Page 15 of Fighting for Ella

“Why didn't you ask someone for help, honey?” he murmured. If she’d been threatened or blackmailed, she should have trusted her Prey family to have her back. Yet she hadn't. What did Raul Castillo have on her that she would betray the people she cared about?

Maybe she had a gambling or drug problem? Although the background check they’d been given said she was clean with no financial troubles. In fact, while she wasn’t rich, she had quite a nice little nest egg from her career as a child prodigy cello player, and from the concerts she still sporadically gave. While she wasn’t worth five million, she had enough that he couldn’t see she would risk everything to sell the drug she helped create for that amount.

Perhaps it was a family member she was trying to protect?

Prey was going through every member of her family with a fine-tooth comb looking for a reason why Ella might have done this. No one wanted to believe they’d had a traitor in their midst and nobody had picked up on it.

With a small sob he could hear from there, Ella turned and started walking in another direction.

Miguel followed.

For a solid hour, they traipsed through the jungle. Ella walked with no purpose, just wandering aimlessly as lost peoplewere prone to do. If she was going to play traitor, the least she could have done was work on her skills.

These were dangerous people she was playing with, and she should, at the very least, be aware of her surroundings enough to know that she was being watched. By multiple someones now, not just him.

But from the startled shriek that fell from her lips when four men dressed all in black emerged from the trees, it was clear she’d had zero idea they’d been nearby. However, Miguel sensed another few watching them, hanging back to make sure they weren't walking into a trap.

At least Raul had the good sense to be careful even if Ella didn't seem to possess an iota of sense. Desperate people often didn't though. She was too focused on her own reasons for being there to consider anything else, and if she wasn’t careful it was going to get her killed.

“Wh-who are you?” Ella asked, shrinking into herself. Even from there, he could see that she was shaking. After almost being raped by Raul’s men it was no wonder she was terrified to be back in their presence, but what had she thought was going to happen when she walked into the lion’s den?

“Aww, you don’t recognize your friends?” one of them sneered, taking a step toward Ella.

Miguel tensed.

Just because he wanted Raul Castillo in custody so that his brother and Cassie could finally get some peace and she could start healing, he wasn’t going to allow Ella to be assaulted.

Odds weren't great, though. There were at least ten men in the area, and they were all focused on Ella. So far it didn't seem like anybody was aware of his presence, and he was going to use that to his advantage.

“Boss said to bring her to him when she got here,” another of the men said, stopping the first before Miguel had to come upwith a plan to intercede, eliminate all the threats, and still get access to the weapons trafficker.

The first man shrugged. “I don’t mind waiting,” he said, and Ella went all kinds of pale, almost to the point where he was worried she was about to faint. Guess she had thought she had enough sway being the one with the formula to keep her safe from Raul’s men. Which was kind of ridiculous given that she knew what had happened to all three of her friends while they were prisoners of the man.

“You got the drug?” a third man asked.

“Y-yes,” Ella whispered, sounding as faint as she looked.

“Then let’s bring you in. Boss is angry you're late,” the guy who had intervened and stopped her from being assaulted now told her as he grabbed one of her arms and began to drag her off.

A deep-seated protective rage ignited inside him at the sight of the burly man putting his bands on Ella. Just because he knew that despite her reasoning, she’d brought some of this upon herself, he didn't like seeing her manhandled. It didn't sit right with him.

There was no way he would let her get dragged off without him.

Moving quickly now, he zeroed in on the closest presence and found another of Raul’s guards with his back to Miguel heading off in the same direction Ella was being taken.

Pouncing on the man before he even realized he wasn’t alone, he snapped the guard’s neck and let the body drop to the jungle floor. Then with quick, efficient movements, he undressed him and swapped out his own clothes with the guard’s. There was no way he could fake the tattoo, but with the jacket pulled up he could cover most of his neck and hope nobody noticed. With his Hispanic looks and ability to speak several languages, including Spanish, fluently, he should be able to fit in long enough to confirm Raul’s presence and call in his team.

At least, he hoped he could.

Because he was all that was standing between Ella and whatever Raul Castillo was going to allow his men to do to her when he got what he wanted from her.

The pretty blonde thought she had enough leverage to keep herself safe, but he was pretty sure she couldn’t be more wrong.

CHAPTER FIVE

February 6th

3:22 P.M.

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