Ruthless Savior - Julia Sykes Page 0,13

cashmere socks.

Growing desperate, I yanked the final, bottom drawer free. When the contents were revealed, I jerked my hands back as though I’d found a sleeping snake.

I pressed a hand over my pounding heart and gulped for air. The heavy coils of rough, hemp rope might only mimic the sinuous line of a poisonous snake, but they were no less terrifying. I’d always known Raúl was a violent man, capable of horrific things. But watching him go feral in order to protect me was an entirely different experience to being faced with the torture implements he kept handy.

My stomach dropped when I noted more matte, black leather and glinting steel restraints tucked beneath the rope. I shoved the drawer closed on a gasp, hiding the evidence of Raúl’s cruelty. I couldn’t allow fear to overwhelm me, or I would find myself tied down in these ropes, punished for my crimes against him.

I make no promises about how quickly I’ll kill him. Would Raúl take his time tormenting me, like he intended to prolong Arturo’s suffering?

I forced the thought from my mind before I could spiral into debilitating panic. My eyes landed on a small, polished wooden box that rested atop the chest of drawers. It was so plain that I’d initially dismissed it entirely in my search for valuables. But I didn’t dare continue my search of Raúl’s drawers, and I was running out of options.

I lifted the hinged lid, revealing a black velvet interior. Four cufflinks had been tossed carelessly into the corners, and I had to pluck them up and examine them to ensure they were indeed matching sets. One set appeared to be onyx bracketed in a white metal that I assumed was precious—gold, if I was lucky. The other set was simpler: heavy, rectangular blocks of similar white metal, which had been brushed to dull its shine. Considering Raúl’s wealth, I doubted these were simply crafted in silver.

I tucked both sets of cufflinks into my deep pocket before turning my attention to the final object in the box. The watch was battered with age. Scuffs marred the leather band, and numerous scratches had been etched into the glass face. A few tiny, white stones glimmered dully around the rim, located at twelve, three, and six; the nine o’clock stone seemed to be missing.

The watch might be too damaged to be worth much, but the raw materials would bring in at least a little cash.

Briefly, I wondered why Raúl would keep such a flawed piece when he obviously had enough money to buy hundreds of luxury watches, but I shoved the thought away.

Understanding Raúl’s quirks didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but getting as far away from him as possible.

I shoved the watch into my pocket alongside the cufflinks and smoothed down my skirt, ensuring the items weren’t so bulky that they might attract attention. Once I was out on the streets, I had to find the nearest pawn shop, sell the items, and use the cash to get the first bus to Juárez. When I reached the border town, I could track down a coyote to get me into the US, where my long, agonizing journey could finally come to an end.

I just had to get across the border before Raúl had the chance to hunt me down.

Chapter 5

Raúl

The coward was hiding in the bunker, as though leaving his men to be slaughtered while he locked himself behind a steel door would save him from me. Arturo Flores had been dead since the moment his name had issued from Marisol’s blood-kissed lips.

Ever since I’d left her in the care of Stefano’s private physician, rage had served as a simmering heat beneath my skin; fuel for my most savage impulses. Now, the gory image of her beautiful face burst to the forefront of my mind, and my fury-heated blood surged through my veins in a searing pulse.

Marisol was just as delicate as I’d always feared. I’d reveled in her fragility beneath my rough hands when I’d claimed her mouth this morning, loving the feel of her utterly vulnerable, deliciously petite body softening in my hold. But seeing her in pain had driven me close to insanity. Protecting her, coveting her, had become my obsession. Knowing that Daniel had made her bleed while I wasn’t watching her made me see red.

He’d made me break my promise. He and Arturo, with their fucking coup.

They would both pay. And they’d pay with ten times more pain than what they’d inflicted on Marisol.

She’d