Page 58 of Dominion

Terror had seeped in, turning her entire body cold. She took deep breaths, trying to keep her wits. She had her phone. Maybe she could find a way to text Ben or Zolla. Zolla might be able to trace her location.

Sandoval shoved her out of the car and pulled her into the house, sitting her down and taping her ankles to the legs of a chair. He taped her wrists behind her, so tight the wood from the chair dug into her arms. Rummaging in her purse, he pulled out her phone and scrolled through it. “Where is lover boy’s number?” he asked, not seeming to expect an answer. “Ah, here it is.” He hit dial on the number and held it to her ear. “Say hello to him.”

Ben answered on the second ring. “Ashley,” he croaked, sounding relieved. She remembered with a painful twist in her chest that they were at odds, and she hadn’t returned his phone calls. Tears of regret stung her eyes.

“Ben—”

Sandoval took the phone away from her and said something in Spanish.

“Ben, don’t come—it’s a trap,” she yelled.

Sandoval struck her with the back of his hand, slamming her head back. She tasted blood as pain exploded in her mouth, jaw, and neck.

“Don’t come,” she repeated, as Sandoval walked away with the phone, still speaking into it.

Sandoval had Ashley.Ben’s vision domed, his senses razor-sharp. It took him only three seconds to determine his course of action. He called Zolla as he drove to the address Sandoval had given him.

“Are you crazy?” Zolla demanded. “You can’t go in there alone—you’ll never walk back out. Tell me where and I’ll meet you.”

“No. I’m going alone and unarmed, as instructed. I’m not taking any chances where Ashley’s concerned.” He hung up before Zolla could begin his arguments and pressed his foot down on the gas.

He pulled up at the address and stepped out of the car. For once, his mind was perfectly clear where Ashley was concerned. A strange peace had settled around him like a cloak, giving him a serene sense of power. He walked to the door and knocked.

The curtains moved and a shadow passed in front of the peephole of the door. It opened a crack and the butt of a gun emerged. “Pásale.”

He stepped in and waited as he was patted down for a gun with his hands on his head. Two thugs from Sandoval’s pack flanked him and walked him into the living room, where his female was bound to a chair. Seeing her like that—her face bruised, her eyes wide in a pale face—almost caused him to lose his calm determination.

“Ben,” she whispered. “I told you not to come.”

“It’s going to be all right, Ashley,” he promised. Hands still on his head, he walked forward and dropped to his knees before Sandoval.

His father’s nemesis curled his lip, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

“Take me,” he said. “Have your revenge—lord knows, you deserve it. But let her go.”

Sandoval’s face split into an ugly smile. “Look at this, Rodrigo, he’s begging already, and we haven’t even started.”

Some of Ben’s clarity chipped away. He shook his head, keeping his hands glued to it. “You don’t have to prove anything,” he promised the drug lord. “I know you were wronged. I heard about what happened to your family,” he said, referring to the deaths of Sandoval’s wife and daughters. “If I could change the way things happened, I would. I would change a lot of my father’s misdeeds.”

Sandoval looked angry now, as if the very mention of Tomás Solís enraged him.

Ben plowed forward before Sandoval stopped him. “For what it’s worth, I think it was an accident—that you were the intended target—but I honestly can’t be sure. My father was a real asshole. He wanted you out of the picture, and he took the coward’s path instead of just challenging you. He lost his honor and I’m not proud to be his son.” His eyes traveled past Sandoval to his son, who sat beside him. “I didn’t come to his aid when he called me back to fight you. But I will offer myself up now. Do not hurt Ashley. She has nothing to do with this.”

Sandoval’s smile fell away and he regarded Ben with a narrowed gaze. His son looked uncomfortable.

Ben would have appealed to Sandoval’s honor, except the man had even fewer scruples than his father had. He glanced at Ashley, who had tears streaming down her face. She shook her head at him, as if trying to communicate that Sandoval could not be trusted.

Sandoval stood and walked toward him. “I lost my wife and both my daughters because of you,” he said.

“Not me,” Ben said. “I wasn’t even in the country. I didn’t know anything about it.”

Sandoval pointed a shaking finger at him. “You should’ve stopped him,” he shouted.

Ben closed his eyes. Sandoval’s sanity appeared to be slipping, which didn’t bode well for his plan of sacrificing himself to save Ashley. “You’re right,” he said. “I should have. If I had known about it, I would have,” he said, even though it was a lie. He had never stood up to his father, had only run away from the abusive and controlling parent.

Sandoval walked to Ashley and cut the tape from around her ankles, yanking her to her feet.

He tensed.