When night came, I took a bus that left me in front of my apartment and ran to take a shower and put what I still needed in my backpack. I evaluated the content; I put on a towel, an extra bikini in addition to which I was already wearing under the shorts and the cropped, and another change of clothes to change on the way back, in addition to a new and unprinted dress that I had bought just for the event.While I was finishing using the sunscreen, Julya sent me a message on WhatsApp telling me that they were already in front of my building, in which I was slightly confused, since she did not ask for my address before. I finished fixing my hair with some small cuddles, very aware that the strands smoothed by the flat iron would not behave at the slightest sign of water, I took the backpack and started to go down the ramps of the building."Look at that, the daisy! "Joseph said aloud, standing in front of the gate. "Ready to be watered, little flower?”"What about you? Ready to wet this
As she had moved enough to be on her side, Julya stretched her hand that wore the ring towards me, and intertwined our fingers while I also stretched my arm, in a gesture of solidarity. The palm of my hand was much colder than hers, and I thought that would be enough advantage to show that I would be nervous. I didn't look at Flynn, but I knew, from the silence that followed between him and Joseph, that they had both heard my words. I just wished that Joseph didn't have enough knowledge to identify when a person lied by his tone of voice, because he was right about his youtube course on body language. I suffered from serious linguistic and gestural addictions when I was lying.I rehearsed in front of the mirror each point that the technical expert in behavioral language reported to be a red light. Despite being a tool that would guide people to prevent them from getting into trouble, having such easy access to information allowed people like me to learn how to avoid certain gestures a
When he grimaceed again for the glass, I grumbled that I was already wanting to taste the drink to see if it was really as bad as it seemed, in what he offered me with an unencouraging expression. I tried it. My stomach burned for the strong taste. The impression was that the coffee only had water to deceive, because the taste was pure powder. And he was very sweet, in Flynn's attempt to make him less strong, when the issue would be easily resolved with a little more water. I avoided making a face of disgust, because the attendants were very close, but my silence was enough for Flynn."Re-explain to me your reasons for wanting to eat so much" I asked in a tone of supplication, bending the body that burned by the bitterness of the coffee."You, somehow I still can't explain, awakens a protective instinct to me," said Flynn, with the corners of his lips rising when he saw that I was also disappointed to have tasted your coffee. "In our first meeting, I suspected that the feeling was bec
When we got to the pier, we immediately boarded Flynn's large black and white speedboat, whose control was that of a smiling man who wore a cap. Flynn helped me board, because even if I just needed to stretch my leg, every time I looked down and realized that the sea moved the boat very slightly, my vision betrayed me. In this way, Flynn practically lifted me up in the air and put me on deck, from where I didn't leave until everyone boarded.Julya and Joseph were excited about the idea of a ride on the boat, but I confess that I started to rethink if I really liked it. Because when the vessel was turned on and the waves around it became foam, it broke in soft bumps. That left my stomach turning already in those early moments of the trip, and I had to hold on to the steel sidebars to avoid falling from the sudden vertigo.Flynn asked if anyone would like to get to know the whole vessel, considering that it would take at least forty minutes for us to get to his island. I was the only on
I recovered my senses in a startle, terrified that I had let myself be unconscious twice in the presence of strangers. I was in a bed, whose mattress was firm and did not sink due to weight. I rushed to get up, moving so fast that the dizziness assaulted me once again. I got into bed with a deaf thud, and heard some steps approaching, followed by a murmured conversation. I opened my eyes again and turned my head to look, Flynn and Julya were approaching."Do you have labyrinthitis? "He asked.I nodded my head, taking care not to move too much so as not to lose my sight once again. Julya made a sound of understanding, and then the bed swayed softly in the movement of someone climbing the mattress, and for a moment I thought it was her, until my eyes focused again and I found Flynn's bright green eyes watching me with a glow of guilt in my eyes. He was sitting next to me, leaning over so he could check my face."I'm fine," I said, feeling my tongue rough. At least I could be proud of no
Flynn took a look over his shoulder, spying to see if Joseph and Julya were far enough away not to listen to him."Do you think I'm sounding very inconvenient? Regarding you, I mean. You said you wouldn't want everyone to realize that we had some kind of relationship..., but it seems that Julya and Joseph have already noticed.”"No, of course not. We are trying to get to know each other, Flynn "I said, still smiling. "If anyone noticed, it was in the smallest details, because we didn't really show anything.”"It's just that I have the impression that I become an immature teenager in front of you. Does that make sense? "He asked in a mocking tone, so I giggled. "It's serious. I think I'm so impressed that you don't take into account the name I have, that I don't know how to conquer someone the old-fashioned way.”"Do women usually approach you for money? "I asked with an arch of eyebrows."Yes, unfortunately," he said in a whistle. " But you, despite working so hard, still look like so
When the vegetation became more spaced and the area began to give way to the land covered by a failed lawn, little by little a house was rising. It wasn't a mansion, but it was very close. It looked like a bungalow of a lost prince, or Tarzan's residence after earning a good fortune. The whole house was made of a shade of dark wood, which made it look like the dry leaves, whose roof slid down as if in an illusion that it was falling. If it were to count for each window, it would be easy to deduce that there would be at least ten rooms on that side, there should still be much more on the other. I realized that I was not the only one to show that I was perplexed, because Joseph and Julya even gasted, stunned.Flynn opened the residence by touching the digital clock on the door, and pushed it lightly after a soft click. He came in first, and thanks to the sounds of admiration of Joseph and Julya, he got distracted long enough not to notice that I was looking at his watch and trying to th
The dress I bought to wear on the occasion of the get-together party made me eight hundred reais poorer, but it was of such a perfect and luxurious fit, that it made the burst on my credit card worth it.The long and vivid red fabric was silky, so that it slid across the body clinging to all the curves, favoring those points where I was a little straighter; the skirt shaped my hips and made them round. A neckline slipped between my breasts up to an inch over my navel, forcing me to wear small stickers instead of a bra, because the back also had an opening until it almost reached the base of my spine. The flashy and lively tone of red made my skin look golden, highlighting the black color in an almost poetic way. The handles were very thin, and easily hid under my hair that thanks to the straightening fell into thin strands "although still curly" up to half of my forearm.The skirt of the dress did not touch the floor, since I had chosen to wear a high heel of the same shade of red, an
I almost no longer needed to use the tracker I had installed on Flynn's cell phone at the beginning of everything. I only used it because I still couldn't stop that mistrust when I noticed that he spent too much time working. But the conversations were always the same with the customers. And I didn't suspect that he was going out with other people, because there was no time when we weren't together. Still, I couldn't totally trust him. There were days when I didn't sleep. Not until I was really alone at home.My sleep problems remained the same. Always caused by that fear of being vulnerable next to someone else, and also by the constant nightmares about the murders I've been orchestrating with the help of someone else. I never told my therapist the truth. I never let him reach more than the edge of my feelings. At the same time I was policing myself to act and speak the way everyone expected Tasha Santos to do, although deep down there was that rabid animal that was always ready to a
"Can you behave like educated children? "He scolded my sister, pulling one of my nephews by the ear. "That's why I never go out with you!”" Jenyfer, it doesn't have to be so hard," countered my brother-in-law, reaching the smaller child who wouldn't stop climbing on the couch and throwing the cushions up. "They are too small to understand. And I'm sure your sister doesn't mind them playing, does Tasha?”"They will understand very well when their aunt put them on platters and bake for our lunch," shouted Jenyfer, looking with her eyes for any confirmation that I would be really furious.I left the platter with pasta in white sauce on the table and stretched my neck to see through the open door of the kitchen, finding my brother-in-law with my three-year-old nephew on his lap who kicked and shook his golden curl hair, in a desperate attempt to get back to mess up everything he found on his way. While my sister held her eldest son, ten years old, by the tip of her ear. It should be hurt
I still hid many secrets from Flynn. The biggest of them was also a surprise that left me in shock for at least three days, until I remembered that I needed to act normally so that he had no idea what was happening to my body, until I found the perfect opportunity to use this against him. At the moment, we were fine. We had sex every day. We ate in fancy places. We slept in the moonlight. And sometimes we resumed the sexual provocations and attacks within the company.Everything seemed very good in my life. So good that sometimes I even wondered where the hidden cameras of the prank were. Because trying to compare the woman of months ago who barely had time to eat and sleep because of the two jobs that they couldn't even pay the bills, and trying to find similarities with the woman who was having the life of dreams, was impossible. I still worked during the day and dedicated myself to writing in my free moments, wanting to reach higher and higher levels in that achievement, and willin
I knelt before the well-kept and immaculate tomb of one of the farthest cemeteries in the city, depositing my set of small yellow flowers below the concrete tombstone, which read "Diana Garcia. 08/23/1991. 12/24/2020."Despite bringing a handkerchief in my hands and touching it from time to time in the waterline of my eyes, I wasn't crying. In fact, the only emotion I felt was the pure satisfaction of having accomplished all my goals without anyone realizing where I was wanting to go. Diana Garcia had been the woman who gave the bad luck to cross her path to mine, when she decided to mistreat me and demoralize in front of her ex-husband, and my current fiancé, Flynn Ashton. I persuaded an unstable and deeply shaken man to take his life. I manipulated and orchestrated every step taken, and I still became some kind of national victim who was too traumatized to give clear statements to the police. Diana Garcia was my perfect victim, and Landon the criminal who freed me from paying for an
"What's going to happen now? "I asked against your chest. "What do we do with life? With the police? The investigator was here earlier. He asked me about my relationship with Leo, the man who held me hostage at the end of the robbery. In the researcher's opinion, I seemed to be too friendly with someone who always presented unstable behaviors.”"I knew," he said, leaning his chin on my head. "They want to discredit us in every way, Tas. But you don't have to worry. I have a real team of lawyers. No one will get enough arguments to cause fear. They have nothing to suspect, at the end of the day. The point is that it is much more interesting to focus on the relationships we had with the people involved in the crime, than to actually solve it. That's the problem with the police in this place.”"I'm still afraid, Flynn. "I commented in a trembling voice. "I'm still afraid that they might catch me off guard and make me confess something I didn't even do. I've never been in front of police
"I don't feel vulnerable," I said, already feeling in which direction that conversation would take. I had to show that I was very stubborn and the owner of my own will. "And I think this whole situation may have made you a little paranoid, Flynn. I'm not criticizing. I think anyone in their normal state would become a little suspicious. But if you're suggesting that I need security guards, I refuse. I can’t work every day knowing that when I leave the supermarket I will get into a car with two armed men and that they will leave me at home, or that they will take me to your house, because you no longer trust the people who live in my building, and that’s why you prefer to avoid it. I don't want bodyguards, just like you don't want to either. And I don't think that being with you will make me a target. I think this can even increase my security, since no one will want to mess with someone so powerful.”"I know the question is strange to you," he said, still without looking me in the eye
Flynn totally entered the room, and seeing him was like opening the curtains in a dark room. He was my sun on that rainy night outside, and I was really happy to see him. The hair was loose on his shoulders, and the smooth and silky strands slipped smoothly to make the face even more beautiful and shiny. He took off his mask and kept it in his pocket, while still watching me, looking as happy and radiant as I should be."The nurse told us that the number of visits was limited," Cristiano said somewhere far from my attention. "I don't think she'll be happy to see so many people in here. Tasha just went through a traumatic situation. She needs rest. You can't keep getting so many people in the room like that.”"You're right," said Flynn, looking away for a quick moment to observe Cristiano. "You can leave now. I've arrived.”"I'm not going out," Cristiano said with a dull giggle. "I arrived first.”"Oh, for God's sake! "Beatrice grunted, rising from a jump. She pulled Cristiano violentl
"Look, Cris... I really like you. I really loved you more than anything in this life. But you're not the guy I can call when the situation gets tight, you know? "I said, performing a mouth-in-mouth. "You're the guy who amuses me, makes me laugh, but that's all. All you do besides that is hurt me. And I know you may be being sincere in saying that you really realized that we were born for each other and that we should continue together, but now, after all, you no longer fit into my life, Cris.”"No, Tas. You don't have to say anything. "He interrupted, pretending that I hadn't really said anything. "I understand that you are already with someone else. And I don't want this guy to suffer, thinking that you'll be able to love him as you love me. I know you can't love anyone the same way you loved me, and I think he'll need some time to understand that. But I don't want to force anything. I don't want you to tell him out of nowhere that you don't want to see him anymore. We can make it wo
Beatrice snorted, but went to sit in one of the chairs, watching Cristiano like an eagle watching the chicks in her nest."What do you need to know? "He asked."How did the police arrive so fast? "I asked Beatrice, disappointing Cristiano's expectations. "How did they know what was happening in the supermarket, if the employees were surrendered before they had time to call them?”"The police had been following Flynn since the first crime," she replied, undoing the angry expression. "They considered him a suspect, yes, but the point was that they believed that the bandits would not leave Flynn alive to tell the story of what had happened. And, being a billionaire man in the middle of Brazil, they took on the role of following his every step to know if they would not meet the bandits at some point. And the moment came when Flynn came to pick you up that night. They were waiting across the street, in plainclothes, when they noticed that masked men entered the establishment. All we really