Page 12 of Plunge into Obsession

It was rumored that Gabriel had ties with the Michoacán Cartel, which was ruled by none other than Luis Mendez—the man responsible for Lucinda’s disappearance.

I couldn’t think about what might have happened to her when the bastard had taken her that night, otherwise I would probably lose it completely.

I didn’t even know if it was worth it to be here.

I was merely one woman.

What could I possibly do in the face of the biggest cartel force in Mexico? Bigger than even the Sinaloa Cartel.

And most of what I had learned about the cartels in Mexico was through web searches and books.

Who knew if those were even accurate or if they even touched the surface of all there was to know about them.

I shook my head.

I knew it didn’t.

I knew my knowledge was minimal, but I didn’t know what to do.

And I just wanted to know what happened to Lucinda.

It was the not knowing part that got to me.

I wanted a body—remains—that I could take home to give Lucinda a proper burial. It felt like I was the only one who cared that she was gone.

Everyone had moved on, but I just…

Couldn’t.

And if Gabriel was rumored to have ties with the cartel, then he couldn’t possibly be a good man.

I needed to stay far away from him. Yet, while it had felt dangerous when he held me close, it was a different kind of danger. The kind that told my heart to proceed with caution—not the kind of danger Lucinda had been in that night.

I shook my head.

Or maybe I was being as naïve right now as she had been.

I grabbed the bottles I needed from the storage and walked out of there.

The bar was just as busy as when I’d left it ten minutes ago, if not more, and though I went right to work, there was a part of me—a huge part—that wanted to walk out the front doors and never look back.

But I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I did that. I was lost and purposeless in life.

It seemed I had been that way since Lucinda disappeared.

I wasn’t stupid.

I was aware I was being foolish, inserting myself into this place in the hope that I would learn something about her.

But I had tried leaving it alone.

I had tried to live my life believing that Lucinda had died. I told myself she had because the alternative was too heartbreaking to even think about.

It wasn’t until about a little over two years ago that I heard a new strip club opening purely by coincidence.

Kaia had been looking for a job, and she heard of it and applied. And when the new owner was revealed, it didn’t take long for the rumors to circulate that the man had ties with the cartels.

I decided to apply.

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