Page 7 of Stains of Desire

I obey and hand it to him.

"Let's go."

I glance at Millie, who's deep in sleep, and plead with him one last time. "Please. Let me stay with my daughter."

"There are no second chances," his dark, brooding voice emotionlessly states, and my stomach twists.

I quickly kiss Millie on the head, say a quick prayer she doesn't wake up and that I'll see her again.

His hand digs into my elbow, and he guides me throughout the compound to a dining room. It's so expansive, it could hold one hundred men. A thick wooden table with seats for forty sits in the middle. Like the rest of the house, the room is white with black curtains. Large red candles are situated in the middle of the table. An oversized picture of Santiago scowling with his head tipped down, as if directly at the entire room, is on the wall opposite the entrance.

Santiago leans back in his chair at the head of the table, in front of the photo. The pads of his fingers touch, and he pushes them together while assessing me.

Nerves flip in my stomach and I feel queasy.

"Turn," he commands and motions with his finger, just as the clang of the door bangs in my ear.

I obey and try not to shake. I can feel his eyes on me.

"You shaved?" his callous voice growls.

I shut my eyes tight, trying to hold in tears. "Yes."

"Spin and pull your dress up."

I freeze.

"Don't make me repeat myself, or your daughter will be removed from this house tonight."

I wipe my face and lift my dress up. The air hits my naked flesh, and it's the first moment I realize how cold the room is. I'm not wearing any underwear. There weren't any in the closet, and I was scared of wearing the pair I took off before I got into the shower.

"Step closer."

I don't dare disobey him.

His face is inches from my sex, and I try to maintain my balance, but tremors are rolling through my body.

He points to the place setting next to him and barks, "Sit."

For several hours, he drills me on the different topics regarding the Global Leaders and their plans. He demands I eat, and even though my stomach is a mess of nerves, I do it.

As more and more hours pass, a new realization hits me. Over the years, I didn't add up how much knowledge I acquired about the Global Leaders and what their plans were. I sat in meeting after meeting with William for work. At night, I attended parties with him and was privy to all the conversations involving heads of nations, drug cartel leaders, and other prominent people.

I've met Santiago before. But he slowly had been getting pushed out. Party after party, Jonas Torres, the head of the Belizean drug cartel, or Jorge Cano, the Mexican one, were present. But Santiago and his top men were suddenly never around.

And Jonas and Jorge partnered and plotted to turn the other Global Leaders against Santiago.

Besides doing my job at work, I smiled pretty at night and sat silently beside William, only speaking when appropriate, wishing I could be at home with Millie.

But I played my role so William wouldn't take her from me and, in doing so, became a person very valuable to Santiago.

And now Santiago holds the same threat over me. But I'm more fearful than ever about how to protect Millie.

I'm worth a lot to Santiago. The top men in power running the Global Leaders are the U.S. President and U.K. Prime Minister. Since William is the U.K. ambassador, I've had more dinners with those men than I can count.

Both of them scare me. I've often wondered who is more vile, William or them? But I'd stay close to William at events. No one could be trusted if left in a room alone. And I wasn't going to take any chances. At least with William, I knew what I got. And protecting Millie and keeping her with me was always my top priority.

But Santiago is like an evil mix of the president and prime minister. It's an additional level of terror. And I don't know what to expect. With William, there was at least a history with him. No matter how callous he is, I also had a little ability sometimes to turn things in my favor. That won't be my reality with Santiago.