“I watched you for a couple of months. Determined your patterns, your goals, who you were closest to.” He lifted his chin at Tate.
Her former roommate sat directly across from her, his knees brushing against hers.
“Matias approached me at a bar.” Tate bent forward and gathered her hands in his. “He told me your history with him, how you guys grew up together, that he was the one you called to deal with the bodies, and that he loved you. So I knew you trusted him to some degree.” His leg bounced. “He told me he was the boss of the Restrepo cartel and that he was the kind of guy who took what he wanted. But he couldn’t take you because you’d been captured before. He couldn’t just rip you away from your life because he’d never win you that way.” He smirked. “He pitched this crazy fucking plan to me, Camila.”
“What plan?” She pulled her hands gently from his.
Next to Tate, Nico put in ear buds and reclined in the seat, closing his eyes. He’d heard this story so many times, had been there through it all. Matias didn’t blame him for shutting them out.
Tate gave Matias a questioning look, and Matias gestured for him to continue. It would be better for her to hear this part from him.
“There was a slave ring in Austin. Just a couple of local guys. Not affiliated with anyone. Those are the guys you initially started tracking.”
“Oh, God.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I can totally guess where you’re going with this.”
Matias put a hand on her thigh, and she didn’t push it away. She didn’t touch it, either.
Tate gave her a small smile. “Matias told me that night he intended to kill off that slave ring and replace it with his own people. He would continue to operate it, except the slaves would be fake. Actresses. All of it staged to draw you in. And he needed my help.”
Her face turned white.
Matias tried to hold his breath, but he couldn’t. He needed to make something very clear. “I know you would’ve taken down that operation within weeks. You’re so damn tenacious and brave those motherfuckers didn’t stand a chance. But I was selfish. I wanted you fighting at my side, in Colombia, against some of the worst slavery on the planet. I needed you.”
She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes, her expression giving nothing away. Then she looked at Tate. “So you went along with this?”
“Not immediately. I left the bar with my goddamn head spinning.” Tate pulled her arms down and forced her to look at him. “A month later, he flew me to Colombia and took me on one of his raids. It was a fucking barn…” He swiped a hand over his mouth, his blue eyes darkening with memories.
A shiver raced through Matias as he recalled that night. He’d never been enslaved, but the depravity he’d witnessed over the years had deeply connected him to her cause. All the effort she invested—the spying, planning, and risking her life—meant as much to him as it did to her. She was his, and he was wonderstruck by her ambition. She hadn’t let her own captivity ruin her life. She was too strong a woman to hide in fear. Instead, she used her knowledge and experience to save as many lives as she could.
She would’ve eventually expanded her campaign beyond Texas, and it was his responsibility to be there, protecting her when she did. There were so many predators in the world, breeding the kind of horrors she fought against. Like the barn.
“There were children,” Tate whispered, “naked and shackled, being auctioned off.” His shoulders shook, and he met Matias’ eyes. “Matias saved every one of them and left an unholy massacre in his wake.”
“You fell in love with him that night.” The stubborn set of her chin eased as she studied Tate’s face.
“Uh.” Tate laughed and raked a hand through his blond hair. “As much as a straight guy can appreciate another man, I guess. I was willing to do whatever he asked of me.”
At some point over the past four years, Matias developed a soul-deep respect for the guy. Deep enough that he would kill anyone who tried to harm Tate.
“Your heart beats for the end of slavery.” She echoed Matias’ words to Tate. “You found that same passion in Matias.”
It was exactly the thing Matias needed to hear her say. She understood him in a way no one else could.
“For sure.” Tate wiped his palms on his thighs, avoiding Matias’ stare. “By the way, he was dead set on capturing Van and Liv and selling them into slavery.”
“What?” She froze.
Matias still wanted to punish them, but… “Tate filled me in on how they were coerced into human trafficking, so I made an exception and spared them.”
“Thank you.” She played with the ends of her hair. “I’m still reeling over the fact that you and Tate know each other.” She eyed Tate suspiciously. “Four years ago, you left for a week to go on a soul-searching road trip across the States.”
“He was with me in Colombia,” Matias said. “After the raid at the barn, he stayed at the estate for a few days.”
“Why did you involve Tate at all?” she asked.
“He was the closest I could get to you.” Matias’ stomach sank just as the helicopter dipped and recovered altitude. “He watched over you, protected you, and called me every day, letting me know every detail of your life, including the things you confided in him.”
“What things?” she growled, shooting a glare at Tate.
“This is why I wanted you to have this conversation before I arrived.” Tate frowned at Matias as he leaned back and folded his arms across his chest.
Matias caught her chin and touched her mouth with his, quick and chaste. Then he released her, but kept his face close. “You told him your sexual cravings. Your desire to be held down, controlled, fucked hard—”
“Okay, stop.” She leaned back. “I know what I told him.” She turned her glare on Tate. “Not cool, man.”
Without Tate’s intel, it would’ve taken Matias a long damn time to figure out she was a sexual submissive. He knew she leaned that way as a sixteen-year-old girl, but she’d also been young and innocent. After her abduction, he’d been shocked as hell to learn that her submissive cravings had only deepened.
“He told me things, Camila.” Tate cocked his head. “His sexual preferences. You were both in my fucking ear. Him wanting to dominate you. You wanting to be dominated. I knew, without a doubt in my mind, you were perfect for each other. So I helped him out.”
“With his plan,” she said. “And that was…?”
“To get you to come to me willingly.” Matias paused as the helicopter shuddered through turbulence. “I knew, eventually, you would try to infiltrate my fake slave ring disguised as a slave—”
“Oh, no.” Her face turned ashen. “OhGodOhGod, I tortured and killed Larry McGregor.”
“He was a legit scumbag,” Matias said. “At first, you were tracking a real slave ring. I took those guys out, trickled you a few leads, planted people in your path, but after four years, you weren’t biting.” He smiled. “You were really cautious, and I’m fucking proud of you for that. But I was growing impatient. So I hand-selected Larry McGregor, a bona fide kidnapper. He’d never murdered anyone. Still, it was a risk I didn’t like. Tate ensured me you would go back to his house and immediately choke him out.” His nostrils flared. “Except you decided to—”
“I had to get him in that chokehold.” She straightened and lifted her chin.
“Wait.” Tate widened his eyes. “Tell me you didn’t fuck—”
“I didn’t.” She sniffed. “What about the girl in Larry’s barn?”
“An actress,” Matias said. “I placed her in Larry’s path.”
She stared out the window as the helicopter vibrated and swooped with sideways movements and occasional rapid changes in altitude. He already missed his smooth-gliding Bell 429.
“I was making a difference in Austin,” she said quietly. “So why do I feel like such a dumb, predictable pawn?”
He didn’t want her to think he’d used her passion against slavery to trick her. Nor did he
intend to belittle her extraordinary accomplishments.
His stomach hardened as he formulated his words. “You took down Van Quiso’s operation, did you not?”
“With help.”
“How many of your freedom fighters volunteered to infiltrate a slave ring as a slave? Look at me.” When she did, he rested his forehead against hers. “The only predictable thing about you is your prowess. Frankly, I’m blown away by your badass-ness, Camila Dias. As a capo, I can’t not recruit you. As the man who loves you, I can’t not be at your side while you put yourself in danger.”
She drew in a ragged breath. “You manipulated me.”
“And you manipulated me, sneaking your sexy ass into my cartel with the intention of removing my head from my body.”
“Well, yeah.” She laughed nervously. “I…uh, decided that was a terrible plan.”
“Thank fuck for that.”