Page 139 of At Her Pleasure
Several women screamed. The men jumped back as the body fell, the fear in their faces mingled with helpless rage.
Mick felt Cyn’s rapid pulse under his hand, but her gaze remained locked on Hector and the fallen man behind him.
Hector waited, gun still raised, until he saw all of the more volatile feelings swallowed, masked. When he spoke, his tone was even, reasonable. “You were each told a third act of disobedience would be punished this way. This was his third. This is to help you, to keep you from making unwise choices.” He holstered the gun.
Rodriguez had come to Cyn’s side. “If we have a man’s wife, daughter or mother here…” Rodriguez paused to look at the woman who’d cried out. The women around her shrunk from his regard. “She is raped before him as he is whipped. This already happened with this man. He is too hard-headed.”
Cyn’s pulse under Mick’s hand slowed, evened out. When she stepped away, she was Kat again.
“Was hard-headed,” she said flatly. “What kind of whip is used?”
“A bullwhip. Hector is a fair hand with it.” Rodriguez sent Mick a speculative look. “I have never seen Mick move so quickly to defend a client. It is…unexpected.”
Kat tossed Mick a scornful look. “It’s totally expected. When a woman fucks a man to scratch her own itch, he becomes protective. Which is fine, as long as he doesn’t associate it with the delusion of possession.”
She turned her back on Mick. As he aimed a killing look at her, Hector suppressed a grin. But then she turned that scornful look on him.
“I know how to use a bullwhip myself. If it’s not getting the job done, you need some lessons. As the target. You just killed a man who could have made me money. I also have clients who put men like him into cage matches.”
“You are an interesting woman, Señora Greenwood,” Rodriguez said. “I think I like you.”
She ignored that and went back to corporate mode. “This is an adequate first shipment. I’ll take all of them. If you can offer double the numbers and a few tweaks to the composition each month, we can proceed.”
Rodriguez’s lips almost disappeared into his goatee as he pressed them together, his eyes gleaming with approval. “Good. Let us go into the fresh air and finalize our business.”
His nose had wrinkled as the scent of the dead man’s released bowels had begun to drift their way. With a nod of assent, Kat and the rest followed him back through the storage room and warehouse, and out to the courtyard.
Mick saw Cyn’s nostrils flare as she drew in the air. She’d lifted her sunglasses in the warehouse, but as she dipped her head and put them back in place, the green irises and dark pupils were emerald shards.
He should not have fucking brought her here. She’d said this was a way to atone. He stood by what he’d told her. She had not a damn thing to atone for. Though she’d vehemently disagree, she’d been one of the people in those cells, no matter the different circumstances. Bearing the ghosts of her past was enough penance.
Hector spoke to one of his men. Mick picked up some of the exchange, so when Salazar fell into step next to him, he gave him a curious look. “Who did you tell him to put back into the cells?”
Hector shrugged. “A girl not for sale. If you can swing back after you drop Señora Greenwood off, you will see. There is a betting pool. Chavez has a pet tiger he’s been keeping hungry. We’re taking bets on how long she lasts.”
Mick kept his tone low, though his choice of words told Hector he hadn’t yet forgiven Kat’s shot at his manhood. “Not to agree with queen bitch, but it seems like a waste. Even the damaged ones are usually good for something.”
“She has something wrong in her head.” Hector rapped his knuckles against his temple. “Our doctor looked at her, and she’s not faking. She sees monsters and goes berserk. We drugged her at first, but now that we know she has no value, we just knock her out when she gets too loud.”
Hector nudged Mick as his phone started to buzz. “She fights like a wildcat, though. We intended to shoot her and dump the body, but Chavez mentioned the tiger. Who knows? She may scare the beast, despite his hunger. Chavez will have to make her bleed to give the gato courage.”
Hector pulled out the phone as he spoke, but when he read the series of texts, his expression went hard and blank. He came to a full stop, reading the text more carefully. Pocketing it with a stream of muttered Spanish curses, he quickened his pace, closing the distance between him and Rodriguez. He issued a curt “perdón,” to Cyn before he pulled his boss aside.
In the swift exchange that followed, fury gripped Rodriguez’s features. Mick shifted closer to Cyn. She glanced at him. Tension was a screw drilling itself into his abdomen. Had his cover been blown? Or Cyn’s?
Hector had dismissed Mick and Cyn when he bolted to his boss. Plus, it had been a very long time since Mick had had that concern. He was embedded so deeply it was hardly a consideration.
Showing why he was in charge, and conscious of the need to preserve a lucrative business relationship, Rodriguez banked his anger with effort and turned to Cyn. “Ms. Greenwood, you have my sincerest apologies. A competitor is on their way to seize the cargo. We will be outnumbered and outgunned, so retreat is our best option. You will have your requested shipment next month, you have my word.”
Anger and intense annoyance gripped Cyn’s features, “Kat’s” expected reaction. But before she could say anything, Rodriguez had turned to Hector. Because “competitor” meant another cartel.
“Fold up the tents. Burn it all. They can do the clean-up and pay off the cops.”
“Wait a fucking minute.” Mick spoke as if he’d read the order from Kat’s furious countenance. He was a broker defending his client. And his commission. “We can take custody now. She’ll wire you the money. I’ll vouch for it.”
“No.” Rodriguez responded. “You will not get out ahead of them. They will kill you and take the cargo.” His gaze slid over Cyn. “Or make you part of the cargo. This is not about money. It is about territory and respect. We paid them to allow us to be here, and they are reneging on the agreement.”
His expression sent a direct warning to Mick. Kat could show her ass and have a tantrum, but she’d do it while they headed to the Mercedes. Much as Rodriguez wanted her business, if Mick or “Kat” caused too much of a problem, Hector would be told to shoot them where they stood.