When We Met

CH 14 Logan

We finally arrived at the underground compound after what felt like an eternity, though it had only been a couple of hours since the explosive raid on the Fernandez estate. Memories of the night's events kept replaying in my mind - the deafening boom of the blast, rounding up terrified captives, slapping that defiant beauty...

"Hey bro, you did great work tonight," Noah's voice broke into my thoughts with an admiring tone. "That was amazing, finally some real action! You're going to take your place in this world so well."

I shot him a puzzled look. How could he be proud of me for something that felt so utterly wrong? Then again, my older brother had been groomed for this life since childhood while I had the luxury of delaying my true inheritance.

"I'm so disgusted with myself, I can't even look in the rearview mirror," I muttered, grateful the two bodyguards weren't in the SUV with us. Just Noah, allowing me to drop the facade for a moment. "Everything just feels...wrong. I can't function like this."

Noah shrugged, unbothered. "It's a means to an end, Logan. Once the Fernandezes are gutted, things will settle back into the normal groove."

I doubted that, but didn't argue as we finally pulled into the underground garage of our Well-Guarded bunker. Stepping out, I saw the captives being unloaded and herded into a massive central cage - a thick iron lattice with no windows and multiple armed guards stationed around the entrance.

Yelena, that defiant Latina bitch, was manhandled into a separate, slightly smaller holding pen off the main area. I spotted that feisty girl, the one I'd backhanded earlier - being shoved roughly into the larger communal cage amidst the rabble.

Lingering back, I overheard two of my lieutenants conversing in low tones as they surveyed the secured captives.

"You see that little firecracker Vito's guys grabbed? Gotta be the late Fernandez's daughter."

The other man grunted in acknowledgment. "Ya, maybe the rumours are right, she has the same features that were described?"

My interest piqued, I stepped forward to get a better look at the caged prisoners. Sure enough, I spotted the girl in question - hair askew and dress disheveled, but those exotic Latina features and defiant eyes were unmistakable even from here.

So she was the true heiress I'd been hearing so much about lately, we need to know for sure though, I know my father will want to know. The possible lynchpin to either reviving or utterly decimating the remnants of the Fernandez clan's presence on my turf.

I saw my father walking down the steps as he saw the interaction between the girl and me. A cruel smile played across his lips as I watched her straighten up, glaring right back at me through the bars despite her precarious situation, she didn't realise the real leader had arrived and this was not going to be easy for her. For some reason I felt a sense of guilt and protection towards this girl, and as I was contemplating I saw my father eye her up even more as he drew closer to the cage with eyes saying 'Yes...this one was going to be fun to break'. Whether she talked or not, by the time my father was through, she'd belong to us utterly.

The thought alone was enough to dispel any lingering threads of unease that had gripped me on the drive over. Once more, I felt the intoxicating rush of power and cold amorality settle over me like an old friend. The thought of having her to be mine, felt like something was lit inside of me and I had a purpose in life other then trying to subdue my darkness.

"Father, I have everything under control here. This is my operation," I stated firmly as the imposing figure of Charles Walsh approached, his cold eyes immediately zeroing in on the girl in the far corner, the one I had eyes on.

I had to assert myself, make it clear I didn't want him overstepping and pushing things further than they'd already spiralled into. Deep down, a part of me already felt horrendous over the extent of tonight's devolvement into chaos.

"Look at that one huddled with those two boys," Charles rumbled, gesturing towards the defiant beauty. "Our intel indicated those lads are Yelena's nephews. And the men seem to think that girl just might be the Fernandez heiress herself."

He turned that piercing, expectant gaze on me. "Did you find any sign of the royal marking on the girl?"

I suppressed the urge to smirk, relieved that I could answer truthfully. "No, father. She bears no tattoos or other cartel insignia whatsoever."

At least that much seemed to be true. As tantalising as the girl's exotic and defiant as her looks were, she didn't appear to be a made woman in their organisation, at least not yet. Perhaps that could work in her favour, assuming father didn't decide to persecute her out of pure spite.

The hard lines of my father's face tightened with obvious displeasure at my revelation.

"What do you mean there's nothing? She has to be the heiress, there are no other females of age or status to claim that role," he snapped, raking an annoyed hand through his silver hair. "This had better not have been a waste of resources and manpower."

I started to reply, but father just waved me off with a disgusted look.

"Ah, never mind. At least we bagged the Latina bitch Yelena and her nephews. We should be able to squeeze something substantial from their ranks."

As Father stalked off to confer with his lieutenants, I couldn't resist one more glance towards the caged area. The girl had risen to her feet again, back straight and defiant despite her bedraggled appearance. There was simply no mistaking the proud, imperious look about her.

A tiny, reckless part of me hoped she truly was the hidden heir to the dwindling Fernandez empire, if only because denying me the right to bring her to heel would be so deliciously infuriating.

Of course, it was equally likely she was merely some misplaced maid or whore who'd gotten swept up in the chaos, but that look in her eye showed so much strength only people with power have that determined look. She also looks like she is trained she has muscles in all the right places.

Either way, something about this woman called to the most primal, dominant urges I usually kept leashed. The defiant spark in her eyes seemed to taunt and tempt me in a way I hadn't experienced in years. Not since.......

I clawed my mouth shut I couldn't think of my past love not when the man that killed her and bled her dry is standing in front of me, that was the first and last time I thought about love.

"What brought this on, exactly?" The question tumbled out before I could stop it. "This...incursion into the Fernandez enterprise? I thought we were unthreatened in Britain?"

Noah appeared at my side, ever my consigliere. "We were...until Uncle Harry received an anonymous call about increased Spanish cartel activity in our midst. Evidently the source seemed convinced the Fernandezes were making inroads and starting to encroach on our borders."

"Which could have merely been a ruse to bait us into revealing our hand," I growled. Fucking Harry, always eager to throw his weight around without considering consequences.

Noah shrugged. "Perhaps, but it's better to be proactive in father's view. At the very least, we've neutralised the Saldanas and now hold their leader in our grasp. That's leverage against whatever Fernandez elements still remain."

My eyes drifted back to the girl almost against my will. Whoever and whatever she was, her fate would be decided soon enough. For now, the operation had grown enough tendrils to demand my focus elsewhere.

There would be plenty of opportunity to learn the truth of her identity once we broke Yelena. And if this temptress proved strong-willed enough to resist accommodating interrogation...

Well, that assurance of a challenge awaiting me created an eagerness I hadn't felt in far too long.

Perhaps Noah was right - sometimes striking first and dealing with the consequences later was simply the only recourse when opportunity beckoned.