Page 14 of Fast Vengeance

But the Venenos would fall. He had just received confirmation of that.

His only regret was that he wouldn’t be there to see it happen in person.

****

Seated in the rear of the armored SUV, Victoria waited in the underground parking garage with her U.S. Marshal security detail, taking slow, deep breaths to manage the anxiety that churned in the pit of her stomach.

She’d done everything she could to help investigators and her legal team to nail Carlos Ruiz to the wall. He’d taken a plea deal to receive a reduced sentence and avoid trial, triggering the sentencing process instead. It had taken her weeks to compose her victim impact statement to read to the judge. To get it just right, and practice it so that she could get through it aloud without her voice cracking.

She was a former investigative journalist and a published author. Words were her best weapon. And she’d used them with the lethal force of the bullets that had struck her family.

Victoria had memorized every word. But on the stand with the monster responsible for turning her life into a waking nightmare seated mere feet away, her brain had gone from fight to flight mode in an instant. So she had ended up reading it instead. Her recounting of the massacre. The things Ruiz’s men had done to her. The scars they’d left on her body. In as much detail with as much emotion as she could.

Every word had ripped her apart all over again. Every word had brought back that pain and crawling humiliation because she’d said them to a courtroom of total strangers. And every word had hopefully put another nail in Ruiz’s coffin.

After she had finished giving her statement, she’d looked up. Intending to let him see she was undefeated and unafraid after all he’d put her through.

The bastard had been smiling. Fucking smiling. Proud of what he’d done. Smugly enjoying her pain and ongoing torment.

For some reason that smile was the thing that haunted her most now.

She blew out an unsteady breath and tapped her fingers, waiting impatiently for the marshals to take her upstairs to the courtroom. After delivering her statement and seeing Ruiz’s reaction, she had decided not to come today. Then she’d thought of her family, the justice they deserved, and she decided she would be nothing but a coward if she didn’t attend the sentencing.

A marshal came from the elevators and knocked once on her window, then opened the door. “We’re clear,” he said, and she followed his partner to the elevator. Both men were dressed in khakis and polo shirts with casual jackets that hid their holsters.

As expected, the courtroom was crowded. She went straight to the back row, purposely kept her gaze lowered as she slid into the last bench set against the wall.

Only when she had her hands clasped tight in her lap and her control wrapped firmly around her did she raise her eyes to the front of the courtroom. Ruiz was seated at the left-hand table in his orange prison jumpsuit with his lawyer and didn’t turn around. It was so much easier to stare at the back of his head than have to look into those dark, evil eyes that gleamed with triumph when he looked at her.

She struggled to force the image away, keep her heart rate steady.

“Is this seat taken?”

She snapped her head around, all her anxiety vanishing like a puff of smoke under the surprise of seeing Brock standing there. He wore jeans that hugged his solid thighs and a black button down that hugged his chest and shoulders, a knowing smile on his lips.

Her own lips curved in response. “No. Please, sit.” She scooted over to make room for him, welcoming the distraction of his steady, magnetic presence as he lowered his tall frame to sit next to her. Breathing in his clean, woodsy scent, she felt calmer all of a sudden. More in control.

Brock folded his arms, his shoulder brushing hers. That slight contact grounded her even more. “Wasn’t sure if you were going to come,” he murmured without looking at her.

“Neither was I.” She glanced at his profile. Strong, classic lines, a slight bump on the bridge of his nose. Even here, his posture and bearing radiated authority. “What are you doing here?” He was FAST Bravo’s team leader. Their schedule kept them busy all the time, and they rarely got days off. He must have requested special permission to take the time off today.

He turned his head to meet her gaze, and her heart hitched at the look in those steel gray eyes. “I wanted to be here.”

For her. He didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to. His actions spoke a thousand times louder than words ever could have.

He’d met her when she was at her worst, and stayed to stand guard next to her hospital bed that first night. Just so she would feel safe. Now he was here, still lending his support, and she knew him well enough to know that it wasn’t because of their arrangement. It meant the world to her.

She broke eye contact and looked down at her clasped hands, blinking at the sting of tears. Damn, she’d been so certain she could keep control of her emotions, but him being here to support her hit the tender spots under the thick armor she’d built around her heart.

“All rise,” the bailiff announced from up front.

Victoria rose along with everyone else in the courtroom, her heart thudding and her palms turning clammy. She was thankful for Brock being beside her as the judge came out of her chambers and took her seat behind the judge’s bench.

“Please be seated,” the fifty-ish judge said.

Victoria sat, and the rest of the proceedings passed in a blur. Ruiz had rolled the dice and taken the plea bargain. Now he was about to learn his fate for the murder of the DEA agents he’d been involved in a shootout with. For the murder of her entire family. For the aggravated sexual assault she’d endured during her captivity.

Ruiz hadn’t raped her, but his men had—on his orders. And he’d planned to rape her, had arranged for her to be transported to a hotel in New Orleans for a day or two before he shipped her off to Asia. Except she’d foiled that plan by escaping.

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