Manipulate (Deliver 6)

He knelt on the floor before her. “I’m sorry.”

She took a long drag without looking at him. Then she met his eyes and released the smoke in his face.

In a calm, calculated motion, he gripped her hand and twisted it in an unnatural direction at the wrist. The technique caused her just enough discomfort to release the cigarette from her fingers.

She yanked her hand away. “Why did you—?”

“I can’t be fixed. Not overnight. Maybe not ever.” He squashed out the cigarette beneath his knee. “But Ricky and I just had sex.”

Her glower darted behind him to Ricky. Her eyes softened for a moment then returned to him, reigniting with fire. “You came here to rub that in my face?”

“No.” It probably wasn’t the best thing to lead with after teasing her and rejecting her just hours earlier. But he was laying it all out on the table, and having sex with Ricky was the easiest part to confess.

Now came the hard part.

He dragged a hand over his head and centered himself on the presence behind him. Ricky didn’t know what he was about to say, but Ricky’s strength gave him the resolve to continue.

“His name was Jeff. The man I killed.” Martin inched closer on his knees and rested his hands on the mattress on either side of her. “He raped me every day for over a year, starting when I was fourteen. He was my dad’s brother. My uncle.”

Her posture stooped, and the anger in her expression melted into concern.

A reassuring masculine grip landed on his shoulder and squeezed. Then Ricky sat beside her.

“After the shit I said to you, to you both, I owe you my story. It’s not an excuse for my actions. I should’ve been more open with you, but I…” Dread curled in his stomach. “The one and only time I ever told someone about Jeff, it ended very badly.”

Ricky caught his gaze, studying him intently as if trying to make a connection.

“I’ll tell you about it.” He met her eyes. “If you still want to hear it.”

“I do.” She leaned forward but didn’t touch him.

“My history doesn’t just include Jeff.” He rested a hand on Ricky’s knee, his heart pumping with purpose.

They’d made a decision before leaving their cell, one that changed their mission, and with any luck, it would change hers, too.

They trusted her with their lives and would choose her over all else. No matter what happened, she was their priority.

“We’re vigilantes.” He touched her face and pulled her close to whisper at her ear, “We work to punish and eradicate human sex traffickers. It’s personal for us. The way Ricky and I met, everything we do, the reason we’re here—it’s all entangled with our vigilante group and our alliance with the Restrepo Cartel. We strategically arranged our arrest to come here and gather enough intel to take down Hector La Rocha’s operation.”

“Jesus.” She sucked in a breath. Then her expression tightened with indignation. “That’s where I come in.”

“You were our angle, yes. But not anymore. Now you’re our purpose.”

“Your purpose?” Her face reddened. She glanced at the closed door and lowered her voice to a furious whisper. “You’re aligned with a sworn enemy and working against Hector. He won’t just kill you when he finds out. He’ll have you tortured and make a spectacle of your deaths. This is exactly what he wanted to know about you, and you just handed me a confession.”

Martin absorbed the flux of emotion that crossed her face, fascinated by her thought processes. He wasn’t concerned about her ratting them out. She loved them. She just didn’t know it yet.

Her brows knitted, and her gaze bounced through the room before landing on him. “Why would you trust me with this? You already figured out that he sent me to you to learn your secrets, and you know I tell him everything. You’re not just throwing away your mission. You’re risking your lives by telling me.”

“Yes, we are.”

“We choose you, Tula.” Ricky tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Over the mission. Over everything.”

Her lips parted, and she shook her head. “But you don’t know if I’ll choose you.”

“You already have,” Martin said, hoping to hell he was right.

“How’s that?”

“I told you I wanted the names and locations of high-ranking officers. You had the past several hours to pass that information along to Hector. But you didn’t, did you? You didn’t even consider it.”

“No. I…” She touched her throat, and her gaze turned inward. “I learned something about Hector today, and I’m still trying to process that.”

“What is it?” His pulse sped up. “His human trafficking operation?”

“You first. I want to hear your story. About your uncle.” Her fingers slid over Ricky’s on the bed. “How you and Ricky met. Your vigilante work. All of it.”

“Not here.” Martin stood and offered his hand. “In our cell.”