Malo - Page 56

“All right, let’s move!” Beast bellows into the room. Maria rises to her feet, shooting me a look, and heads over to join Bella, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze. The younger woman looks scared, and seeing that expression on her face only drives home my certainty.

Whatever it takes. We’ve got to be willing to do whatever it takes to end this.

I roll my shoulders back, pulling myself together as best I can. I don’t care how shitty I’m feeling, how long I’ve spent down and out. Right now, as far as the cartel are concerned, I’m in fighting form.

And I’m ready to take them on.

CHAPTER 39

MARIA

“Come on, Bella, this way,” I tell her gently, guiding her up the stairs and into the safe room that Beast showed me earlier in the day.

“I’m coming,” Bella replies, but I can hear her voice shaking. I put a hand on the small of her back, helping steer her up the last couple of steps into the small room where we’re going to be keeping cover while the guys deal with whoever has just arrived at the compound.

My heart is drumming against my ribcage, and I can feel the pressure of the gun Beast gave me in the holster at my hip. I know how serious this is. Beast is trusting me, and I can’t let him down. Can’t let any of them down. It strikes me, as Bella sinks into a large chair opposite the security desk, how vulnerable she looks.

“We can keep an eye on everything that’s happening from up here,” I explain to her, nodding to the stack of screens in front of us. They’re connected to all the security cameras hooked up around the compound, giving us a view of everything that’s going on. It’s dark out, and I can’t see much, but there seems to be a single figure standing outside of the main building. Did the cartel just send one person? That doesn’t seem right.

“Oh, God,” Bella groans, and I glance over at her in a panic.

“Hey, are you all right?” I ask her urgently, dropping to my knees in front of her, trying to get a good look at her. “Everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” she sighs, planting her hands on her stomach. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. I just… all this stress has me feeling sick.”

I grab a bottle of water from the small mini fridge below the desk. I insisted it was stocked with food and supplies for Bella and me if we were going to be stuck in here for any length of time. The last thing I wanted was to be caught without enough for her to eat or drink.

“Here, sip on this, slowly,” I tell her. “It’ll help settle your stomach.”

“Thanks,” she murmurs, cracking open the bottle and taking a few small sips. She closes her eyes and leans back in the seat, her hands on the growing bump at her stomach.

“It’s going to be okay,” I soothe, and she nods. I don’t know if she believes me. She’s probably wondering why I’m the one who seems to have been assigned to take care of her when we don’t know each other very well. I don’t want to explain the real reason, that I’m a good shot, in case it makes her panic even more. Stress is bad for the baby.

“I know,” she replies, though I’m not sure, judging by the tone in her voice, that I believe her. I sink down into the chair next to her, watching through the security cameras as the Kings and their allies rush around to gather themselves. I can tell a few of them are nervous. Even on this grainy footage, I can make out shaky hands, nervous tics, or maybe it’s excitement in Blue’s case.

“I’ve been through stuff like this before,” she admits, and I turn to her, surprised. I know it shouldn’t shock me, given her involvement in this world, but Bella seems so… delicate to me. It’s hard for me to believe that she’s seen something like this before, let alone survived it.

“You have?” I reply.

She nods, with a slightly sad smile. “Yeah. But last time, my father was the one on the other side of all this.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Your father?” I ask.

Her shoulders slump slightly. “Trust me, you wouldn’t be surprised if you knew what kind of man he was,” she replies, shaking her head. “He… he was a monster. The cruelest person I’ve ever known. The way he treated me, the way he treated everyone around him, it was…”

She trails off. For a moment, I see tears shining in her eyes.

She blinks them back quickly, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, you don’t need to hear all of this,” she remarks, plastering a smile on her face. My mind drifts back to what Beast told me before about her mother still not being in a good enough state to help her out with everything. My heart twists, thinking of how alone she is in the world right now.

No, not alone. She’s got me. She’s got Beast. She’s got Harley, and she’s got all of the Kings around her, willing to do whatever it takes to help her get through this pregnancy in one piece. I need to remember that, no matter how tempting it might be to let my emotions get the better of me.

“It’s okay,” I reply. “You can talk to me, if you want. It’s better to get this stuff out than try to keep it in.”

“Are you close with your father?” she asks, and I smile.

I can’t help myself. Even in the midst of everything that’s happening, I’m so glad that I have the father I do. He’s such a strong, decent man, and he’s gone out of his way to show me just how much of a world there is out there to explore. Whether it was encouraging me to pursue my studies in the UK or letting me focus on my career when so many dads would have been trying to get me married off, I’m so grateful for him.

“Yeah, I am,” I reply. “Especially since I lost my mother.”