Unbind My Heart (25 page)

“I don’t know how well. I had that freaky dream.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I think it was a near death experience, Jonas. One minute I was floating over my bed and the next my mother appeared out of a brilliant white light.  It was wonderful to see her, but she told me it wasn’t my time and sent me back.”

“Thank God for that.”

“I do, every minute.  After she told me to go back, that’s when I started to wake up.  I remember feeling like I was smothering” Tears were pooling in her eyes when she looked at him.  “I panicked.”

“Baby, please don’t cry. Just rest. We’ll talk more when you’re stronger.”

“No, it’s okay.”  She took in a deep, shuddering breath before she continued.  “I haven’t worked ICU, but I’m told patients often get agitated when they’re in a twilight stage of consciousness, half way between coma and waking.  I guess I’m lucky I didn’t get restrained.”

Jonas didn’t answer or agree with her, just stared at her silently.

She gasped.  “They tied me down?”

“They had to, baby, to keep you from hurting yourself.  You fought the ventilator off and on for a day or so before you pulled out that tube, which scared the hell out of me by the way. It took four people to hold you down. You fought like a heavyweight boxer.  ”

Looking at her wrists, she inspected them for bruises or chafing.  She didn’t see anything.  “They must have used the soft Velcro restraints, like we did with the overdoses in the ER.”

Again, silence. 

“Surely they didn’t… oh, Jonas.”

“Yep, four point, full leather restraints with buckles.  At any other time, I would have applauded or at least offered my assistance.” 

She just gaped at him, ignoring his little joke.  His hand came to her face, cupping her cheek tenderly. 

“Sorry, bad joke.  It was just such an awful time, it’s either joke about it or cry like a baby.  I’m embarrassed that when you were coming out of the coma, I acted like an ass.  Cap and Rick had to drag me out of here at one point.  They didn’t let me back in until you were sedated and I was calm.  I have to confess, that I released you so I could hold your hand. I couldn’t bear to see you tied down. That’s how you were able to pull out your tube that day.”

He stopped upon hearing her giggles.

“Oh, Jonas, the irony of that is just too much.” Her giggles turned into full-throated laughter, which had her holding her side in pain.

“Easy, baby. I know it’s hilarious, but don’t hurt yourself.

She regained her composure quickly because it hurt too darn much to laugh.

“A big chunk of my life is gone that I’ll never get back.” Her trembling hand crept to cover her mouth in distress. “You don’t know how troubling it is to lose track of time and memories.” How could she not remember any of this?  She shook her head, incredulous. 

“It was pure hell, Sunshine.  Not remembering is a blessing.”

“I feel kind of violated.”

“Don’t.  I made sure you had someone with you 24/7.  I only let those with enough balls to stand up for you stay—mostly the guys.  Regan wanted to but with her pregnancy, Rick thought it best if she didn’t.  Elena—no way, not by herself—too much of a pushover.  So you had Joanna and Meg, Pete, Cap and Dex.  T, Rick and the rest of the guys have been working the investigation with me and checking in on you when they can.” 

“Megan came by today and told me you left written instructions for my babysitters.”

“Damn straight.  If I couldn’t be here, people I trusted were going to be watching out for you. I went a little nutso, believe me, I know, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“I love how you protect me, Jonas.”

Her words were like a knife in the gut.  “Yeah, well considering you’re in a hospital bed gut shot, I didn’t do such a good job with that.  I wanted to be here when you woke up. I’m so sorry, Sunshine.  I would have done anything to have been here for you.”

“Joanna was here and Uncle Peter, as well as Cap and Meg, even Kyle came by.  He looked as guilty as you do right now.”

“We should have protected you better.  That’s what we do, for Christ’s sake.”

“I’ll tell you what I told Kyle.  No one can foresee the future, or predict random events such as this. This goes under the category of ‘shit happens’ and I will not listen to another word about how you or Kyle failed to protect me.  It’s beginning to piss me off. Is that clear?”

His sweet little Lexie had turned into a firebrand. The slight quirk of his mouth didn’t go unnoticed.  Taking exception to his amusement, she called him on it. 

“You’re not laughing at me, are you Jonas?  I’m serious.  This was in no way your fault.”

“I wouldn’t dare.  I love you, Lexie.  It warms my heart to see you so full of life again.” He leaned in and kissed her gently.  “The dose of piss and vinegar is good too, but I wouldn’t want to see it become a habit, however,” he teased with a wink.

“Don’t say anymore stupid things and we won’t have a problem, Sir.” 

The biting words were incongruent with her innocent expression and sweet tone.  Jonas was so pleased that she was out of the woods that he did laugh this time, delighted at her sass.  What would he have done if he’d lost her? 

“I’ll try to keep the stupid things I say to a minimum.  Until you are out of here and back in my care, I can’t make any promises though.  Some of these residents infuriate me.”

“It’s a teaching hospital, Jonas.  They have to learn somewhere.”

“They can learn on someone else’s woman.  I had them banned.”

“You didn’t.”

His shrug was his answer.

She took his hand and squeezed weakly.  He could tell her energy was fading fast.

“Sleep, baby, you need rest.”

With a yawn, she shook her head, “I’ve had twelve days of rest already—seems a tad excessive.”  Resting back against the pillows, she looked at him intently.  “I heard you fighting for me, dulcedo.  Thank you for being my voice when I had none.  Now, I’m really tired and I know you are, too.”

He leaned in and kissed her forehead, adjusting her covers as her eyes began to close.

“Would it be selfish if I asked you to stay with me?”

“Not at all, Lex. I’ll be here in the morning when you wake up.”

She was fast asleep the next second.  True to his word, he stayed through the night on the reclining chair in her room.  She woke once briefly and offered to scoot over.  He wouldn’t hear of it.  Instead, she had insisted he move the recliner alongside her bed so she could hold his hand.  It seemed to relax her enough that she drifted off again, not waking until morning.

***

Across town, Sean wasn’t having nearly as much success in dealing with his patient as Jonas was.  With no friends or family, Mara didn’t have anyone to turn to for help.  Her choice was his house with home care services or go to a nursing home during her recovery. That seemed insane; a thirty-year-old woman shouldn’t be in a nursing home.  Ordinarily, she would have gone to a rehabilitation hospital, but her crappy insurance didn’t cover it.

As he stood in her room, his guest room, and glared at her with his hands on his hips, he was intentionally blocking the door, the only avenue for escape.  “You aren’t going anywhere, Mara.  Either get back in bed or I’ll put you there.”

“You aren’t the boss of me anymore, Sean.  You don’t own me.”

“No, and you should thank your sweet ass that I don’t.  If you were still my sub, you’d be tied to the bed, a ball gag stuffed in that uncontrollable mouth, and your butt would be such an inferno that the air brushing across your skin would bring seven kinds of hell.  Now, which is it, do you get in bed on your own or do I put you there?”

Stubbornly, she remained in place. He could tell she was fuming while she weighed her options.

“Fine, have it your way.”  He turned toward the door, intent on getting a paddle. His patience for bullshit had diminished further since their breakup. “I’ll blister your ass before I put you to bed and you’ll think twice about trying to run away again.”

Before he made it to the door, she gave in.

“Okay, I’m going.”  Shoulders slumped; she turned and hopped on her one good leg. She stumbled as the metal contraption bolted to her leg threw her off balance. He growled at her awkward movements and scooped her up in his arms. 

“Dammit, Mara.  Are you shooting for a permanent disability?  The doctor said non-weight bearing and bed rest with your leg elevated.  You’re a nurse.  You know better than anyone what that means.”  He efficiently set her in bed and propped her leg with the external fixator up on two pillows.  He still couldn’t get over the convoluted framework of metal, but due to her unstable condition after taking two bullets, one in the abdomen and another to her lower thigh, barely missing her knee.  The doctors had insisted this was the best way to stabilize her fractured leg while the rest of her body healed.  Sean could see the swelling in her foot had increased in the few minutes she’d been standing.  “Don’t do this again, Mara.”

“You can’t spank me, Sean. I’m injured.”

“You think not? Knowing you, I asked for the okay from your doctor. He said there’s nothing wrong with your ass and told me to whale away if I needed to, just as long as you don’t get up on the external fixator. Don’t test me. Just behave.”  He was bluffing, no way would he spank her in her condition, but she didn’t need to know that.  Carefully pulling up the covers, he couldn’t help notice that she wasn’t wearing panties. She was wearing a nightgown with nothing else.  She had little choice with the hardware affixed to her leg. 

Lying back on her pillows in defeat, she threw her forearm across her eyes. She thought she was hiding her tears, but he’d seen them wetting her lashes, threatening to overflow. She tried not to cry—hated to in fact. She’d told him once tears showed weakness. When they were together, she bottled things up inside. Only through D/s and a thorough spanking was she able to break through and let the emotion out. He wondered whether she had found someone to help her with that while they’d been apart.  That thought made his stomach clench and his temperature rise. 

“Why are you doing this, Sean?  I left you. Clearly, you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, Mara.  True, I don’t love you anymore since you ripped out my heart and left it lying in pieces in your wake, and I certainly don’t trust you.  Regardless of that fact, I know you don’t have another soul in the world to help you right now, so you’re just going to have to suck it up.  You can’t walk, hell, with your right arm in a sling, you can’t even wipe your own ass.  You can’t bathe or dress yourself one-handed. You can’t even feed yourself without getting it all over.  You’re like an infant.”

His words were cutting in his frustration and she responded with anger and sarcasm.  “So what are you now, my Daddy?  Are you going to bathe, change and feed me, Sean?  I didn’t think you were into Age Play.” 

Her sarcastic tone bit into him, and his patience was wearing thin.  She always had that knack of getting under his skin, often playing the brat to get a response.  Or trying to top from the bottom to get her way.  The other Doms called her a SAM—smart-ass masochist—which Sean hadn’t seen it at the time.  She had been a challenge, sure, but he loved her and loved the intensity it brought to their play.  Looking back, he realized they’d been right.  Since then his taste had changed.  He only topped docile, demure subs, and he wanted to keep it that way.  Mara’s hard external shell was even thicker than before.  He pitied the man who tried to tame her.  It would be exhausting.

“No, I’m not into Age Play. Other than spankings, it doesn’t hold much appeal.  In my old age, I’ve lost my taste for brats.  I prefer my women to be adults and to act accordingly.”

He watched her flinch with that last blow. This is how it had been since he’d brought her home yesterday. All their sparring and vitriol wasn’t good for her and wouldn’t help her recovery. He’d put the wheels in motion to correct that, however.

“You should just send me to the nursing home.” This came out in a barely audible whisper.

“No, I’ve hired a nursing service. After today, you won’t have to see me.  They start in the morning and will be living in until you’re able to care for yourself again.  It's in your best interest to cooperate, recover, and then you can get the hell out of my house—again.  Undoubtedly, that day can’t arrive fast enough for you.”

“I can’t stay long; Lexie is being discharged today.” That announcement was greeted with smiles and murmurs of relief as Jonas took his seat at the conference table at Rossi. Two weeks had passed since she’d fully awakened; almost an entire month had gone by since the shooting.  Lexie had made great strides with her rehabilitation in the last few days and was finally going home. During that time, they’d stepped up their game and made progress in the Mendoza case, which was the reason they were gathered today.

“That’s great news, Jonas,” Dex said with a broad smile, rare for the usually reserved man. He and all the guys had become fond of Lexie, their concern genuine. “That reminds me.” Dex pulled out his wallet and searched until he found a business card, extending it to Jonas.  “This is the plastic surgeon who worked on Elena.  I don’t know about gunshot wounds, but he did amazing work after that fucker cut her with that bullwhip.  You can barely see it.”

“Thanks, Dex.”  His friend just nodded.  Jonas looked around at the team.  Four of them had women who’d been impacted by the cartel in one way or another.  Five if you counted Sean and Mara.  He looked over at Sean, who had yet to say a word to anyone. He’d come in and sat quietly, obviously wrapped up in his own shit. 

“How’s Mara doing, Sean?  Lexie asks about her every day.”

“We won’t know for another 6 to 8 weeks.  All that hardware has made it difficult, but she’s coping.”

“With your help?”  Dex asked, his tone challenging.  He knew Sean better than anyone. They were best friends and ran The Club together.  Dex knew how wrecked Sean had been after Mara had left him. Giving only some lame-ass excuse that made sense to no one, not her co-workers, her friends, the other subs at The Club and certainly not her husband. Almost two years had gone by and he still hadn’t been able to move on. It was eerily similar to what Dex had gone through with Elena, so who better than him to know how Sean felt? 

“I’m not talking about it here, Dex.  Drop it.”

Jonas tensed. There was something going on between these two. They were as close as brothers, and occasionally, when emotions were running high, things got physical between them—also like brothers.  Cap stepped in before things got volatile.  “Let’s get started.  If you two need to have a discussion, you can go downstairs afterwards and have it on the mats, like the old days.  Right now, we have work to do. Jonas?”

That easily, Cap had command of the room and got down to business.

“You all know that T and I have been working on a few promising leads. We brought Dex in last week and are ready to bring the rest of the team on board.”  T dimmed the lights as Jonas brought up data files on the big wall monitor.

“Esteban Mendoza,” Dex said as the first picture came up.  “Tell me you know where the slimy bastard is, Jonas.”

“Not exactly, although we’ve narrowed it down to three properties, two in Laredo.”  Jonas started clicking through more pictures until he got a text and T took over narration.

“This is an aerial shot of property #1.  We call it a Hacienda with a Twist.” T nodded to Jonas who was back on track and resumed the presentation.  He scrolled through shots of the armed guard towers and electric fence surrounding Mendoza’s sprawling Spanish-style house and extensive grounds. “Approaching from the ground, the Hacienda looks more like a prison than a private residence.”

Jonas flipped through more shots until he came to a picture of a large warehouse, surrounded by numerous outbuildings. “Property #2 we call ‘The Compound.’ It’s also heavily guarded.  Finally, property #3 is a high-rise here in town. Although a security building, we don’t think he’s headquartered there.  The other two locations are much more secure and easier to defend.  Definitely, the compound is the heart of his operation.  Near the border, it’s strategic to their drug smuggling and human trafficking activities.”

“I guess nicknaming Laredo ‘the gateway city’ wasn’t bullshit.  He’s got a cozy little set-up.”  Sean’s caustic tone didn’t surprise anyone.  They all hated Mendoza with a passion.  For years, he bought and sold innocent teenagers, and sometimes children, into slavery.  Mendoza was the largest contributor to the drug problem in the state, selling to minors and hooking them into his illicit businesses through the lure of more drugs and easy money.  His network had been vast until the general’s special task force started whittling away at its infrastructure.  “So what’s your best guess, Jonas, the compound?”

“Yes.  Although he’s been spotted at both places, so he’s likely moving between the two.  We’ve seen children at the Hacienda so we think he has moved his family in there.  He’ll want to limit their exposure to his business dealings.  He considers himself a family man, if you can believe that bullshit.  How he sells young girls as sex slaves during the day, then goes home and tucks his own grandchild into bed at night is beyond me.”

“Motherfucker has no soul,” Sean expressed in disgust, and they all nodded in agreement.

“Either way we have men on all three properties so if he moves, we’ve got eyes on him.”

Cap spoke up then.  “What are your thoughts on taking him down?”

“We got wind of a VIP party scheduled in a few weeks.  Mendoza’s expecting buyers from all over the world.  They’re holding a slave auction, and it’s going down at the penthouse.”  Jonas’ rage was simmering below the surface.  Although they were all disgusted by the sex slave auction and wanted to shut down the cartel’s drug operation permanently, Jonas had a personal score to settle with Mendoza.  Caught on an outside traffic camera, they had all seen the tapes of the vehicle crashing into the building and the kingpin and the second gunman entering the clinic.    Jonas was out to get a bit of payback and every man in the room knew it.  

“What about the boy?”  Sean asked.  “Mara said the driver called him his son.  How do those two fit into everything? And have you identified the shooter?”

“The driver and first gunman was Mendoza’s son, Carlos. The boy is his son, Jorge.”  Jonas scanned through some pics and brought up his picture and profile on screen. He froze on the third man’s picture; it was fuzzy and difficult to make out.  “Based on Lexie, Kyle and Mara’s accounts, this is Esteban’s nephew. He’s new on the scene and there is no record of Mendoza having a nephew. We don’t have a clear photo for facial recognition data banks. Our informant reports his name is Victor, but we have no mug shots and he has no record.”

“The way he handles a weapon and shot three people in cold blood, no way is he innocent.” Rick observed.

“Agreed.” Jonas replied. “He’s been under the radar, using aliases, I’m sure. We’re still working on it. Victor Mendoza hasn’t been seen him since the shooting. Having taken a bullet from Kyle in the hip, that’s understandable.  One of the undercover agents has reported back that Victor arrived a few months ago, out of nowhere. He’s unhappy with how the old man is running the family business and has been talking takeover. Uncle Esteban doesn’t seem to be aware of the threat from Victor. Within the family, he’s got the reputation as a hothead and a fuck up. Mendoza was grooming Carlos to take over the operation. That didn’t sit well with Victor.”

“What a lovely family,” Dex sneered. “The infighting works well for us, though. If they’re distracted by family crap, they’re more likely to make mistakes.”

“True. We think it came to a head the day of the shooting. According to the SAPD, there were shots fired near Mendoza’s condo on street level. They think Carlos was the target, but the boy got hit in the crossfire.”

“Victor was trying to take out his competition,” Cap surmised.

“Yep, we think he ordered a hit on his cousin.  If they missed Carlos and got the kid instead, he must have been too cheap to hire a professional..”

“Why the clinic?” Sean asked.

“Unlike Victor, Carlos is not so clean. He’s a wanted man, so the ER was too risky,” Rick suggested. “The clinic is the nearest medical facility to the condo.”

“It looks coincidental,” Jonas offered. “We looked for a link to the clinic or the staff, to be thorough. We came up dry; it appears to be a case of wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Sounds fishy to me,” Sean commented.  “It wasn’t even one of the clinic’s usual days of operation. How did Carlos know it would be open?”

“We’ll keep digging.  As of now, we see no connection.”

Sean grunted, unconvinced. 

“Let’s get started on this VIP party,” Cap directed.  “We’re going to want a significant presence that night.  We’ll need to call in some of our sub-contractors who can pass for workers.  T, call Angie and see what the SAPD can do to help.  I’ll bring our friends at the FBI up to speed and see what we can come up with to get someone in undercover on this.” 

  Cap began pacing, thinking aloud by this point.  “We’ll need blueprints of the condo and details about their security.  The property owner has to be involved or they have someone on the inside.  Maybe someone on the security team is working with them, or it could be one of the tenants.”

“I’m on it,” Rick volunteered. 

Assignments handed out, Jonas began shutting down his files and unplugging his laptop. He felt Cap’s eyes on him, but ignored him, anticipating he wasn’t going to like whatever the boss had to say.

“Jonas, maybe you should sit this one out, except for the tech support.”

He’d been expecting some sort of bullshit like this, but was still surprised when it came. “Sorry, Cap.  That’s not happening.”

“I can practically feel the rage rolling off you.  It reminds me of how I felt after Megan was abducted.  How I still feel when I think about what they did and what could have happened if we hadn’t gotten there in time.”

“I agree with Cap, Jonas.  You’re too volatile right now,” Rick ventured.  “We understand. Believe me, most of us have been where you are.”

“We can end this discussion right now.  I’m not bowing out.”  His challenging gaze met Cap’s, switching to Rick and Dex.  Lastly, he looked at Sean.  Although he was no longer with Mara, the incident had affected him greatly. 

“I’m not gonna lie, I’d like to kill the fucker that shot Lexie. I also know how important it is to shut down the cartel.  Rest assured, my mind is on the mission. I’m in control and have my shit firmly locked down.” His gaze switched back to Cap. “I understand how out of control you felt when they took Meg. When you went off on the motherfucker who messed her up, no one faulted you.  Rick, when they took Regan, you were involved in the takedown of the bastards. And Dex, I watched when Luis bled out on Elena’s parent’s floor.  I know you felt cheated when you didn’t get satisfaction with him, but you did with the other two pricks and got to launch them to an early grave for what they did to her. There isn’t a man here who doesn’t understand your need to protect your woman, or to give retribution when someone hurts her.  My situation is a bit different from any of yours because I’ve had time to process and get my shit together. I’m not losing my mind in the heat of the moment. I don’t have to worry about what some asshole is doing to her and feeling helpless. I know where she is, as does every member of the Rossi security team, and I intend to see that it stays that way.”

Though he’d already made his point quite thoroughly, he drove it home by meeting every man’s eyes straight on. The men didn’t have to say anything; they each gave a nod of their head to Cap, a sign of their support and approval. Finally, Jonas turned back to Cap and laid it out for him. “I’m not the kind of man who sits back on his thumb and lets another man take out his garbage.  Don’t fuckin’ ask that of me.”

“Alright. Jonas.  Just like any of us, if we see you going OFP or losing your shit, we’re locking you down.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, Cap.  Now, if we’re done here, I have to go.  That text was fro
m Lexie; she’s been discharged.