Chapter 29 Chapter 29

Half an hour later, we were back at the airport. Another one of Andrea's

men had driven us and left us. I had no idea where he was taking me, of

course, because why would I get to know details like that.

The air in the terminal was thick and hot. Every breath I took of it filled

me with an unpleasant warmth that clung to me and suffocated me. My

stomach was sickened by the musk that lingered in my nose and when

Andrea's fingers wrapped around my wrist, it lurched.

"Remember, your son is a phone call away before you consider making

a scene,” he whispered as we reached the front of the line for the ticket

counter. "Don't think I wouldn't do it."

I nodded.

"I think a lot of things about you, Andrea but not once have I

underestimated your intentions," I replied, trying to ignore the nausea

from my stomach and the dizziness in my head.

"You think a lot about me? All good I presume?” he said as we

approached the woman at the desk.

He turned to her, put on a friendly smile and placed our passports and

his credit card on the counter and asked for two tickets to Venezuela.

They were speaking in Spanish and I, unfortunately, was unable to catch

the airport name. Venezuela was a huge country, I needed a more exact

location if I ever manage to contact Leo again. After he had been given

the tickets, Andrea held onto mine so I couldn't read it from there

either.

As we approached security, his phone began to ring.

"Que?" he grumbled.

By the sounds of things and by the way his grip was ever tightening on

my wrist, he wasn't particularly happy with whoever was on the

receiving end

I scanned the airport, not for any particular reason. I wasn't looking to

escape, I wasn't looking for salvation, I wasn't looking for a plan B. Well

not until Cato was safe anyway.

I watched a family, two daughters and a son, rush through the wide

hallway. The children skipped and laughed as the parents desperately

tried to hustle them to wherever they were going. I then noticed a

couple, stood hand in hand looking like they were having the times of

their lives. The woman, about my age, noticed me staring and I quickly

took my gaze to the floor.

A few moments later, Andrea was finished on the phone. He let out

frustrated noises as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.

"Come on," he growled, gripping my upper arm and dragging me

closer to the bag and passport check. Just as we reached the end of the

queue I heard footsteps approach us.

"Excuse me, Miss. Are you okay?" a kind voice asked.

I looked up to see the woman from the couple I'd been watching. From

her accent, she was clearly American and her eyes were full of concern

and agitation.

I opened my mouth to speak but Andrea interrupted me.

"She's fine," he said bluntly.

"The blood on her nose-" she began.

"I said she's fine," Andrea repeated firmly. He then placed his hand on

my back and turned me away from them.

"Go to the restroom and clean yourself then come straight back. I don't

want you drawing any more attention to yourself, understand?" he said

quietly in my ear.

I nodded, stepping forward in the direction of the restroom. Before I

got far he grabbed my wrist again and pulled me back in.

"And remember what is at stake if you do anything to piss me off,” he

added in a deep menacing tone.

I gulped and walked quickly to the restroom. It was empty so I took the

opportunity to allow the tears I'd been holding back to fall as I dabbed

my nose with a tissue. When I had just about cleaned away all the

blood, the door opened and the American woman walked in.

"Are you sure you're okay, baby? Did that man do this to you?" she

asked noticing my tears and rushing up to me.

My eyes flickered to the door. Closed. The walls. Thick. The restroom.

Empty.

She placed a hand on my back and I hesitantly nodded, my heart rate

rising. Could I be compromising my son's safety?

"How can I help? Call security? The police?” she questioned.

"No, no, no. Please. You can't tell anyone. Please don't tell anyone," I

begged. "Can I use your phone?"

"Of course,” she said fumbling with the buckle of her handbag and

thrusting her phone into my hand.

I quickly dialled Leo's number as she stepped away from me a little and

gave me some privacy.

"Leo, it's me," I said as soon as he picked up.

"Ella? Are you okay?-" he began.

"I don't have much time. Cato is okay and he is on his way home," I

said. "And Andrea is taking me to Venezuela. I don't know whereabouts

or why but he says he isn't going to kill me yet if I do everything he tells

me to do."

"Yet? What do you mean by 'yet'?" Leo questioned. "Isn't going to kill

you in the next week, month, year?"

"I don't know, Leo," I replied in a sob. "But please don't come and look

for me until Cato is safe. Promise me.”

"Okay, yes. I promise.”

"I have to go. He'll be wondering where I am," I said after a little pause.

"This saying goodbye thing isn't getting any easier,” he answered.

"I love you," I told him, which appeared to now be the routine.

"I love you too," he replied before I hung up.

I walked back across the restroom to the woman and handed her her

phone.

"Did he see you come in?" I asked.

"I don't think so," she said looking worried. "Are you sure I can't help in

any other way?"

"You already have. So very much. Now all you can do is make sure he

doesn't find out that I used your phone and definitely don't call the

police. He has connections with them and it will only put me in more

danger," I replied striding to the door. "Thank you."

I then left the restroom and rushed back to where Andrea was waiting

in the line.

"What took you so long, Blanca? I didn't make you bleed that much,”

he said in a growly tone in my ear.

"I'm sorry, Andrea," I mumbled. "I had to pee too.”

"Tell me next time," he replied taking my hand.

So I have to share my excretion needs with him now too?

"Can I ask where we are going?" I questioned.

"I have a house in Venezuela. You don't need to know where exactly but

it's big and nice.”

"Is your drug cartel business not here in Mexico?" I asked.

He stifled a laugh.

"Oh, Blanca. You have no idea," he said in an amused tone as he ran a

finger along my cheek. "I don't run no pussy Mexico-America business.

It's a worldwide organisation. We have people everywhere."

"Everywhere?" I asked, longing to slap that cocky smirk off his face.

"Everywhere," he confirmed.

"How did it take you so long to realise that "Eleonora D'Meritchi' was

actually Ella Loren then?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

His face dropped and he let out a short, low, pissed off breath.

"I had an inkling that she wasn't who she said she was, but I'll admit the

truth was far greater than I could ever imagine. Leonardo Loren... now

his Luna wasn't someone I ever thought I'd be able to kiss," he said as

his hand made it's way to my hip and he placed his lips on my cheek.

He closed his eyes and let out a soft moan as he left the lingering kiss. I

could only stand frozen and let him.

"What happens when you find your mate?" I asked quietly.

He took my hand again.

"You're worth a lot, Blanca. People will pay millions for Alpha Leonardo

Loren's Luna," he said as we got to the front of the queue. "Or perhaps

I'll just dispose of you. But don't you worry, I'll think of something.”

I gulped and shuddered internally.

How very reassuring.

Although I guess in my experience, bad people don't tend to be

blessed with mates. Luciano being a prime example.

When we had, had our bags and passports checked, we entered the

gate.

Andrea led us to a bench that was coincidentally opposite the couple

from earlier.

The woman immediately spotted us and nudged the man.

"There's that poor girl from earlier," she whispered to him.

Of course, Andrea and I with our werewolf hearing knew exactly what

they said.

Andrea narrowed his eyes and sat up straighter.

"Is there a problem?" he asked assertively with a raised eyebrow.

"Andrea-" I began placing my hand on his arm.

And I was the one drawing attention?

He turned to me and brought his finger to his lips before glaring back

to the couple.

I sat quietly on the edge of my seat and watched as they exchanged

nervous looks, unsure of what to say.

"How do you know this woman?" The man asked eventually.

"She is my girlfriend. What is the problem?" Andrea replied quickly.

"She doesn't look too happy and we were just a little concerned,” he

said thankfully not mentioning the phone call.

"I'm okay, really," I reassured. "I just get nervous about flying.”

"The bloody nose?"

"She suffers from nosebleeds. It's the heat," Andrea said deeply as in

turn he stared them both hard in the eyes.

I could tell by the way they shuffled on their seats, how uneasy they

were feeling. Andrea had that effect on people. And they were only

human, they couldn't even smell the authority leaching out of his every

vent,

Andrea refused to look away, relentlessly glaring, until they finally stood

up and moved to a different bench on the far side of the gate.

"They think that just because I'm a Mexican man and you're a white

woman that I must be abusing you. Stupid fucking American prejudice,”

he grumbled.

"But you did hit me," I pointed out.

"They don't know that," he said. "They are just assuming.”

"Assuming correctly,” I muttered under my breath.

"Dear Juan,” Andrea began, folding his arms over his chest and looking

forward with a straight face. "Please ensure that Cato doesn't make it

home. Unfortunately, his mother is being a bitch.”

I unfolded my arms and my face scowl dropped to a quivering lip.

"You better learn to control that mouth of yours. I don't know about

your Alpha, but I'm not going to tolerate it. You've caused me enough

trouble already,” he replied sternly.

I nodded.

"Don't make me tell you again or I might really have to text Juan," he

threatened just before the boarding announcement came through on

the tannoy.

We were soon on the plane to Venezuela. Caracas, to be precise.

I sat by the window and savoured the view. I wasn't exactly sure what

was going to happen next in my life so I wanted to ensure I'd

appreciated as much as I could. The couple were nowhere to be seen so

I was able to rest assured that Andrea wasn't going to find out about

the phone call.

Although the effects of the pill had worn, waves of extreme exhaustion

swept over me and I allowed my self to sleep.

The flight dragged on for hours; I was kind of thankful for that. I didn't

know exactly where we were going but one thing is for sure: I didn’t

want to get there.

Unfortunately, we did eventually get there. The plane landed with a

shaking thud on the runway and Andrea was soon tightly holding my

upper arm and marching through the airport. I practically had to run to

keep up with his long strides, wondering why on earth he was in such a

rush.

After only about half an hour, we were leaving the airport into the thick

Venezuelan heat.

I was beginning to feel a little weak from hunger and the humidity

certainly didn't help. The city was loud too. Andrea dragged me

through it at breakneck speed until we reached a black truck parked

down an alleyway.

"In," he ordered opening the door.

I slowly stepped into the cool, air-conditioned back seat before Andrea

slammed the door and walked around to the passenger's seat.

The driver eyed me through the rear mirror but didn't say a word and

instead began driving out of the city.

I silently watched the view, the glimmering blue sea, busy street

vendors, kids playing. Under other circumstances, I would have thought

Caracas would be a wonderful place to visit. I'm sure we can all

understand why I couldn't really appreciate it alongside the devil

himself.

After we had left the city and had been driving down a jungly track for

some hours, Andrea's phone began to ring.

The voice of a man, sounding vaguely familiar, came through talking in

fast-paced Spanish. It was the same voice from earlier, the one Andrea

had been on the phone to in the Mexican airport and he looked even

more displeased than he did then.

He eventually hung up, after growling deep, angry Spanish incantations

down the phone line.

"Stop the car,” he ordered and the driver brought the vehicle to a

lurching halt.

Andrea got out and marched round to my door. He opened the door

and I shuffled away from his furious grasp.

"My patience is hanging on by a thread. Don't make me fucking lose it

with you and your fucking Alpha,” he growled grabbing my leg and

forcing me out of the car.

"Your fucking Alpha," he repeated pinning me against the hot, black

paint of the car.

He then struck me across the face once again, this time on the cheek.

"I want him dead. I want to slowly squeeze the life out of him after

forcing him to watch me make love to his Luna and kill every one of his

stupid fucking kids with their big blue eyes and yellow fucking hair," he

continued as my eyes watered from the pain.

My stomach lurched at the thought of my eight children even within a

hundred-mile radius of Andrea.

"Why are you so angry?" I asked. "What has he done?"

"Let's see," Andrea began clasping my hair. "His men have killed Juan,

taken your son, killed five of my men in Mexico and somehow learnt

that you are in Venezuela."

I looked up at Andrea and smiled as a flood of relief swept over me.

Cato was safe.

"You've messed with his family, what did you expect?" I asked before

the gripped his hands around my neck tightly.

"Tell me why I shouldn't end you right here and now?" he demanded.

"Cut the bother."

"It's too late. He'll come for you whether I'm dead or alive," I replied

struggling for air. "And I'm worth more to you with a beating heart,

right?"

He knew I was right. But although his grip loosened around my neck,

his eyes and face hardened.

He struck me again, this time around the eye and with his fist. I

whimpered and my vision blurred for a moment or two.

"Don't make me think you aren't worth it," he hissed before lifting me

up and throwing me back into the car.