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Yes, she had tried her best to protect herself and Gloria, but she’d made one mistake after another. In the end, she’d failed them both.

This time, I won’t fail again
.

Ana finished dressing.

When Ty knocked on her door, her doubts were gone.

She was here. She was staying. And she was finding Gloria.

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

As Ty led Ana through the Belladonna compound, Ana’s
nerves got the best of her. Normally at ease with silence, she found herself gesturing to the stone hall and mullioned windows and blurting, “This building is really something. It’s so old.”

He smiled slightly, as if he understood why she suddenly wanted to make small talk. “The main house is part of an old plantation. Over the years, the property has gone from a timber farm to a tobacco farm to a rich family’s vacation estate. We’ve added on. There’s an Olympic-sized pool. An airplane hangar we’ll be using to train in. Even a parlor for, uh, soirees. I think that’s what they’re called.”

“I wouldn’t know. So do I have to learn to walk with a book on my head? Am I going to play the ignorant gangster girl to your Professor Higgins?”

“I want you to walk with a book on your head? Yes. You’ll do it. Remember that when you’re having your conversation with Carly, will you?”

Fury swelled within her, but before she could retort, he’d let her into a large office off the foyer and pointed at some fancy phone equipment.

“Sit down and we’ll start the conference call.”

She snorted in disbelief. “You’re joking. So what is this? Your take on some cheesy seventies drama about
three women and a guy named Charlie that they never get to meet?”

“Three
hot
women,” Ty said mildly. “Don’t forget that part of it.”

“Even more reason why I don’t belong here.”

Ty tsked. “Now, now. That’s not fair. Throw a challenge out like that and I have no other recourse but to prove exactly how hot I find you, do I?”

“I wasn’t challenging you,” she said quickly. “But come on. I don’t get to see Carly face-to-face?”

“No.”

Ana cocked a brow at him. “Do you?”

His face remained impassive. Too impassive. “Yes.”

“Then why can’t I?”

“Because, Ms. Martin,” a seductive female voice spoke from the intercom box on the table beside them. “Ty’s proven his loyalty both to me and to Belladonna’s cause time and again.”

Ana hated the woman instantly. Carly’s voice, like Ty’s, conveyed money and good breeding, although Ana couldn’t place Carly’s accent. Unlike Ty’s, Carly’s also dripped with condescension. Ana’s emotions must have been all over her face. When she looked at Ty, he dropped his gaze, the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.

“I thought this agency just opened,” Ana replied for lack of anything better to say. “So how could Ty have proven his loyalty already?”

“Ty and I knew each other before this agency was even a thought in my mind.”

The depth of that knowledge was obvious from Carly’s tone. Fine. The two had fucked one another—so what? Irrationally, it just made Ana madder. “So when I prove my loyalty, I see your face. Must be
un maravillosa
display.”

“It is. And yes, when you prove your loyalty, you might get to judge that for yourself. Until then, if you
saw my face, I’d have to kill you.” Carly waited a beat before her laughter overrode Ty’s sigh. “That last part’s a joke, by the way.”

Ana gritted her teeth. “Not a good one. And I don’t like playing games. The blindfold was bad enough, but—”

“Please don’t blame the blindfold on me. That was strictly Ty’s decision.”

She shot a wary glance at Ty. “Does he often do things you haven’t approved of?”

“All the time. But I try very hard not to interfere with my employees’ freedom of expression, especially when they’re bringing in a new operative. Hopefully you’ll discover that for yourself.”

“I’m not an operative.”

“Of course not, Ms. Martin. Not yet. But you will be. And you’ll be asked to teach others to be operatives.”

“Will I be asked, or am I being asked?”

“This one’s slippery, isn’t she, Ty?”

“Not really,” he said. His voice was neutral but his implication clear, at least to Ana—that he’d managed to grab hold of her at least once. She glared at him and he raised his brows at her as if to ask: What?

Ana suddenly felt like a puppet being yanked between two very careless kids. “I was told I was being offered a job. I wasn’t aware I had to interview for it. If that’s the case, then
olvídese esto
.”

“Excuse me?” Carly asked.

“Forget this,” Ty clarified.

“Oh. Well, you are being offered a job, Ms. Martin. If you’ll sit down, I’ll tell you the basics and you can ask questions from there. How does that sound?”

It sounded like she could see her, Ana thought. She glanced around but saw no signs of cameras. She glanced at Ty, hesitated, and then finally, remembering Gloria’s
photo in her bag, slowly sat in one of the wing chairs beside the table. Ty, she noted, remained standing.

“Go ahead,” Ana said to the box.

“A wealthy Colombian’s wife and daughter have been taken captive by a cult—Salvation’s Crossing. For various reasons, the FBI will not intervene at this time. Mr. Montes has asked Belladonna to take the case and go where the FBI refuses to. Your mission will be to infiltrate the cult and remove Ramona and Becky Montes from their grasp.”

So all this was about a man looking for his wife and child? Not that she didn’t understand the desperate need to be reunited with one’s family, but …

“How do you know this man’s wife and child didn’t leave on their own? How do you know that the thing they have to fear most isn’t Montes himself?”

“We’ve done our homework, Ms. Garcia. Ty, show her the photos of the Montes women.”

He reached for a folder and slid out several photos, enlargements from smartphone snapshots, on the blurry side. Ana studied the photos and gave him a dubious look. She mouthed a reply for his benefit.

Best you can do? Are you kidding?

Ty shrugged and returned the photos to the folder as Carly continued.

“You don’t need to worry about Mr. Montes’s truthfulness or intentions.”

“And I’m just supposed to take your word for it?”

“Considering that between the two of us, Ty and I have twenty-five years of covert ops experience—yes.”

“Uh-huh,” Ana said in a voice edged with disbelief. “You two are badass spies. So what makes you think I can get some rich woman out of a cult when you can’t? I’m a former gang member and barista. Not a cult member.”

“You’re Hispanic. And Salvation’s Crossing is publicly
known as an outreach group dedicated to promoting Hispanic culture and diversity. But that’s a false front. Instead, the group preys on illegal immigrants and holds them at a compound in a California valley, using the members for slave labor, and even selling people on the black market.”

Again, bad shit, but did Carly really think her revelation was going to shock her? After all she’d seen? Ana fought growing frustration. “Are Mrs. Montes and her daughter in the U.S. illegally?”

When she answered, Carly’s voice echoed the frustration Ana was feeling.

“It doesn’t matter if she is or she isn’t. Do you understand the concepts of captivity and cults? Or are you not as smart as Téa said you were?”

Ana’s first instinct was to tell Carly to go take a flying leap off a tall building, but she didn’t. Asking questions about things that didn’t make sense was one thing, but she couldn’t forget she was here because of Gloria. And Téa.

“I still see nothing I can bring to the table here,” Ana snapped. “Cut the bullshit and tell me what you want from me.”

Carly let out a sharp laugh. “She
is
a hothead, Ty. You’ll train her on that, I take it?”

“Among other things,” Ty said.

Ana folded her arms across her chest. Yes, she wanted info on Gloria, wanted to know for certain her sister was happy or help her become so, but exactly why she’d been recruited just wasn’t clear. “You just said it yourself. Maybe I’m stupid when it comes to cults. So why do you want me?”

Carly continued smoothly. “There are certain similarities between cults and gangs. Both depend on a culture of fear that is covered up by a false sense of family and belonging. Both types of organizations exploit their
members, often in heinously cruel ways. Because you belonged to a Hispanic gang, you bring an insider’s skill set to this operation.”

Something shook loose inside Ana. She sucked at the air, suddenly unable to breathe as memories of gang life pounced on her consciousness. She gave time for the oxygen to settle in her system before answering. So cults and gangs were related. Made sense.

But why use a former gang member to go in? Why wouldn’t the U.S. government get the rich Colombian’s wife out of the cult?

“Is the FBI afraid of another Waco?” she asked, naming a failed FBI raid on a cult that had occurred many years in the past. “Are they scared they’ll screw up the rescue?”

“We have our suspicions as to why the FBI refuses to rescue Mrs. Montes. Bad press might be part of it,” Carly conceded. “The links to the Crossing are weak—there’s not much of a paper trail for the FBI to lean on. In addition, we suspect the FBI may be reluctant to infiltrate in case something goes wrong. This is an election year, and it fears the ramifications of targeting a minority group.”

“So the FBI is being pussy-whipped by the politicians,” she snapped out.

Next to her, Ty snorted again.

“An interesting term. Not one I’d use, but still … Now that you know more and understand what’s at stake for innocent people, will you join Belladonna?”

“I—I don’t know,” Ana hedged. “What you want of me doesn’t make sense. And when things don’t make sense—”

Ty interrupted. “Carly, for God’s sake, she’s not buying any of this and I for one don’t want to spend the next few hours talking in circles. You need to tell her.”

“Tell me what?” Ana focused her attention on Ty.

“Why you’re our best bet for infiltrating the cult.”

Something sunk within her stomach. “Spill it,” she demanded.

“You won’t want to hear it,” Carly responded.

“Just fucking tell me!”

“Temper, temper,” Carly cooed.

If Ana could punch the woman, she would. Instead, she tensed her whole body, hands clenched into fists, glaring at Ty as the woman’s voice continued to penetrate the room.

“Ana, all the reasons we gave you for wanting you to join Belladonna are true. You have what we want—street smarts, knowledge of the Hispanic culture, an understanding of the mentality of a cult, and above all, high intelligence. But we also want you because you will be driven to do your absolute best for us. Even if training wipes you out, frustrates you, drives you nearly insane, you will persevere.”

“Why would I?” she asked.

Silence suffused the room. Ty’s gaze never wavered from hers.

Then Carly spoke. “Because the cult has your sister.”

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Ana slowly turned toward Ty. “You told me she was healthy
and happy. You lying piece of shit!” She moved toward him and Ty caught her with an arm around her waist and a hand around her wrists so she couldn’t hit him. As she struggled, he nearly groaned at the feel of her body against his.

“I told you,” he gritted out. “I don’t lie.”

“Oh, so she’s a prisoner of a cult and that’s a good thing?”

“She’s using an assumed name. Helena Esperanza. That’s why you haven’t been able to find anything about her. Even if you search for her now, you won’t find much. But you’ll find a few articles about Salvation’s Crossing that mention her name. From everything we know, your sister is with the cult of her own free will.”

“Right,” she spat. “Just like Mrs. Montes, huh?”

“That’s what we need to confirm.” Ty released her, not missing how quickly Ana backed away. She was breathing hard. They both were. And he’d be a fool not to recognize that fear of her response to him was driving her retreat almost as much as anger was. Momentarily, his mind shot back to that night and the way she’d looked while she’d been masturbating. The way she’d looked when he’d imagined himself going down on her.

“And what if Gloria or Mrs. Montes have been brainwashed?”

“It depends. Were you brainwashed when you were with the gang? Were you in danger before you tried to jump out?” He knew she’d been both on some level, but he was curious what she’d say. If she’d admit it. If she was in denial about her past, as determined to punish herself for the choices she’d made as he suspected she was.

She hesitated, as if reluctant to make excuses for herself. “Some would say I was brainwashed. Maybe not from my gang, directly, but—”

She’d walked the line, both admitting more than he’d expected and taking responsibility for her choices all at the same time. “But did you need saving?” he pushed.

“I wanted it,” she whispered, not just surprising him now but shocking him. “Whether I needed it, who knows? But if Gloria’s brainwashed, if what you say about this cult is true, then what?”

“Then we rescue her,” he said simply.

“I’m sure it’ll be that easy,” she sneered. “The prince charging up on his white steed rescues the damsel in distress. Too bad you’re more like the devil.”

He frowned at her. Prince. Devil. The words echoed in his brain. Reformed.

He suddenly pictured himself and Ana, just the way he’d imagined them when they’d been “getting it on,” so to speak—with her wearing a thin T-shirt and him with his light brown hair and blue eyes. Fragments of a conversation between them that had never actually happened filtered through his mind.

I used to read to my sister, Naomi, at bedtime. Her favorite fairy tale was
Sleeping Beauty.
Remember I said you weren’t living, but waiting? I call you princess because you’re asleep. You don’t know how beautiful you are. How much the world needs you. And I want to be the man who kisses you and wakes you up
.