“And what if Gloria or Mrs. Montes have been brainwashed?”
“It depends. Were you brainwashed when you were with the gang? Were you in danger before you tried to jump out?” He knew she’d been both on some level, but he was curious what she’d say. If she’d admit it. If she was in denial about her past, as determined to punish herself for the choices she’d made as he suspected she was.
She hesitated, as if reluctant to make excuses for herself. “Some would say I was brainwashed. Maybe not from my gang, directly, but—”
She’d walked the line, both admitting more than he’d expected and taking responsibility for her choices all at the same time. “But did you need saving?” he pushed.
“I wanted it,” she whispered, not just surprising him now but shocking him. “Whether I needed it, who knows? But if Gloria’s brainwashed, if what you say about this cult is true, then what?”
“Then we rescue her,” he said simply.
“I’m sure it’ll be that easy,” she sneered. “The prince charging up on his white steed rescues the damsel in distress. Too bad you’re more like the devil.”
He frowned at her. Prince. Devil. The words echoed in his brain. Reformed.
He suddenly pictured himself and Ana, just the way he’d imagined them when they’d been “getting it on,” so to speak—with her wearing a thin T-shirt and him with his light brown hair and blue eyes. Fragments of a conversation between them that had never actually happened filtered through his mind.
I used to read to my sister, Naomi, at bedtime. Her favorite fairy tale was Sleeping Beauty. Remember I said you weren’t living, but waiting? I call you princess because you’re asleep. You don’t know how beautiful you are. How much the world needs you. And I want to be the man who kisses you and wakes you up.
So you see yourself as a prince?
No, I’m no prince … In fact, I’m more devil than anything.
He knew they’d never actually had that conversation outside of his own mind in Seattle, but the insult she’d just delivered …
Was it possible he’d somehow inserted himself in her mind, the same way he’d done with Bobbie Hernandez? He frowned, unsure what to think. “What did you just say?”
“I said, you make it sound so easy.”
“No. Not that part. That part about me being more devil than prince.”
Her eyes widened and he swore he heard her heart start beating faster. Briefly, she glanced at the intercom, as if more embarrassed by the fact that Carly could hear them than by his actual question. Of course, Carly, likely intrigued by the turn of the conversation, remained silent.
Ana’s expression cleared and she shook her head. “You heard me. Did I insult you?”
He was tempted then. Tempted to try to read her mind. To see if what he thought was impossible was actually true. But he resisted. A man, he thought. To her, I’m just a man. Just another human. It wasn’t true, but he wanted it to be. So he didn’t try to read her mind. Instead, he shrugged. “Look,” he said. “I never said rescuing anyone would be easy. Far from it. Salvation’s Crossing is heavily guarded. Even so, if I’m the devil, I’m one that’s going to help you find your sister. If she needs help, then you have the power to help her. The question is, will you?”
“What choice do I have? You waited to tell me what you know because you needed to hold something over me. You’ve been manipulating me since the second I met you.”
“Did it work? Because if it has, once you’re done with your temper tantrum, you might want to start reading the information we have on Salvation’s Crossing. Given your history, I think you’ll find the reading material quite interesting.”
“Because Gloria’s there?”
At her question, Ty hesitated then looked at the intercom that had remained noticeably silent. As if she knew it, as if she could see him waiting for her to speak, Carly said, “Gloria’s there with other members of Primos Sangre. That includes the cult’s leader, Miguel Salvador. You knew him as Miguel Santos.”
Stunned, Ana stumbled slightly and caught herself on the table as images of Miguel’s face flashed before her. “M—Miguel? The leader of a cult?”
“That’s right,” Carly said.
Automatically, Ana shook her head. Miguel had been a survivor. He’d done bad things to protect himself—and protect Ana—but he’d always been her friend. He’d known how much Gloria meant to Ana. How much Ana wanted a better life for her sister. He’d even sworn to watch over her when Ana was taken away. “You must be mistaken.”
This time, Ty answered. “He’s the acknowledged leader of the group even though he rarely makes public appearances. Occasionally, he meets with investors. Solicits funds. I’ve tried to meet with him myself, posing as an investor who shares the group’s mission to support Hispanic rights. So far, he hasn’t taken the bait.”
When she remained silent, he walked up to her. Grasped her chin and tilted her face up so he could stare into her eyes.
“You want to know why we chose you to help us with this mission, Ana? It’s because you’re a survivor. You did what you had to in order to survive, and when it comes to protecting your sister, you’ll do the same. Another reason? The gang you belonged to has grown. And while you might have walked away from it and never looked back, the same isn’t true for the rest of its former members.”
“You’re saying Primos Sangre joined Salvation’s Crossing?”
“I’m saying Primos Sangre is Salvation’s Crossing. It’s being led by a man you know. A man you befriended. A man you once had an intimate relationship with.”
She jerked her chin out of his grasp and shook her head as she backed away. “Who gives you your intel? Because whoever it is sucks.”
“You’re denying you once had a relationship with Miguel Santos?”
“I didn’t have a relationship with him. He fucked me. Once. To jump me into the gang.”
Ty shrugged, seemingly unconcerned by Ana’s revelation, not giving away whether he’d known that little fact or not. “Let me ask you this. The fact that he only fucked you once. Was that his choice or yours?”
“What—what do you mean?”
“I mean, I have reason to believe he cares for you. Deeply. That if you’d let him, he’d have fucked you far more than once.”
Her eyes flickered with the knowledge that he was right. That Miguel had loved her. That he would have, if Ana had been interested, wanted more from her than friendship.
Belladonna wants to whore me out, she thought. And even though she’d been fully prepared for that possibility, somehow this all seemed like a betrayal on Ty’s part.
To torture herself, Ana played back that moment he’d kissed her, not in a dream but for real, when they’d been wrestling in her café. He’d kissed her twice, and though they’d been fighting and he’d simply been proving his power over her, that kiss … that kiss had felt real.
It had made her feel alive, in a way she hadn’t felt in her entire life. And as much as she wanted to deny it, she’d wanted him to kiss her again. And she’d wanted to kiss him back.
You’re a fool. You always have been and you always will be. This man was never interested in you for himself. He just wants you to spread your legs for someone else.
He knows, just like you do, that you did it once. And he knows that you’ll do it again.
But even with that knowledge, she couldn’t go down like this. Couldn’t let him see how devastated she was. She wanted to cry. Instead, she simply turned on her heel and left.