Evans walked up and put an arm around his partner in crime. “He’s mine, Eve. He has been since the minute we met over coffee and discussed blowing up that clinic. He facilitated my exit from the United States federal penal system, and it’s been a marriage made in heaven ever since. When he called me to let me know that Alexander had resurfaced, I was so excited. We have unfinished business. I heard about your divorce. So sad. I suppose he couldn’t handle the fact that another man had his woman.”
“I divorced him.” And she’d been stupid to do it. She could see it now. She’d been weak. She was Alex’s sub. It was her freaking job to tell her Dom what she needed. At the time, she’d been too scared to ask. She’d been scared of what he might say, but now she knew something she hadn’t before. Love—real love—required courage. It required her to speak out. It required her to fight for it.
A strange light came into his eyes. He looked a little like a fallen angel. It wasn’t hard to see why women flocked to him just based on his looks. But once he opened that mouth, he was the devil and she wondered if she hadn’t just given him an in. “Because you wanted me. You wanted what only I can give you.”
God, he was so wrong. Nausea built inside her. She didn’t know how she would handle it if he managed to put a hand on her. “I hate you. You have to know that. I can’t stand the thought of you. I love my Alex and we’re getting remarried because I finally realized something.”
He snarled a little. “And what is that, little whore?”
“I realized that he loves me no matter what. You gave me that. You forced me to realize something I might never have known. I might have gone to my grave wondering, but now I truly know. Most couples aren’t tested the way you did us. We know now. You took years from us, but you don’t get our forever. You can do anything you want, but I belong to him. My choice. I choose him. Always.” And forever more. There wasn’t time to worry. There was only time to love. She loved Alex. She wasn’t going to fight it. It didn’t matter if she was afraid. Her love was worth more than fear. Their relationship was worth fighting for. “It won’t work. You can’t break us. We went through your fire and we’re stronger now.”
Evans face had flushed as though he was anticipating the challenge. “Oh, but it will, dear. This time I will make sure you don’t get back to him. I only let you go the first time because I thought he would be so worried about you, he would ignore me. I made the mistake of underestimating his real obsession. As long as I keep you away from him, he’ll hunt for you and I can do my very important work.”
“Alex will find me.” He had to.
His hand came up, gesturing to the plane. “That airplane is going to take you to South America. You will disappear there. You’ll spend a few months at my private apartment, and then I have other plans for you. I always hoped this day would come. Though it’s a bit sudden, plans are already in place. Carlos?”
The man who had watched her spanking walked up, a leering smile on his face. “Hello, Amanda. Or should I call you Eve?”
You should call me the bitch who tagged you. He couldn’t know it yet, but he was his boss’s downfall. She kept quiet, not willing to engage any of them.
He reached out. She tried to back up, but Warren was behind her, keeping her from getting out of reach.
“I think you should be nice to me. Once Evans is done with you, I think he’ll let me have you. I have a brothel in Argentina. Your beauty will bring me much wealth.” His hand dragged down the side of her face, chilling her. Only Warren’s body blocked her from moving away.
She couldn’t stand the thought. Every muscle in her body ached for Alex. Please, please come for me. I need you, baby.
“But not until I’m done,” Evans said. “I think I’ll let you stay alive long enough to see all of my plans bear fruit. You’re mine until I give you away. I’ve set up a network I couldn’t have dreamed of before. I really should thank your ex. When he shoved me in prison, he made a martyr. He brought me to a whole new world I never would have found if I hadn’t been forced to run. I have everything I could possibly need. I have the feds on my side for once. And a senator in my pocket. Perhaps a president as well.”
She needed a little chaos. “The SAC had a plant in your club here.”
Warren’s hand came out, catching her across the face. Fire licked along her skin. He’d smacked her and hard. “Keep your mouth shut, bitch. None of us wants to hear your lies.”
“Maybe I would find her lies amusing,” Evans said, his voice quiet.
She needed them at each other’s throats. “Jesse Murdoch has been working for Warren.”
Carlos frowned, staring Evans’s way. “Murdoch is a believer in our friends’ cause. I was assured of this. You assured me of this.”
“Everyone is solid, Carlos. We don’t need to call in our radical friends.” Finally something seemed to jar his confidence.
“Check his financials.” It was what Adam would do. “Warren’s been paying him on the side. He intended to take you out. He was going to use Jesse to assassinate you so his secret was safe. You can’t believe that the senator is really going to allow you to live. He can’t run for president with this hanging over his head. And Warren could go to prison.”