Wicked and Forever (Wicked & Devoted 6)

“Yes. I hoped Victor would fight back and weaken Montilla.”

Was she serious? “Did you grasp that it would probably mean Ramos’s death?”

She hesitated, licking her lips, squirming again. The answer she was withholding right now was the something she didn’t want to admit. Was she afraid he wouldn’t give her this orgasm if she said she hadn’t meant for Ramos to get hurt?

“Tell me,” he demanded, dropping his voice. “Now.”

“Yes,” she gave in with a cry. “I suspected Montilla would kill Victor. I hoped for that.”

She expected him to believe that after the video she’d sent? Trees scowled. “Bullshit. How about the truth this time?”

“It is the truth!” she insisted. “After that, I planned to find Kimber’s location to give EM a reason to hunt down Montilla—”

“So we would off him for you and your family would finally be safe?”

“Exactly.”

He had to give her credit. If that was the truth, her plan was both ballsy and brilliant. And something he absolutely itched to spank her ass for.

But she’d also given him a lot to unpack in that statement. He started with the things she was most likely to answer without pushing back. “So…the distraction to focus Montilla’s attention on Ramos? Is that why you helped him steal the Ferrari?”

She nodded. “It was my idea. I convinced Victor that if he could show the cartel he was clever enough to take the man’s prized possession, then perhaps everyone would think the old man incapable of continuing the operation and that he should be replaced by someone as daring and crafty as Victor.”

Trees didn’t ask if Ramos had been dumb enough to believe it. Obviously he had. Laila had appealed to the man’s ambition and vanity and said exactly what he’d wanted to hear. “And you’re seriously telling me you wanted Montilla to kill your lover?”

“He is not my lover. He is my rapist.”

“That’s not what you said in La Pesca. You insisted that you enjoyed everything he did to your body and that you were with him of your own free will.”

“I said what I had to so that you would not fight Victor in the street. I knew he would do his best to kill you,” she argued passionately. “When he shot you, I died a thousand deaths.”

He wanted to believe her, but they were a long way from trust. “Why should I buy that after you criticized me for being suckered by your ‘sad story’? Which lies are the genuine lies, Laila? You sent me a video of you two fucking, so it’s a little hard to believe you didn’t leave me because you have feelings for Ramos and that you weren’t helping him for your own greedy ends.”

“I swear, I only meant to protect you.”

“By spreading your legs for him, filming it, and sending it to me with a kiss-off email?”

The tears that had been trembling on her lashes fell. “Valeria told me you intended to rescue me that night. I knew you were injured. I watched you fall. I held you and you were unmoving. If you had come at Victor, he would have killed you. I could not have borne that.”

“Because you have so many feelings for me?” He shot her a dubious stare. “You going to try to tell me next that you didn’t mean to hurt me with that video?”

“No. I knew I would hurt you, and I hated that.”

“But you sent it anyway. After you let him fuck you, of course.”

“He did not! I stopped him.”

Did she think he was stupid? “Really? Were you naked in that video?”

“I was, but—”

“Was he on top of you?”

“Yes, but—”

“Was he between your legs? Was his cock hard? Were you smiling for the camera while telling him that your pussy was there for him and that you’d always be his good little whore?”

Her expression reflected both misery and exasperation. “All of that, yes. But it was a calculated risk. He had been imbibing tequila all night. He had finished the bottle—straight. I knew from experience that it was a matter of time before he passed out.”

Trees wanted to be convinced, but he needed to get away from her naked flesh, the smell of her creaming pussy, her dilated eyes imploring him to trust her just one more time… “I have two more questions.”

“No rewards? I have been honest.”

Well, she had answered. He would have to think through everything she’d said rationally to decide how much of it was the truth.

“You’re right.” He reached behind him and dipped into the plastic bag of candy.

“Not chocolate. Kiss me,” she panted. “Touch me.”

So she could cloud his head again? He should probably see her request as progress, but without knowing her motives, he couldn’t. There was more than a passing chance that she’d tangled him up so badly that he couldn’t be logical anymore. “You don’t get to demand rewards, honey. You get what I give you. Do you want the chocolate?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll go back to my questions.”