Page 16 of Savage Assassin

And then, I have a stroke of luck at last.

I catch sight of a group gathered near the front of the house. I see a flash of long dark hair, and I realize that it’s Elena, struggling against the men holding her as a corpulent man with greying hair approaches.

“Bastard!”she spits out as he gets closer–literally. I see her spit in his face, and in the next instant, his hand flashes out, striking her cheek hard enough to fling her head sideways.

I expect her to slump back then, but she tilts her chin up, glaring ferociously back at him as he crosses the last steps towards her, paying enough attention only to her that I’m able to move closer, keeping hidden by the hedges near the house as I listen carefully for whatever it is that he might say to her, anything that might give me a clue as to what his next move is.

“Your sister tried these same tricks,” he hisses, reaching out to grab her chin firmly in his hand as he glares down at her. “She was just as defiant. So defiant, in fact, that I sent her to the bride tamer to learn how to be a proper wife.”

“And how did that work out for you?” Elena’s retort is partially muffled by his grip on her chin, but she gets the words out anyway, still giving him the same furious expression. “She’s not here now.”

“No, she’s not.” He smiles cruelly. “Which is why you are. But you’re not going to take her place at my side and in my bed as my wife.”

Elena falters the tiniest bit. I can catch a glimpse of the confusion on her face, and Diego has a front-row seat to it. His smile widens, and I feel in that moment as if I would give anything to be able to punch it off of his face without consequences.

“I don’t understand.” Her voice shakes the tiniest bit. “You told my father you wanted to marry me.”

“I did.” His smile doesn’t falter. “But then your father decided to make things difficult for me. He decided to attempt to force my hand, refusing to give you over. He was stupid enough to think that I would actually attempt to meet with him to come to terms, as if I would give that insolentperroan inch. So a greater punishment is needed, I think.”

Elena’s face goes ashen, and I grit my teeth, forcing myself to stay still. It takes everything in me not to bolt out of my hiding spot and towards her, to shoot every single one of the fuckers who have their hands on her right now, and Diego Gonzalez too, for whatever fucked-up thing he’s about to say to her. But I know how that ends.

It ends with me dead, and probably her too. There are more men here than I could hope to take on my own. If I’m going to get Elena out, it’ll have to be by other means.

But first, I need to know what Diego is planning.

“I’m not going to marry you at all,” he continues, with an edge of pride to his voice, as if he’s thrilled to be unveiling his plan to her at last. “I’m going to keep you here for a day or two, until all my friends and associates can get here. The richest men I know.”

He leans in a little closer to her, and I have to strain to try to hear what he’s saying, but I manage to make it out, just barely.

“I’m going to throw a massive party for them. I’m going to auction you off, along with the other women I have held for sale–but they won’t hold a candle to you,bonita. You’ll be the centerpiece of the entire affair–and that will be my revenge on the Santiago family for refusing me not one, buttwobrides.”

He grins so widely that I think it might split his face as he steps back, surveying her horrified expression. “I trust you’re still a virgin, though I’ll have someone check. You’ll make me rich–richer than I already am,” he adds with a curt laugh, “and I’ll break the Santiago family in the bargain. Your father will never recover from this.”

Diego nods to the men then, and they push her forward, not towards the main house, but towards the left of it–the direction that I came. I shrink back into my hiding place, wishing that I could signal to her somehow that I’m here, that I know what’s happening to her, and that I’ll do my best to help.

But it will help no one if I’m caught.

I wait until they pass, making note of the building where they’re taking her, and until Gonzalez and his personal security have retreated into the house. When the coast appears to be clear, I retreat back the way I came, making my way out through the gate. I force it back into place–someone will eventually look at it and see the marks where it was cut, but it will be a while.

I let out a breath as I retreat from the compound, watching for any sign that I’ve been spotted as I go. This is the easiest part–all I have to do is get back to the motorcycle, and I’m free to return to the Santiago mansion–or what’s left of it.

What’s left of itis an apt description, when I reach the gate. Smoke is still billowing from a number of buildings, including the main mansion, and there are bodies everywhere. Santiago’s men are working to clean up, and I walk past them, picking my way through the courtyard until I find Ricardo near the mansion, trying to soothe his sobbing wife, who is sitting on a low wall near some shrubbery with her robe wrapped tightly around herself.

“If you’d just given Elena to him in the first place–” I hear her say in a low, shaking voice, and I grit my teeth against the retort that I want so badly to say.

Ricardo turns as he hears my footsteps, glancing back quickly at his wife. “I’ll be back, Lupé,” he says quietly, then strides towards me, his face taut and anxious.

“Elena isn’t with you?”

I shake my head. “They got her away from me after we were already underground.”

“I saw them leaving with her, but I couldn’t get there in time.” The guilt wracking Ricardo’s face and voice make mine pale in comparison. “I’d hoped you might have–”

“They were already at Gonzalez’s compound before I could get to her.” I let out a breath. “I managed to get information, though. I know what he has planned for her.”

Without waiting, I plunge into the explanation, telling Ricardo exactly what I’d heard Diego say to Elena. His face goes more and more ashen as I speak, until he’s looking at me in a stunned silence.

“Maybe Lupé was right,” he says quietly, when he can manage to speak again. “Maybe I should have given her to him when he asked at first.”

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