Alpha One (Shadow Agents 1)

Just about.

“She wasn’t.” Then he put his blade just under Juliana’s shoulder, in the exact spot the guard had sliced Logan’s arm. “So when I start cutting her, I bet she’ll scream.”

He sliced into Juliana’s arm.

“Stop!” Logan roared.

Juliana gasped but made no other sound.

Guerrero frowned. “Interesting...”

“No, it’s not.” Rage was choking Logan. “Get. Away. From. Her.”

Guerrero lifted his knife. “Juliana, I believe you were wrong about him. I believe your lover does care...and he’s about to show you just how much.”

Juliana’s eyes met Logan’s.

“Two things can happen here,” Guerrero said, and there was satisfaction in his voice. “One...I start cutting her, and she breaks. She can’t handle the pain—no one ever can—and she tells me where I can find my evidence. I mean, she has it, right? That’s what she told the reporters.”

Juliana was still staring at Logan. Keep looking at me, baby. Don’t look away. Everything’s okay.

“Or we have option two...” Guerrero walked behind Juliana and the blade moved to her right shoulder. “I start hurting her, and you talk, Logan. You talk...and I make her pain stop.”

Logan’s teeth ground together.

Guerrero sighed. “You think I don’t know about the EOD? Those agents have caused plenty of trouble for me and my...associates over the years. I know I’d enjoy some payback time.”

Too many would.

“You talk, you tell me about the agents, where I can find them, any aliases they have, and I’ll make Juliana’s pain stop.”

The ropes were cutting into Logan’s flesh. Thick, twisted, they held him so tight.

“Tell me, and I’ll make her pain stop.” The blade dug into Juliana’s arm. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and Logan knew she was trying to hold back her cries.

He’d never loved her more. “Let her go.”

Guerrero bent near her ear. His lips brushed over the delicate shell when he asked, “Where’s the evidence, Juliana? What did you do with it?”

“We...lied to the reporters,” she whispered.

“Where is it?” he pressed.

Juliana shook her head.

Logan marked Guerrero for death. He stared at him, knowing this was one target that wouldn’t be brought in alive. “You made a mistake,” Logan told him.

Guerrero yanked that bloody blade from her flesh. Juliana’s shoulders sagged.

“You should never have brought me in alive.” Guerrero had let him get close, and Logan definitely intended to kill El Diablo.

“So tough.” He lifted the blade again, and drops of blood fell to hit the floor as he turned back to Juliana. “Now, where were we?”

“Mexico,” she said, voice trembling.

The guards weren’t looking at Logan. They were focused on Guerrero. On Juliana. There was eagerness on their faces.

They liked the torture.