Page 136 of Cavern of Silence

"You used me. All these years. Did you ever love me?"

"I've always loved you. I still do. I didn't use you. I put your skills to work, and when you return to Belize, to the life you are meant to lead, you will realize all we have both done for our life."

"What life?" I cry out. "The one where my sister and your daughter prance around in front of me? Are we to share you? Am I to continue living in fear, day after day, serving men who wouldn't think twice to hurt me?"

"They won't hurt you."

"They already have."

"Listen to me, Liliana. You must choose. Life in Belize with me or stay by yourself. But you will have nothing you've worked for. Either way, I will make sure you are protected on the planes from now on, but you will tell me everything you know about the Global Leaders."

I step back and defiantly say, "No."

His eyes blaze with anger, and he steps forward.

I retreat until I am against the wall.

In a controlled voice, he says, "There is no option not to tell me."

"Figure out whatever you want to know on your own. I don't owe you anything."

A smile crosses his face, and he strokes my cheek.

"Stop touching me."

He doesn't.

"That man you brought to my house...the one they found you in the Bahamas with..."

New terror fills me. "Leave him alone."

"You will tell me your secrets, Liliana. If you don't, I will make sure his fate is worse than it is currently."

"You... Miguel, if you've ever loved me, please..." I sob and choke on my tears.

"Come back to Belize with me, Liliana. Tonight. Or stay here and have nothing. But you will tell me everything you know, either way."

In a last plea for Miguel to be the person I used to think he was, I beg, "Please. Don't hurt him. If...if I tell you, will you rescue him?"

"No. But I won't invoke any more terror upon him."

"Who are you?"

An expression I've never seen on Miguel crosses his face. "I am Miguel De León. Head of the Guatemalan drug cartel and soon-to-be head of the Colombian and Belizean cartels as well. I am Latin America's fiercest warrior. And all will know my name soon."

23

Ryker

My senseof time is screwed up. Jonas's thugs feed me two meals a day, and as disgusting as it tastes, I eat every morsel. I need it to repair and fuel my body for the next fight.

There have been ten nights where I've killed so many men, I lost count. Each time, Jonas asks the crowd if I should live or die. A handful of times, Jonas wasn't there. His brother, Evandro, showed up and ran the show. It was the first time I had ever seen him, and he seems no less destructive than Jonas.

In a short amount of time, I've become famous in their world. They chant my name when I come out and praise me for every man I kill. Each night, before the fight starts, Jonas or Evandro, make me stand on the stairs of his palace, with my naked back exposed to his goons, reinforcing they own me.

At the end of each night, the mob always gets to say whether I live or die. My undefeated status only fuels their fire to keep me entertaining them in the future. And I'm not sure how many days pass between each event.

I have to survive to make sure she is okay.