Page 55 of Reign

He leaves me with my knife and secures another one on the inside of the waistband of my pants. “Do me a favor and never tell Dominic I touched you here.”

Even in spite of the situation – or maybe because of it – I laugh quietly. “It’s just my stomach, Diego.”

“Exactly,” he says, not laughing at all.

He pulls my shirt down over the waistband of my pants and with the most agonized expression on his face, he says, “Forgive me, señorita. I would never hold a gun to your head. Nor do I mean any of the things I’m about to say.”

I hug him around his waist. “I know. Let’s go save our people.”

The sky begins to open up as Diego reaches for my t-shirt and bunches it in his hand. Placing the cold, metal barrel of the gun against the side of my head, his voice turns hard and cruel, causing goosebumps to break out along my flesh. “Move.”

We start to walk across the street. I want to run. I want to see Dom and know he’s okay. Camila too. Diego pulls back on my shirt, slowing me down.

We make it to the dock without incident when Diego calls out, “Mateo? Mateo, it’s Diego. I’ve got a gift for you.”

He pushes me over the threshold on to the boat. When no one appears, he pulls open the door to the cabin and stills. We hear voices coming from a deck down below us.

Creeping closer to the voice, Diego keeps the gun trained on the back of my head.

“You hadonejob, Dominic. Kill Nikita and everything, all the money, the cars, the house,everything, would have been yours and Daniella’s. Why couldn’t you do thatonething?”

Mateo.

But he’s talking to Dominic, which means Dom is still alive. My heart pounds furiously in my chest when I hear Dom’s deep voice answer him.

“I’m done doing anyone’s bidding but my own. You lied to me, Mateo, and you sought to take Libby away from me. That’s the fastest way to get on my bad side.”

A smack rings out and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming out for Dominic. The metallic taste fills my mouth quickly.

Diego pulls the door to the stairs open but as I start to descend, a man comes around the corner in front of us. Our presence startles him and Diego is able to put him down with a broken neck before the man can even reach for his gun.

He lays the body down quietly and nods for me to continue down the stairs, following close behind. I feel the weight of the pistol at the back of my head as we turn the corner into the spacious area below deck.

Wooden accents are everywhere. Tan leather couches line the walls. Recessed lighting contributes to the expensive feel. The boat has polished wood floors and built in bookshelves. I’d be seriously impressed if I wasn’t scared shitless and madder than hell right now.

There are three armed men standing guard plus Alexei, Antonov, and Mateo, making our odds suck ass. Although, if you count Alexei as one of the guards and include the two snipers, that’s hopefully the six men Antonov was counting.

As my eyes continue to take in the scene before me, Camila is unconscious and laid out on the couch, her wrists and ankles bound; Nikita and Dominic are on their knees, their wrists also bound. Dominic’s right eye is swollen shut and his lip is bloody.

If I never see him like this again, it’ll be too soon.

As soon as we turn the corner, all of their eyes snap to me and Diego.

“I found something that belongs to you,” Diego says to Mateo as he gives me a shove. It’s gentle, but I stumble forward anyway, landing at Mateo’s feet.

“Ah, my dear Daniella. I knew you wouldn’t be far behind. It seems you’re never far from this one.” He waves his hand at Dominic.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask, genuinely curious. “What is it that you want?”

“Isn’t it obvious by now?” he sneers.

I try to rack my brain, sifting through all the things I’ve learned. “You’re doing all of this to keep the fact that you traffic women a secret?” I venture. Once it’s out of my mouth, this seems like an awful lot of trouble just to do that.

He barks out a laugh and the others join him

Okaaaayyyy. So, I’m missing something.

Mateo walks over to me, shooing Diego out of the way as he cups my face and brushes my cheek as if he were actually a doting father. I want to shrink back from his touch but angering the man controlling the room seems like a stupid idea so I suck it up and stand as still as stone.

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