“It’s just a little something to keep her from making a nuisance of herself during transport,” Jovan says.
Pérez’s weight leaves my back, but I can’t even twitch my little finger, let alone get to my feet. I flop like a rag doll as he lifts me effortlessly, throwing me over his shoulder.
The thick muscle bites into my stomach, making me feel like I’ll puke any second. There’s nothing I can do but stare at his pant leg, each of his strides making me dizzy.
“Thirty days, Santiago,” Jovan warns, his footsteps trailing behind us. “No excuses, no exceptions.”
The world around me starts to fade away, as if I’m sinking into a dark hole. The hallway lights are like pinpoints hundreds of miles away, and my mind feels detached from my body.
The two men are silent as they exit the house, and before long I register the humidity of the outside air. Stone and then pavement pass beneath me, and I whimper as I’m lifted and hauled into the backseat of the car. I can’t keep my eyes open, and my neck can no longer hold up my head. It lolls to the side as my body is cradled by soft, buttery leather, and the car sways from the slamming of doors.
And just like that, I’m riding away from life as I know it and a future that just slipped through my fingers like water.
A warm hand grips my chin and tilts my head up. I feel eyes on me and assume they belong to Pérez. He doesn’t strike me as one to drive himself around in what feels like a luxury vehicle.
I’m proven right when he speaks, his voice close and vibrating through me along with the rumble of the engine. “Drive.”
The car begins to move, and Jovan’s voice comes at me as if from far away. He must be driving. “What are you going to do with her? You know Aguilar won’t have the money in time.”
“Don’t worry about what I’ll do with her. All you need to know is what will happen if Santiago doesn’t pay up.”
“And you think you can do it so easily?” Jovan asks, sounding dubious. “You’re going to kill this girl to punish her father when she hasn’t done anything wrong?”
Right before I fall unconscious, Pérez’s voice washes over me, filling me with dread.
“Absolutely.”
3
Diego
What the hell did I just do?
I ask myself the question over and over during the ride home. It’s a long haul from High Pines to Indian Creek—a private, exclusive neighborhood on a small island in Biscayne Bay. Its small size and a total of less than twenty houses makes it the perfect place for the center of my operations. Several of my men live under my roof, along with my staff, security team, and my little sister. Apparently, it’s also going to be the home of Elena Aguilar for the next thirty days.
Ignoring Jovan’s probing glances in the rear-view window, I study Elena up close. She’s a tall woman, a mere inch shorter than me, with legs that go on forever. Her skin is smooth and sun-kissed, a shade of bronzed olive just a bit lighter than my own. Her hair was dripping wet when she invaded her father’s office, but it’s starting to dry in silky waves. A few strands are plastered to her face and neck, so I push them back.
When open, her eyes were large and chocolate brown. Dark amber flecks jumped out at me when I stood close. Her eyebrows are plucked and neat, full but not bushy, arching toward a smooth forehead. Her nose is slightly, adorably upturned at the tip, and a tiny beauty spot shows just above her upper lip. Her mouth is a fucking wet dream, plump and slightly open, naturally tinted a pale pink. It doesn’t take much imagination to picture those pouty lips wrapped around my cock.
No. I can’t think about her that way. She isn’t some piece of ass I can help myself to whenever I want. She’s a valuable prisoner—one that will, hopefully, be worth millions by the time I’m finished with her father.
That doesn’t stop me from letting my eyes travel lower. Might as well finish my inspection. Her cover-up has fallen open, revealing a tiny red bikini and the glorious body inside it. Jovan was right about her tits. They’re a generous handful, perky and round, delicate nipples showing through the fabric of her suit. Her belly is tight and slightly defined—a sign