I couldn’t stomach the thought.
Bowing my head, I ran my still trembling hands through my mussed-up hair in both frustration and barely contained rage.
“Sweetheart,” I said, voice rougher than eighty grit sandpaper. “You don’t have to leave.” Dropping my hands, I looked up, finding her sad gaze locked on me.
“I can’t stay, even if I wish to.” Pulling her stare from me, my beautiful girl looked out the window and fidgeted in place, battling an army of emotions. “I’ve already been away from mi chicas for far too long. Faye has been watching over them, I know that, but that’s not her job. It’s mine.”
“Bring them here.” Before the words left my mouth, I knew it wasn’t a possibility. Yet I still said it. More than desperate, I didn’t know what else to do. “I’ll pay for the room, buy y’all food, and give you money to pay your pimp.” I wanted to roar in outrage upon saying that word. “Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. Just don’t fucking leave. I’m begging you.”
“James—”
Her mouth snapped shut when I stood and pointed out the dust-streaked window. “I can’t protect you out there!” I didn’t mean to shout, especially not at her, but any control I had left over my boiling emotions was fraying. Fast-like. “I can’t protect any of you!”
Knowing I needed to take it down several notches before I scared her or worse, made her run, I crossed my arms and sucked in a deep breath.
It did little to calm me.
“Actually, I can.” Seconds away from exploding like dynamite, my head pounded. “I’ll end this entire thing right now.” Any attempt I’d made to harness my rage had flown out the window at that point.
Temper in overdrive, I closed the small space between us and cupped her chin in my hand. “All I need is the pimp’s name. Give me that and—”
“You bullheaded pendejo!” I stumbled back when she slammed her tiny hands against my heaving chest and shoved me backward as hard as she could. Surprised, I nearly tripped over my own feet. “Do you think it’s that easy?”
“Not in the slightest,” I answered, finding my balance. “But the way I see it, we still have options—two as a matter of fact. The first being that I can take you to the police; the second, I can kill that motherfucker myself and dump him in the swamp. Your choice.”
Judging by the disbelief that crossed her face, she probably thought I was blowing smoke up her ass.
I wasn’t.
My feelings for her, as fast and strong as they had hit, were rock-solid. There wasn’t a mountain I wouldn’t climb or a law I wouldn’t break to protect her and those girls.
Period.
“La policía?” She chuckled humorlessly. “Have you lost your mind?” The answer to her question was up for debate. “The only thing that would do is get me killed. Haven’t you figured it out yet, James? The bastardo is untouchable!”
Nobody was untouchable.
“He has half the cops in this town, along with a dozen attorneys and career politicians in his pocket.” Her revelation didn’t surprise me. Not one bit. Toluca was a small town, but it was corrupt from the top down. “And don’t you think if he could easily be killed, I would’ve done it already?”
I had no doubt she would’ve.
But that still didn’t make any of this okay.
“He’s constantly surrounded by his puppets. No one can get to him unless they are supposed to.” She scrubbed her hands down her face. “I can, but if I try something and am unsuccessful in sending him to hell where he belongs, he will force me to watch as he rapes and then slits my chicas’ throats before stealing my life in the most painful way imaginable. That’s not something…”
Shaking her head, she covered her ears with her hands. “Dios mío, that just can’t happen. We have to run, and then we have to hide until it’s safe to begin living once more. Those are our only options.”
The pressure in my head built.
I could’ve sworn it was close to exploding before, but right then, I could almost feel my skull splinter as it cracked right down the center.
My blood pressure was sky-high.
“This is ending,” I stated, hell-bent on fixing every wrong happening in her grim world. “One way or another.”
After hearing her shaky voice speak and witnessing the fear that flashed across her features as she spiraled into a panic, I knew I wouldn’t be able to let her walk out the door.
If she tried, I’d drag her ass back.
“You wanted me to save you—well, baby, I’m about to do just that. Call me a bullheaded asshole, but I refuse to sit here and do nothing while you continue to live the life you are right now.”
My pretty little pixie deserved safety and happiness, both of which I could provide. I only had to deal with her captor first.
It was something I was determined to do.
“I don’t intend to continue living like this,” she whispered, the fear plaguing her dissipating as determination slid into its place. “You may not believe it, but I have big plans going forward. None of which include toxic dope or sadistic pimps.”
I believed her just fine.
A blind man could’ve seen that she was tired of the shit deal she’d been handed and wanted change. Proud as hell of her for that and wanting to be closer—a yearning that never ceased to abate—I moved forward again.
Stopping inches away from her, I grasped her icy hands with mine and laced our fingers together. “What are your plans? Tell me, so I know what’s coming.”
A shaky smile brightened her tear-streaked face. “First, with you and Maddie’s help, I’m going to get mi chicas away from—” Thinning her lips into a straight line, she quieted.
My eyes narrowed in response.
She almost said his name.
Taking a shuddering breath, she leaned
