Warrior Mine Read Online Free PDF Page A

into the chamber, and leveled it between her brother’s eyes. Tears clouded her vision, but she refused to set them free by blinking.
    “You will never have my loyalty. But I will have Sophia. You will tell me, if with your last breath, brother .”
    He didn’t look at the gun, which froze her heart. His gaze trained on hers. “If I die, they have instructions to kill her. If you don’t return in one month’s time from the day you left in your futile search, they have instructions to sever a piece of her each day until you return or she dies. Whichever comes first.”
    Dread slashed her belly and threatened to drag her back to her knees. How had this gone so wrong… This family. This fight for freedom. This search for the only person in the world she loved. How had he turned the table when his balls were almost literally in her hands?
    Leverage.
    He had nothing to lose. She had everything. And one way or the cursed other she would keep it.
    Her tears fell, plopping in the puddle of her soaked shirt. “I hate you.”
    “And I love you. If only you’d see that I’m trying to protect you. The world is a cruel place for a woman.”
    “And I stare into the face of the merciless.”
    “Hurry home now. By my estimation you don’t have long. I’d say take me with you, but Tucker doesn’t have the key and I’m fond of my limbs. Fond of my dick too. If it doesn't work right, you’ll pay.” He gestured as though brushing her away with his gnarled fingers. “Go, run things in my absence. Prove your loyalty. Then I’ll send her to you. But…if my men even think you’re leaving, they’ll end you both. Tell Javier to go ahead with the deal. And I’ll be home soon.”

4
    “ T he fuck you say ,” Vail barked. “Where you’re going from here, they don’t make daylight.”
    He’d held his tongue way longer than he could stand. The shit spewing from Carlos Ruez’s mouth made him sick—and it took a damn lot to goad him. And, maybe, it wasn’t the bastard’s words so much as it was the woman’s gut-rending reaction to them.
    As if she’d know he was thinking of her, she scored him with her gaze. Her wide, wet eyes begged his words to be true. He could plainly see the thought of Carlos free terrified her almost as much as the thought of losing Sophia. Their sister? Her daughter? Her lover? He didn’t yet know. He had boxes of files on Carlos and his associates, but his blood relations had been thought dead.
    Apparently not. One was alive and kicking. Or punching and hammering, as the case may be.
    Vail’s arms were crossed. His fists wedged in the crook of tensed muscles. And despite everything—his unwilling detainment, her relation to Ruez—he nodded his promise to keep that piece of shit locked up for all eternity. Not that the man would live long in the prison where he was headed.
    A token of relief settled her shoulders. She wiped the stream of tears from her face and swatted back the long, dark tendrils crowding her brow. He would keep his word, just as she had to him. An accord among strangers with a common enemy seeking justice. The woman hadn’t gotten what she wanted. Not even close. The least he could give her was that pledge. The reassurance.
    She turned her gaze on Carlos. Her thick lips pressed in a line of rage and her head shook once. “Goodbye, brother.”
    Something about her resignation, like a fine animal beaten into submission, seared his insides in a way nothing had in a very long time. He’d give her case a closer look, use his considerable resources to track this Sophia. If for no other reason than it would annoy the hell out of Carlos. Then again, he could always drink that coffee he’d sent Rhonda for and continue the man’s torture. It was all a matter of leverage. And now he had a bit more than he’d had an hour ago.
    It didn’t matter how tough the bastard was, if he didn’t receive medical treatment shortly, he’d walk with a permanent limp and never get off again.