Page 76 of Worth the Heat
We pile into an unmarked white van that doesn’t appearsuspicious, and I’m thankful for the noise of driving because my phone is vibrating nonstop. Maybe the call to Sebastian didn’t go through, or maybe he’s texting responses instead of speaking. My phone is always on silent with vibration, and I’m now acutely aware of how loud vibrations are when the rest of the world is quiet. To add some volume to the air, I begin asking the man questions, as he rides with me and Ava in the back of the van. The other two men sit silently in the front seat.
“I recognize you,” I comment.
“And?” he retorts.
“How did you infiltrate Sebastian’s MC so quickly?”
He laughs sardonically. “That dumbass prospect we were with. He couldn’t stop talking about the MC and how amazing the president was. He slipped and said the guy’s name once, and all it took was an Internet search to put the pieces together as the man who beat up Devon. He never should have let Devon go, not that it matters. He was dying either way.”
“Devon?” I ask, my voice incredibly quiet.
“Yeah. He failed a mission. Can’t have that. Your man should have killed him. Dev knew he was on borrowed time, which is why we only caught him at the Mexico border. Dumbass was going toward the Cartel instead of away from it. They’re even worse at torture than anyone up here.”
Bile rises in my throat. The guy watches me, smirking, knowing he’s affecting me. Ava and I are sitting together on a small wooden bench, while the man sits across from us, knees wide apart, with the gun pointed at us. He’s short. Shorter than I remember, and my gaze falls to his feet. His shoes look odd, like the heel of his foot is nowhere near the bottom of the shoe. Are they lifted? I choke on a hysterical giggle as I imagine this guy waltzing into a shoe store and asking for something to give him height.
“May I ask who we are meeting today?” I finally ask, once I know my voice can stay even.
“I guess there’s no harm in telling you. We’re meeting Fernando Montoya. He runs the distribution ring for all of Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah. He is a second cousin to the Salazar family, of the Salazar Cartel in Mexico. Or maybe he’s not a cousin. Honestly, the whole family is incestual, and it’s hard to keep track of who is related to who.”
Ava whimpers next to me. Still holding her hand, I squeeze it, but keep it away from my stomach. I don’t want her to give away the fact that I have a phone. “Why does the head of a drug ring want to meet with me?”
“Two reasons.” The man dangerously spins the gun between his two hands, his eyes glittering at me. He wants to scare me, that I know. Unfortunately for him, I have two brothers who were in the military, and one of them is a police officer. I know guns, and I know his gun still has the safety on. “He doesn’t believe that you’re innocent.”
“And the other reason?” I ask evenly.
“He wants a little background on your boyfriend.”
“Ex-boyfriend,” I growl, my teeth clenched.
The man smiles, a leering grin that makes my stomach sink. “Oh, no. Your current one, if you can even call him that. I guess maybe he is now? He certainly wasn’t at the beginning, but after the way you sucked him off in his kitchen a while ago, I’d say you’re at least friends-with-benefits.”
I’m about to vomit.
I’ve only gone down on Sebastian once in the kitchen. I’ve done it a lot since then in other places, but never in the kitchen. Did this guy hack into the cameras to watch old content, or was he watching live? I feel sick that he’s now tainted an amazing memory. A time when I’ve never felt more sexy or sensual.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get. This asshole haswatched me sleep with two men now, without my consent. I’m more angry with Rick over that footage, but for this guy to watch me with Sebastian has crossed a major line.
“May I ask your name?” I ask.
“The name I gave you, or my actual name?”
“Does it really matter which one?” I snap, and his posture straightens. The cocky grin is no longer in place. His gaze is locked in on me, and I know I’m dangerously close to him getting violent again.
But this time, I’m expecting it. He will not take me by surprise.
“You know what? It really doesn’t matter. I told them my name was Rico. It’s really Diego. Well, my legal name is Rico Diego Delgado.”
“Well, Diego,” I tell him sweetly, “I think Sebastian is going to enjoy hurting you once he finds out you watched us without our consent. Well, more me. He won’t care that you saw his dick, since he’ll know his is much bigger than yours.”
I see the moment the words strike, and his arm moves. The look in his eyes is pure hostility as he lunges toward me, but both Ava and I lash out. Ava swiftly punches him in the groin, and as he’s groaning and doubling over in pain, I quickly poke both fingers into his eye sockets. The feeling is horrific, and I know I’ve done damage, but I don’t have a moment to feel bad. Diego stupidly drops the gun, which Ava and I scramble to pick up. I hear one of the guys in the front seat stutter, “What the fuck?” right as I get my hands around the grip of the gun. Diego reaches up blindly, grabbing the gun, and as we both wrestle for ownership, my fingers hit the safety just as his hit the trigger. The loud boom ricochets around the van, and I watch as blood spurts out of Diego’s throat.
“Bitch, what did you do!” The driver turns to shout at me, making the van swerve.
“I didn’t! He shot himself, I swear! His thumb hit the trigger!”Struggling to calm my nerves, I swivel and point the gun at him. “But the safety is off now, and I have no qualms about having you go with him. Pull the fucking van over.”
“Montoya will kill us if we don’t bring her in,” the guy in the passenger seat says.
“You heard Diego. We’re dead either way.” He slams on the brakes, and I tumble into Ava. I hear a screech of tires, and the driver mutters a string of curse words. “We’ve got company.”
