21. Twenty-one

Joey

The door squeaks when I slowly open the storage closet Mateo leads me to. He smiles at me, leaning against the wall and glancing around the area to make sure there"s no one coming. "I"ll be out here if you need me."

I nod and enter the dark small room. There are metal shelves lined up behind one another in rows. The more I walk past them, the more alert I become, searching in every direction. Something crashes to the ground and I place my hand on my gun even though I"m hoping to do more than shoot this son of bitch. I have a promise to keep. "I know you"re in here, I think it"s time you stop hiding like a coward. You had no problem facing me before."

Soft laughter comes from the right corner of the room. "I think it"s cute you think I"m scared of men like you. If I don"t kill you today, someone else will."

"I think you should be focused more on your own life, rather than mine." I walk closer to the voice and heavy footsteps rush in the other direction. I spin around following each heavy breath and movement he makes. There"s a loud twist of the doorknob and I tsk. "If I were you I wouldn"t go out there. You won"t make it past that door."

"And staying in here"s a better option?"

"I never said that either. You won"t be coming back to life after today."

His body is tense and pressed to the door when I creep around one of the shelves. His jaw is drawn tight with his eyes growing large and heavy with fear. It only has me smiling wider as I lift the knife in front of my body. "Don"t worry, I"ll make sure to go nice and slow."

His hand tightens around the doorknob. "Do your worst," he says between clenched teeth. I step closer with my feet lightly brushing against the floor. Beads of sweat gather around his eyes, though they never stray from mine. He slides his hand behind him and I quickly reach for my gun, shooting him in the arm. He screams, dropping his knife. "That wasn"t a very good idea. You should have killed me when you had the chance. You should know better than to bring a knife to a gunfight." I aim the gun at his left leg, pulling the trigger again. He lets out a loud yelp, squeezing his eyes shut. "You son of…"

"What was that? Son of a what?" I point the gun at his foot, pulling the trigger again.

"Please," he says between heavy pants. "Just kill me already."

"That"s too easy. Remember what you said to me? Something about being used to men dropping to their knees for me and how that won"t happen here? Well I think it"s time we make it." I shoot at his hand gripping onto the doorknob, the only thing keeping him standing.

He hugs his body, dropping to the floor on his knees. "You look so good down there, but I think you"d look much better underground." I slide the knife across the upper part of his face, slicing a thin line into his skin. His chin quivers and his bottom lip slips between his teeth. I bring the knife around his face in a slow circle, earning me a muffled cry from his lips. "Such a pretty cry. I think I want to hear you scream louder."

I bring the knife down the center of his face, slicing his nose in half, and breaking apart his lips. He groans, but it isn't good enough. I need more. I want to hear his body dying. I grab some drain cleaner from one of the shelves and pour it over his bleeding face. His screams are so loud, I swear the room shakes with the noise echoing around the room.

I kick him to the floor and drain the remaining life from him. I want him to suffer, but I refuse to let him take up any more time than he already has. I grab his phone from his pocket and anything else he has that could be useful and shove his lifeless body on a large bottom shelf. I exit the room lighter on my feet and Mateo is still leaning against the same wall appearing bored. "Ready?"

"Almost, there"s still one man who needs to be taken down. One who doesn"t deserve to ever hold one of these events ever again."

"It"s been taken care of," a loud voice comes from behind me. "While you were having your fun with The Gatekeeper, Santiago and Angel went to the large stucco house where you and your friends were originally being kept."

I suck in a breath. "Did they…"

"They got your other boys and set free a few others, but we need to get out of here fast. They will meet us on the plane. More trouble will be coming soon. Santana more than likely has gotten word of what"s happened and he still has men alive at the mansion who will be heading this way."

"Ivan?"

"Is a very dead man. Eaten and torn apart by his own feral dogs in his home," Carlos says with a wicked grin.

I sigh in relief and run to him without thinking, swinging my arms around his waist. "I never did tell you thank you."

"It wasn"t only me, Little one."

"Maybe not now, but at first it was only you. If you didn"t come, a lot worse could have happened." I stare up at his softened eyes as he rubs at the blood on my cheek and I wrap my fingers around his.

"Don"t worry, it"s not mine."

Someone clears their throat from behind us. "We need to go. Now. Unless we want to end up dead right along with these other men."

Carlos and I break apart, following Gabriel and Mateo out the exit. Isaiah is waiting in a black sedan in front of the entrance. "Let"s go home, Roo."

Trenton is already in the back seat and guilt strikes me in the gut for leaving him behind. Before I can say anything, he rests a hand on mine when I slide in the back seat. "It"s okay. You had to do what you had to do, and I was already safe. Your husband made sure we all were," he says, staring into the back of the sedan where two more boys were sitting with their knees to their chests.

I release a long sigh of relief. "We still have a way to go until we are finally safe. Even when we are on that plane it won"t be a guarantee."

"We have way more of a chance now than we did before. I may actually get to see my family again thanks to you."

"And it"s because of my family that I will get to see the inside of my home again and sleep in my own bed. They are the real reason we are getting another chance to live again."

Carlos stares back at me as Isaiah exits the hotel parking lot with Gabriel driving closely behind him. "You are part of that reason too, Little One. Don"t sell yourself short."

His gaze shifts from me to Isaiah, staring at him in adoration the same way Isaiah always stares at me. The same way I always catch myself staring at my husband and have occasionally found myself watching Carlos over the last couple of days.

I"m not sure how much longer I can keep blaming this place or ignoring what I"ve known all along. Carlos is in love with Isaiah and I"m beginning to see why Isaiah has always kept him in his life at arm's reach. The same reason I"m not ready to see him leave.

The word I'd whispered to Carlos not long ago replays in my head, safe.