all-out attack on several of Alvarez’s bases. Bam.” I splashed at the water’s surface. “Instant cartel war.”

Vaughn grunted. “That part I remember. It was one of the bloodiest in years.”

“They always are when Carlos is involved.” I glanced toward the colorful fishing boats parked on the sand farther around the bay. “Alvarez lost it. As soon as he got off the sat phone, he put a pistol to Natalie’s head and?—”

All I could do was swallow the saliva pooling in my mouth at the terrifying memory of that madman pulling the trigger. As though it were happening in real time, the sound of gunfire exploded in my head, and the horrific image of my friend being murdered replayed with vivid clarity. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing my mind to return to the present.

When I opened them, Vaughn had moved closer.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “We can do this another time if you want.”

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