Chapter Three

NYCTO

I’ve done this run thousands of times for Andrés.

Never, ever, has there been a woman who put up a fight like Eva did. They’re always too busy crying and begging like little girls, but not Eva. No, my feisty firecracker stood up and tried to defend women she doesn’t even know.

She made me stand up and take notice. And it didn’t escape my attention that she’s not the typical type Andrés goes for. Everyone else in the shipping container was done up and sexualized. Even her sister, Ivy, has the look mastered—the sex appeal men want and the sexy attractiveness depraved men pay good money for. But with Eva, she’s a natural beauty. Stunning. Almost breathtakingly beautiful, with her Cuban sun-kissed skin, dark eyes, and plump lips perfect for sucking cock. Fuck, if I don’t want to wrap my fingers around her long, auburn hair and ram into her from behind. Her slender, toned, and shapely curves are perfect for holding onto, even if she is trying to hide them under that dress. Ignoring all that, nothing about her screams sex kitten. Hell, she could still be a fucking virgin, for all I know. That’s the type of innocence she’s exuding right now.

Maybe that’s why she caught my eye.

Maybe that’s what has drawn my attention.

Maybe that’s why I’m going to be in a world of fucking hurt.

Because I can’t let her go.

What the fuck am I thinking?

I sit in my van in the clubhouse compound, my brothers waiting for me to get out to see where the hell we go from here. I have royally fucked up. I’ve made the mistake of letting Eva get in my damn head. Now, the club could pay for my singular action.

My hands grip onto the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turn white with the force.

I need to face this, but I don’t know how and still haven’t figured out the why.

A shadow steps beside the window of my driver’s side door, and I turn. Void’s nostrils flare, the vein in his neck pulsating the way it does when he’s annoyed as all hell. My VP understands as much as I do what this means for the club and what it means for our relationship with Andrés.

Taking a girl won’t sit well with him when she’s already been paid for by someone else.

I could pay double. But who fucking knows who her buyer is? How will they react to the news? What would they accept as payment? Would they accept anything—they would probably want their merchandise. I only see one way around this problem. Lie.

Taking a deep breath, I open the door, then slide out. “Don’t fucking say it,” I murmur to my VP.

“Don’t say what? That you’ve screwed us? That the club’s going to be at war with the largest human trafficker in the Southern US?”

“I’ll settle it. Let me come up with a plan before you have your fucking hissy fit.” I slam the van door and traipse around to the back.

Void follows, matching my pace. “You think Andrés is just gonna sit down and take this, Nycto? You couldn’t be more wrong. He will come for us all.”

As I roll my shoulders, an image of Eva swarms my mind—the feisty little Cuban goddess out cold in the back of this van. I knew the moment she started sassing me I was done for. There’s no way I was letting Andrés get his fucking mitts on her. He likes to test and train the products before he sends them out. She’d have been black and blue in no time with the way she fights back. For some damn reason I am yet to know the answer to, I hate the idea of her gorgeous face or body being harmed in any way.

So, I did the only thing I could.

It had to be done.

I might be the devil, but even the devil can be tempted by an angel.

“You’re right.”

Void’s eyes widen. “I am?”

I dip my chin. “Yeah. Andrés isn’t going to like the idea of me taking her. So, I’ll come up with something else.”

“What, you gonna lie?”

With a shrug, I grab the door and yank it open. Eva is still out cold. She looks like a captured angel— hands bound, breathing even as she lies comatose on the van’s floor. All that’s missing is her wings.

The things I could do to her if Void weren’t here, whether she was awake or not. I really am a sick fuck.

“I’m gonna tell him she ran.”

Void snorts out a laugh, then his eyes meet mine. He stops. His face falls when I don’t join in. “You’re fucking joking, right? You think Andrés is gonna believe a tiny little thing like her escaped the clutches of Tampa Defiance?”

“She kneed Dash in the balls. He’s still recovering from being shot in that bar brawl—it’s believable. Then she took off, headed for the water, dove in, and we couldn’t find her. He’ll have to drag the water around the docks if he doesn’t believe us.”

Void furrows his brow. “You’re throwing the prospect under the bus?”

“Isn’t it their job to take one for the team?”

Void rolls his shoulders. “You better be prepared for this to backfire on you, Pres. You want the responsibility of what you’ve done? This is all on you.”

I peer back at Eva, a sudden rush of adrenaline spiking through me. “Did the other girls make it to Andrés?”

Void checks his watch. “They should be there any minute.”

I tilt my neck to the side, making it crack. “Take the cargo to the Cell. It’ll be safe there. I need to get Eva inside before she wakes up.” Thunder roars overhead, the threat of a summer storm brewing.

“I fucking hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Don’t I always?”

He lets out a huff. “Sometimes, I question that.”

I flip Void the bird, and he walks off. Then I turn back to Eva and adjust my hard-on. As much as her being tied up and comatose is having a serious effect on my dick, I grab my pocketknife and cut the zip tie off her wrists, then massage the circulation back into her hands. She doesn’t need to be bound anymore. She has nowhere to go. We’re behind the fence—there’s no way out. Once her hands look closer to her normal coloring, I release them. They fall to the van’s bed, and she murmurs in her sleep. I swipe a strand of hair away from her face while taking her in.

My head falls to the side. I can’t comprehend why she’s captivated me. No woman ever has. All I know is I couldn’t let this angel meet the fate Andrés had destined for her.

Moving in, I hoist her into my arms, bridal style. I can’t help but notice her fingernails are painted bright red. They’d look great wrapped around my dick, red lipstick smeared over her lips while she sucks me off. Maybe my innocent firecracker isn’t so innocent after all.

Her arm instinctively loops around my neck. She’s holding on, but very loosely, still dazed, likely only starting to come back to consciousness. Her other arm and her hair dangle haphazardly as I walk her toward the clubhouse.

The bunker is set in the ground, so the opening is dug out, and the driveway curves down to meet it. The front of the bunker has a set of large concrete double doors. From the original design, we adjusted the hinges and painted the Defiance insignia on the front.

As I approach, the right-hand door is already open from when Void entered, so I walk through the dimly lit bunker. Even though it’s late at night, we still don’t light up the place. We keep it lit enough to see but dull enough that it doesn’t affect my mood. My brothers understand, but some of the other chapters think I’m strange. They don’t know where my love of the dark comes from. They don’t know me. They don’t know my past. They don’t need to. The ones who do, they understand. That’s all that matters.

Eva is a lightweight in my arms, even with unconsciousness weighing her down. I take her inside the clubhouse, which is in full swing. Music blasts from the speakers, unsettling my damn nerves. I glance down, ensuring she isn’t waking too fast, but she cuddles into me further with a small mumble, curling her arm around me tighter as I turn right for the hallway. I notice everyone watching me with her, but honestly, I don’t give two shits about what they think.

I’m Nycto, President of Tampa Defiance, and I do what I fucking want when I fucking want—consequences be damned—and right now, I want Eva locked away in my room.

As I enter the hall, I make my way to the first bedroom. Mine is closest to the exit because I need to be the first call to action if shit hits the fan. Reaching my door, I fumble with the handle, somehow opening it with her still in my arms. I walk through, the outside noise quiets down with the reinforced walls. The dim red LED light is on, sending a deep crimson hue around my room. It lights up Eva’s face, making her seem more like a devil than the angel I know she is.

The thought sends a rush of excitement through me as I walk her to my bed. The pedestal fan spins slowly, sending a slight breeze through the room. With no windows and the Tampa heat, it gets stuffy in here quickly, but I don’t mind a little humidity.

Laying her down on my black sheets, I place her head carefully on my pillow. My throat bobs as I take in the fact a woman is on my bed. The thought unsettles me for a moment, so I turn and walk to my door, making sure to lock it, then spin back to face her.

The sight nearly knocks me off my feet.

Her dark hair fans out over the crisp black pillowcase, the red light making it shine like blood spilled after dark.

I stand back, watching her, taking her in. Every detail of her face. Every freckle. Every imperfection, a perfection in itself. She’s perfect. She could quickly become an obsession.

What am I thinking—she is an obsession.

She’s mine .

I might have saved her from Andrés, but who will save her from me?