Page 56 of Exposed

Hector turned away, a hand fisted in his hair. He wouldn’t dare step in and piss Carlos off even more. This was her chance to right this.

Carlos extended a long, dark finger at the computer. “Don’t give me that shit,” he growled. “I don’t have a man on my payrollwho could have done what you just did.” He jerked his head to the computer screen beside him.

Her temper simmered to a boil and her brows snapped down. She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “Then maybe you should hire me.” Her voice matched the steadiness of his.

His head snapped back and color crept up the side of his neck.

“Look,” she began, forcing a calm into her voice. “I understand that you’re mad at me for not telling you. But what I did was self-defense. He would have raped me had I not. Why aren’t you more concerned about that?”

His jaw moved back and forth and he got to his feet. A dark shadow crossed over his eyes and he pointed a long, stern finger at her.

“That isn’t basic self-defense, Maddie. You have training and I want to know why.” He hovered over her, his knees inches away from the arm of her chair. He thought he was dominating her, but all it would take was two quick moves to have him on his back.

She pushed out of her seat and fisted her hand on her hip. “I have a black belt in mixed martial arts. I’m also trained in ju-jitsu and hapkido. My parents put both my sister and me in martial arts as kids and I was passionate about it. I stuck with it up until college. It has saved my life on more than one occasion. It’s not something I openly tell people. To be honest, I don’t even think about it. It never occurred to me that it was something you would need to know.”

Carlos folded his arms across his chest and his jaw worked.

Yes, yes, yes. He was falling for it.

“You can’t believe this shit!” Hector cried. His body trembled with rage and sweat trickled down his sideburns. His hand closed over Carlos’s shoulder and he wheeled him around “She’slying and I know she killed Tony.” He lurched toward her, his hand stretched like a claw for her throat.

She stepped back. Her instincts fired through her nerve endings, ready to snap his wrist. Carlos grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed him into the desk.

“Don’t ever touch me again.” Carlos’s voice gurgled in his throat, deadly and vicious. His eyes bugged out of his head and his knuckles turned white in his grip. His body radiated heat and a dark tint fell over his cheekbones. If anything was going her way, it was Hector’s ability to piss Carlos off.

She rooted her feet to the ground. She had to spin this around.

“Ask Hector where he was about two hours ago. Did he tell you that he cornered me in the bathroom with a knife? Had someone not come in he would have done the same things as what Tony had in mind.”

Distaste stung her mouth at the memory. Her fingernails dug into her palm as she took a step toward them. “What kind of men do you have on your payroll that they would assault your girlfriend? And if you don’t believe me, I’m sure security can pull the tape of him following me into the bathroom.”

Rage boiled through her. Yes. She had every right to be mad at him. If she forced Carlos to question Hector, she might have a leg to stand on. “You know what? I’m leaving at the next port.” Her voice trembled in the still air. Something passed across Carlos’s face. Regret? She had to drive this home.

“It hurts that you don’t trust me.” She curled her fingers into her breastbone as if it ached. Tears stung her eyes and made her voice rough. She turned her back on the two men.

Blood pulsed through her eye sockets and blinding pain clouded her vision. This couldn’t be happening. The tears that had choked her up moments ago weren’t because she feared forher life, and they surely weren’t because Carlos had hurt her damn feelings.

It was the expanding weight of failure that had opened up in her stomach, swallowing her pride and dreams. She closed the bedroom door firmly behind her and pressed her back against it. She had to succeed at locking Carlos up… for Leila. She’d been sweet and so full of life before she’d become infatuated with Carlos’s charm. Her family deserved vengeance and he deserved to rot before he claimed more young, innocent lives.

Moisture clung to her lashes and her throat tightened. She’d do anything to snuggle into Nate’s warmth, to hear the timber of his voice assure her that she hadn’t just lost everything she’d worked for.

She pushed away from the door and cleared her throat. Carlos’s muffed voice matched Hector’s in the other room. She had to get word to Nate that she was okay. Her fingers trembled on the clasp of her purse. She dug the encrypted phone out and brought the device to life.

Carlos just confronted me about Tony’s attack in the parking lot. I’m okay, but he’s definitely onto me. Where are you? I’m worried.

She couldn’t give up. Not yet. Nate wouldn’t and neither would Ethan or Cal. They were beasts when it came to putting up a fight. With any luck, she’d planted a seed of doubt against Carlos’s suspicions. That’s all she needed to get through the next few days.

She hoped.

CHAPTER 19

“I’m giving youone last warning, move away from the door before I move you.” Nate’s forearms quivered with the need to pummel his friend and move his stubborn ass away from the door.

Dylan’s hand pressed firmly against his chest, his face pinched in a scowl. Dylan was a tough fucker, but right now, it wouldn’t take much for Nate to throw his ass to the ground in order to get to Maddie.

Just as he’d predicted, things had gone south.

“Take it easy man, it sounds like she’s got it under control. If you would fucking listen.”

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