Page 135 of Cavern of Silence

"How..."

"Jonas Torres thinks I'm one of his men. He's soon going to learn what it's like to fall."

"What do you mean?"

"I will take over his cartel. He will die, and anyone who is not loyal to me will as well."

My respect for Miguel as a husband died when I learned about him and Josie. But a new level of abhorrence builds quickly.

"It's time to make a choice, my Liliana."

New realizations enter my mind. "Did you know Santiago kidnapped me?"

"Yes. It's why he left you alone. I made a deal with him when he told me he took you."

My mouth goes dry. "You...you left me in a pit all those months?"

He sadly shakes his head. "I had no choice. You know secrets. Santiago needed those secrets to free his brother from prison and take down Jonas."

I rise, and he doesn't stop me this time. I pace the room, holding my flipping stomach.

He's here to get my secrets.

He let me stay on those planes.

I spin. "Years ago, I told you about the drugs and my conversation with my boss."

"I told you to do your job and shut your mouth."

"You made me work on the planes all those years, knowing how fearful I was around those men?"

"Why do you think something bad never happened? Hmm?"

Any rage I've ever felt flies out of my mouth. "I was kidnapped. Jonas Torres tortured me. His mark forever stains me. Look at my face!"

Miguel's eyes turn darker. "I heard what he did to you. As I said, I will kill him."

"You...you knew?" I whisper, no longer sure why anything he says shocks me.

He steps forward and puts both hands on my cheeks and tilts my head up.

I wince from the pain. "The past cannot be undone. You must choose."

"Choose what?" I cry out.

"Make Belize your home again. I will protect you. You can transfer to the Belize airport. When you aren't flying, we can be together again. You will have anything you wish. Money is not an object."

I stare at him, not believing what I'm hearing.

"You don't have to be left with nothing. Everything that is mine can be yours again."

"Everything that is yours? I bought that land. The skin on my back was the price I paid for everything 'you' own." I put in quotes with my fingers.

"And I told you Jonas will die by my hand for what he did to you."

My chest tightens, and the air becomes thick in my lungs, but I fight through my panic. "I don't understand. Why did you have me work? Why would you continue to have me on those flights?"

He slides his fingers through my hair again and dips inches from my face. "Liliana. Pure. Innocent. No one would ever be fearful of you. Men will speak in front of you and not worry for one moment about you repeating what they say. You are valuable in my operation, and you will continue to be. But someday, and soon, I promise, I will allow you to quit."