Page 42 of Queen's Move

“Five,” Sotza corrected. “John would make six, but I’m saving him for later.”

Vee could tell from Nico’s complexion that he was now alone. There were no people left to help him fight. Sotza had hunted them and cut them down. All except the bodyguard that had turned on them. He would find his justice later.

“Alright,” Nico growled, clearly frustrated at the loss of his people and the downfall of his grand plans. “You will release Desiree, give her back to me and we will leave you in peace.”

A shot echoed through the phone and the woman began screaming, agony ripping through her voice. Vee didn’t move, but Nico flinched, dropping to his knees. He couldn’t speak until Desi was able to bring herself back under control, her screams dying away.

“I have now shattered her trigger hand,” Sotza said calmly. “A shame, I truly don’t enjoy hurting women. But she is vicious this one, went after me with my own kitchen knife. She is lucky I didn’t cut her fingers off.”

Nico went white at hearing his woman was now shot and bleeding somewhere on the island. Vee looked at Nico, catching his eye. She kept her face carefully controlled, though she was terrified. She knew Sotza was making the right moves, showing this man that he was willing to do whatever was necessary. But Sotza was pushing a very dangerous man toward a reckless edge. An edge that Vee stood on with him.

“He isn’t bluffing you,” Vee said carefully. “He will not negotiate. You’re only option if you want to save your love is to release me.” Vee purposely called the other woman his love, telling Sotza how much Desi meant to Nico. How far he would go to get her back. Vee suspected that Nico was seriously regretting his decision to put Desi in the path of the Venezuelan cartel boss.

Nico seemed to struggle between desperation and rage. He was having trouble controlling himself. “How do I know he’ll let her go?” he asked, his voice rough. “He could take you back, my only leverage, and then kill her.”

“He could,” Vee acknowledged. “But he doesn’t lie. If you ask him for an exchange, then he’ll do it. He’ll give her back, relatively unhurt.” Vee thought back to the severed heads that Sotza had sent her and shuddered. She really hoped that she was telling the truth. But so far, in her experience, Sotza had never done anything other than what he said he would do. He had told her he was taking over Miami, toppling her regime, and he had done it. He’d also told her they would marry, now she was his bride.

“Sotza,” Nico growled. “If I give you my word that you will get your wife back, then you will give me Desi? And you will let us leave the island alive?”

There was a pause and then Sotza said, “Agreed.”

Vee slumped back against the wall as Nico made the arrangements. Right before Sotza could hang up though, Nico looked at her, his dark eyes piercing and grave. He lifted his gun and shot her.

Vee screamed, unable to hold it in as burning pain sliced through her arm. She grabbed the wound with her other hand and doubled over as the pain slashed through her. It was like being lit on fire, like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Tears flowed down her cheeks.

“Vee!” Sotza snarled, finally losing his cool. “Answer me, right now. Tell me you’re alive.”

“I’m here,” she yelled through her tears. “He shot my a – ”

“Touch Desi one more time,” Nico interrupted, “and the next bullet goes through her skull.”

“You have five minutes to bring my wife to the house,” Sotza snapped and hung up.

He was still at the house, Vee thought as dizziness swept through her. Nico crouched in front of her, took her wrap where it was already torn and ripped a strip off. He shoved Vee’s hand away from her bleeding arm and wrapped the strip of fabric around the wound. He yanked the makeshift bandage tight and tied it off. She gasped as pain radiated through her arm and torso.

“My apologies, Señora. It must be tight enough to stop the bleeding. I was careful to hit the flesh part only. I missed artery and bone.”

“Thank you,” Vee said sarcastically, glaring at him through the wetness in her eyes.

He gripped her other arm and pulled her to her feet. “You will heal,” he snapped and dragged her toward the door. “Unlike Desi. She will never fully recover from a bullet to the hand.”

Vee cried out as he shoved her roughly into the jeep. The one that belonged to John. As he got into the driver’s side, she said, “Desi wouldn’t be in this position, she wouldn’t be hurt, if you hadn’t made the stupid decision to come here.”

He slammed his fist into the dashboard and then pointed his finger at Vee. “If the fucking Butcher had never gone to Miami, none of this would be happening.”

Vee took a breath as he put the jeep in gear and slammed on the gas, jolting them forward. She reached out to steady herself. “If it wasn’t Sotza, it would’ve been someone else. No, Nico, coming here, to Venezuela, was a bad idea.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he said, his voice dropping, some of the anger fading. “You were supposed to be vulnerable, both of you. I was going to take you, force him to give back my US routes and then release you as a sign of good faith. I shouldn’t have sent Desi to the house as my plan B in case he wouldn’t negotiate for you. That was my mistake. I underestimated him.”

“I don’t understand,” Vee said, confused. “What did you negotiate when we were in Mexico? I thought you two were in talks for those routes.”

He shook his head. “We negotiated nothing. Sotza told me I was to withdraw completely, to never step foot in the States again, or he would do his thing, cut off my body parts.”

She stared at him incredulously. “But why?”

“He’s an arms dealer, chica. The man hates drugs, always has.”

Vee sat back in her seat, staring out the window, her good hand pressing against the wound while bracing herself on the dashboard with her injured arm as they bounced across the jungle road. Sotza hated drugs. Something triggered in her brain, a memory perhaps. She thought maybe she’d always known that The Butcher didn’t tolerate drugs. But when the man himself showed up in her city, started a war, she’d been too busy fending him off to do her research. If she’d known about his plans, to dismantle instead of takeover a good portion of the organization she’d inherited, she might have asked more questions. Like, where was Reyes? Did he know of Sotza’s plans? Did he approve? She didn’t quite understand the relationship there. Both Reyes and Sotza were their own men. Neither worked for the other. Yet, the way she understood it, Sotza had been doing Reyes a favour by cleaning up Miami. Did Sotza have an ulterior motive for going into the US?

---