Capture Me: The Complete Trilogy

Chapter 21

21Lucas

A child. She had been a f*****g child when they planted her in Moscow and forced her to sleep with sleazy government assholes.

The rage blasting through me feels hot enough to incinerate my insides. It had taken every ounce of my self-control to conceal my reaction from Yulia. If I hadn’t left the house when I did, I would’ve put my fist through a wall.

The impulse is still with me an hour later, so I hammer the sandbag in front of me, channeling my fury into each blow. I can see the other men giving me inquiring looks; I’ve been at it for the past forty minutes without so much as a water break.

“Lucas, you crazy gringo, what’s gotten into you?” A man’s voice breaks my concentration, and I spin around to see Diego standing there. The tall Mexican is grinning, his teeth flashing white in his bronzed face. “Shouldn’t you be saving some of that energy for your prisoner?”

“f**k you, pendejo.” Annoyed at the interruption, I grab the water bottle off the floor and take a swig. I normally like Diego, but right now I’m tempted to use him as my punching bag. “My prisoner is none of your f*****g business.”

“I helped deliver her here, so she’s kind of my business,” he objects, but the grin leaves his face. He can tell I’m in a mood. “She’s the b***h who caused that crash, right?”

I wipe the dripping sweat off my forehead. “What makes you say that?” I’d been under the impression that only Esguerra, Peter, and I knew of Yulia’s involvement.

Diego shrugs. “We got her from a Russian prison, and everyone knows the Ukrainians were behind it. It just seemed to fit. Plus, it seemed kind of personal for you, so...” His voice trails off as I give him a hard look.

“Like I said, she’s none of your f*****g business,” I say coldly. The last thing I want is to discuss Yulia with the other men. What should’ve been the easiest thing in the world—revenge—has turned into a mess of epic proportions. The girl tied to the chair in my living room is not what I thought she was, and I have no f*****g clue what to do about that.

“Yeah, okay, no worries.” Diego grins again. “Just tell me: did you f**k her already? Even with the prison smell, I could tell she’s a hot piece—”

My fist slams into his face before he finishes speaking. It’s not a conscious action on my part; the fury filling me is simply too explosive to contain. He stumbles back from the force of my blow, and I follow, leaping and tackling him to the ground. My leg protests the sudden movement, but I ignore the pain, raining blow after blow on Diego’s shocked face.

“Kent, what the f**k?” Steely hands grab my arms and drag me off my victim, resisting my attempts to throw them off. “Calm down, man!”

“What’s going on here?” Esguerra’s voice is like a splash of icy water on the flames of my rage. As my mind clears, I realize that Thomas and Eduardo are holding my arms while our boss is standing a dozen feet away, at the entrance of the training gym.

“Just a little disagreement.” I manage to keep my voice steady despite the bloodlust still surging through me. Seeing that I’m no longer fighting them, Thomas and Eduardo release me and step back, their expressions carefully neutral.

Knowing I need to say something, I turn to the guard I assaulted. “Sorry, Diego. You caught me at a bad time.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” he mutters, getting to his feet with some effort. His nose is bleeding, and his left eye is already swelling up. “I’ve got to put some ice on this.”

He hurries out of the gym, and Esguerra gives me a questioning look.

I shrug, as though the problem is too minor to explain, and to my relief, Esguerra doesn’t pursue it. Instead, he informs me about a call with our Hong Kong supplier later this evening—he thinks it’s a good idea for me to be present—and then heads back to his office, leaving me to shoot beer cans with the guards and try not to think about my captive.