Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 80139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
I don’t interrupt. Something in his tone tells me he doesn’t tell this story to just anyone.
“She worked in a brothel,” he says.
I blink.
That wasn’t what I expected.
“Local place. Nothing fancy. But steady business.” He clears his throat. “Men from Vega’s organization were regulars. I grew up there.”
“And your mom?” I ask.
“She did what she had to do,” he says. “Same as the rest of them. They took care of me.”
“Who did?” I ask.
“All of them. The women.” His expression softens. “They rotated. Watched me when my mother couldn’t. Fed me. Kept me out of trouble…mostly.”
I smile a little.
“I had a lot of mothers,” he says. “Or aunts. Depends on how you look at it.”
“And the madame?” I ask.
“Señora Valentina,” he says. “She ran everything. She was firm but fair. She made sure none of us went hungry. None of the women, either. She was like a grandmother to me.”
I glance at him.
“They weren’t what people think,” he continues. “Not to me.”
I nod. “I believe you.”
He looks into my eyes. “Most people wouldn’t. Most people would write them off as common whores.”
I shrug. “I’m not most people.”
“I learned early,” he says, “that respect isn’t about what someone does for a living. It’s about how they survive.”
“That’s a good lesson,” I say quietly. “But why are you telling me this?”
He goes still.
For a second, I think he might deflect. Shut down.
Instead, he draws in a slow breath. “Because,” he says, his voice quieter now, “I’m going to get you out of here.”
18
CRUZ
She doesn’t believe me. I can see it the second the words leave my mouth.
I’m going to get you out of here.
Robin goes still beside me, her body no longer relaxed against mine.
“Okay,” she says, but she doesn’t sound convinced.
I turn my head toward her. “You don’t believe me.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
She exhales. “You expect me to just…what? Take your word for it?”
“I expect you to question it,” I say. “I would. You should know I’m not in the habit of sleeping with my prisoners and then doing whatever they want.”
“I never asked you to help me escape,” she says.
I huff out a quiet breath. “No. You didn’t.”
“So don’t act like I manipulated you into this.”
“I didn’t say that,” I reply. “But let’s not pretend it wasn’t your end goal.”
She tilts her head. “Of course it was my end goal, but I didn’t expect you to fold after one quick roll in the hay.”
I let out a low chuckle despite myself.
“Guess I’m better than I thought,” she adds.
I shake my head slightly, lift a hand to her face, trace my finger down the curve of her cheek. Her skin is warm. Soft.
She leans into it, but just a fraction.
“We both know this wasn’t a simple roll in the hay,” I say quietly. “This was something else.”
She blinks once.
Twice.
“Don’t,” she says softly.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t make it into something it’s not.”
I hold her gaze. “Doesn’t it feel like something, though?”
I don’t push. I don’t need to. I can see the answer in her eyes before she says it.
“Yes,” she admits. “It does.”
Something in my chest loosens.
I let my hand fall back to the cot, forcing myself to stay grounded, to not let that moment pull me too far into something I can’t afford.
“How?” she asks. “How are you actually going to do this?”
“I’ve been here for years,” I say. “Long enough to know every inch of this place.”
“You and Zabala?” she asks.
I nod. “We’re the only ones assigned here full time.”
“And Vega?”
“He doesn’t come down here unless he needs to.”
“So it’s just the two of you?”
“Most of the time,” I say. “And Zabala takes a lot of breaks.”
She rolls her eyes. “Of course he does.”
“There are cameras, but I know their angles. The blind spots. The gaps in coverage. I can get you out of the cell. Out of the corridor. Up through the service exit.”
“And then?”
“We’re out of here,” I reply. “Even if the cameras catch something, it won’t matter. By the time anyone reviews the footage, we’ll be long gone.”
“Where do we go?” she asks.
I don’t hesitate. “To the brothel. Where my mother worked.”
She widens her eyes.
“They’ll take us in,” I continue. “No questions asked.”
She bites her lip. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Her gaze softens. “Because they love you.”
I nod. “I owe them everything. They raised me. After my mother died, they made sure I was taken care of. Until Vega took me in.”
“Vega? So what happens with him, then?”
I don’t answer right away because I already know where she’s going with this.
“You feel like you owe him,” she says.
I meet her gaze. “It’s not the same thing.”
“Isn’t it?”
“It’s not,” I say firmly. “What he gave me and what those women gave me are two completely different things.”
“So you don’t feel any loyalty to him?”
“I feel…obligation,” I admit. “But that doesn’t mean I owe him my life. Or yours.”