The look on her face when I told her about Rita Hurst was pure hate. Like the rest of us, she couldn’t understand. When her blood pressure monitor started beeping, the doctor tried to kick us all out of her room, but I refused to go. As soon as our families were convinced she was okay, they left for the night, leaving us alone. I crawled in the small bed and held her as close as possible. She declined any medicine offered, saying she was still drowsy. As much as she begged, we all agreed she needed to sleep before we talked anymore about her kidnapping. She slept soundly in my arms and I finally drifted off after the doctor came in and told me about Pedro’s condition.
“Good morning,” Stella’s sleepy voice breaks me out of my thoughts. “Have you been awake long?”
“Not really.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m getting there. Helps that I have you in my arms. When we get to go home, I’ll be even better.”
“How long before we’re bulldozed with our family and friends?”
“I’d say about half an hour.”
“Max, I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I need to know what happened on your end. And how are we laying in a pristine medical facility with world class doctors?”
“Marshall. We’re actually about an hour away from our hotel in an upscale community. He has connections everywhere, Bella. You already know the men that saved you were also hired by him.”
“Why not the actual police?”
I hesitate and she notices immediately. Her eyebrows arch in question and I blow out a deep breath. “We didn’t exactly go the legal route.”
“Tell me everything.”
“Marshall arrived two days after you were taken, he already hired the rescue team, but wanted to get all the information the police had. We played along until we knew we had a lock on your location. Jake’s supervisor knew what was going on but helped us cover our tracks. When we got word Pedro was missing, we built our plan.”
“What do you mean when you got word? He was gone for two days.”
“His grandmother reported him missing but all the manpower was being used to find you. Once I heard he was gone, I knew the two were connected. Jake tracked his phone and we got his last known location. Once we found out Rita was behind the kidnapping and we had the bank account information, it was easy to find the man who took you. His name is Carlos and he’s a fucking psycho. He’s also a man without a face. No one knew who he was, just his name. He’s a killer for hire. But what worried us the most is he was hired to kill you. He could have done that easily when you opened the door for room service. Him keeping you alive meant he had bigger plans.”
“He wanted me to have sex with him. He used Pedro as leverage. Then he was going to sell me.”
“We were afraid it was something like that. So Marshall, Jake, and I decided we wanted the fucker dead. As you can imagine, the police couldn’t be a part of it.”
“Is anyone in trouble?”
“No, human traffickin
g is an inhumane crime in any country. Carlos was known to associate with trafficking rings. No one is going to miss him.”
“Is this over?”
“Pretty much. Rita’s lawyered up, but there is enough evidence against her. Edward has a long recovery but he’s agreed to cooperate completely. I’ll have a shit ton of work to do when we get back, but it’ll work out.”
“It all happened so fast.”
“Nothing about this was fast. These have been the longest days of my life. If I live to be a hundred, I’ll never forget the fear.”
“I meant the whole Rita thing.”
“It was almost a full day before we could get to you once we had the right information. The U.S. legal system worked quickly as soon as Jake got them the Intel.”
“I want you to know something. In that room, with that man, I would have done anything to save Pedro’s life. But I never would have let him sell me. He’d have to kill me.”
“I’d never have stopped looking for you.”
“I love you.”
“You too, babe, so much. The fear and anguish of what was happening to you crushed me. There is no doubt in my mind that you have become my life.” I bend to her gently and she leans into my kiss. As soon as my lips meet hers a hunger takes over and I need her taste like I need air. She links her arms around my shoulders, pressing her body firmly against mine. My hands slide around her neck and tangle in her hair.