She arched her back from the door, her tits scraping against my hard chest as she tried to escape my hold. But I barely noticed it. I was too consumed with the fact that she thought we—the Hangmen—were the bad ones. “You have no idea,” I growled close to her face. “You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.”
Adelita’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“You wanna know what deal our fathers were making when we were in Mexico?”
Adelita froze. “Drugs. Papa said it was drugs.” She said it with such trust toward her father that some of my anger fell. He was all she had, all she’d ever had . . . and she had no fucking idea what a sadistic cunt he was.
“No,” I corrected, my voice less vicious than it was before. “It wasn’t fucking drugs, princess.” I made sure to look her dead in the eye when I said, “It was women.”
Adelita gasped. Her head started shaking in disbelief. “No,” she denied, with conviction. “What are you talking about? Papa would never deal in that!”
I moved closer to her, pinning her against the door so she would listen. “Your papa did. And so did mine.” Her head started shaking again. She was getting ready to argue; I spelled it out for her so she would believe it. “They steal women, drug them with your papa’s heroin, transport them to camps, and then let men pay to fuck them. And they earn a pretty penny doing it.”
“No!” she cried, her eyes filling with tears. “Why are you saying this?” Her whisper became harsher when she raised her chin, and countered, “It is this club. These men. They are lying! My father would never—”
“He fucking sells women off to fuck knows who. To be slaves, or whatever they want from them.”
“That is not true!” A tear fell down her face, but she flicked her head so the rebel tear would fall to the floor and not show her weakness.
“It is—”
“I said it FUCKING ISN’T!”
My whole body shook with rage at her shitty attitude. Not saying a word, I kept hold of one of her wrists and opened the door, dragging her down the hallway. I didn’t care if it was forbidden. The bitch needed to know the truth and I knew a few people who would make it as fucking plain as day.
Viking moved out of our way, slow clapping and showing by his shit-eating grin that he’d heard everything. I stormed toward the bar. As I smashed the door open, the brothers all turned to look our way. I focused on Hush and Cowboy, then AK, who was sitting at the table beside them. “Where are your bitches?”
Hush and Cowboy stood. “Why?” Hush asked.
“Where are they?!” I shouted. I didn’t have time for their shit right now. Adelita was pulling back against my hand and I was two seconds away from fucking exploding.
“They’re in the old ladies’ room,” Beauty said as she pushed past us. “I’ll take you.” I dragged Adelita behind me, her feet digging in as she tried to plant them on the floor. She yanked on my arm, but there was no way she was getting free until she heard this. She was a sheltered bitch who needed a damn reality check.
Beauty led us to the room at the opposite end of the club. I saw Styx and Ky in Styx’s office. The minute Styx saw me dragging Adelita by, he flew from his seat and came storming after us, face like fucking thunder. I wasn’t taking her back to my room until she heard from the victims’ mouths what went down. What her precious father was capable of. What all the cartel–Klan deal had been about.
Beauty opened the door and I pulled Adelita inside. I saw Mae, Lilah, and Grace on the sofas. Phebe, Saffie, Bella, and Sia were on the seats beside them. They all turned to see us.
“Tanner?” Mae said. Styx came in behind us, followed by Ky.
“What the fuck?” Ky questioned, turning to me.
I found Sia, ignoring everyone else, and demanded, “Tell her.” Sia looked confused as her eyes fell on Adelita. I pulled Adelita beside me. “This is Adelita Quintana. Alfonso Quintana’s daughter and my fiancée.”
Sia swallowed, eyes wide. “Adelita? From the Quintana cartel?” Her voice shook. I felt Adelita tense in my hands at the fact that Sia had heard of her.
I nodded. “Tell her what her father is dealing in.” Sia looked at Phebe, who had Saffie clutched tightly in her arms. Saffie’s eyes were huge as she stared at Adelita, and her face had gone deathly white. “Tell her what happened to y’all. She won’t believe me and it’s pissing me the fuck off.”
“Tanner, cut the shit.” Hush’s voice hit my ears and he went to stand beside Sia. Cowboy followed him. They both flanked her.
“She won’t fucking believe me! She thinks we’re all making it up to ruin her father. Thinks all the trafficking shit is just a way to bring down Quintana’s name.”
Cowboy crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, let me tell you, bitch, we were there,” he said, talking to Adelita. “We’ve seen the camps. Camps run by your father’s and Tanner’s father’s men.”
“You lie,” Adelita hissed at Cowboy, anger lacing each word. She was shaking with fury.
“He isn’t lying, darlin’.” This time it was Sia who was speaking. Sia stepped out from Hush and Cowboy’s blockade and came toward Adelita. Adelita was shaking harder as Sia stopped before her. Sia regarded Adelita curiously, then asked, “Did you know a man named Garcia?”
Adelita stopped dead in my arms, grew completely still. She glanced back to me, and I could see from her paling face that she did. I nodded to Sia for her to keep going. “He and I . . . we used to be together.” Sia held up her head like she was trying to not be ashamed. “He picked me and my friend up when we were in Mexico.” She took a deep breath. “And he stole my friend, drugged her, and then sold her as a whore to anyone willing to pay the price.”
Adelita sucked in a sharp breath. I thought she’d argue. But I could tell by her wide eyes and silence that she’d believed Sia. Or she at least was entertaining the notion.
Phebe then got to her feet, shocking us all. Saffie moved to Lilah, who had her arms held out for her. The kid was as timid as they came. Barely spoke and never looked anyone in the eye. She was fucked up by what’d happened to her in those camps, that was for sure.
Phebe came to stand beside Sia. I felt Adelita grow weaker in my arms. “Adelita, was it?” Adelita nodded her head. Phebe sighed, then said, “What Sia said is true. I know this . . .” She closed her eyes and took a minute. When they opened again, she said, “Because I was taken too.” I heard a grunt behind me. AK was there in the doorway with Vike. AK’s expression was severe as he listened to his old lady speak. “I was taken from the commune I used live in to one of the camps. I was taken by the camp’s leader. The camps were run by the Klan Tanner used to belong to.” Phebe glanced at me almost apologetically. But I didn’t care. Whatever it took to convince Adelita. I knew mentioning my old Klan would help. I’d told her this was the deal made by our fathers, but I imagined it was different hearing it from a survivor’s mouth than from mine. “It was a holding camp. We were there until we were moved to Mexico, where Quintana’s men would seize control of the girls and do with them whatever they wished.”
“No,” Adelita protested, head shaking. But her voice was nothing more than a whisper. It shook, and I knew she believed what Sia and Phebe were telling her.
My grip on her arms loosened and I started running my thumb back and forth over her bare skin. It was gonna be hard for Adelita to hear. And even harder for her to cope with. “You must be mistaken,” she said and glanced back to me. I saw the fear circling in her dark eyes. “My father . . . he is not a bad man. Not in this way. He wouldn’t do this.” Her voice caught. But like the perfect cartel princess she was, she tilted her chin and added, “I am not taking your experience from you. Your truth. But I am sure you’re mistaken as to who ran this operation.” Adelita brushed her hair from her face. “There are many cartels in Mexico. The Quintana cartel is not built on the victimhood of abused women.”