Eva. I don’t do this. It’s not who I am. I don’t put the club at unnecessary risk. I don’t feel anything for women other than a need to fuck them. Don’t get me wrong… I want to fuck you, but it’s not why I’m doing this.”
My eyes widen at his honesty. “I don’t think I can be who you want me to be, Nycto. I’m not made for this kind of life. I need to find my sister. I can’t have any kind of happiness knowing she’s out there living in a hell I can’t protect her from.”
Nycto’s eyes glass over. His hand drops from my face as he lets out a huff. “You haven’t heard a word I’ve been saying, have you? If I let you go anywhere, Andrés’ men will see you, and my club will suffer. You will be taken to be sold, and I won’t be able to protect you.”
A shiver runs up my spine at the thought. “I have to try.”
His nostrils flare as he stands abruptly. His fingers run through his hair as a low growl erupts from his chest. “Stubborn woman! You can’t try, and you won’t. You will stay in here for as long as it takes for you to get it through your head. I won’t have you putting my club in any more danger than it already is.”
My face begins to heat as I stand, throwing my hands in the air. “Oh, so it’s your club you care about. You honestly don’t give a shit about my safety anymore, huh? I see how it is.”
He stifles a laugh. “Chiquita, you test my patience. You have no idea what I’m doing for your safe—”
“Then. Tell. Me!” I yell in frustration.
He turns to storm back toward me, standing so close I’m enveloped in the scent of his aftershave. It’s intoxicating. “You want to know?” He scoffs, turning up his lip. “I had to ride out to a brother chapter today to borrow money from them so I could pay the man who bought you. He wanted his money back because he didn’t receive his package. And that payment is to stop the buyer from coming after my club and possibly finding you in the process. I had no other choice… now I’m down 125K. I have to pay it back to my brother chapter with damn interest. So, you think I’m not doing anything for your safety? I just paid a hefty price for it, sweetheart!”
My stomach rolls as heat flushes all over my body. I stumble on the spot, but he reaches out, grabbing me before I fall.
“I got you,” he affirms in a much softer tone. He leads me to the bed, and we sit as I try to take all this information in.
He paid one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars?
Why on earth would anyone want that much for me?
His hand rests on my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You with me, Eva?” he asks quietly as I stare into space.
My eyes glisten as I turn to him. “I-I heard what you were saying… that I had been sold, but I guess it didn’t really sink in until I heard the dollar amount. I was going to be sold to a man who was going to do God only knows what to me.”
Nycto wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him as the tears slowly fall down my face. I sniffle, the emotion of this hitting me all at once.
My sister is gone.
Taken by the very men who tried to steal me.
She’s going through hell, and I feel guilty because I’m here with a man who not only aggravates me but also invigorates me, more so than I have been in my whole life.
I’m mortified because I’m here, meeting Nycto, and a part of me, even if it’s the tiniest part of me, is glad this happened.
Because if it didn’t, I wouldn’t be here—with him.
I burst into a river of tears, hating myself for feeling this way. My hand comes up cuddling into Nycto, needing him. He’s tense in my grip, but he smothers me in his affection. Even though I’m falling to pieces right now, Nycto’s going to be here to put me back together.
And it scares the absolute hell out of me.
Chapter Nine
NYCTO
Eva’s a sobbing mess in my arms. This is hitting her hard as I guess it should. The gravity of the situation is tough. She was taken from her home country to