Hearts on Fire 6: Healing Sophia(2)

But just as they planned on taking him and his crew of shit out of the equation and ending their little business, they caught wind of some even bigger fish finding interest in Mateo’s operations. The heads of the task force put on the brakes for the raid. Three weeks later, and after some very in-depth training and background studying, Jeremy went in undercover. Two fucking years and now three major drug dealers were part of the business, a shitload of government employees who worked for the correctional facilities in the state of Illinois and about a dozen others. If everything worked out accordingly, the feds would have them all indicted, arrested, and locked up among the scum they’d aided these last two years.

“I’m not too worried about Scaggs,” Mateo said. “He knows that he needs me to keep negotiations open and to deal with the buyers. They don’t trust him or any of the other more publically known bosses Besides, from what I’ve heard through some of my sources, Scaggs is on the feds’ radar. We don’t need to take any chances.” Mateo ran his hand along Sophia’s ass. He leaned down and kissed her skin then kissed along her back, avoiding the damage he’d made, and then to her shoulders. He trailed a hand along her breast, cupping it and playing with her body right there in front of them while the poor woman slept. He’d given her something during the night when she awoke from passing out and was in pain. Jeremy didn’t know what it was, or what Deavan and Mateo had done to her during the night, but she was still out cold, and there were marks on her arms and her legs.

Mateo’s words got him to refocus on the investigation and what needed to be done sooner than later in order to save Sophia and put Mateo in jail.

“Where did you hear about the feds looking at Scaggs? He keeps all his deals on the down low.”

“That’s what we all thought, but then Deavan here has been doing a little undercover work himself. Seems someone tipped off the feds on a few deals.”

Jeremy glanced at Deavan, who held a firm, non-emotional expression. Jeremy didn’t like how his gut clenched.

“And you’ve known about this how long and didn’t tell me?” Jeremy asked and gave Mateo the meanest look. Meanwhile he couldn’t help but to think they were on to him. He needed to keep his cool. He had been very careful. He knew he had to be.

Mateo looked at him and then at Deavan as Deavan sat down on the bed and caressed Sophia’s long brown hair.

“It’s not your worry. This is Deavan’s job right now.”

“So what would you like me to tell Scaggs? No deal?”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said, and then Sophia began to awaken.

She moaned and blinked her eyes open.

Deavan caressed her cheek.

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered, and Mateo didn’t bat an eye.

Sophia tightened up, cringed from the pain, and turned slightly, trying to cover her breasts. Her gaze darted from Deavan to Jeremy then to Mateo. That was when Jeremy saw the bruising along her thighs. She crunched up into the fetal position, and Jeremy feared that Mateo and Deavan had raped her last night. He had disappeared to meet up with Scaggs and negotiate a possible deal. Then he’d made contact with his fellow agents and they planned a raid around this deal between Mateo and Scaggs. But his gut was warning him that Mateo and Deavan were on to him and knew he was working undercover.

“You should have stuck around last night, Jeremy. Sophia is really special, and very sweet.” Deavan leaned down and licked along her shoulder. She shuddered and clenched her eyes closed.

“Someone had to meet with Scaggs. Besides, I like my women conscious when I fuck them,” Jeremy stated firmly, getting an angry look by Deavan.

“She belongs to the three of us now, but she needs to learn her place. She needs rules,” Mateo said and gave her ass a smack before he climbed out of the bed and stepped into his jeans.

“Breaking her in will be a lot of fun,” Deavan said and glided his hand along her ass and thighs then between her legs from behind.

“No.” She moaned in a very hoarse voice as she tried moving away from him.

Deavan gripped her thigh, and she gasped in pain.

“I thought we went over things last night, Sophia,” Mateo said. “You need to adjust to the fact that you belong to me, Deavan, and Jeremy now. This body is ours to do with as we please when we please. Now rest so you’re more than ready for the three of us tonight.” Mateo looked at Jeremy.

Jeremy felt sick, angry, and wanted to kill both men right now. But he couldn’t. He had to be patient, and it sounded as if Deavan hadn’t forced sex on her last night because of her injuries and the drugs Mateo had given her. But he had obviously touched her, and that really disgusted Jeremy. He didn’t think he could stand by and see the young woman get abused any longer. Something had to give. Setting up this deal with Scaggs and Mateo could break the case wide open and end this whole operation.

“I’ll call Scaggs and set something up to meet,” Mateo told him.

“You’re going to deal with him? Give him a percentage of operations?” Jeremy asked, and Mateo stared at him.

“I’ll let you know. But you’ll be busy taking care of something else that’s very important to us.”

“What’s that?” Jeremy asked.

Mateo glanced at Sophia, who was crying, as Deavan continued to touch her against her will. He was a big man too, way over six feet tall, and he was huge. On top of Sophia, he covered her body entirely.

Jeremy swallowed hard and bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t let his emotions and disgust show. It would get him and Sophia killed.

“Our special young lady. Sophia. Watch over her. She’s in a fragile state, and I can’t focus on her right now when I’ve got all these deals going on and Scaggs to meet.”

Jeremy thought about that a moment and then decided this was a better way to stay clear and take Mateo down. He wouldn’t be near the location when the feds raided the meeting. He could get Sophia out of here so she was safe, and his cover wouldn’t get blown too soon.

“Fine, but just know, for the record, that I would rather be at the meeting making sure things go smoothly. After all, I have been doing this for quite some time, and babysitting a woman isn’t my forte.”

Mateo reached out and clutched Jeremy’s shoulder, giving him a smug-looking grin.

“Just think, if she acts up, you can begin fucking her into submission. I won’t mind at all. You and Deavan are my brothers now.” He ran his hand along Jeremy’s forearm where the M branded in his skin was.

Jeremy clenched his teeth but held Mateo’s gaze. He’d never wanted to kill someone so badly in his life.

“Plus Deavan has been getting her body used to his touch since last night. So when he takes her, she’ll be more than ready. You do the same.” He winked, and Jeremy nodded, but inside, he wanted to rip Mateo’s heart out and feed it to him.

Justice would prevail. Sophia would be saved.



* * * *



Sophia was in a panic as she got out of the shower and got dressed. Jeremy was here watching her, and Mateo and Deavan would be back any time. The son of a bitch had branded her with his mark, and it was so painful. It burned, and she was stuck with it forever. She felt so violated and disgusted. Plus, when she’d awoken and felt and saw Deavan touching her, she wanted to vomit. Had they raped her? She didn’t even know. They’d drugged her, and her thighs and groin had bruises on them, and she couldn’t remember how they got there. Then, while in pain and still under the influence of drugs, Deavan had touched her intimately, and there had been nothing she could do about it. She wanted to die. She was so scared, and now Jeremy was here. He was watching her and kept looking at his cell phone and asking if she felt okay and stronger. She was confused.

The bathroom door swung open, and she screamed.

“We need to go. Now,” he yelled at her, and she didn’t want to go but felt so defeated. She was stuck here with three men who would rape her, abuse her, and kill her if she disobeyed them. She started to cry, and Jeremy cupped her cheek.

“I know you’re scared, honey. I need you to listen to me and find it in your gut to trust me right now. Please, Sophia. You need to trust me, and I promise I’ll save you and this will all be behind you.”

She didn’t know what to say or to do. Her instincts were shit, that was obvious, but there was something different in Jeremy’s eyes. As soon as he saw her expression change with her thought, he gave her a nod.

“You’re so fucking strong. You’ll get through this and have a real life. Have a man who will love you. You’ll see. Now follow me.”

He took her hand and pulled her along. They exited the door in the large apartment He looked around and then brought her down the hallway to an elevator. It wasn’t a main one. It was a service elevator.

“What are we doing?”

He didn’t answer, and she was shaking so hard she wondered if he was taking her somewhere so he could have her himself. She trusted no one. She was in a panic. Her hands were shaking as she hugged herself and tried to figure out what to do. She couldn’t get away. Even if she escaped from Jeremy, she couldn’t trust the police. Mateo owned people in that profession and others. She was screwed.