Page 85 of Untamed Protector

“Good job, soldier, well said. At ease now,” Anita says, then stands up and heads over to Vargas. Dominic follows her with a menacing look on his face. I have Lexi in my arms, and Damien still has hold of Vargas. Anita leans down to him and gently lifts his chin, looking into his eyes. “You idiot, you should’ve listened to me,” she says tenderly, softly wiping the blood off his lips.

“Sit down, Anita,” Dominic cuts in, grabbing her arm and pushing her back into the chair. Surprisingly, she listens without putting up a fight. Maybe she’s prepared to negotiate. After all, she didn’t come back for nothing. Dominic remains standing next to her, making it clear who’s in charge.

“Take off his handcuffs and get him a doctor if you want us to keep talking,” Anita gestures toward Vargas.

“I don’t need a doctor,” Vargas shouts. “And you should’ve gotten out of here like we talked about. Why did you come back, baby?” he adds in a soft, choked-up voice.

It’s hard to imagine Vargas under Anita’s spell and so wrapped around her little finger. She’s definitely out of his league, the kind of woman he probably never thought would give him a second glance. Love, they say, is blind. But it’s hard to wrap my head around the two of them actually loving each other.

“I can switch the handcuffs around, but I don’t trust him enough to take them off,” I say, motioning for Mike to move Vargas’s handcuffs.

“I don’t trust you to behave either,” I say, watching as Anita gives me a snarky look. “We know this is all just an act. There’s not that much time left. Damien’s just waiting for the evidence to come through and for the search warrants to be issued. Then the authorities will take over.” She either doesn’t get how serious their situation is, or she’s desperate.

“Before you play the hero and turn us in, you might want to listen first. We didn’t come all this way for nothing, did we?” Anita says, trying to negotiate favors in exchange for their testimony.

“You keep saying that. But we would’ve caught you at the border, anyway.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure, handsome. Stop lying to yourself. I would’ve been long gone by now if I didn’t think this idiot was going to die the first night you threw him in jail. So, the deal I’m offering is pretty simple. We’re giving you intel on an entire crime ring,” she says, looking first at me, then at Damien. “My friend, it’ll be the capture of your career.”

“Anita, stop talking. I got this,” Vargas pleads, his voice unexpectedly soft.

“You’re going to die like a fool. That’s what’s going to happen. Listen to me: ask for immunity, tell them everything you know, and then just take off to another continent.”

“What about you, baby? How can I live without you?”

“My dad will take care of me. He’s wracked with guilt. So, he’ll do whatever it takes to clean up this mess.”

“Not this time, I won’t,” Peter’s voice suddenly rings out as he walks in. I’ve been so caught up in the conversation that I didn’t even realize Mike had opened the door for him.

“Yes, you will, Daddy. You’re going to take care of it. Lawyers, favors, you’ll do whatever it takes.”

“You’ve really crossed the line this time, Anita. You put your brother’s life in danger. How could you do that?”

“He wasn’t any more at risk in that container than he was at his wild yacht orgies, doing drugs and swimming in the sea at night, wasted. He got spooked and wanted to spill the beans, like the weakling he’s always been. Suddenly, he grew a conscience.” She smirks and continues. “I just got him in isolation so he could think things through for a few days. Who would’ve thought my little idiot would ship the country girl, the car, and Lucas in the same container? You poked the bear, getting the bodyguard all riled up, baby,” she tells Vargas. “That’s where you went wrong. And now it’s up to me to clean this up.”

As the hallucinatory dialogue between Peter and Anita unfolds, out of the corner of my eye, I notice Lexi slowly moving away from the wall where I had pushed her to keep her away from Anita and Vargas. Her expression shifts from shock to fury in seconds. She stops next to Peter, pointing a threatening finger in the air.

“You mean all of you in the family knew about the accident and kept quiet? God, what kind of people are you?” she shouts, staring Peter down. He lowers his head, looking down.

“Come on, Peter, just tell me. Is that why you gave me money for the hospital? Why you brought me here to work for you? So you’d feel less guilty for what Anita did? Just spit it out!” she yells angrily, pulling on his arm to make him face her. She’s tiny next to him, but Peter just shrugs and takes her punches.

“What kind of man are you? You were all dad-like with me. All those late nights we worked together… I can’t believe you stood next to me, knowing your kids almost killed me.”

Lexi takes a few steps back to the wall, covering her mouth in disbelief. Peter looks at her, then at Anita, and starts talking.

He starts off choked up but then clears his throat and continues, “I didn’t know. And I don’t mean it as an excuse. I helped you because your father worked his whole life for me. And I knew you were smart and would be a valuable asset if you worked for me. When you dropped out of school, I saw it as my chance to convince you to move here.”

“Come on, Dad. Can we stop with the phony flattery? Cut the crap. Nobody buys your generous act,” Anita snaps at him.

Peter stops and shoots her a stern glare. “You need to stop with the games. It’s too late for that, honey.”

“It’s not too late, Dad. It’s exactly the right time. Tell the country girl and her knights in shining armor here that you and Lucas have known about the accident for a while. Just drop the innocent act and admit you knew.”

“Anita told me and Lucas about the accident, but only after Lexi helped crack the traffic network in the port. She asked me to fire her and send her home, saying she was a danger to our family.”

“And what did you do, Dad?”

“I hired Gabriel. Only he could protect her. I wasn’t sure if it was you, Anita, making those threats, but there was a good chance.”

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