Page 55 of Devil's Claim

The last door at the end of the hall was partially open. The bastard hadn’t installed a baby monitor. Did he really think he would be able to hear the boy? Maybe I was wrong and the kid wasn’t here. That would grate on my last nerve. If I had to go searching for the boy, I’d kill the bastard all over again.

Remaining as quiet as possible, I opened the door, easing inside. Instead of the amazing racecar bed and superhero comforter, there was a twin bed with a dark comforter. Instead of sweeping works of playful art on the walls, the paint was beige. Instead of books and toys lined up against the wall just waiting for a child’s imagination to take hold, there were four toys in the room. Four.

My jaw clenching, I walked inside, moving toward the bed. As I peered down, a strange ache pulsed through my system.

Not just anger or even disgust.

Instead, I felt a strong wave of protectiveness.

Yeah, life had just gotten entirely too complicated.

CHAPTER 14

Christine

Kruz’s scent was everywhere, on every surface in my apartment.

Even though I’d taken a hot shower, the tough, masculine hint of my shower gel mixing with his natural odor of all male lingered like a bad seed.

An omen.

The bastard really did expect I’d go with him to another country.

Hell, no.

Not in this lifetime.

I’d meant what I’d told him. I still had some fight left in me.

I yanked my hair into a ponytail, making faces at myself in the mirror as I did. I’d slapped on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt even though the humidity and my anxiety made everything damp in the swelter of night.

I could swear his scent just grew stronger.

When I left the bathroom, my eyes wandered to the shopping bags that had been carefully placed on my bed by one of Kruz’s men. There were at least fifteen of them in various shapes and sizes. All the items had been purchased with blood money.

How many people had died in order for me to be gifted such treasures?

A cold chill swept through me and I walked closer, slowly running my fingers across three of the bags. I couldn’t keep them. That wasn’t the kind of girl I was. They’d been purchased for me as bribery. To keep my mouth shut.

If I’d known what I’d been walking into, I would never have allowed him to rip out his wad of cash.

Oh, that horrible man.

Voices sounded from the other room. He’d returned in all his glory. I glanced back at the bags then to the partially closed door. As before, I’d been told not to close my door all the way. Andres, if that was the beast’s name who’d been left to watch me, had even knocked on the door twice. Once when I was in the shower, but I’d heard him.

In a huff, I grabbed all the bags, struggling to hold every one of them and moved toward the door. Almost tripping, I used my foot to open the door and almost fell on my face as I lumbered toward the living room.

The one called Carlos was in the room standing alongside Kruz and Andres. Where was the fourth sidekick? The one who looked a little like the Terminator? Who cared? I tried to act like I had everything under control as I moved toward Kruz.

Who turned just in time for me to dump the clothes into his arms. “There.”

With his massive arms, he had no trouble taking every last bag with no fear of dropping them.

“I don’t want anything from you, certainly not money earned from killing people.” My voice was loud and proud, the latter from feeling my resolve returning.

The two soldiers glanced at each other. Were they laughing at me? Oh, I’d break their faces if they were.

Kruz said nothing, the iridescent gold of his irises making it almost impossible for me to concentrate on anything else. He slowly moved toward the sofa, carefully lowering the clothes as if worried he might wrinkle them. When he turned toward me, he also nodded to Carlos who immediately walked toward my front door.

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