The Slayer (Untamed Hearts #2)(123)

“Just keep her alive,” Tino whispered, though his voice was shaking too.

“So it’s your choice.” The Russian jammed his gun under Alaine’s chin and gave Chuito a dark smile. “You watch her die, or you can watch her get f*cked. I want you to pick.”

Alaine took a shuddering breath and stared at Chuito, who was still shaking his head. “You’re gonna kill us anyway,” he whispered, and she knew he was about to choose death rather than the alternative.

And she was relieved…for both of them.

“Chuito!” Tino shouted at him. “Get over your bullshit!”

Then Chuito crumpled right there in front of all of them, his hands still behind his head as he pressed his forehead against the wood floor and let out a sob. “No.” One word, broken and full of so much pain Alaine forgot her own fear in the face of such a massive collapse from Chuito, whom she always thought was unbreakable. “No, you can’t have her. I’m not gonna let you do that to her. You’re gonna kill us anyway. So f*ck it.”

“She dies.” The Russian shrugged. “Make sure he can watch.”

It took three Russians to force Chuito to lift his head. Somehow he had made his body leaden, tight with raw fury. He started fighting them, despite the guns, and for one horrible moment she thought they were going to have to kill him to subdue him.

“Repent. Chu, listen to me!” Alaine shouted, because she knew he wasn’t listening as he fought their hold on his head. He became a watery blur as the tears rolled down her face, because she knew they were going to shoot her while Chuito watched. Right now. It was over before it really started, so she begged, “Meet me in the right place! Please repent! Promise me!”

“Fuck her!” Tino shouted before Chuito could promise. “You want to f*ck her? Do it, you sick motherf*ckers. Let him watch! He clearly can’t handle it. If pain gets your dick hard, you’re not gonna see more pain than that.”

“I will kill you too, Tino!” Chuito shouted at his best friend. “If these motherf*ckers don’t kill you, I’ll drag your ass down to hell with me. I will spend the rest of eternity making you suffer.”

“I’m willing to deal with that,” Tino said in such a cold, deliberate voice it gave Alaine chills as he repeated, “Fuck her.” Then he turned back to the Russian as if he was negotiating. “He’s a child of rape. Did you know that? This right here. It’s his worst nightmare. He’d watch her die a thousand times over seeing her raped. He’s Catholic, motherf*cker. He believes in heaven, and this girl couldn’t kill a fly. He knows where she’s going, but this, it’d f*cking break him into a million pieces. You found his weakness. His only weakness. Congratulations.”

“Holy shit,” Angel whispered, looking down at Chuito with wide eyes. “Is that why you’re so angry, cabrón? Not that I can blame your papá. I’ve thought about raping Sofia a time or two myself. Maybe I’ll stop by her house after I’m done with your chica, since she obviously likes it.”

Chuito tried to jump at Angel, but the Russians held him back.

“I like the Italian’s idea,” the one holding Alaine said with a smile. “We’ll break him. Then we’ll kill him and keep the woman. Everyone wins.”

“Let Junior have her,” Angel announced. “He’s enthusiastic. Nothing like the stamina of youth.”

Chuito screamed when Angel shoved the man with him forward. He was obviously young, but he was huge. Bigger than even Chuito, all muscles, with a dark gaze that was terrifying as he looked down at Alaine in cold, unforgiving detachment.

“I need privacy to enjoy her,” Junior said as he studied Alaine. “But I’ll make sure he can hear her.”

The Russian held up his hand at that. “Make sure we all hear it.”

“No!” Chuito screamed again, this time raw and horrified when Junior reached down and grabbed Alaine’s arm. “?Pu?eta! ?No la toques! ?Suéltala! ?Maldito, cabrón! ?Si la tocas te lo juro, por mi madre, te lo juro que te mato!”

Alaine tried to make herself leaden like Chuito had, to somehow slip away from Junior’s grasp and take the bullet instead. If Chuito thought they were going to die anyway, it was a better option than having to go through that while Chuito and all these other men were listening.

No.

“I don’t want this!” she shouted at them despite the chaos around her, because there was nothing now that could make it worse than it already was. She turned to Tino as she fought Junior’s hold on her arm. “Take it back! Tell them you take it back, Tino! I’d rather die! Let them kill me instead!”

Junior slammed his hand over her mouth before she could rail at Tino more. He jerked her back against his chest as Chuito kept screaming in Spanish, saying what, she didn’t know, but she could hear the violence in his words. The absolute horror that this was where they were going to end.

She refused to walk, but Junior forced her forward anyway, because he really was a massive man. She saw that Tino had lowered his head, as if he couldn’t look, and she realized right then how true his warning in the Ferrari was.

He wasn’t nice when he was protecting someone.

He’d just sacrificed her to keep Chuito alive for a few more minutes.