"Your family from Vegas and... you know, Mika "I encouraged in a low voice, already noticing the brightness of the sun shining through the sliding door at the end of the living room, where the green lawn was already shining to receive us.”"I thought you were talking," said Suzane in a tone of reflection."No, we haven't spoken since the Thanksgiving party.”"How strange... Lawrence says she's always lovingly talking to someone in the corners.”I avoided performing a mouth thing, because I knew Suzane was keeping an eye on my reaction. I loved Suzane, but she was so curious and nosy, that sometimes she gave me a slight anger. But I was all that in an even higher percentage. So I couldn't complain. I smiled, my turn. It didn't bother me that Mikaela could be going out with other people. I doubted that she would be able to maintain that facade of relationship with Colton without having an escape valve for later, but still, I was slightly upset that she did not consider that I could be h
“Oh, damn it. You could have told me you were coming. I wouldn't have cleaned my legs in time, so you could see exactly what we were doing "I gave a cruel smile, but Colton made an expression of shock so alarming that I thought he would go out yelling at everyone at the party that Mikaela and I would have had sex in the bathroom. "I'm kidding, Colton. What kind of bitch do you think I am?”"I don't think you're a bitch, you're single," he said in a very emphatic tone. I made an ugly face. "You have the right to be with whoever you want. I'm just saying that you should be a little more careful when messing with Mika's feelings. She doesn't know how to deal very well with your advances... He's smiling like a fool and running away from me, even when everyone should think we've been together for years.”I noticed his tone, but something told me that his annoyance was not just because Mikaela was running away. It was for the reasons why she ran away. Because he was also bothered by the ide
It was ridiculous to hear what she was saying, the types of plagues she was playing against her daughters. Suzane was the most dedicated, most loving, strongest person I had ever known in my entire life. She always dedicated herself to doing the best for everyone, even when she never received anything in return. She had even forged a fake marriage to try to convince her family that she had not failed in her personal life, when I always said that she never needed to prove anything, although it helped make her and Hunter get together. She had given that party, had them picked up, decorated the whole house to receive them, and even so, it was not enough.I didn't know if I felt angry with Mikaela or just pity. I've never had to deal with a less than loving mother. Not even my father "who proved to be a lunatic terrorist" was as cruel and terrible with the people of his blood as that woman. She seemed to have a sadistic pleasure in psychologically torturing her daughters. It was unaccepta
I wanted to wake up just to laugh. That woman really had to be a shrew if she was so blind that she didn't see that Mikaela was the most beautiful in the whole family. The girl literally had the face of an angel, but the mother could only demoralize her in front of the others. I just prayed that most of the guests had left, or that at least they were not there in the room in which they met, because it would be too shameful for Mikaela to deal with the mocking giggles of her relatives. I honestly don't know how Suzane didn't send that woman to hell. She deserved to be cursed, but no one did that."Mrs. Stewart," Colton began in a polite tone. I figured he might be smiling. " Mika is right. We don't need to rush anything, when we're already in love enough. Let's get married when the time comes. And we realized that today was not the best time for something like that. Even if Penelope didn't feel bad, we've all been stressed lately, and this wouldn't be the best scenario for the beginnin
I laughed, wanting to show how pathetic that whole situation was. When I suggested that Colton become the boyfriend Mikaela always lied he had, I just wish he could be a pretty face to convince Mikaela's family that she was not a lesbian. But apparently, like most of my plans, that had also gone wrong. But I also didn't notice that, when I laughed, that tenuous relationship between the coldness and the distance I was trying to keep from Penelope would become even more tense. She watched me with a slight narrowing of her eyes and I made my smile." Mika's family already suspects his... sexual interests," said Colton, striving to find delicious words. Mikaela watched him with slight contempt. He ignored it. "So they want us to get married as a tactic to drive you both away. They have already understood that I am just a spare part in this game. They can't convince themselves that Mikaela feels comfortable with me or that the relationship at a distance is the reason why we are so... indif
I never thought that discussing relationships were so terrible like that. I felt terrible. But, along with all the other ways I already felt terrible, one more dose of disappointment was the minimum. It didn't matter if I disappointed them with my unwillingness to make life go back to what it was. I would never come back. The biggest disappointment was that I didn't know what to do with myself anymore."I never got cold, Colton. I've always been "I spoke in a dark tone, forcing my lips to jerk off in an unfriendly smile. "The difference is that before I disguised it very well, but now I don't need it anymore. I don't need anyone else.”I would be lying if I said it had been easy to leave Mikaela and Colton judging me that way. I knew it wouldn't take long for Colton to follow me out. Because, despite anything he could have with Mikaela, he still highly valued what he had acquired with me.That's why I wasn't surprised to take a walk around Suzane's block and hide to spy, seeing a hurr
"People know that the terrorist's father is still alive, don't they? "I questioned with an eyebrow arch. The man nodded with indulgence. "So, shouldn't people know that there is another person more interested in continuing the family business, rather than a person totally oblivious to everything that was happening?”"Is it totally foreign? "He asked with a smile full of himself. I wanted to punch him. "I'm just saying... It is very strange that while all the media reported that one of the members of the Red Brotherhood was trying to destroy the organization, the terrorist's family remained neutral. Why didn't anyone make any statements? Why has no one ever said in which prison Jon Maxwell's true location would be?”I shrugged, trying to give a carefree image, but I wondered if that's not really what everyone expected me to do. That I told the whole world to hear that my mother and I had no idea where my father was. Because the police were careful not to announce to the press where they
And the Red Brotherhood grew by taking advantage of that weakness. They proved to be an easy and quick source of income for those who were cold-blooded. They gave the chance to those who would like to leave the streets to have food and shelter. But the price they charged was too high. The hatred they incited was too heavy. And my father was the one who gave rise to all this.That's why I didn't regret wishing for his years behind bars. He deserved, more than anyone, to pay for all that. And the worst part was knowing that even those who only allied themselves with that dark side of the force, would still have to pay with convictions for the crimes against other people's lives. Even if they hadn't done it for pleasure. They would still have to account to the government. And I knew they wouldn't be ruthless. The more time passed to make sure that the Brotherhood would never rise again, the more people's hatred increased.There were rare times when I forgot all that and looked up to appr
The nightclub was crowded that night.It wasn't difficult for that to happen, though. Everyone knew that that place was only filled with regulars by the numerous illicit activities that occurred between the parts illuminated only by the lights that flashed from time to time with colored kaleidoscopes. All the regulars ended their night with good debts in their pockets, enriching the owner of the place, who almost never mingled with those who used their establishment to hide their atrocities for money from the police and the rest of the world.That night, however, the owner of the establishment had left his room on the upper floor of the nightclub, and had taken the trouble to join two other men as arrogant and unnecessary in appearance as this first. All of them were being pampered by the women who worked at the nightclub, because the men allowed there were only the security guards and those who prepared the drinks.Women of all colors and ages walked back and forth in a few clothes.
"I would never sanctify my brother," I guaranteed in a cold tone, although I smiled. "I never told you exactly who Jonathan was, did I? “Osman shook his head, so I sighed. "Jonathan has always been very temperamental. Complicated to deal with. He never introduced us to girlfriends. At least, as far as I can remember. Then he came up dating Suzane Johnson, and at the time of dating, he was aggressive and abusive. He almost killed her, and when he couldn't, he made everyone go against her. The few who supported her made my father and brother pay. But those people had no idea that they ran an entire country. So, even when my brother was presumed dead, and even when my father lost his fortune, they continued to have power over each of us.”"We knew about Suzane Johnson," Osman confessed, watching the sun set on the horizon. "But we didn't know what she could have represented in Saltuk's life. As far as we understood, he was only connected to a woman from his past, and we all knew that he
"When that happens, and if it happens, I'll be ready "I spoke in a tone of triumph, opening a smile without showing my teeth. Aslan's hatred flashed in his eyes and he looked at me as if he were really looking into the eyes of a venomous snake. "You can come after me, because I will always be waiting for you or anyone from the Red Brotherhood. I don't need the police on my way, Aslan. I don't need to work for someone specific, I can take care of myself. I'm more than you think. I became something much bigger that night when you decided to take one of the best people in my life. That night, you determined that I would be your worst enemy. And here I am. I'm not a God. I'm not a ruler. I'm not a person who rose from the dead, as my brother claimed to be. I'm just the one who ended up with a Brotherhood that survived for decades. I am the one who goes after each one of you to condemn you. You will remember my name. You will know what I became that night. And when the day comes, you will
The little boy gave a wide smile, nodding with energy. I walked away from your house, feeling the looks of those poor and desperate people. Watching the children walking freely on dirty puddles and the countless elderly people who sneaked through the open doors of their wooden houses to see that group of foreigners marching away. An entire population that was hidden by the tyrants and dictators who thought they were the owners of their lives.At that moment I really understood my purpose to stay alive.The Red Brotherhood was like the barracks in which I was staying with the American army. The place was located in an open and isolated area, with no houses around, no factories or any impression that people could easily access. In fact, it was necessary for a small boat to travel through the waters of the river that crossed the city to reach that islet on which the barracks remained erected. While the boat in which Osman and I were cleared the waters of that river, with small droplets r
My brother got involved in it because of his thirst for revenge. He made Suzane and I get involved up to the neck in that whole story. I judged and condemned him for being part of a terrorist mafia. I never noticed that I did that to other people myself. And I had just repeated the story by dragging that family to the same bottom of the pit where I was. Not all the excuses in the world would be enough to explain what I was putting them in.“What does your necklace mean? "Asked the little boy named Can. I took a look down. Lately I only remembered the pendant when I imagined that the police would be aware of each of my steps by the little tracker they arrested there. I almost didn't remember that I got it exactly on the last night of Mikaela Johnson's life. I divated for so long that the little boy even thought I wouldn't answer anymore. "I don't want to sound uneducate. I thought you knew about altın yılan's tale.”"The tale of what? "I questioned in a low voice. The boy's father was
The little boy translated, and at this point one of the young people on the couch became more rigid, as if the mention of the police aroused some peculiar kind of interest among them. Perhaps the word in its translation was something that demonstrated authority, and not a specific position. And that they could be understanding that people of a very special and powerful nature could have taken me to their country. The chance for them to think that I could be something worse than the Brotherhood was very great. I took a deep breath to avoid stuttering when I needed to talk again. The little boy finished translating and was silent. It was the lady closest to the arm of the couch who said a few words to him."They want to know what our people need," said the little boy, so he interrupted, because his grandmother kept talking and pointing to the space on the roof. Would they really be so bothered just because I fell? I wonder if they didn't understand that for that, I would have to have a
"Do you think you can reach the next window? "Murmured Osman, his voice sounding no more than a warm breeze against the cold wind. I nodded, but I hesitated. “Great. Remember the training on the climbing wall. Imagine that you are still using the safety equipment. Imagine that there is a mattress down there, waiting for the moment when you will fall. Everything will be fine, Penelope. Just jump. I'll be here if something goes wrong. I promise to pull you.”“Miss Maxwell? "He called Aslan once again, with a note of laughter in his voice. He knocked on the door, with such a slow movement that I knew very well that he was having fun with the situation. Of course he loved that game. I had learned from my father and my brother. The only one who seemed less aware of how to play like that was myself. "I need to say that it doesn't matter where you are. We'll be there. Everyone in this city respects us. Everyone knows that the Brotherhood rewards its allies and torments its enemies. Even if y
"I had to learn everything again after my accident," I said in a low voice. "I had to learn to breathe, walk, talk, and move. So that must have been why the training with the police was better to do. I'm still learning, but the difference is huge. I really feel like a person prepared for any situation. From an extreme cold to an endless race. Even though I have to depend on the firecracker for almost everything, I'm still better than I was in basic activities. Not to mention that my reflexes are much better now. So he was right. It's easier to learn everything when you've forgotten how to do it. That must be why they considered my brother as a God. It was not because he came back from the dead, but because he reached a level of lethality that no one alive has achieved. But I did it. And I think that's exactly what they expected me to do.”"Perhaps, but in relation to the children and his brother, it's all true," Osman said, nodding absent-mindedly. He let out another heavy sigh. "Ther
The arrogance of the leader name of the Brotherhood would be his downfall. He never thought that the police would appear, even more so in large quantities. He never thought that a simple auction "which always took place on days of the week known to people" would cause the police to invade the place. Of course, it would not take long for his sources to inform him of what happened, but, by then, hopefully we would have released the kidnapped children. Aslan had no chance. And worst of all, he left his soldiers and friends, or brothers as they were called, alone. He didn't set up an escort outside to see if they would be okay. He didn't send people to watch the sales and make sure nothing went wrong. He left the people who trusted him the most without any protection. And the strangest thing about all this is that they still remained faithful to that rotten Brotherhood.The police easily surrendered the members of the Brotherhood in that hall, and managed to arrest all the rich who were w