Page 105 of Bastard

A reflection of light, reminding me of a time long ago ... the ambush.

“One nick and I’ll butcher you,” Hayden snarls. All eyes swing toward his voice, but my attention is riveted on the small beams of light dancing like fireflies across the cement floor from the opposite direction. Guns. With infrared laser sensors, like the kind Diego once brought home.

Barrington curses, then moves the knife ever so slightly away.

Relief washes over me. Hayden has this under control.

Except in Mexico, we have this saying.Con dinero baila el perro—everyone has a price.

And within seconds, the price Hayden’s willing to pay becomes clear.

Me.

“We’ve caught Lorenzo, Boss.”

38

Hayden.

I’m dragged over to where Barrington’s men are kicking him on the ground. It’s a vicious beating, and his ability to defend himself seems to lessen with each strike.

Barrington resumes his position behind me, his knife raised to my throat. His men circle around us.

Hadn’t he warned me his enemies would use me against him? That I’d be his weakness, his Achilles’ heel? This is why he never let me in. A killer like Hayden, vulnerable? He’d never allow that to happen, not unless his intent is to protect me.

I see red.I’m going to butcher that pendejo, Barrington.

I force myself to take inventory of the crowd surrounding us. The man with a horrible case of five o’clock shadow and wearing, of all things, a traditional, Mexican-style poncho. He’s grinning, as if he’s enjoying Hayden being brutalized. Next to him is an insanely handsome blond man, who has his arm around the shoulders of the woman standing quietly beside him. I blink, then raise my eyebrows in surprise.

Madre mía. She looks like my best friend, Madelyn.Is this Kylie?

And the tall man with shortly cropped, blond hair and a vicious scowl on his face—is that Madelyn’s husband, Declan?

And none of them seem worried about Hayden.

Everyone is focused on me.

“Your wife showed up at just the right time.”

Hayden tries to pull himself up but is kicked back to the floor.

“Get up,” Barrington orders him, shifting away, slightly. Enough for me to slide my hand behind me and wrap my fingers around my gun. I slip it out of my waistband and lower it down against my thigh. “Let your wife get a look at you before I kill you both.”

Barrington’s laugh is vicious as Hayden staggers to his feet.

Why are his men standing there, doing nothing?

But it’s in the moment when I set eyes on Hayden’s battered face, lip swelling and blood dripping from his nose, that I go completely loca.

“You want to know what I said to Sabine, pendejo?” I snarl.

Everyone seems to freeze. Everyone except the man who’s pushed his way into the circle with fists clenched and a murderous look on his expression.

Diego.

He shakes his head, vigorously. Don’t.

Too late, mi hermano.