Page 89 of Forbidden Hearts

She nods and collapses into my arms again.

“I got you,” I say. “I got you.”

Chapter 40

Alex

I hug Isabella as soon as I see her. She’s standing next to Santiago, who leans against Alonzo’s car. He tugs at a bloody tourniquet on his leg.

“What are you doing here?” I ask her.

“Alonzo brought me,” she said. “I wanted to help.”

I glance at Alonzo.

“I know, I know, I shouldn’t have brought her,” he says. “She could’ve gotten hurt, but she is stubborn.”

“Don’t underestimate her. She’s tougher than she looks,” Santiago says. “She found me lying next to my car and helped me over here.”

“It was nothing.” Isabella’s face brightens as she straightens beside Santiago. Even though Santiago is leaning against the car, he still towers over Isabella’s petite form.

“Now that everyone’s okay, we can call some of the guys to clean up this place and get that bullet out of your leg,” Alonzo says.

“Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here,” Santiago says between grunts. As he limps to the backseat, Isabella rushes to help him.

I ride in the front with Alonzo, every so often glancing at the backseat, where Isabella keeps inspecting Santiago’s tourniquet to make sure he’s okay. He smiles at her, and she smiles back. It reminds me of when Alonzo saved me from Jacob a few minutes ago. Alonzo kept inspecting my bruises and asking me if I was okay. I smiled and told him I was okay. Most of the blood on me belongs to Sammy.

The bruises still hurt, but the pain will be gone in a few days, and with it, the last of Jacob’s cruelty.

“Are you still afraid of me?” Alonzo asks in a low voice. He turns to look at me for a few seconds before glancing back at the road.

“No,” I say. I knew all along that Alonzo is a dangerous man, and there was a small possibility things could turn for the worse if he discovered I was trying to rob his money. But deep down, I knew it was unrealistic. Alonzo may be dangerous to monsters like Jacob, but the man I know would never hurt somebody like me.

Alonzo threads his fingers into mine and rests our hands on his lap. “I need you, Alex. More than I’ve ever needed anybody in my life.Eres mi vida.”

My face and ears warm up.

I don’t understand what he said, but the words sound sweet to my ears. It may have started as a fling for him, but he fell in love with me. At least that’s what he says.

“I need you, too,” I say. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

“You could never hurt me,” he says. I know he’s lying to make me feel better. I saw the hurt in his eyes the night I ended things. “Can I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Why did you go to the police all those months ago? Did Jacob do something?”

I glance out the window, unsure how to respond. Do I tell him the truth? Maybe I’ll feel better once I do…

“I went to them after Jacob forced me to sleep with him for the first time,” I confess. “There wasn’t much else I could do, so I punished him the only way I knew how. It didn’t do much good, though. It only turned him into an angrier person. It was stupid, just like what I tried to do today. Going after him by myself, God, what was I thinking?”

“You were under incredible stress,” Alonzo says. “You were thinking about your mother.”

I was thinking about her, but does that make things any better? I could have died, and there wouldn’t have been anybody to look after her.

“Why are you crying?” he asks.

“Huh?” I wipe the tears from my face. I didn’t even realize I was crying. “It’s been a long, emotional day. And I can’t wait to see my mom again.”

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