By them she meant El Diablo’s customers.
Her confession made me absolutely sick.
Like Ashley, Jade didn’t deserve the life she’d been handed, and I had to change that.
Sooner, rather than later.
Renewed determination washed through me as I cupped her freckled cheeks. “I’m going to get us out,” I told her, praying she’d believe me. “It may not be tonight, and it may not be tomorrow, but I swear to Jesucristo himself that I will fight with everything I have to get you, me, and Chiquita away from this shithole.”
She nodded. “But what about Faye and Amelia?” Her bottom lip trembled. “We can’t leave them behind. Especially not Amelia. She wouldn’t understand if I didn’t come back to visit—”
“We’re not leaving Faye or Amelia behind.”
“You swear it?”
I jerked my quivering chin down once. “Yes, bebé, I do. No matter what happens, I will find a way to free them too.”
“Okay.” A single tear slid down her cheek. “Just don’t take too long, alright? Hendrix said that James had a basketball hoop at his house. He told me it used to be his, but that I could use it whenever I wanted. Even told me he’d replace the cracked backboard.”
If possible, my smile grew.
Without even trying, Hendrix had stolen mi youngest chica’s heart. Much like his father had done mine.
They were quite the pair, those two.
“I promise to move as quickly as I can,” I replied, the air surrounding us becoming noticeably lighter. “Just be ready, si? Because when the right moment comes, we’ll have to run. No hesitation.”
“I’ll be—”
Shoulders suddenly dipping in what I recognized as unmistakable fear, Jade grabbed my arm with her free hand. Shaking uncontrollably her wide, tear-filled eyes locked on something behind me.
Hands instantly clammy, I turned my head.
And that’s when I saw him.
Clyde fucking Jacobs.
That estúpido hijo de puta!
“C-Carmen…”
Not giving Little One the chance to spiral, something she, along with I, was perilously close to doing, I grasped her wrist in my trembling hand.
Then, with my eyes never leaving the sick bastardo, who sat inside his idling, unmarked police cruiser next to the curb thirty feet away, I dragged a terrified Jade toward the trap house.
More than ready to free her from his lecherous stare, I had to do something; even if that something was less than ideal. If I could’ve ran with her right then, I would have, never once looking back. But that wasn’t an option.
Not without Chiquita.
“He isn’t going to harm you,” I said, jaw clenching so hard it nearly cracked in between each word. “Not tonight, and not ever again.”
Considering the circumstances, ones which I had no control over, it was an incredibly reckless vow to make. But it was also one that I was determined to keep.
No matter the cost.
A cloud of despair comprised of broken dreams and more tears than one could possibly count engulfed me the second I stormed into the trap house, still dragging a fear-stricken Little One behind me.
Seeing a nervous-looking Faye standing near the bottom of the busted stairs, a half-smoked cigarette clutched in her shaking hand, I relinquished my grip on Jade’s wrist, and pushed her toward the woman who’d loved me endlessly since the moment we met. “Faye, take her upstairs for me.”
“Robina Hood.” Her eyes held a warning that my infuriated soul should have heeded. Keyword: Should’ve. “I don’t know what you’re thinkin’ of doin’, but hit the brakes ‘fore it’s too late. Else you’re gonna get yourself killed.”
She was wrong. I had no plans to die. Not when I had so much to live for. It didn’t matter the depths I had to go to, I would make it out of the shit life someone else had carved for me.
And so would she.
My heart guaranteed it.
“Faye,” I growled, shoulders back. “Take Jade upstairs.”
Plagued with worry, she hesitated.
It was a grande mistake.
“You move and you’ll regret it.”
Faye’s eyes widened with panic as El Diablo’s villainous voice echoed through the small foyer. Where he’d come from, I didn’t know. The bastardo was big, but somehow he slunk around like a cat, only making noise when he wanted to be heard or seen.
Before I could turn around and face him head on, his chest hit my back. I nearly gagged as his sweaty warmth blanketed my skin and his repulsive scent seeped into my pores, drowning out James’ calming essence.
Hands finding my hips, he dug his fingers into my skin, right down to the bone. It hurt, but I refused to cry out. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“You’re gaining weight, Miss Colombia. You pregnant?” He chuckled and I wanted nothing more than to throttle him in return. Though he’d said worse things to me before, the question had been like a bowling ball to the gut.
Never would I be with child.
That chance had been taken from me.
Just like everything else.
My dignity, pride, and free will included.
“Nah, baby,” he continued, filthy lips finding my exposed shoulder. “I know exactly what it is, and that shit…” He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth just as Carlos used to do a split second before striking me. “It’s unacceptable.”
Clutching Faye tight, Little One screamed when Dominic spun me around, bringing us face to face. Hand instantly wrapping around the front of my slender throat, he jerked me to my tiptoes. Applying just enough pressure to instill fear without cutting off my air, he dipped his face toward mine.
The smell of rotgut bourbon hit my nostrils.
I sneered in response.
The puta madre was drunk.
And from the looks of his pupils, high as a kite as well.
“Who are you getting clean for?” His dilated eyes drilled into mine, sending a fear-driven chill racing down my spine. Despite my fear, I held steady, refusing to cower before him. “You got a man I don’t know about?”
“What I have,” I answered, stupidly.
