CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

"What are you doing here?" My hands are itching to slap that stupid smirk off his face right now

"I heard you were in town, so I thought I stop by and say hi."

"You are lying. What do you want?" There is no way on this earth he is here without reason.

"I am not; I am truly here to see how you are doing? I missed you. Did you miss me?"

"That's a lie, and since you don't want to tell me why you are really here. You can leave and come back when you decide to say the truth" I point to the front door, showing him the way out.

"Unfortunately, I can't leave without you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" My brows pull together, feeling confused about what he just said.

"You see…." He walks closer to me. "As I said, I am here to see how you are doing but not just that. I am also here to take you somewhere with me" His breath fans my face as he speaks, hitting me with his cigarette breath. His horrible cologne fills my nostril, and the urge to throw up hits me hard. The fact that I am pregnant doesn't help. I step away from him, but I don't get to put a lot of space between us as my back hits the kitchen aisle.

"I am not going anywhere with you. "I sidestep him and put some space between us.

"The choice is not yours to make, honey,"

"Franky" I scream as someone walks into the kitchen with a gun to her head. My heart rate increases as fear grip my soul as I watch the gun rest on Franky's temple.

"Jame-s-s what-t-s's the going on? Why is someone poin-n-t-in-in-g-g a g-g-u-un a to Frank-k-yy's head?" I stammer as I am hyperventilating. I feel like I am about to have a panic attack. I can feel sweat forming on my forehead. I am so confused and scared right now. Why is James making someone point a gun at Franky's head?

"Hmm, where should I start" he pretends to think about it.

"James, wherever you need me to go with you, I am willing to go. Please don't hurt Franky," I plead as tears begin to form in my eyes. I don't want them to hurt Franky because of me. It will kill me if they do.

"If I knew it would be this easy to make you come with me, I would have kidnapped your sister a long time ago, but on second thought, I don't think you would have been able to escape without her help, so it's actually better this way."

"Please move the gun away from her head."

James signals the man, he takes the gun away from Franky's head. The second the gun is taken away from her head, she runs towards me.

"Are you okay?" Franky asks, inspecting my body for any injuries

All the tears I have been holding backflow down my cheeks. She is the one who was held at gunpoint, and she is asking me if I am okay.

"Oh, Franky," I place my hand on her cheek, "Sometimes I wish you were a bad big sister."

"Never" She pulls me behind her and shields me from James. I wished what she just did could actually save me from whatever James plans to do with me.

"Enough with the reunion; if we want to get back to the states on time, we need to get moving."

"Where are you taking me?" I move out of Franky's back, so I can see James as I speak to him

"To the Mexicans"

"Mexicans, I don't understand" I frown, confused by what he said.

"Forgive me for not explaining why I am here. I came to get you in exchange for my safety."

"Excuse me, what?" I look at James, baffled by what he just said. I can't believe even now, James still wants to use me for his own benefits.

"You probably know Thomas is out to kill me, and because of this, I can't enjoy my life the way I wish. So I made some adjustments to my life to handle that boyfriend of yours, and to make those adjustments work, I need you as an offering."

"You have got to be kidding me? Did you just say you want to offer me to someone? I am a human being, for God's sake, James, not some piece of thing you can offer" Angry tears fill my eyes as I throw daggers at James. I can't believe what he is saying right now.

"I know you are human, making you the perfect bargaining chip."

"Oh my God, I am a bargaining chip," I say with disbelief. I shut my eyes briefly as I try to absorb his words.

"Yes, the best one to use to gain the protection of the Mexican cartel."

"What," I ask, wishing with everything in the world he didn't say the words I just heard

"You heard me, dear. I am trading you in to gain the protection of the Mexican cartel against Thomas."

The world freezes as James's words echo in my head. My heart rate begins to increase by tenfold. My palms become sweaty, and my knees become too weak to hold me. I try to grab something as I feel my knees giving out, but I am not quick enough, and my butt roughly hits the ground.

I look at Franky, but no words escape my mouth; only tears stream down my face. James wants to offer me to the Mexican cartel. Oh my God, what have I done? I have killed my baby, Franky, and me. Running away from Thomas is the biggest mistake I have made in my life. The Mexican cartel is Thomas's greatest enemy. They will kill me the minute James hands me over to them.

"Boys, load them up in the truck," James says

Two bulky men appear from the living room and begin to drag Franky and me outside. Franky tries to fight them off, which earns her a hot slap from James.

"I don't fucking need you, so behave yourself while I am nice enough to spare your life." Franky spits on James's face.

"Hey," James roughly grabs Franky's jaw and forces her to look at him. "If you don't behave yourself, I will put a bullet into your head," James growls at Franky as he looks down on her.

"Please don't harm her; in fact, don't take her with us. It's me you want. Please leave her alone." I say

"I wish I could do that, but unfortunately, I can't."

"Why, you don't need Franky. She is not worth anything to the Mexican Cartel."

"Yes, she is not, but she is worth something to you."

"You bastard" Franky moves forward to attack James, but one of James's men pulls her back.

"It's good you know your worth," James smirks.

"You don't need to use Franky to threaten me. I am willing to go with you. Please let Franky go."

"No, and enough with all this stupid talk. We need to get going" James drags me out the front door and throws me into a van. I almost land on my stomach, but Franky catches me before I hit the ground.

"Be careful; she is pregnant, for God's sake."

"She is what?" James grabs Franky's wrist. He looks like he is about to burst with rage as his pupils dilate and his nose flares up.

"She is pregnant" Franky tries to free her hand from his grip.

James roughly releases Franky's hand and moves towards me.

"Tell me she is lying" James grabs my shoulders and makes me look him in the face.

"No, she is not; I am pregnant for Thomas" I look at him confused, wondering why he is behaving like this to the news of my pregnancy.

"Tell me you are lying, tell me you are fucking lying" He shakes my body as he spits out every word.

"No, I am not; what is wrong with you?" He looks like a fireball about to explode. The bone in my neck cracks as James smacks me hard across the cheek.

"I just told you she is pregnant. Why are you hitting her?" Franky pushes James away from me. James doesn't say another word. He just stares at me as rage swims in his eyes. The veins in his neck look like they are about to burst any minute now. I watch his chest rise and fall as he stares at me. I can bet if his hand wasn't in a tight fist right now, they would have been decorating my body.

"You will regret this, mark my words. You will fucking regret this," James says before walking away. He bangs the door of the van closed.

I look at Franky, and she has the same confused expression on her face as I. I don't understand why James is angry that I am pregnant for Thomas. He doesn't love me, so why is he behaving like a jealous boyfriend. I just pray his threat is empty because I already have enough haters in my life. Thomas is enough. I don't need a monster like James hating me. I will die sooner than planned if that happens.

***

I wake up in a dark room with a terrible headache and a burn on my left cheek. On the road, I got sleepy, so I took a little nap.

"Franky," I say her name, hoping she is in this dark room with me.

I stand up from the bed. I don't remember getting on. I don't know how I got here. Someone must have brought me here. I stretch my hands out to find the room's wall. I hit my foot on something hard. I bend down to rub my feet, and the lights in the room come on. I shield my eyes with my hand as the sudden exposure to light blinds me a little. I slowly take away my hands from my eyes and try to adjust to the light.

"I was starting to get worried you might be dead. You slept for quite a few hours, Mel" James stands by the door close to the wall where the light switch is. I look around the room, searching for Franky. She is not here; I wonder where she is. I hope she is fine wherever she is. I turn back to face James and notice something different about him. His sleeves are rolled up so I can see the tattoos on his skin. I wonder when he got them. He never had them while we were married.

"Do you like them?" he uncrosses his arms and begins to walk toward me. He must have noticed me staring at his tattoos.

"Where is Franky?" I ignore his question. I could care less about his tattoos right now.

"She is alive" he stands just a breath away from me as he speaks. "I can't believe you got pregnant for that monster" James harshly grabs my jaw, forcing me to look him in the eyes. I can see the same hatred that burns in Thomas's eyes anytime he looks at me burning in James's eyes right now, but I feel different. I feel no pain as I watch the fury burn in James's eyes. I also feel the same way he does.

"Did you just call him a monster?"

"Isn't he one?"

I laugh drily, "No, he isn't"

"Melina, Melina, you don't have to lie to me. I know your life was hell with him these past few months" he removes his hand from my jaw and gently strokes my hair.

"He is still not a monster compared to you" I slap his hand away from my hair.

"I am not a monster. I am just a man who puts his interest first."

"You are a self-centered bastard. That's what you are."

"It seems you still hold a grudge for what happened last time."

"Shouldn't I, you murderer" I growl at him.

"No, you shouldn't. I did you a favor like I am going to do now."

I immediately place my hand on my belly and take a few steps away from him. "Stay away from me. I am not going to let you hurt my child again." I wrap my arms securely around my stomach.

"The choice is not yours, Mel. We need to send a message to Thomas that we mean business." The door opens, and two men step inside the room. James moves closer to my ear and whispers, "As much as I wish I didn't have to do this, fortunately, there is nothing sweeter than hurting that bastard by killing his child again."

"No, please, I beg you. My child hasn't done anything wrong. Please don't take it away from me. Please," I plead with James, but he only laughs at me. The two men that entered the room earlier began to walk toward me. I try my best to put distance between myself and them but fail as they grab me and begin to drag me out of the room.

"Don't worry, Mel, I will make sure you stay awake the whole time this time around.