He growls and yells a curse in what I recognize as Tagalog, gesturing wildly at Ria.
“Mga inutil! Bakit niyo siya tinali? At bakit ganyan ang itsura niya?”
Then, Santos snaps his head towards CJ.
“Untie her!” Santos roars.
CJ jumps forward to free Ria from her constraints, but the force of it causes her to fall off her chair. She drops onto her hands and knees with a sharp gasp, triggering another string of violent, incoherent words that sound like slurs from Santos.
“Dalhin niyo sa akin ang traydor!”
His men rush in from all corners of the room.
One hauls CJ to Santos, forcing CJ down on his knees while the other grabs hold of Ria rather forcefully, causing her to cry out in pain again.
I’m barreling towards him before I’m even aware of it.
I knock him down with my shoulder, ramming his head with my elbow as hard as I can while bound, and then I knee him in the solar plexus for good measure.
Santos' men flank me but stop approaching when Ria flings her body on to me, a petrified look on her face.
She wraps her arms around my waist, burying her face on my chest.
“STOP!” Santos bellows with a hand raised.
His men halt, waiting for his orders.
My chest is heaving but I don't take my eyes off of Santos. He eyes me with disdain before his lips turn upward, calling out to his daughter.
“Alessandria.”
Santos’ tone oozes with tension as he approaches us.
Ria trembles and I try my best to shield her with my shoulder. My hands are still bound, but I’ve loosened the rope enough that anyone who tries to grab my wife will get a fist to the face.
"What do you want?" I grit out.
I force myself to stand still, not making a move to pummel this madman to the ground.
He ignores me, his eyes trained on Ria like my wife ishisproperty.
“Look at me, Alessandria.”
Ria raises her head, eyes meeting mine for a split second. I catch the trepidation in them before she turns her whole body to meet the man she came from.
The man who wants to steal her away and kill me.
"Hello, sperm donor."
Ria's choice of words causes an evil smirk to line Santos' face. He's proud of the fire in Ria, and not at all surprised she's figured out her connection to him.
"Nice to meet you too, daughter. Excuse me for one second." He turns to one of his men, snaps his finger and then holds out a hand. Before I can blink, one of his men hands him a Glock, which he points straight at CJ.
"Why?" CJ's look of disbelief only causes Santos to sneer.
"You didn't actually think I would let you get away with what you tried to do to her, did you?"
An ear-splitting screech of terror leaves CJ, seconds before Santos shoots him point blank between the eyes.