“Tell me about you, Tanner,” I said as I ran my fingers over the tattoo of an eagle on his stomach. I traced the intricate feathers on the bird’s wings, the tips a vibrant shade of red that faded into a golden yellow as the many feathers led down to its body.
“What do you want to know?”
I looked up at Tanner and rested my chin on his chest. “Do you have friends?”
For a split second I saw a flash of what looked like pure pain in his blue eyes. Tanner’s muscles twitched beneath me. My stomach fell. He looked so sad. “I . . .” Tanner cleared his throat. “I have a best friend.” His voice was low and raspy, as though it hurt him to admit those words.
“In the Klan?”
Tanner picked up a piece of my hair and ran it through his fingers. I smiled to myself as he became lost in the motion. Tanner Ayers, beneath the muscles, the tattoos, and the menacing stare, was the most beautiful of men. “He’s not anymore.” My eyebrows rose in surprise. “He left.” Tanner inhaled a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “Did time inside, then lost his faith in the cause. When he came out, he was done.”
“And your brotherhood was okay with it?”
“No,” he said. I tried to decipher the expression on his face. Wonder? Confusion? No. It was pain. “Just like they would never understand about you,” I said. It would be way worse, I imagined. He was the heir.
My heart started beating too fast for my breathing to remain steady. We never talked about what our lives were like outside my room. Tanner had been back to Mexico three times now. He would return once more before the Klan–cartel business was complete. And every visit, he came to me every night. Traveled with me each day through the secret tunnels that ran under the hacienda. And every time he left to go back to Texas, I counted the hours until he was back by my side.
He was never meant to mean anything to me. He was meant to be a man I loved to hate. A man who, for whatever reason, I felt pulled toward, but who was meant to be disposable.
I did not count on falling for the infamous White Prince of the Ku Klux Klan.
“His name is Tank. I met him when he joined the Klan several years back. We were near the same age, he was just a bit older, so we kind of fell into a friendship.” Tanner’s lip lifted at the side, and my heart melted on seeing that small whisper of a smile edge across his mouth. It was rare, like a blue moon, and just as enchanting. “He was my right-hand man. He was always with me. Stood beside me when I needed him . . .” The pain that had clouded his eyes before returned.
“And where is he now?”
Tanner’s small smile fell. “With another gang. A new brotherhood.”
I took Tanner’s hand. I was compelled to soothe him. I squeezed his hand and brought it to my lips. “But you still see him? Against your father’s wishes?”
Tanner nodded. “He has a woman now. Beauty.” His smile returned. “She’s a total ballbuster.” He paused, then, flicking an almost shy smile my way, said, “Like you. I think you’d like her. I could see you being friends.” I couldn’t help but smile back, my heart expanding, at just the thought of meeting some of Tanner’s friends as his . . . his. Tanner stared at me. I waited for him to speak. I had quickly learned that Tanner was the type of man who spoke only when he had something important to say. “When Tank left, I couldn’t understand how he could walk away.” Tanner glanced down at his hand in mine. Then his eyes tracked the tattoos on his arm. “When he left, I changed. I felt betrayed. Immersed myself in the Klan more than ever.”
“Tanner . . . what is it?” I asked after a minute of tense silence.
Tanner sighed. “But now I can.” My stomach flipped and my pulse lurched into a sprint. I didn’t know what to say. Tanner’s eyes dipped as if he was embarrassed to have said such a thing. “Now I think that maybe the life I’ve lived . . .” He shook his head. “The things I’ve done and the beliefs I had . . . now I think they could all be wrong.” Tanner hooked his hands under my arms and pulled me to lie over his chest. I gasped as I felt his hard muscles against my breasts. Tanner cupped my cheek. “Adelita Quintana. You’re making me want things I never dreamed I could want.”
“Tanner . . .”
“You’re giving me something I’ve never had before.” I held my breath, anxious to hear the answer. “Hope,” he whispered. “Hope for more than what I know . . .”
“We’re here, darlin’.” The sound of a stranger’s voice pulled me from the memory. Even just thinking about that night, my heart beat louder and quicker. My breath came faster just remembering Tanner’s face.
Hope.
Tanner had inspired that in me too.
The man who had driven the truck got out and waited for me to move. “It’s okay,” Beauty said. I allowed myself to look at her. She smiled. “I promise you’ll be safe. I’m gonna take you to Tank’s and my room here. Let you get cleaned up and eat something. You must want that.”
I flicked my eyes to the men coming out of the building we were parked in front of. There were many of them.
“Trust me, Adelita.” I turned back to Beauty. “No one’s gonna hurt you. I won’t let them.”
I took a deep breath and followed Beauty out of the truck. The man who had driven us here led the way. The second man jumped from the bed of the truck and took up the rear. I was stared at, and just like before, I kept my head high. Though my feet were unsteady, we made it to the room.
“We’ll be out here keeping guard,” one of the men said.
“Thanks, darlin’.” Beauty shut the door, and I glanced around the room. There was not much to it. A large bed sat in the center. There was a television in the corner and a small bathroom to the right.
“It’s not much, but it’s better than where you just were.”
Beauty’s eyes traveled down my body to the dress I was wearing. I could see the confusion in her face. Before she even had a chance to speak, I said, “I love him.” Beauty met my gaze. “I love Tanner with my entire heart.” I gestured down to my dress, feeling the need to explain. “This . . .” I shook my head. Tears sprang to my eyes as I remembered Tanner’s face when he saw it was me who had been taken . . . when he saw what I was wearing.
He was hurt.
I had hurt him.
“I didn’t know if he was ever coming back,” I whispered. My fingers ran over the engagement ring on my left hand. I slipped it off, the metal feeling like it was burning my skin. I squeez
ed it in my hand and looked up at Beauty. “I hadn’t heard from him for so long.” I shook my head again. “I couldn’t keep putting them off anymore. My father . . . he was pushing me to Diego. And Diego, he was relentless in his pursuit of me.” My nails dug into my palms. “I had no one to turn to. No one to help. I . . . I didn’t know what to do.”
“Shh, darlin’.” Beauty wiped a falling tear away from my face with her thumb. “You don’t gotta explain nothing to me. And as for Tanner . . .” She smiled. “I just saw him with you in there. The guy went all beast-mode to protect you. He might be pissed now, but that man is gone for you, sweetie. Hook, line, and sinker gone.” Beauty moved behind me and started unbuttoning my dress. “Now, let’s get you out of this and cleaned up. I got some clothes you can wear.”
I was in a daze as the wedding dress came off and I was ushered into the bathroom. When Beauty left me alone, I stared at myself in the mirror above the sink. My hair was disheveled and my skin was pale. The steam from the hot shower quickly eradicated my face from view, yet I stayed staring at the place my reflection had been. My brain was consumed with thoughts. Of my father and what he would do when he found out I’d been taken. Of Diego, and the vengeance I knew would be coming this way.
But most of all I thought of Tanner. I thought of how he was no longer with the Klan. He was here, with the Hades Hangmen . . . My stomach fell, and I had to catch a sob before it fell from my mouth.
We were at war with the Hangmen. The Klan was at war with the Hangmen. Tanner was no longer with the Klan. He was now a brother of the Hangmen.
I rubbed my hand over my sternum, fighting panic as the truth filtered into my fogged-up brain.
It was worse.
I didn’t think it could get worse for us.
But this, now, was exponentially worse.
I stepped into the shower and let the hot water fall over my head. I washed my hair with the shampoo and conditioner Beauty had left out for me. And I thought of the past few days. Thought of waking to find the Hangmen looking down at me. My hands and ankles had been bound with rope. Fear had flooded my veins, but I never let them see.