All Chapters of HIS TO DESTROY: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The silence in the council chamber felt like a living thing.Catalina stood frozen, her heart was hammering so hard she could hear it in her ears. Miguel was still on his knees, his face was pale, but his eyes were burning with something between pride and terror.Esteban rose slowly from his chair. His face was calm, but his hands were clenched tight at his sides."You refuse," he said quietly. "After everything. After I spared your father's life. After I offered you safety. You still refuse.""I'll serve you," Catalina said. Her voice shook but she held it steady. She swore not to give Esteban any hint of fear. "I'll do whatever you want, but my baby is mine. That's the one thing I won't give.""Then you're a fool." Esteban descended the steps slowly, each footfall was echoing. He seemed furious. "Because that one thing is the only thing that matters."He reached where Miguel was and pulled a gun from inside his jacket. He pressed it against Miguel's temple."No!" Catalina lunged for

They didn't let her see Gabriel the next day, or the day after that.Catalina asked every time a guard came to her door. She asked politely at first, then more desperately, then with barely controlled fury.The answer was always the same. "The boy is in training. No visitors."By the fourth day, she was ready to claw through the walls.She paced her room endlessly, the small piece of paper with her question hidden in the waistband of her dress. The baby sat heavy in her belly now, making every movement awkward and tiring. But she couldn't sit still.Sofia was alive somewhere, and Gabriel knew where.She had to get to him.On the fifth day, they came for her at dawn.Not the usual guard. Three of them this time, all armed. Their faces were grim."Come with us," the first one said.Catalina's stomach dropped. "Where?""Don Esteban wants to see you."Fear spiked through her, but she forced herself to stay calm. She stood slowly, smoothing down her dress. "Fine. Let's go."They led her th

They gave her three days of peace.Three days where guards brought her meals and left her alone. Three days where nobody asked questions or made demands. Three days where she could almost pretend she was safe.She knew better.This was the calm before something terrible.Catalina spent the time watching. Her window faced the inner courtyard. From there she could see the guard rotations. The delivery schedules, the times when the compound was most active and when it was quietest.Early morning, just before dawn. That's when the guards changed shifts and there were precious minutes of confusion. That's when someone could slip through unnoticed.If they were smart, if they were prepared, if they had help.On the fourth day, they came for her again.Two guards, who were both expressionless. "Don Esteban wants to see you."Her stomach tightened but she kept her face calm. "Of course."They led her through the corridors to a room she hadn't seen before. It was smaller than the council chamb

MATEO'S POV:The screaming had stopped an hour ago and that was worse somehow.Mateo stood outside the cell door with his hand pressed flat against the cold metal. He could hear breathing on the other side. It was ragged and broken, like something dying but not allowed to finish.He should walk away. He should go back to his post. He should stop torturing himself with this.But he couldn't move.Inside that cell was Lucien Torres. His oldest friend. The man who'd saved his life more times than he could count. The closest thing to a brother he'd ever had.And Mateo had helped put him there……not directly though. He hadn't strapped Lucien to the chair, he hadn't injected the drugs, he hadn't asked the questions designed to tear his mind apart piece by piece.But he'd stood guard while others did. He'd locked the doors, and he'd followed orders.He was a good soldier. That's what Esteban always said.Good soldiers didn't question. They obeyed. Good soldiers are like dogs.Mateo's hand cur

ESTEBAN'S POVThe room was sealed and soundproof. There were no windows, no cameras except the ones Esteban controlled himself.He stood in the center of the empty space, with his hands clasped behind his back, and waited.The device sat on a pedestal in front of him. It was small and unassuming. Just a black disc the size of his palm with a single blue light pulsing in the center.He hated this device. He hated what it represented, but he'd learned long ago that hate was a luxury men like him couldn't afford.The blue light pulsed faster, then it flared bright.The hologram materialized, as three figures appeared around him in a triangle formation. Not flat projections on a screen. Fully three-dimensional, that were solid-looking enough that his brain insisted they were real even though he knew they weren't.The technology had cost millions. The Church had sources for that kind of money, sources that didn't ask questions.The first figure stood to his left. He was tall and broad-shou