Maybe Always (Maybe Series Book 3) (9 page)

Tamales, I recognize immediately.
 

I dig in and realize that this food is much better than what I was previously eating.
 

“Much better, right?”

I nod as I consume another mouthful.
 

The man smiles. “I’m Raul.”
 

“Thanks Raul,” I say through a mouthful even though I already told him my name.
 

Raul looks scary with tattoos covering his body and face, and he’s almost double Karp’s size.
 

“That’s Samuel,” he says, pointing to the man to my left. “You already met Seth.” He smiles, pointing to the man who was my guard and held the gun up to my head earlier.
 

“Sorry about that,” Seth says before taking a long drag of his beer.
 

I frown at him.
 

Raul continues, “The guy who cooked you the questionable food is Karp. And the quiet one over there is Ricardo. He doesn’t speak much English.”
 

I nod at Ricardo, who seems to be the oldest man in the room. I take another bite of my tamale and moan a little at how good it is until I see Raul looking at me with lust in his eyes. I force a smile and then return to eating without moaning.
 

“So, what do you guys typically do around here at this time of night?” I ask.
 

The men glance around to each other, not sure of what they are supposed to say or not say in front of me.
 

I stop eating. “Oh, come on, guys. I’m a Felton. You can tell me what you guys do.”

The men continue to stare at one another, none of them wanting to speak.
 

Finally, Seth opens his mouth. “We are all on night shift tonight. None of us usually work nights, but since most of the men have moved to the other location, we have to cover more shifts. We are in charge of making sure no one gets in or
out
tonight.”
 

I smile at him. “Good to know I’ll have such strong men protecting me tonight.” I take another bite. “So, where is the next location?”

Raul answers, “We don’t know. They don’t tell us shit.”
 

I look around at all the men who are grumbling about not knowing where the next location is and that they should get to know something since they have all worked here long enough.
 

Seth looks at his phone. “We need to get going. Shift starts in five.”
 

The men grumble some more but all begin to get up.
 

“Thanks again for the food,” I say to Raul.
 

“Karp is also on cook duty tomorrow night. So, come to me, and I’ll get you something edible.”
 

“Thanks,” I say.
 

I watch as the men all leave before I finish my plate of food. I get up from the rickety old table. I pick up the other empty plates the men left and throw them in the trash. I hate that these men made me feel anything for them at all. But they just seem like men. Not killers. Men who need a woman to pick up after them. Men who need a woman to teach them that what they are doing is wrong.
 

I yawn. I have no idea what time it is, other than knowing it is late based on how tired I feel. I should ask Nacio if they found my purse. That way, I can at least get my phone back.
 

I head upstairs through the old corridors until I find Nacio’s office. I don’t bother knocking. I just open the door and head in, just like Killian used to do to me.
 

His words, “
You find out the best information if you don’t knock
,” ring in my ear. He’s right.
 

As I enter Nacio’s office, I hear Nacio use Killian’s name, and I freeze. I glance around the room to see if Killian is here, but I see no one.
Please, God, don’t let Killian really be involved with these people instead of the FBI. Please. Please just let him be an FBI agent.
 

Nacio glances up at me with a frown on his face. He looks worn and worried for just a second at the sight of me, but then it disappears just as quickly. He ends his call without saying good-bye. Without any warning.
 

I walk over to the chair I pulled up to his desk as casually as possible, trying not to seem too interested in what he was saying. Trying not to seem bothered, but it is difficult. I take a seat in the hard chair and run my hand through my short locks.
 

His eyes focus intently on my hand as I do so. I let it slowly fall down my exposed neck. His eyes never leave my hand. Damn it! His weakness is my sex appeal. That’s the way to get this man vulnerable enough so that he trusts me. I just don’t know if I can stomach flirting or doing more with this man.
 

“Who was that?”
 

He cocks his head to one side and shrugs. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
 

I moisten my lips and watch as his eyes fall to my mouth. I take a guess. “Why were you talking to your brother about the FBI agent?”
 

Nacio’s eyes darken, and he snaps out of the spell my body was drawing him under. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
 

I shake my head. “I’m not a very patient person. I want to know why now.”
 

“The FBI agent is in jail. His own people put him there. Just discussing if he is still a threat to us or not now that he is in jail.”
 

I don’t react to the news that Killian is in jail. In fact, I’m happy. It means, he can’t come after me. He can’t try to save me. He’s safe as long as he is there. After this is all over, the truth will come out. The truth that he is innocent.
 

“That’s too bad. I would have liked to have seen him suffer more than that after what he did to me.”
 

Nacio smiles at my harsh words. Words that are all a lie.
 

“Glad to hear you say that. I agree. The traitor deserves to suffer a lot more for what he has done.”
 

I nod even though I don’t know why Nacio hates Killian so much. He never did anything to Nacio. That’s not true though, I realize. Killian knew this location, and my father trusted him enough to tell him some things.
 

Nacio stands from his chair and walks around his desk until he is leaning against it right in front of me. His legs are inches from my own. He reaches down and grabs my hand. He begins slowly massaging it.
 

I let him. He’s just touching my hand, I reason. It’s harmless although the look of lust on his face tells me he wants so much more. That he wants to fuck me. Or rape me. That he would take either one. That’s not something that can happen. It’s something that I won’t let happen.
 

“When are we going to the next location?” I ask, hoping to suck as much information as I can from him.
 

“In two days. We have a package arriving late tomorrow. We will leave the next night.”

I nod. “How are we traveling?”
 

“Plane.”
 

“Private or commercial?”
 

He shakes his head. “So many questions. No need to worry your pretty little head about issues like this. Everything is all taken care of. You don’t need to worry about a thing. The plans have already been made.”
 

I pull my hand out of his grasp. “I need to know if I’m going to help run things. I deserve to know.”
 

“Not really. You don’t deserve to know anything. Not yet. I already told you that nobody becomes a part of this organization without paying their dues first. Even a Felton. Your father paid his dues. Your grandfather and his father before him. The same rules apply to you. Once you pass the tests, then you get to know. Not before then.”
 

He crosses his arms and studies me now that he can no longer touch me like he wants to. Although, if he really wanted to, he could do whatever he wanted to me. He’s stronger than me. He could overpower me in a second. That means, the only reason he isn’t, is because I have something he needs. I just don’t know what that is yet.
What power, other than his desire for me, do I hold? Is there something my father told me that Nacio wants to know?
 

“You know, sweetheart, if you would just give in to me, I could make the rules disappear. You wouldn’t have to pay your dues. You wouldn’t have to wait for answers. I could tell you everything if you were mine. If you let me claim you. If you let me fuck you and marry you, then you wouldn’t have to wait.”
 

I raise my eyebrows at his absurd proposal. I stand up, and he straightens his body just a little until his body is pressed against mine.
 

“Really? You would do that for me? You would fuck me and marry me?”
 

Nacio grabs my ass, tightly pulling me against his growing erection. “Yes, I would do that for you. It’s what any princess like you would want. To be taken care of by a strong, competent man like me. I have money. I have power. You would never have to worry about a thing again.”

“We would run the organization together, fifty-fifty?” I ask, letting him keep his hands on my ass, despite wanting to rip his arms off for what he is doing.
 

He shrugs. “Not fifty-fifty. The organization has never been run that way. There always has to be one person in power and one person who has less. But you wouldn’t have to get your hands dirty. Admit it; this isn’t the life for you. You don’t want to kill people. That’s not what you want. You just want the benefits that come from this business, just like you have always had. Marry me, and you would never have to worry about getting your hands dirty.”
 

He grabs my neck. “And you would never have to worry about not being satisfied again,” he whispers in my ear.
 

I try not to flinch as shivers travel throughout my body. But, this time, I’m not turned on by sexy words being whispered in my ear. My body shivers out of revulsion and tries to shake him off my body.
 

“Who’s in control now? Who has the power now?”
 

“Me,” he says.
 

I know he’s lying. His eyes dilate, and his nostrils flare. He needs me to marry him and give him whatever power I have in this organization. It would give him the power he desperately seeks.
 

“What about your brother, my mother, my grandfather? If we married, what would we do with them? Wouldn’t they be upset that they’ll lose out on having the power in the organization?”
 

He smiles and then licks his lips, like a tiger would just before it pounced on its meal. He thinks he’s won, and I’m the meal.
 

“I wouldn’t worry about them. They couldn’t protest if we were already married.”
 

I glance over his shoulder, unable to look at his lust-filled eyes any longer. I have to keep a look of disgust off my face. I look at his desk, trying to decide on what I’m going to do.
Do I say yes? Would that be easier? Or do I say hell no and try to find another way to gain his trust?
 

That’s when I see it. My purse is sitting on the corner of his desk. He’s known who I am the whole time. The whole time he had me locked in the basement, he knew who I was, and he still kept me locked up like I was a dog. He thinks he can control me and do whatever the fuck he wants with me.
 

He’s wrong.
 

I glance back to Nacio, who has a smug look on his face.
 

“So, what do you say, sweetheart?”
 

Nacio leans down to my neck to kiss me, but I don’t let him get that far. I take my knee and knee him in the groin as hard as I can.
 

He releases me and grabs his groin as he writhes in pain. I walk around to the other side of his desk and grab my purse.
 

“I told you I would remove your balls if you touched me again without my permission. Don’t do it again.”

He looks at me with a deep grimace. His eyes have turned darker, and I know I shouldn’t have done that. He will make me pay for hurting him. I don’t think anybody gets away with hurting him without paying. But it was worth it. Whatever he does to me, I can take it just to see the look of shock and pain on his disgusting face.
 

I hold up my purse to him. He doesn’t say anything. He just keeps grabbing his balls.
 

“You knew who I was the whole time. You had my purse, and I’m sure you went through it. You knew, and you still kept me locked up.” I glance down at his crotch. “Call us even now.”
 

I check that my phone, ID, and money are still in my purse before I walk around the desk and head toward the door. I pause and turn back to Nacio when I reach the door.
 

“I’m going to sleep now. Alone. And, if anybody enters my room tonight, I will do much worse than just kick them in the balls. Tomorrow, I will need a car to go into town to get some new clothes. I can’t keep wearing this forever.”
 

I turn back, thinking I’ve won. I grab the door and begin to open it when the door suddenly gets slammed shut in my face.
 

“No. You will not get a car to go into town. You will not leave without permission. Like I said before, you have not passed my tests yet. You don’t leave the premises until then. I will have someone go into town and get some clothes that are more revealing than the granny clothes you have on now.”
 

He glances up and down my body, but I know he is lying and just trying to get under my skin. My halter top and pants are plenty revealing enough.
 

“And, if you think about leaving, I will know. There are video cameras in every hallway. You can’t leave without me knowing. Tomorrow, you will have your second test, so get some sleep, sweetheart. If you don’t pass, you won’t get out of here alive.”