The Deliverance of Dilan (The Syndicate #4) (19 page)

I can’t get myself to look at the bed. My eyes are avoiding it at all costs. I grab everything I can find, both hers and mine, and shove it into my bag and her suitcase. It takes me five minutes tops to cram it all in and exit the room. My heart stays inside that room as the door slams shut behind me. But I’ll be goddamned if it stays there. I need my heart to stay alive. To seek revenge. To live. She’s everything to me, and a hostage to him. A poker chip he plans to bargain with to try and see how far he can push us to take complete control of all we have. He has no damn clue that every member of our family is worth more than the money we possess. We would give it all up. He fails to see we won’t give him jack shit, except to allow him the privilege to dig his own grave right along with his sister’s.

ANNA

“You drive a hard bargain, Miss Drexler. You see, though, just like you, I do not trust. Perhaps you didn’t hear me correctly. Let me rephrase.” The way he articulates his words are enough to make me want to jump out of this car and become road kill before he has the damn chance to kill me himself, or turn me over to his cunt of a sister. Either way, it doesn’t matter. As long as I can find a way to get away from him. I’ll deal with his sister if I have to. In fact, that option is more appealing than his. But I’m given no choice in the matter if I want to save the lives of my family. He can rephrase, repeat until the end of time. I’m not giving in.

“What do I get besides you coming with me? Are you going to give me your body I crave? Are you going to let me bury myself in you? Or will you make me force myself on you?” I am still trembling on this cold leather seat. His tone is colder, harsher than it was a few minutes ago. He’s stressing his authority, calling me out, letting me know I have no room to try and barter or play any game with him. Well, fuck him. I’m not a damn quitter. And his threats mean nothing to me. I’m not about to allow this man to break me.

“You wouldn’t dare.” I don’t stand a chance against him. I know this. I’m not going down. Not like this. And not with a man like him.

“I don’t want to. I would much rather enjoy you with you coming to me willingly. But do not underestimate me. You may be my saving grace in this world, but I always get what I want, even if I have to take it. Now, I’m running out of time, my patience no longer exists. We have a plane to catch to Columbia. Stop the car,” he says on a command, his air warning. And Columbia? That’s one of the largest drug capitals of the world. Of course he wants to go there. He will fit right in. Hell, he probably has people there too. Oh god.

Whoever is driving does as he’s told. The car comes to a jerking halt. I look around. Darkness is now surrounding us. There is no sign of life anywhere. Where in the hell are we? We haven’t been driving that long to be very far away from civilization. Last I looked, we were crossing over a bridge. I gage a glance upfront, checking the dash for a compass. East. We must be either in or near New Jersey.

“What are you doing?” I ask him, freaking the hell out. My god, is he going to kill them here? Dump their bodies?

I begin to thrash in the backseat, crawling to where he is now getting out of the car.

“Stay, goddamn it. Or I will tie you up and shove you in the trunk.” His face is burning, his fingers icy cold when he grips my jaw hard then slams the door in my face.

I react quickly. Time is standing still. “Cecily,” I call out, shaking her. She doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak. I place a hand on her chest to check her breathing, and feel her heart fluttering under the tips of my fingers. Thank god she’s alive.

“Get her out now.” My eyes go wide when two of the men who took us from the hotel swing open the door and grab Cecily by her feet, dragging her out of the car like she means nothing. She means the world to me. I refuse to allow her to be manhandled by these sons of bitches. Her body makes a thumping sound as they dump her lifeless body on the ground.

“Please, Juan, don’t do this,” I beg. I will give myself to him. I promise him over and over again I will if he won’t kill her. My legs are half out of the car. I don’t care if he shoves me in the trunk. I need to fight for her. “Stop.” He holds his hand up to the man pointing a gun at her form on the ground. I look to him, then over his shoulder where I see the other two ladies standing with black hoods over their heads, their hands and feet shackled together like a small prison train.

“Leave her with them.” He says nothing more. His hands are grasping me by my arms as he hoists me up and out of the car.

“You owe me. Don’t forget. Now, if you meant what you said, then prove it right now.” He pulls my body flush with his. His smell alone makes me sick. My mind wonders what the hell he means by that. He leans into my personal space, his mouth close to brushing mine. He wants me to kiss him. I can’t. It’s outright impossible to not gag. I feel it rising up, ready to spill all over him. Somehow, I manage to hold it back, the gurgling noises lodged in my throat. My strength is taking over, my determination setting itself free.

“Kiss me,” he whispers, his voice low.

“Now, Anna.” Oh, no. Kissing is intimate. I’ve only kissed the man I love, and now it will be tarnished. It’s as if he knows the right word in destroying me. He’s going to take every gift only Dilan and I have shared with each other away from me. I’m going to be left broken with only memories of one night shared with him. But I have to do it. I close my eyes, feeling his breath sucking me in. All I can do is pretend like it’s Dilan I’m kissing. It’s the only way I can try and convince him.

When our lips touch, his are warm but nothing like the smooth, sweet caress of Dilan’s. My mouth remains closed. I hold back the cringe my body feels raking over me when he darts his tongue out, his taste sour against my lips. This is killing me to have to open my mouth. The second I do, he takes full advantage by swirling his tongue with min. I move my tongue with his, the entire time wishing it were the man I love instead of the man I hate more than anything. He growls, guides me back into the car, and lays me down flat on my back, bringing his body on top of mine. This is too much. His erection is prodding, poking, and driving into my stomach. He assaults my mouth with a vengeance, tasting every bit of me. His hands are holding the back of my head, titling it the way he wants. I continue to pretend he’s Dilan. It’s the only way I can kiss him. When he removes one of his hands from my head and traces his fingers down my neck, I stop kissing him and open my eyes. His are clouded over. Hungry with lust. Glazed.

“Please,” I beg as tears are leaking from my eyes. My shoulders begin to shake. He sighs heavily then brings himself up off of me. I adjust my body somewhat, while he adjusts the bulge in his pants I so desperately want to chop off. I jump when he slams the door behind him. My body is twisted up like a pretzel, half under him.

He doesn’t move an inch when I take my feet from underneath him, fixing myself upright, leaning my head against the window. The tears won’t stop as we start to drive. All I can do is repeat to myself that I saved everyone’s lives, even though they are left on the side of the road; one woman unconscious, the other two left in the darkest of dark and the coldest of cold. Please god, let someone find them. Let them be safe. Let Cecily survive the abuse he inflicted on her. And, please, let them find me.

“Why Columbia?” I dare to ask, desperate to know if my hunch is correct. It’s drugs. I know it is. I’m going to be forced to live watching him deal, grow, or whatever the hell he does. Columbia is known for Cocaine.

“I have a home there.” His answer is short and clipped.

“Won’t that be the first place people will will look for you? Is your sister really that dumb to not know what you’re up to?” I glance over at him. I wish I could see his face right now. No, I take that back. I never want to see his face, or the rest of him. He’s a disgrace to all humans. The perfect description of evil. I feel him studying me, trying to tear me apart. Dissecting me. Silence travels for miles with us until his low, deep voice crawls up my spine. Creepily.

“She doesn’t know about it. I’ve hidden it from her. From everyone. I’ve had it for years, planning for the day I could leave, in hopes to find love, Anna. To raise a family there.”

I roll my eyes at him, grateful this ignorant asshole cannot see me. Love. If he thinks he will find it with me, he is fucking stupid. I will never love him. And a family? He’s all kinds of crazy. This may get me beaten, slapped around, but I’m saying it anyway.

“You expect to have all that with me? I will never love you. Surely, you have to know that.” I swing my arm out and smack the leather seat.

“You’ve kidnapped me. Taken me away from my life. From my mom. From the man I do love. You’re out of your goddamn mind if you think I will ever love you. The sight of you makes me sick, Carlos.” I am serious. The tension grows thick in the back of this car. I feel his heated stare turn dangerous. But right now, I simply do not care.

I cry out in agony when he grabs my arms and drags me the short distance to him until his face is within an inch of mine.

“Let’s get a few things straight, right now. You will never speak of loving another man in front of me. In fact, you can forget about him. You will never see him again. After tonight, he will be dead anyway. And for your mother, I’m sorry about her. I really am. But you belong with me. You’re mine now to do with as I please, when I please. And when I tell you to spread your beautiful legs and fuck me, you will. Until then, you will do as I say. Do you understand what I’m telling you now, Anna? You belong to me. And don’t ever call me Carlos again. My name is Juan. I’ve waited a long time to hear you call me by my name. I will wait no longer.”

He shoves me back away from him. More tears are threatening to escape. I’m a prisoner. His slave. God, why doesn’t he kill me now? Shoot me straight through my heart? He’s already dug a hole in my chest. He may as well pull my heart out, end me now before he destroys me for good, leaves me for an empty shell.

“I’ll fight you,” I whisper from my corner.

“I expect nothing less from you. You wouldn’t be the woman I know you are if you didn’t.” I hate him and the way he sneers his differences of opinion, always having some kind of idiotic comeback to everything I say. He thinks he knows me. Knows the kind of woman I am. He’s delirious. I’ll find a way to take his life before I let him touch me in the way he wants to. I close my eyes. He may have threatened me to never speak of Dilan again, but he will never clear the man I love from my thoughts. Not ever. His words about him dying grip my throat until I feel like I’m suffocating to death. He’s point blank stupid if he thinks Dilan or anyone in my family will give up. They will hunt him down. Rip his heart out of his chest, or I will.

I’m daydreaming of Dilan and how out of his mind he must be right now when I feel fingers trailing down my neck, sweeping my hair off of my face. “We’re here, Anna. Time to go.” I hate him, hate his sweet and gentle fingers on me. Juan Carlos is like one of those male wild dogs. They like take over, rule, destroy anything that comes near them in their own surroundings. They’re evil, territorial creatures, and when they strike, it’s right in the throat. They might look handsome and sweet on the outside, but they’re untamed, harsh, and unpredictable on the inside. Rapid. And you’d be a fool to trust them.

“Okay, Carlos,” I say bitterly. I refuse to call him Juan. He can beat the shit out of me before I give him anything he wants. He leans forward in the seat, his hands dropping away from my face. The thought of him touching me or watching me repulses me. There isn’t enough hot water or soap in this world to get his smell off of me.

I laugh inside at my thoughts of comparing him to a dog. Not a cute, little dog you can’t wait to get home to cuddle with or greet you at the door the minute you come home. No, he’s one who needs to be neutered. Painfully. As I continue to visualize this dog with his deep black, shiny coat, I realize his hair is now slicked back and the motherfucker changed his clothes. When? Must have been while I was lost in thought with Dilan. I sigh. He’ll find me. I know he will. I smile inside. Knowing he cleaned himself up while I was thinking of the man he despises so. I would love nothing more than to acknowledge that fact. He doesn’t deserve an acknowledgement. He deserves death. I hate him.

“You know,” I say, opening the door on my side, completely ignoring his outstretched hand to help me slide across the seat toward him. “For a man who claims to be obsessed or whatever your sick, twisted mind wants with me, you sure do know how to treat a lady,” I sneer as I take a step out into the freezing cold. Shivering, I wrap my arms around myself, not bothering to shut the door. Fuck that. His idiot driver can do that.

The wind picks up, whipping my hair all over the place, making chills run through my body.

His smug, nasty self walks behind and around the car. “Move back,” he whispers in my ear. My eyes grow wide when he pulls out a gun, opens the front door, and shoots the driver right in the back of his head. “Oh my god. What are you doing?” I back away farther, my head throbbing, racing. “Make this another lesson learned, Anna. Trust no one. He knew where we were going. I’m not leaving any evidence behind. Therefore, he had to die.” He snatches my hand, completely ignoring what I said, and tugs me behind him. I’m in shock. Shaking. Scared. The frozen earth below me feels like it’s swallowing me up. This is so wrong. Death and destruction are his life. And he’s casting me into it.

I look up to the small airplane I see through the blowing snow. My nerves are frayed like the hem on a pair of well-worn jeans with all the fibers falling apart. He’s going to bring all he’s got to break me down. I know he will. Right now, I don’t know what to think. I’ve gone numb.

“Get in.” He pulls me in front of him. I climb the stairs leading into the plane, feeling his eyes on my backside. More chills run through me. Not from the cold, but because I’m now going to be trapped with no means of escape from him at all for hours while we fly to fucking Columbia.