Page 45 of Lethal Vengeance
I laugh. “Threats don’t work on a ghost, mafia princess. Sometimes there are consequences to your actions. You’ve put me in a very tough spot. Armando and I had an agreement, and I broke it. Unintentionally, but I doubt he’ll see it that way. This puts me in the wrong. I’m sure your brothers would see it the same way if I broke an agreement with them.”
She whitens. A deal is a deal. Growing up in her family, I’m sure she’s seen what happens to those who don’t fulfill their end of the bargain. Smoothing her face, she grabs Samantha’s hand and pulls her over to the bed.
“Let’s get some sleep. I’m exhausted.”
“Good idea,” I state, heading to the stairs. “I need some air.”
When I get to the bottom, I take a right instead of a left. Propping the back door open, I stand behind the little strip mall and raise my head to the stars above. This little favor for Armando is exploding the careful life I’ve built here. More has gone wrong in two weeks than right—Rodrigo’s obsessed, I transported five girls, my background is exposed, Lupe’s dead, and I screwed up the one assignment that could bring me closer to Armando.
The door creaks open. Cruz, Sterling, and Zane step out.
And I have four men stirring everything up inside me. One minute, I’m bleeding from memories of the past, and the next moment, I’m kissing one of them. My head is spinning.
“What’s the plan?” Zane asks gruffly.
My shoulders drop. “Soldier incompetency and dim lighting is all I’ve got at the moment, but I’m going to have to own up to my own failure in order to sell it. After all, I could have pulled better pictures of therighttwo girls before the mission. Or asked them to confirm their names instead of assuming they were Aria and Margot.”
“Could you really leave an innocent girl behind?” Sterling asks quietly.
To his shock, I nod my head yes. “When you live in this world, you realize you can’t save every single person. I’m leaving hundreds of girls behind. My original plan was to stop Armando permanently, then, if I was still alive, alert the authorities. Now, my hope is you’ll find a way to get the rest of them out and shut down the facilities.”
“You don’t think you’re coming out of this alive,” Cruz interjects into the quiet night air. Angry brown eyes pin me to the wall.
“I don’t know, but I’d be stupid not to be prepared for it,” I concede. The odds of Armando or Rodrigo not killing me are astronomical. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.
Zane brings the topic back around to the task at hand. “I’m responsible for this fuck-up, too. What if I go with you?”
I sift through the possibilities, but it comes down to one thing. Armando has zero trust of strangers. It took me over a year to meet him in person.
The wind picks up and a few loose strands slide across my face. A strong hand reaches out and tucks them behind my ear. Before he can pull his hand back, I grab it.
“Thank you for offering. You can’t come with me to the meeting, but I’d love some back-up,” I tell him.
Admitting I could use someone feels like I’m opening another door, but it would be worse if something happened because I was too proud to ask.
* * *
Armando’s studyingme like I’m a bug under the microscope. “You’re nervous. I don’t like it when people are nervous. It means I’m not going to hear good news.”
“There’s good news and bad news,” I begin, and he narrows his eyes even further. “We rescued two girls from the annex, but one of them is not Margot Rutherford from Miami. Apparently, Margot bribed your guards to look the other way and switched places with another. The two girls look similar—blond, with blue eyes, slender. Her name is Samantha Baston.”
Recognition flares briefly in his eyes. “You’re telling me you failed. Is that correct?”
“Yes. We sent Aria back to her family this morning. I’m sure the Luciano brothers will be incredibly grateful for the return of their sister. We’re prepared to go back in and retrieve Margot,” I tell him, emphasizing the positive.
I hold his dark, serpent-like gaze with my own and wait for him to decide how this is going to play out.
Lean brown fingers tap his thigh. “Rodrigo called and gave me bad news this morning, too. I’m so disappointed in both of you. My best people are letting me down.” He flashes me a shark’s smile, all hungry teeth. “Fortunately for you, I’m in a tough position, so I’m willing to extend you some leniency. VIPs are arriving in three days. The girl must be gone tomorrow. No later.”
He leans in to emphasize his point, and it takes all my willpower to hold my ground. “The counts have already been given to the higher ups, and there can be no margin of error. There must be a hundred and seventeen girls in that facility. Understand?”
One hundred and seventeen. Got it.
I don’t tell him Samantha Baston is heading to Chicago with Aria. Luckily, Sterling was able to immediately acquire an ID and documentation for her from his friend Henley.
Armando raises an eyebrow.
“Yes,” I answer. “I sent the bill to you last week. Once it’s paid, we’ll go back in and finish the job.” Zane never mentioned the bill, but I don’t trust Armando to pay it without some leverage.
