Page 108 of Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs 5)

"We will arrive at midnight." Sorrell's voice was clipped, enraged. "I will contact you again before arrival. And Mr. Fuentes, betray me and more than just your woman will die. The women of your former friends, the newborn son Reno Chavez is so proud of, all of them will die, painfully."

Ian snorted at the threat despite anger pulsing through him. "Just be here on time, if you don't mind. I do have other things to take care of once we complete this."

The call disconnected.

Ian reached over, disconnected the phone on the base, and then stared at Diego.

The other's man face was creased thoughtfully, his black eyes gleaming with challenge. Ian could see the charge Diego was getting from trying to anticipate his adversary's next move. It was the same charge Ian felt, that challenge, that sense of not just a physical, but the mental battle being waged.

"I recognize his voice." Diego tapped at the chair lightly. "There was some quality to it, perhaps to his laughter, so superior and arrogant." His frown deepened. "I have spoken to this man before."

The recording of the conversation would have to be slipped quickly to Reno and Macey. Kira was still at the rented villa questioning Tehya. The other girl needed to hear it as well. Though he knew she knew his voice, perhaps without the patronizing, falsely loving tone that he used with her, she could better pinpoint something about it.

"You had better call your friends and inform them of this new development." Diego leaned back in his chair, crossed an ankle over the opposite knee, and lifted the cup of coffee from the side table that he had set there earlier.

Ian stared back at him silently as Diego sipped at the still warm brew.

"What friends?" he finally asked.

Diego shook his head. "Durango team. I am aware that they have been staying in the villa with Kira's bodyguard, Daniel. You could have told me, Ian. I would not have turned down their help. I would be curious though, what price do you pay for this help?"

Ian reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. Patience wasn't his strong suit, and the longer this operation played out, the less patience he had.

"There was no price," he finally answered honestly, looking back at Diego. "They had information and the woman and came to me with it. They asked nothing in return."

"And when this is over?" Diego's voice tightened. "Will they return to their lives alone, or do you follow with them?"

He could never return. Ian was smart enough to know that. He shook his head slowly. "I think you know as well as I do that there's no going back for me."

He should regret it. Ian knew he s

hould be furious over the fact that his SEAL career, no matter how this played out, was over. There was no regret though. A sense of sadness, yes, but he had been ready for something else even before coming to Diego.

Diego was nodding slowly, his gaze intent, locked with Ian's, searching. What the hell was he searching for? Ian wondered.

"Perhaps I made a mistake in the way I brought you into my world, into my life," Diego said slowly then. "But I would have you to know, Ian, that plans were already in place to help your friends. I would have let none of them suffer unduly because of our games."

"Except Nathan?" Ian asked softly.

Guilt flickered in Diego's eyes. "I know you are aware of the things I did to your young friend, but I also kept him alive. He was not an innocent bystander, Ian. You know this. He allowed himself to be captured. He made the choice to attempt to deceive not just me but Sorrell and Jansen Clay. Had it been me alone that he attempted to gain his information from, he would have fared much better."

Ian leaned forward, his arms braced on the desk, murder in his soul.

"You tortured him for a year after Sorrell finished with him. You could have made certain he was rescued; instead, you continued to torture him, to drug him, to make him break his vows to his wife."

Diego sighed, but there was no regret, only knowledge and acceptance. "I will say again, Nathan Malone was no innocent bystander. You know this as well as I. He had information I could have used, and he placed himself at my disposal. It is the way of this world, Ian. It is the way of the world, period. He made his choices, and still, I made certain he lived, even knowing this was one thing you may never forgive me for."

"And the senator's daughters you kidnapped and had drugged?" Ian asked him. "Did you know one of them died, Diego, and one of your soldiers raped another? A sixteen-year-old child, a virgin, and that bastard raped her in front of her father."

"At her father's orders," Diego snapped. "The kidnapping of those girls was not my decision, I will take no responsibility for it. This was the doing of Clay and Sorrell. To retain the power I needed to fight the bastards I had no choice but to allow the girls to be brought to my estate to be held. I am guilty of many crimes, but those I will not claim."

It took a special kind of monster to compartmentalize people and torture, Ian figured. The type of man that deserved to die by whatever means possible.

"You have never understood." Diego shook his head then. "You are like the religious fanatics. You have your view, your perception, and you never waver. Those who do not share this view and perception are worthy of nothing, no mercy, no chance at life. Is this not true?"

"You should have been shot like a rabid dog at birth," Ian growled.

Rather than taking offense, Diego smiled in pride. "My word is my bond. I do not break it unless others break theirs. I confine my games to opponents who understand the rules. Both sides know death could result. Tell me, Ian, should your new Department of Homeland Security acquire me, do you believe they would merely put me on trial? Would I not be beaten, tortured for the information I have on rival cartels, on suspects they wish to convict? Do you tell me that these agents do not kill senselessly when they are finished with those they abduct for information?"

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