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CAMILA GASPED AS ROUGH hands lifted her up, rousing her from a groggy sleep. She stumbled as a man pushed her forward, bodily dragging her from the room. Her weakened state was no match for his bulk and muscle, and she could do little but let him take her.
Thick fingers gripped her biceps as he moved her toward the door, sending pain shooting down her arms. The woman who’d been wailing on her own mat earlier whimpered, but no one said a word. She frantically scanned the room, as if the small cell of women could somehow save her from her captor.
She briefly met the frightened eyes of Mariana but knew there was nothing the woman could do to help her either. If anything, it was better they were taking Camila. At least she had a chance of eventually escaping—of being rescued. Presumably, they’d contact her father for money. And if they did intend to sell her into the sex trade like those other women, word would spread quickly that the daughter of Miguel Rodriguez was up for sale.
She shuddered, looking ahead.
Pretending she wasn’t leaving the other women in the room behind for a miserable life as the property of a man willing to pay.
Camila blinked as she nearly fell into the narrow hallway, dimly lit by a few lights. It was made of the same concrete cinderblocks as the cell she’d been hidden in. Dark. Narrow. Unwelcoming.
And perfect for hiding whatever goods they were trafficking.
Whatever they’d drugged her with had mostly worn off, but she was weak from no food or water, and she swayed on her feet. She shivered in her dress and sandals, uneasiness washing over her.
How many more hours had passed since she’d been taken?
Were they dragging her off to rape or kill her?
Her stomach lurched, and she dry heaved, glancing down at the boots of the man holding her. He smelled of cigarettes and stale sweat, and he pulled her along, not caring if she was about to be sick.
“We have to move her,” another man yelled impatiently. Camila glanced up to see the shadow of another man at the end of the hallway. “If he discovers she’s being held here, he’ll slit our throats.”
“What? Where are we going?” she asked the man holding her, finally getting up the nerve to speak.
He grunted, shoving her forward, and she nearly fell to the ground. Rough hands yanked her back into a standing position, and then he was hurrying her along. Camila’s eyes widened as she saw pounds and pounds of cocaine being stacked into piles as they passed an open storage room. There had to be millions and millions of dollars’ worth of drugs in that one tiny little space.
The men working ignored her, too caught up in their assignment to care.
Or maybe they were just used to seeing women taken in and out of the cell where she’d been held.
Were they clearing out their stash of cocaine? Was this part of her father’s operations? Or something run by another cartel?
She hadn’t seen her own bodyguards since they’d been outside the café—right after they’d turned on her. Crazy how two men who’d protected her for years suddenly were willing to sell her out. Was this a building owned by her father? Or had they given her to a rival cartel?
A rickety door at the end of the hallway revealed a set of concrete stairs, and before she could ask any more questions or refuse to go up, the man holding her heaved her up over his shoulder.
She screamed as his arm snaked around her waist, holding her to him, and his other hand palmed her ass as he chuckled. He squeezed her buttocks lightly, and she screamed again, kicking her legs.
“Quiet!” the man holding her shouted. He smacked her ass once, shocking her, and she let out a sob as he began hissing at her to shut up.
“Want me to take care of her?” the man who’d been waiting at the end of the hallway asked. “Twenty minutes alone with me will shut her the fuck up. I’ll stuff my cock so deep in her mouth, she’ll be gagging too much to even think about screaming.”
“We need her alive,” the guy holding her snapped.
A dark chuckle had her cringing. “I was going fuck her, not kill her.”
“Later.”
Her head bounced up and down against her captor’s back as he carried her up the stairs, and she began to feel sickeningly dizzy. Soon she felt the cool night air kissing the backs of her legs. Chilling her exposed skin. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized that hours had passed since she’d first woken.
Was it really only one day ago that she’d been kidnapped from the café?
She’d been shopping and having coffee with her best friend—not a single care in the world. It was amazing how in such a short time her world had been turned upside down—both literally and figuratively.
The guy holding her over his shoulder unceremoniously lifted her off and dumped her onto the ground. She scurried back as the man who’d been hidden in shadows walked over to them. Tattoos covered both of his muscular arms, and he had several days growth of a dark beard. The outline of a packet of cigarettes showed in his shirt pocket, but in the cool night air, he didn’t reek of the scent of stale smoke like the first man had.
Dark eyes flickered over her with interest, lingering on her breasts. Chilling her to the core. Her nipples pressed against the fabric of her thin dress, pebbling from the cold, and she could practically see his mouth watering.
“It’s a damn shame I couldn’t take you for a test ride,” he said with a smirk, reaching out and lightly caressing one of her breasts as she pulled away. “Maybe they’ll let me try you out later. After your buyer gets his fill of you.”
She let out a choked cry and trembled as a dark van pulled up the driveway. Three men in dark clothes climbed out, storming over to her and the tattooed man. Each of them were carrying weapons, and one glanced back over his shoulder at the idling vehicle, a driver still waiting inside. “Miguel’s on the move,” one of them said. “Rumor has it he’s on his way here.”
Camila’s ears perked up. Her father was coming to rescue her? She stood perfectly still, hoping they didn’t realize she was listening to the conversation.
“How could he know where she is?” the tattooed man snapped. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, lighting one. The soft glow of the embers lit up in the darkness, and she tried not to retch at the smell. At the nausea she was feeling after not eating for more than twenty-four hours. “He’s got property all over Colombia. What the hell would let him know we’ve taken over this compound?”
“He killed one of her bodyguards. The fools came back demanding a bigger ransom for his daughter after they kidnapped her. The second one was willing to talk after the first lost his life.”
“Fuck. Where is he now?”
“The bodyguard? Both are dead.”
Camila took a step back, her eyes widening. The tattooed man reached out and yanked her back toward him, the ashes from his cigarette falling onto her bare skin. “I’ll be coming for you later, beautiful.” She winced as his fingers gripped her wrist tightly, binding her to him.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
She tried to wrench her wrist free from his grip, and he chuckled. “Just an old rival of your father’s. Remember that massive fire a year ago? Your father torched our caco crops—it cost me millions. But I’m about to get my revenge.”
Camila stared up at him, a feeling of dread washing over her. Was he planning to kill her father? Her? Attempt to take over the entire cartel?
If her bodyguards had already been killed, how much chance did this man have? Her father already knew what was happening.
“And what do you need me for?” she asked, raising her chin defiantly.
He chuckled. “We’re in the same business as your father—moving drugs and women. I’m having a special auction just for you though. Usually men don’t care what whore they end up with when we sell them. A warm cunt is all they need,” he sneered as she shivered.
“I’ve taken a woman or two myself over the years. Reaped the benefits of this business. But you?” he asked, slowly circling around her. Examining every inch of her in the darkness.
She shivered, despite her efforts to remain still. To not quake in front of the group of men before her. “The daughter of the infamous Miguel Rodriguez? Your father cost me millions, but I’m about to make it all back. There are lots of men willing to fuck the likes of you. They’ll pay big money for the chance. Hell, maybe I’ll sell you for a night at a time.”
“No,” she said, taking a step back. “I won’t do it.”
“You’ll do whatever the fuck I tell you,” he snarled. “Hell. I’ll fuck you right here myself in front of all these other men—then let them each have a turn.”
He nodded at the men from the van, and two of them began walking toward her.
“No!” she shouted, turning to run. Stumbling in the dark as she blindly took off. After only a few steps they were grabbing her by the arms. Lifting her into the air. She screamed again, twisting and writhing as she tried to break free.
“Knock her out,” a dark voice commanded.
She cried out again as something hard hit the top of her head, and then she succumbed to the darkness.
