I felt Carlos’s grip loosen slightly. ‘It was different with me. He was different with me. Always watching me. Always wondering if I was going to have another breakdown. Did he ever tell you that I killed his dog?’ he scoffed.
‘No,’ Alejandro frowned.
‘I was eight. It was an accident. I only wanted to see if the dog was tough like us. We couldn’t get the blood out of the carpet. Mama had to throw it away and Papa was so mad. None of them ever looked at me the same way again! Especially Mateo. He thought I was broken.’
Alejandro continued to edge closer while his uncle raged.
‘And now, after all these years, after I gave up everything, he just hands it all over to you, and I am supposed to accept that? And not only do you have everything I’ve worked for, you want my daughter too? You are a greedy, selfish hijo de puta!’ he snarled. ‘Did you know that it was my idea to start this business in the first place?’
‘No,’ Alejandro shook his head.
‘It was. I was the one who was always prepared to do whatever it took. Did you know that I once killed a woman because she wouldn’t let me fuck her?’ he snarled as his grip tightened again and the blade dug in further. ‘I fucked her anyway and then I slit her throat. Your father got pretty mad about that too!’
‘No, I didn’t know that,’ Alejandro said softly as he looked at me for the briefest moment. He gave a subtle nod of his head as though to tell me this was all going to be okay.
‘Did you think that you could walk in here and just take her back?’ Carlos snarled. ‘Although I’m not sure you’d want her now. She screamed for more when my men fucked her like the puta that she is?’
I winced at Carlos’s lie, and watched as Alejandro’s fists clenched at his sides. Then he looked up at his uncle, his body vibrated with anger but his face remained calm. ‘Did you know that Jax is ambidextrous?’ he asked calmly.
‘What?’ Carlos snapped.
‘Ambidextrous,’ he repeated as bullets whizzed past my ears. ‘As skilled with his right hand as he is his left.’
In a matter of seconds the four armed men were on the floor with blood pooling from their heads.
‘You know he’s from Dallas, right?’ Alejandro said.
‘Quickest draw in the West,’ Jax smiled as he walked down the stairs of the basement. With everyone’s attention on Alejandro, nobody had noticed Jax slipping back into the shadows and drawing his weapons.
Alejandro looked between the knife at my throat and his uncle. ‘Please let her go, Carlos. You can have everything. I don’t want any of it without her.’
‘Fuck you, hijo de puta!’ he snarled. ‘I would die before I give her back to you.’
Alejandro took a deep breath before he spoke. ‘Ahora.’Now.
I heard another whizz of a gunshot as Alejandro lunged forward, grabbing the blade of the knife before it sliced through my throat as Carlos dropped to the floor.
‘Jax, get Lucia,’ he shouted and Jax started jogging down the stairs and over to Lucia.
Alejandro dropped to his knees in front of me. He pulled the rag from my mouth with his bleeding hand and I gasped for air. Then he worked quickly, cutting the ties at my ankles before moving behind me and cutting my wrists free. My arms burned with the pain of a thousand needles as I pulled them towards my body. Then he was on his knees before me again. Brushing my hair from my face as the blood from the wound on his hand dripped down his arm.
‘Alana. Princess. I’m so sorry.’
I wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging to him as though I would never let him go as I sobbed against his shirt. He ran his hands over my hair and pressed his mouth to my ear. ‘I love you so much,’ he breathed. ‘I need you to know that I have never regretted marrying you. Not even for a single breath. I would give up everything I have ever known if it meant not losing you.’
My heart swelled in my chest and my sobs grew even more persistent. Then he was standing, lifting me into his arms. ‘I’ve got you, princess. You’re safe now,’ he soothed in my ear.
We both looked over at Lucia. She was in Jax’s arms and had her head buried against his chest. ‘You okay, kid?’ Alejandro asked.
She looked up at him. ‘Yes,’ she sniffed as the tears rolled down her face.
‘Come on. Let’s get home,’ he said as started to walk towards the stairs.
I nestled my head against his neck, breathing in his incredible scent and feeling the relief at being close to him again settling over me like a warm blanket. I already was home.