Page 198 of Where Broken Wings Fly

Reaching into the pocket of his designer suit jacket, he pulls out a smartphone. When he offers it to me, his smile never once faltering, I have to force myself to take it. The weight in my hands feels like a death sentence.

Killian raises his gun next to me, training it on the soulless demons at the door. They simply stare back without a care in the world. Not even a gun frightens them.

“H-Hello?” I whimper.

There’s an intake of breath on the end of the phone line, followed by deep, sinister chuckling. I nearly throw my guts up on Mason’s expensive shoes. That voice has only existed in my nightmares since I left Mexico.

“Darling wife.” Mr Sanchez sighs. “Oh, how I’ve missed the sound of your sweet voice. You’ve hidden for a long time. I’ll give you credit for that.”

I bite my lip hard enough to break skin. Blood slips into my mouth, mingling with the burning bubble of vomit sitting inside my throat. I can almost see him in front of me, an evil shade projecting himself across the continent.

“Nothing to say to your husband?” he sneers.

“Leave me and my daughter alone.”

“My daughter. She’s fucking mine, Willow.”

Killian tries to grab the phone from me, and Zach holds him back. Even he knows not to intervene in the devil’s game, or we’re all going to suffer the ramifications.

“You found me then,” I say unsteadily.

His laugh makes my skin crawl. “My my, haven’t we gotten brave. Don’t worry, we can discuss your insolence later. How is my daughter?”

“Arianna is fine.”

“Fine?” He snickers. “She was kidnapped by her mentally unstable mother. Quite shocking behaviour. I’m sure she’s anxious to return home to her daddy.”

“I did not kidnap her.”

“I think law enforcement would disagree.”

My grip on the phone tightens. “You’re a monster. I saved her from you.”

“But who is the world more likely to believe?”

“I’m her mother!” I shout down the line. “That’s who the world will believe.”

“An unfit mother at best,” Mr Sanchez fumes. “Here’s how this is going to work, wife. You’ll return home and I’ll leave your precious family alone. That’s the easy option.”

Seizing the flicker of courage in my belly, I let out a strangled laugh. “What’s the hard option? Because that sure as hell isn’t happening.”

His voice is low and dangerous. “I’ve already dealt with your little bit on the side. Pedro begged for mercy before I finally ended his life.”

“Pedro’s dead,” I gasp. “I saw him die.”

“It took longer than expected to break him, but he revealed your new identities soon enough. Mason here was following up a lead when you fell right into his lap.”

“You’re lying!”

“You know, it took several weeks of torture for Pedro to reveal your little plan to me,” he boasts proudly. “I was surprised by how well he held up.”

My stomach heaves. I can see it so clearly. I’ve watched my husband beat enough people, staff and hired skins alike, remaining protected by his money and influence.

With a small fortune, you can make any problem disappear. Even dead bodies. Mason is just one of many sources that provide my husband with his vices and makes them disappear without a trace afterwards.

Mr Sanchez snorts. “His entire family too. I had to hire a whole new team. When I slit their throats one by one, Pedro watched. That’s when he finally broke.”

Killian is close enough to hear our conversation. His face shifts to frightening calculation. Before I can stop him, he seizes the phone from my grip and hits the loudspeaker button.

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