“Oh, and I did so enjoy that even while in a fully aroused state you attacked Engles. I hadn’t had that much fun in ages. You’re both fit, beautiful men. It was like watching the Greeks of old wrestle.”
He worked hard to process the truth that the woman who had enslaved him now led the organization he intended to bring down. It would never be enough to kill her outright. He had to get hold of the entire structure of her organization, all the players, everyone who got paid off, the names of the clubs, the betting organization, every damn thing.
Right now he felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he’d been alone, without Angelica, he could have maneuvered through easily, even setting out to seduce his former captor and gain the information he sought.
But Sweet Dove had been a fiercely jealous master and wouldn’t tolerate Angelica’s presence for longer than she had use for her. He needed to understand Sweet Dove’s purpose right now and to somehow figure out a way to save Angelica.
“What do you want, Sweet Dove?”
“I want you back of course. I realize you’d never be my slave again, but we could become so much more as a couple. I’ve missed you. I’ve never had a man like you since you left.
“So for starters, I thought I would offer you what I know your ambitions crave: a seat on the Starlin board. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
Her eyes glittered and in that moment he realized she didn’t suspect him of any kind of treachery and a small part of him began to breathe, began to believe he and Angelica might just survive this night. “Yes, more than anything, I want on the board. I want what all of the governors have. I’ve made a small fortune on my own. But now I want what you and Engles possess.”
She drew in a deep breath. “I knew it. You are my greatest accomplishment. I see it in your eyes. You match me in ambition now as well as in depravity.” She smiled, a familiar penetrating smile that caused fear to run through Reyes. He knew that nothing good would follow.
“So, you may have a seat on the board of Starlin governors if you’ll do one thing for me, one very simple thing.”
His heart rate kicked up several notches.
Angelica’s voice was suddenly in his head. Reyes, I don’t trust her. She smells evil.
I don’t trust her, either, but we’ve got to play her game.
Aloud he said, “What do you need me to do?”
“Actually, it’s not what I need just you to do, but rather you and your slave. But you’ll understand a lot better if I show you what I require.” Her smile broadened. “I’ve prepared a surprise for you.”
###
Angelica gripped Reyes’s hand as she moved with him down the hall. The chains hummed low and hard, indicating a combination of sensations coming from him that she couldn’t quite separate out. Beneath everything, however, rage boiled, the old kind that swam in deep currents of hatred and shame.
Sweet Dove led the way, walking with a confident stride in her cream skirt and gold bra, with her mounds of fiery hair.
The cavern hallway, sculpted with unique carvings in the stone walls and high curved ceiling, was at least thirty feet long. It sloped downward to a room that appeared to be lit with candlelight.
The closer Angelica drew to the light, however, the faster the chains vibrated at her neck, once more indicating Reyes’s distress. He tightened his hold on her hand, and once they arrived on the threshold she was in pain. Reyes, you’re hurting me. You’re crushing my fingers.
She pulled, trying to disengage, but he stared at the room the way he had looked during Eve’s theater performance, like he wasn’t all there. Something about this room had gotten to him.
Angelica turned toward him. His eyes looked glazed. “Reyes,” she called sharply.
“I don’t understand,” Sweet Dove said softly, a curve to her bow lips. “He looked just like this while watching that woman during the performance at Engles’s home. I wonder if he’s thinking about me again?”
She met Angelica’s gaze and showed her fangs in a satisfied grin.
Part of Angelica wanted to rip Sweet Dove’s face off, but there were more important things to do. Angelica ignored the woman and began wrestling with Reyes’s hand. If he didn’t let go he’d break her bones. She sent some of the power she siphoned to her fingers and gradually built up enough strength to disengage.
Once disconnected she held her hand but kept up the healing flow. This would not be the way to start an encounter with Sweet Dove, to show any kind of weakness.
“He hurt you then? I take that as a good sign.”
Angelica didn’t rise to the bait; instead she rubbed Reyes’s arm, up and down. She kept her head bowed, trying to maintain her slave cover. Come back to me. You’ve got to come back.
He moved slowly forward, however, as if in a trance, but ignored her completely. She stayed with him, though, until they both stood in the center of the space.
The room had a peculiar odor, something she couldn’t place at first, except that it smelled very old, almost ancient. The room held a throne-like chair and a barred grate over what was an arched cavern opening the size of an average window. Beyond she could hear water rushing at what must have been a great depth. Yet the resulting fresh air still didn’t soften the odor.
She supposed many of the cavern systems around the world would have lots of older parts and even bad smells like this one. But why had this room shut Reyes down so completely?
He turned slowly in Sweet Dove’s direction.
Glancing past his shoulder, Angelica saw that a second archway led to another space, also lit by candlelight.
Within were a series of old rusted chains and hooks, like something from an ancient fishing trawler. Below, on a three-foot-high platform, was a wood table stained very dark.
She reached for Reyes’s hand once more, because a terrible chill went through her. She almost connected, touching his fingers, but suddenly he levitated toward the doorway and moved swiftly into the room. She hurried to retain the necessary proximity.
He moved to stare down at the table, gripping two of the nearest chains in tight fists. The muscles of his arms flexed and released. His breathing grew rough.
What was he seeing?
Angelica stepped away from him. All she felt from him now, through their shared chains, was a rage that went beyond anything she could possibly comprehend.
She moved off to the side and pressed herself against the wall. She saw him in profile and that his face had broken out in a sweat as he stared at the table.