The Vargas Cartel Trilogy (Vargas Cartel #1-3)(142)

Ignacio sighed. “Miss Covington—”

“Hattie,” I shouted. “You know my name. You don’t have to pretend like we’re strangers. I’ve been here before. Tell me what’s going on!”

I didn’t understand why I said it. Truly, I didn’t care what Ignacio called me. I didn’t care if I ever saw him again. I hated him. In a roundabout way, his greed and corruption resulted in me becoming a hostage twice—once by him and once by the Alvarez Cartel. As far as I was concerned, he could jump off a cliff. I wouldn’t shed a single tear.

Ignacio rocked back and forth on his heels, and the doctor’s gaze ping-ponged back and forth between the two of us. He didn’t even try to hide his surprise. I guess most people didn’t talk to Ignacio like that given his penchant for murdering people.

“Hattie.” Ignacio cleared his throat. “This is a conversation you should have with Ryker. It’s not my place.”

“But you know something, right?”

“All I’m going to say is that he won’t be back for a while. Beyond that, you’ll have to talk to him directly. It’s not my place.”

I shivered, trying to ward off the sudden chill racing down my spine despite the balmy breeze from the open windows. I stared at the woven ceiling fan as it rotated in slow circles. A faint buzz hummed through the room.

I’d hoped Ryker would want to spend the day with me. I needed him, more now than ever. I was scared out of my mind about so many things, but now I feared he planned to abandon me. Ignacio had never held his tongue before. That he felt the need to do so now could only mean Ryker had given up on me. Our baby. Us. My vision tilted as the realization slammed into me like a swift punch to my gut.

My gaze drifted to Dr. Mendez. His greedy eyes darted around the room, drinking in my anguish like a glass of ice water on a hot day. I swallowed hard, making a heroic effort to stifle my rising dread.

“Right,” I said, my voice flat. “Do you know if my suitcase is around here somewhere? I’d like to get dressed so I can go for a walk later.”

“No. Not today,” Ignacio answered.

My eyes narrowed, and my heart drummed to a panicked beat. “So, I’m a prisoner again. Is that what you’re trying to say? Here, I thought Ryker rescued me, but I guess I just exchanged one sadist cartel warden for another one.”

“Dr. Mendez, can you step outside for a minute?”

“Por supuesto.”

“Those are Ryker’s rules, not mine,” Ignacio said after Dr. Mendez stepped into the hall. “You can take it up with him. If it were up to me, I’d have you on the next flight back to D.C. You don’t belong here. You’re not right for him anymore.” His lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes darkened into twin lumps of coal. “You’re a liability and Ryker doesn’t need any distractions right now. He owes me.”

Pain rippled through my chest, and I struggled for my next breath. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

His smile turned reptilian. “We made a deal. I helped him rescue you, and now he has to help me.”

I circled my arms around my waist, trying to hold myself together. My nerve endings prickled. “Help you with what?”

Ignacio angled his head to the side. “Rever’s gone. I needed a new successor. Now I have one.”

My hands shook as I threw the sheets off my body. I bolted out of the bed like it was on fire. It took all my power not to wrap my hands around his neck and strangle the life from his body. I dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands until I mentally winced.

“You’re lying,” I hissed. “He would never agree to that. He doesn’t want anything to do with your perverse cartel. He doesn’t want anything to do with you. He promised me.” My voice fractured on the last word, making me sound pathetic. Weak. Vulnerable. At that moment, I was all of those and worse.

Ignacio rolled his eyes. “For God’s sake, Miss Covington. Grow up. That’s exactly what he did, and you don’t have anyone but yourself to blame. You did this to him. You shouldn’t have left that hotel. You shouldn’t have come back to Mexico.”

A rush of saliva flooded my mouth, and nausea rolled through me as the last three months finally caught up with me.

Lies.

Betrayals.

Secrets.

Fear.

My pregnancy.

Being taken as a hostage.

Now this…Ryker had pledged his future to the Vargas Cartel. No wonder he had fought me every step last night. He was going to push me out of his life. It was only a matter of hours, and I’d be alone again in a prison of my making, but this time I’d have a child. A hurricane of sadness slammed into my chest.

“Please,” I begged as an unhinged sob sloshed out of my mouth. “Please don’t force him do this. He doesn’t want it. You’re going to kill him.”

“It’s already done. He gave me his word. You know him well enough to know his word means everything.”

What about his promises to me? Did they mean less than his promises to Ignacio?

Every time I thought I’d made progress and put the past behind me, life punched me in the face. I couldn’t take anymore. The last thread of the rope tethering me to reality severed. All of my disjointed emotions twisted like a tornado inside my gut.