~ Madison's POV ~

"Where are you going?"

Santi's eyes widened when I walked through the front door, coming back from dropping the twins at preschool just as he was about to leave.

"I thought you said you were going grocery shopping?" I narrowed my eyes at him as I took a step towards him, still blocking the exit though.

"I forgot my purse. Where are you going?"

"Work?" Of course the way he sounded so unsure just made me more suspicious.

"You're going to speak to Asher aren't you?"

When I mentioned Asher, he instantly shook his head although it was obvious. He told me yesterday at McDonald's that Arturo sent a team out to catch him, of course he would be going today to see him.

"No I'm-"

"Let's go." As soon as I cut him off and I stepped back towards the door, Santiago glared at me.

"No. You're not coming."

"Santiago I'm just as involved in this as you are."

"I don't give a damn. You're pregnant, I'm not letting you anywhere near him or any of my men for that matter. You're staying here."

All I could do was give him a smirk, standing in the doorway while he glared at me.

It's cute that he thought he'd get his way.

Almost an hour later we finally pulled up to that same warehouse Santiago took me to when he first told me who he was after I tried to leave with Asher.

The drive should only take forty minutes but we spent twenty minutes arguing at the house before we finally left.

Without a word he got out of the car, not bothering to come around to my side to open the door for me. Of course I just rolled my eyes at his attitude.

"Giving me the silent treatment? Aren't you supposed to be mature now that you're 27?"

Clenching his jaw, he waited for me to get out of the car before he locked it, walking away from me towards the large blue doors we entered through last time.

He took out the same card, scanning it to open the door before he turned to look at me.

"Stay by my side and keep your mouth shut."

"Of course Señor Jefe." (Mr Boss)

He rolled his eyes at my teasing tone as he walked inside, taking my hand in his. This definitely wasn't an affectionate action though, he was still very angry.

It was a possessive action. I knew that because from the moment we stepped inside all eyes were on us.

This time there were more people around as we walked upstairs. Some people were nodding at Santiago in respect while some were saying things into him in Spanish, all of them using the word 'jefe' which I obviously knew meant boss.

We went up the same stairs as last time but instead of going into his office, we continued to another room.

"If it gets too much for you, just let me know." The words came out in a low murmur as we stopped at the door. Even if he was trying to be caring, he was still clearly annoyed that I'd come with him.

Once we walked inside the dimly lit room, the smell of blood instantly invaded my senses almost making me gag. Thankfully I hadn't eaten a thing that morning so I didn't throw up there and then.

Closing the door behind us, Santiago stepped aside and my eyes finally landed on Asher tied to a chair, covered in blood.

His eyes were focused on Santiago before they shifted across to me, widening a little in surprise.

"He won't say anything." At the sound of Arturo's voice, I turned to look at him while he just continued to glare at Asher.

The aura surrounding Arturo was weird to say the least. In that room he was no longer Santiago's funny, annoying bestfriend I'd come to see as a brother. Instead, he was Santi's cold, ruthless right hand man with a sadistic glint in his eye.

"Try not to get too carried away."
His words caught Arturo's attention making him turn to look at us for the first time. Well actually he looked at Santiago and when he saw me, he was glaring at me.

"Why the hell would you bring her here? Are you stupid or something?"

"You think I wanted to? She wouldn't listen to me and it was taking too damn long."

Arturo's eyes widened in disbelief as he shook his head, dropping the knife he was holding on a table full of other tools.

"Then you freaking ignore her! Or you lock her in the house or something. I can't believe you actually brought her here."

"I'm right here you know, I can hear you."

"I think they know Madison, that's the problem." When we heard Asher's amused voice, we all turned to look at him.

"Shut the hell up unless you want to start losing your teeth much earlier than planned." Arturo glared at Asher who just continued to smirk before Santiago spoke again.

"Whatever, she's here now so just try to keep your methods to a-"

"Screw you." Arturo glared at Santiago, clearly not happy with the fact he couldn't do whatever he wanted to Asher. He obviously hated having any limitations to his torture methods.

"Anyway, I'm assuming you both have questions for me but I'll just tell you now, I'll only speak to Madison." Once again we all turned to look at Asher, my eyes widening a little at his words.

"You'll answer to me if you want to keep your life."

"Santiago, we both know that's not going to happen. Even if you did let me keep my life and leave, I'd die out there anyway." His words caused me to frown and before I could stop myself, I spoke up.

"Why? Who would kill you?" Although Arturo and Santiago were glaring at me, they didn't say anything as they waited for Asher to reply.

"Who do you think?"

"The person behind the threats?" Once again I spoke and Asher shook his head.

"No. Stevie."

This time I frowned at him, taking a step closer, well aware of the two men still glaring at me.

"Stevie? You're saying she would kill you? That's not possible she-"

"She's not who you think she is Madison. Look, I know you think you can't trust me but-"

"There's no buts. She can't trust you and that's it. You'll be alive as long as you're useful to me Asher, so tell me whatever you know, now."

When Santiago spoke through gritted teeth, Asher just glared back at him, any traces of amusement now gone.

"I'm trying to. I told you I'm only going to speak to Madison. If you have a problem with that then just kill me because there's no way I'll say shit to either of you idiots."

When the three of them just had a stare down between themselves I let out a frustrated sigh.

We were so close to finally get some answers and Santiago and Arturo couldn't get over their pride to just let me talk to him.

While they were preoccupied, going to the corner of the room, I grabbed one of the few chairs and dragged it across the room, to sit across from Asher.

Of course I left a safe distance between us but he was tied to the chair, nothing was going to happen to me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Santiago was absolutely furious.

"I'm taking over. Santiago my daughter was almost killed and this involves my supposed bestfriend. You can't keep me out of it and I'm not letting you deal with it if you can't control your temper. We need answers."

"I'm the freaking jefe, not you. Madison don't push me because I swear I'm already so pissed at you. Get the hell up, now."

I admit I should have probably taken the warning and just let him deal with it, considering he was right and he was the boss after all, but I didn't.

He wasn't acting rationally and neither was Arturo.

This is the first time I'd seen Arturo since he made all those jokes about my pregnancy to Santiago but something about his character was off.

He was a little more...tense than usual, and Santiago, well he was too furious for his own good.

"I don't care. If you have a problem with it then leave."

The room was deadly silent as Santiago and I glared at each other, the tension could have literally been cut with a knife.

I could tell he was right on the edge but instead of blowing up on me then, he just stepped back, allowing me to turn to look at Asher.

I knew this wasn't the last I'd hear about it though and the thought of that scared me. I definitely didn't think it through. I'd pissed him off so much and I was the poor soul who had to go to bed with him tonight.

"What do you know about those threats? It's not Stevie?"

Asher looked away from Santiago and back at me when I asked him the first question, answering almost instantly.

"No, it's not. She did participate but it's not her. I'm not sure who it is, but she definitely knows." I was surprised when he answered my question so willingly, without any hesitation or anything.

"Well, who do you think it might be?"

He shrugged his shoulders a little, wincing when he felt some pain from one of the injuries Arturo probably inflicted on him.

"I thought it was Pedro but he's dead. I thought it could have been Katia too, but it wasn't her either. It could be anyone Madison."

I nodded my head, leaning back in my chair before I spoke again.

"Why would she kill you? How is she even involved in any of this?"

"Stevie isn't who you think she is Madison. She's dangerous, she always has been."

"What do you mean?"

When I asked him this, he hesitated for a moment causing Arturo to step towards him.

"Answer the freaking question."

Asher looked over at Arturo and then at me before letting out a sigh.

"Stevie is the one who owns the prostitution rings, not me. She was only ever your friend because she wanted you at first, but then she became your friend. She told me she would wait until the right time before she eventually took you."

"Took me?" The words came out of my mouth in a quiet tone and his eyes flashed with sympathy.

"She was going to turn you into a prostitute. But she decided to be your friend and then Santiago came back into your life and you got pregnant. It messed up her entire plan."

"But...but I thought you owned the prostitution rings? That's what Santiago told me." When I mentioned Santiago, I glanced back at my boyfriend who was watching the exchange with the same glare on his face.

"No, I don't. I never did. I was just her cover. She has shit on me, like I said, she's not who you think she is."

"So that day when you said that you'd keep me safe...you weren't going to kidnap me?"

"That's what you thought?" I could tell he was surprised by my question, and offended too. When I nodded my head, he let out a sigh.

"No I wasn't going to kidnap you. I actually did like you Madison. I was trying to protect you. I wanted to get away from Stevie and I knew what Santiago was like so I was going to leave with you and keep you and your children safe."

When he said this, I glanced back at Santiago who had a cold look in his eye. I decided it was better to change the topic before I accidentally ruined something permanently in my relationship with Santi.

I made the stupid mistake of sleeping with Asher, I knew that was probably going through Santiago's head at that moment which was something I couldn't forget.

"So Stevie owns the prostitution rings and she some how got you involved. What about Sienna? She told me you kidnapped her after she refused to have sex with you."

This time it took him a little longer to reply, while he was busy thinking about what I just said.

"Sienna? She's one who..." When Arturo took another threatening step towards him again cutting him off, Asher got his answer to the question.

She was the one who was killed.

"I don't remember her. Maybe I did? Stevie had me work for her. Like I said I was all part of her cover. She took most of the girls herself or with her own men but she also got me to work for her too."

"Is what she has on you really that bad that you could do that to innocent women?" I didn't bother to hide the disgust in my voice when I said this.

"Yes. Madison I keep telling you, she's not who you think she is. She's not the same age as you, she's a few years older. Think about it. If Santiago is around your age and he's this powerful, then that shows age doesn't matter. She's a lot more powerful than you think."

"Who is she?"

Once again he hesitated but eventually he told me what I wanted to know.

"Her family have owned prostitution rings in this country for decades. She inherited it all from her father when she was 20 years old. She's 31 now."

"31? But we went to college together, you're lying Asher."

He shook his head, letting out a sigh.

"I'm not. Her family are really powerful Madison. I met her when I was at a club. I caught her trying to kidnap a girl and I tried to stop her with my brother. She didn't like that, so she..."

His sentence trailed off before he cleared his throat.

"She killed my brother. One of her men stabbed him in the stomach. After that she never let me go. She threatened to kill the rest of my siblings if I didn't do what she wanted."

"Did you ever try to get out of it?"

Letting a laugh, he looked up at the ceiling as he nodded.

"Of course I did. That's how I know she's not bluffing. Her men raided my house and were so close to slitting my sisters throat until I promised I wouldn't do it again."

The longer he went on, the more I began to see that he really was just forced into this like everyone else. Santiago was forced into this life by his father. I was forced into it by association with Santiago and from what Santiago told me, Arturo had his own reasons for coming into a life like this.

"Asher..."

"Madison you need to be careful, please be careful. I know you've got shit going on with El Dios Del Diablo and those threats too, but Stevie...she's obsessed with you."

"Obsessed?" He nodded his head while I just sat there with wide eyes.

"She has been ever since she met you. Why do you think she went through college at the age of 23 when you were 18? She's goes crazy over you, she's obsessed with anything to do with you."

When I didn't reply suddenly feeling extremely nauseous, I felt someone come up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"How do we find her?" Santiago no longer sounded so angry, at us anyway. His rage was redirected at Stevie.

"I can give you her home address and where she works from. But, if she knows I've been taken, she probably won't be there."

I turned my head to look at Santiago just as he nodded his head and turned to look at Arturo to give him an instruction.

"Have some men check out the locations. Asher, I swear, if I find out that you're lying to us, I-"

"I'm not. Santiago, whatever problem we had was in highschool. I know what I said about Madison was screwed up, but I was drunk teenager, I was an idiot. I'm not just telling you this for your sake, you're the only hope I have of killing her and letting my family finally be safe."

Santiago nodded his head, keeping the cold expression on his face as he grabbed my hand, pulling me up off the chair.

"Don't untie him until it's been confirmed that the locations belong to her. If our men find her, give them orders to kill her on sight and anyone else who gets in the way."

"But Santi we-"

"Shut the hell up." My sentence was instantly cut off when he turned to glare at me, surprising me with the level of anger he had towards me.

I glanced over at Arturo who didn't even seem surprised or sympathetic at the way Santiago had just snapped at me.

He didn't care.

"I want her dead." Arturo nodded in agreement with Santiago before pulling out his phone to make a call while Santiago pretty much dragged me out of the room.

I didn't dare say a word to him as we walked out of the warehouse and back towards his car.

It was only when finally got in the car and we were sitting in silence that I decided to open my big mouth.

"Are you still mad at me?"

When I spoke in a quiet tone, he turned to look at me, giving me an incredulous stare.

"Are you being serious or are you really that thick?"

He didn't even seem bothered by the hurt on my face as he carried on speaking, venting all the anger he was feeling.

"Madison if someone did what you just did in that room I would have killed them on the spot. That was my interrogation that you took over!"

"But Santiago we needed answers and both of you were too angry to think straight." Once again he just shook his head at my response, the anger clearly flaring up inside of him as he clenched his jaw.

"I've been doing this for a very long time Madison. I know how to get answers out of people. I don't need a little nurse like you to come and do it for me, do you understand? Damn! This is the last time I tell you anything to do with my work."

To say I was stunned by his words would be an understatement.

I didn't even know it was possible for words to hurt so deep, but I guess when they come from someone you love, there's no end to how much they can hurt.

So he thinks I'm just a little nurse.

Well, he is the rich one. He does pay for everything. All you do is look after his children. You don't really add much to his life. Maybe that's why he doesn't want to marry you.

Marriage.

Does he really not want to marry me? Until yesterday I hadn't thought about marriage but when the twins realised we weren't married, I started thinking about it more. Maybe because I'm just a little nurse to him, he doesn't want to marry me.

He wants someone on his level.

Without another word he turned the engine of the car on, starting the long drive back to the house.

The only sound that could be heard was my stomach which was rumbling embarrassingly loudly in the car every few minutes.

The whole time he just stayed completely silent. He didn't look at me or speak to me. Even when he caught me stealing glances in his direction he just looked away.

The whole time we were in silence my thoughts just began to spiral.

Did he ever intend to marry me?

Did he think I was inferior compared to him?

Did I really mess up that bad? I just wanted to help him.

As soon as we pulled up to the house, Santiago got out, leaving me in the car alone.

Maybe I should have just stayed home.

None of this would have happened.

Taking a moment, I sat in the car trying my best to keep my emotions in check. I wanted so badly to cry from the frustration of what happened and of course the sadness. Not just because of what Asher told us but also because I hated fighting with Santiago.

He was my bestfriend.

That's why his words hurt me so much.

Once I was sure I wouldn't cry, I let out a sigh, getting out of the car, making my way inside. Of course it was just my luck that Santiago was in the kitchen when I went in there to finally have some breakfast.

He didn't look at me when I walked past him to the fridge only to realise we had no food left when I opened it.

Brilliant.

Suddenly all the deep breaths and the mini pep talk I gave myself in the car didn't matter when I couldn't find anything to make for breakfast.

I could feel Santiago's eyes on me as I leaned back against the counter, rubbing my stomach which was feeling emptier by the second while my eyes brimmed with tears.

It may seem like I was exaggerating, but after waking up at 6:30am to get the twins