Chapter 37

ELLA

It wasn’t until midday that Jaime woke up again.

“Hola,” I said. “Do you speak English?”

He was still lying on the bed on his back with no shirt so that I could fully see the wound. It looked to be healing perfectly, and he didn’t look quite as deathly white as he did the day before.

He nodded. “A little.”

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“Weak,” he replied with a frustrated groan. “And heavy.”

“It will be days before your body has recovered from the blood loss. I’m sure Andrea will let you rest here until then, and I will keep an eye on the wound.

“The sanitation was far from desirable last night, and I need to make sure it doesn’t get infected.”

“Why are you helping?” he asked, suddenly turning to me.

His eyes were an olive green, and they stared directly into mine with a totally serious face.

“What?” I asked.

His eyes glanced to the doorway momentarily before looking back at me.

“You know that we are fighting against your mate, right?” he added in a hushed tone. “Last night we weren’t, but the ultimate goal is to bring him down.”

I felt my heart sink into my chest.

“You would have died” was all I could say. “I can’t let people just die.”

I then turned on my heel, feeling a tear fighting to escape. All I could think to do was march out to the garden, but Andrea met me in the corridor and grabbed my shoulders.

“Where are you going?” he asked. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” I said. “Just let me go.”

“And how’s the patient?”

“Fine,” I replied, trying to get out of his grip. “You need to employ a doctor or set up a hospital or something.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Why?” he asked, turning my face to look at me. “I have you.”

“I’m not doing it again,” I said firmly. “What happened last night isn’t happening again.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said. “Just because I let you be in charge last night doesn’t mean you get to decide what happens now. You will do everything for me that I ask.

“So if I ever bring another man in need of help like that again, you won’t hesitate to provide it, got it?”

“Your men are fighting against Leonardo, aren’t they?” I replied quietly. “If I help them, I am also fighting against him, and I can’t do that.”

Andrea shrugged. “Sounds like a personal problem to me. Deal with it.”

I scowled and pushed him off me. “He needs at least three days of rest,” I said quietly.

“Gracias,” he replied, before kissing my hand and strolling away. “And put that fucking ring back on!”

I stood in the hallway for a few moments, watching him walk away. His gun, as always, was tucked into the back of his belt, and there was the intolerable confidence in his stride.

I felt the anger inside me begin to boil, so before it bubbled over, and I did something stupid, I rushed downstairs and out into the garden, as far away from Andrea as possible.

That feeling of powerlessness flooded back in, and I stood out in the middle of the lawn, absolutely lost for what to do. Because there was nothing I could do.

My entire life I’d lived for my independence and freedom. Helplessness filled me with so much despair; it made me shake with anger until I dropped to my knees in a trembling, heavy-breathing mess.

The worst part?

Now I was being forced to work against my only hope: Leo.

The thought of Jaime now being alive to kill or even hurt a Stella soldier, let alone Leo, added guilt to my ever-growing pot of sorrow, and I let out a high-pitched whimper.

In my head, I damned Andrea fucking Martinez to the fiery pits of hell. It’s not like I could even blame him for messing up a perfect life; things were rough already, and I wanted a break away from Leo.

That’s how I got into this nightmare. But now all I wanted was him back, Andrea to be out of my life, and all this to be over.

MAX

After leaving Blair and Luca searching in Caracas and keeping his men out all over South America, the alpha recruited me for his hunt for Gustavo Escobar.

After a long, torturous car journey to Colombia in a car with a frustrated and angry alpha, we finally arrived at the house at the coordinates given to us by the Caracas head of police.

“I was joking when I said we should just ring the doorbell and ask politely, you know?” I said as we stood on the doorstep of the house.

“Got a better idea?” Leo snapped. “And I don’t think anyone’s in.”

“Either that or we’re about to get shot,” he mumbled.

He ignored me, and we stood there for a few minutes with no sound or movement coming from within the house.

“Fucking hell,” I cursed. “Now what—?”

Before I could finish, he’d kicked down the door.

“Exactly what Ella would have done,” I said. “Do you two have some kind of breaking-and-entering kink?”

“No, we have a get-shit-done kink,” he replied, stepping into the house.

It seemed empty, totally quiet and still, but the faint smell of freshly cooked food lingered in the air.

He stepped cautiously into the house, toward the kitchen where the smell was coming from.

“They can’t have been gone long,” I began, looking at the freshly chopped vegetables on the counter and pot on the stovetop.

Leo held his finger up to silence me, and we stood in total quiet for a few moments.

“Do you hear that?” he asked.

“Hear what?” I replied.

He suddenly marched forward and around the kitchen counter before reaching down.

I heard a whimper, and a few seconds later, he pulled a young girl up from behind the kitchen counter.

She looked from him to me and then back to him, her lip shaking and a terrified expression on her face as Leo kept a tight grip on her arm.

“Do you work for Gustavo Escobar?” he asked.

She nodded quickly. “But he’s not here.”

“When will he be back?” I asked.

“Tonight,” she said. “Please, I am just the maid—”

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Leo told her, finally releasing her arm. “I just need to speak to your boss.”

She nodded and stepped back, clutching herself.

He leaned his elbows on the worktop for a few moments before taking a particularly red apple out of the fruit bowl and looking back up to her. “Mind if we wait here?” he asked, taking a big bite from the apple.

She nervously shook her head. “There’s a table on the patio. I will make you some coffee.”

Leo nodded and headed for the doors that led out into the garden. “Max, help her with the coffee.”

Once he was gone, she turned to a cupboard and opened it, her hands still shaking.

“Don’t worry about him,” I said, reaching over her, getting the mugs out for her. “He’s just a man that cares for his mate.”

“Who are you people?” she asked.

“He’s Alpha Loren, and I’m his luna’s cousin,” I replied.

“A-Alpha Loren? Leonardo Loren?” she asked, her voice turning hoarse.

“Again, don’t worry about him,” I reassured her. “He won’t hurt you, and we’re just here to speak to Gustavo. Where do you keep coffee?”

“Top shelf on the right,” she replied, and I got it out.

When I’d made the coffee, I began taking it outside. “When he arrives, tell him we’re out here, okay?”

She nodded, and I left her alone.

“You scared her, Alpha,” I said, pouring him a cup of coffee.

“Not sure I care,” he replied with a sigh. “Ella is my only priority right now.”

“Whatever,” I said, sitting down at the little patio table. “Just saying what she would say if she was here.”

“Don’t piss me off, Maximus.” He growled, closing his eyes and tilting his head back into the evening sun. “I’ve been in the mood to kill someone for weeks, and I don’t want it to be you.”

“Killing someone got her in this mess,” I mumbled under my breath, referring to the murder of Ella’s brother that triggered a whole chain of events leading to this.

He snapped his head back up, and he glared at me. “You’re one to speak. Remember when you almost got her killed…many times…one of which was deliberate?”

“We’re doing this again, are we?” I asked, rolling my eyes.

“Looks like it,” he replied as he leaned back into the chair.

“Then I should mention when I saved her life multiple times too,” I added.

“What about the time you lost our daughter at the park?” he asked.

“She was hiding under the slide! Nothing bad happened.”

“But it took you an hour to find her,” he grumbled.

“Okay, but let’s not forget who dropped Stefano’s baby food on Zacharias’s head and just scraped it off and gave it to him anyway,” I said.

“I bathed him the night before. His head was clean enough,” he replied with a shrug.

“How about when you accidentally took Cato, Mathias, and Silas for a nice Daddy and sons dinner out at a gay strip club?” I asked.

He opened his mouth defensively.

“Okay, but who wouldn’t mistake a place called ‘The Speedy Weiner’ for a sausage restaurant?!” he asked with a scoff. “They even had a fucking menu on the website!”

“Yeah, with the first item on it being ‘the big and juicy’ and the second being ‘the small but powerful’ with every portion coming in a ‘tight, succulent bun’ and served on a fucking pole,” I said.

“I thought it meant like a kebab sausage,” he mumbled.

“And that was almost as traumatic for me as it was for the boys. At least they were too young to either understand or remember. I’ve been trying to block what I saw that night from my memory for the past two years.”

I couldn’t help but laugh before another taunting point came into my mind.

“Or when you used a tampon to—”

“Don’t you dare bring that up,” he interrupted.

“We had an agreement that in exchange for me never telling Ella how you nearly put Lili in with the laundry, we would never mention that again, especially not to Ella. She can never know where her last tampon went, okay?”

“Truce?” I asked, holding my hand out.

He shook it, and we sat quietly enjoying the coffee for a few moments. He seemed in a slightly lighter mood now than earlier but still stared straight ahead, brooding.

Half an hour or so and another pot of coffee later, we heard the front door open from inside.

The maid scurried straight to the door, presumably to explain the situation because a few minutes later, a man came out onto the patio.

He was neither old nor young with the odd gray hair and wrinkle but otherwise in perfect health. He stood tall, dressed in a smart suit, no tie, top three buttons undone.

His eyes set on us, he stood motionless for a few moments.

“Good afternoon, Gustavo,” Leo called, looking over his shoulder. “Please sit.”

He slowly approached and hesitantly sat down at the table as Leo smiled but also held an intimidating level of eye contact.

“I can’t say I was expecting to have Alpha Leonardo Loren on my patio when I arrived home,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Leo smiled and nodded. “All good, I presume?”

“Coffee?” I asked, picking up the pot and a mug.

He looked down at the coffee and eyed me suspiciously. “I’m okay, thank you.”

“We pose no threat,” Leo said. “I am unarmed,” he added, holding up his hands. “We just have something important to discuss.”

He leaned back in his chair, his face relaxing.

“I look up to you, I must say,” he then said, turning to Leo. “But to what do I owe the pleasure of this abrupt visit?”

“Andrea Martinez,” Leo said.

His face curled into a loathing frown.

“That name is poison to my ears,” he replied, disgust in his voice.

“You and me are alike,” Leo answered.

“One day I will murder that kid,” he said. “I’ve lost too many men, too much money, and too much sleep to him already.”

“He is holding my luna hostage,” he said.

“Your luna, huh?” he asked. “I’ve heard about this. Are you aware that he has recently taken your girl as his wife?”

His little beady black eyes seemed to enjoy watching us as we processed what he had just said.

As I heard Leo’s heart skip, his lips twitched up into a smile for a split second, and as I raised an eyebrow, he let out a short scoff.

“What?” I asked after Leo had done nothing but sat as still and rigid as an iron rod for a few moments.

“Ella Loren is now Ella Martinez,” he confirmed.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Leo’s jaw clench before he sat forward, stared Gustavo directly in the eye, and took a deep breath. “He has married my mate?”

His tone was still strong and deep, but the battle he was fighting to keep calm was evident.

“It appears so,” Gustavo replied with a shrug.

“Why would he do that?!” I asked.

“Well, it certainly hasn’t been kept a secret, meaning he wants people to know. So probably to piss you off. He’s childish like that. It’s a side effect of being nineteen,” he told me.

“Well, he has successfully pissed me off.” Leo growled.

“Forgive me, Alpha,” Gustavo began. “What has all this got to do with me?”

“My mate is in danger, and I need to get her back,” he began. “I have tried, but I can’t find her alone, not even with my pack backing me.”

Gustavo laughed. “What do you think I can do? I may be his biggest rival, but I only know what he wants me to know, just like everyone else. I hate to admit it, but that boy has a flawless operation going.”

“Yes, that’s what people keep saying,” Leo replied with a twinge of frustration. “But nothing is perfect, and there’s always a flaw.”

Gustavo smiled and leaned closer. “I’m interested. What are you proposing, Mr. Alpha?”

“That we join forces to find that flaw,” I said. “Together, I believe we have the capacity and that you know more than you are letting on.”

Gustavo leaned forward so that his face was close to Leo’s. “What’s in it for me, señor?”

“Martinez’s death and an alliance with the most powerful alpha in the world,” he replied. “Of course, Martinez’s death also carries a whole host of benefits. South America would be yours. I have no interest in taking a cut.”

Gustavo remained quiet and thought for a few moments. “Okay. I’m in.”

“Wonderful,” Leo said, shaking his hand. “How about we begin this by you telling me everything you know about this overachieving teenager?”