I stared up at him, unable to come up with any lies or cover-ups.“Uhm. I came to see you. I haven’t seen you in a while.” I thought that would distract him for a minute or change the topic.“You have been avoiding me, now you want to see me. Why do I not believe you, I don’t believe I could hide myself between pages just to avoid you.”I didn’t come up with any reply, I couldn’t. All I could see was how good he looked. It seemed like he had recently taken a bath as his hair was still wet. It made him look sexy. I swallowed.It’s been a long time since I saw him up close. His good looks discarded me and I decided to be honest, partially,“I didn’t know you read.”“Oh, I can read, I can write as well.” Carlos cracked.I blinked and blinked again. “That wasn’t a joke, was it?”He looked away. “Not anymore.”“I couldn’t believe you just attempted to crack a joke.” I had to laugh at his attempt.Then both of us went silent. The silence was a bit awkward, Carlos and I had never attempted t
Louis wasn’t allowed to do anything other than eat, sleep, and walk around. I made sure not to leave his side. Juan automatically stopped being the world's best brother, he didn’t even show the newly acquired tattoo. What was it with the brothers not being able to tell each other how much they loved each other?Carlos came to see Louis often but all they did was talk. I couldn’t help but wonder what both of them were talking about so seriously.My relationship with Carlos went back to being restrained due to how we ended things, more like, didn’t end things. I just couldn’t finish sex with him when Louis was downstairs, finally awake. I knew it was just an excuse still, I wasn’t ready for sex. I wondered what I would have done if God hadn’t given me a way out.It confused me. I loved being touched, I loved Carlos’s touch but I just didn’t have the strength to embrace sex itself. The whole thing was confusing and Carlos was paying for it.We went back to being a big family. Louis and I
I didn’t see that coming. I was quite fond of Louis but I knew deep down that I couldn’t marry him. Even though I was attracted to Carlos physically, I wouldn’t marry him either. Marriage and sex stood side by side for me, both scared the shit out of me.I wondered how to get out of this without breaking Louis's heart. I understood his point and knew he might be happier than a simple man but I wasn’t the woman for him. He needed someone who could handle her mess.“We could have a new life here. It would be good for both of us.” Louis continued. The only hard thing about Louis is his body, he tries to hide it but has a very soft heart.“I think staying here would be good for me too, but I’m not sure about marrying you, Louis.” I love him too much to tease him, I would be honest. “A new life would be nice here, but I can’t marry you, Louis.”“I know you care about me.”“I do, but that’s not enough to build marriage on.”He looked at me sadly. “Is this because of Carlos? Is something go
I hadn’t expected his call. The possessiveness in his voice caught me off guard.“I’m in Texas?”“Why the hell are you in Texas when you should be at home.”“I’m here with Louis.” Silence filled the air after I said that.After a full minute, I heard him again.“Is this it? You chose him?”I wasn’t choosing anyone. I chose me. So I said the only thing I thought he would understand.“Yes, Yes, I chose Louis.”The sound of the line cutting was my reply. I’ll stay here in Texas and attempt to live a simple life, maybe then, I’ll be truly happy.When I opened my eyes again it was fully morning. The window was opened and the sun had invaded the room. Maria was nowhere to be found but the smell of freshly baked bacon told me she would be in the kitchen.I brushed my teeth and made my way to the kitchen.Maria's eyes were twinkling and she looked so happy as she went about the kitchen doing her thing. Did that kind of joy come from doing something one liked?“Come here, Rayna.”I went to her
I didn’t understand that. He couldn’t just disappear, could he?At first, I feared that it could be a kidnap but when I got to his room, I knew the man had walked out of our lives as mysteriously as he came in.His books were gone, and so were the sketches. His clothes were left behind. He only took the things he valued.It hurt that he didn’t even say goodbye.I wondered if he would have said goodbye if I hadn’t gone to Texas, or if he had even left at all.Maybe It was an emergency, he was needed somewhere and he had no choice but to go there immediately. It could be a family issue. He would come back.Yet I knew he wouldn’t. Carlos wasn’t the man we thought he was. He was much more.The air was still tense over Carlos's disappearance when Louis decided to tell Juan of his decision to leave Mexico City.I have never seen the brother argue so violently.I was sent upstairs as they hurled Spanish at each other. I couldn’t hear them clearly but Juan was very much against his brother l
The room was so dark I couldn’t see a thing. I couldn’t tell if it was morning or night. My head was heavy and I couldn’t lift myself. I tried to rest a little before I tried again but I didn’t know when I slipped unconscious.When I woke up again it was morning, how did I know? Everywhere was bright. I felt better. I tried my legs, they felt solid, and no longer wobbly. As my legs touched the floor, I felt uneasy. The floor was solid yet didn’t feel like the ground. I looked around, its walls were white and the windows were small. Something didn’t seem right.I attempted to open the door but it was locked. I went to the window, if I looked around, I would probably find out where I was. At first, I didn’t understand what I saw. I saw a world of ice cream and cotton candy of colors blue and white. I looked down. I didn’t understand at first.Oh my.I was on a plane.I screamed.A woman opened the door to my cry.She was plump and beautiful and had round cheeks.“Believe me, I’d scream
When I woke up the next morning, Coco was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a girl. Her name was Vic and she tended to the gardens.It seemed like there was someone for each duty in this place.There was something I was curious about. “Who is the Master of this place?”Vic first gave me an alarmed look, but when she remembered there was no one around, she talked.“I’ve been working here for less than a year and I’ve never met him, but Lucy says he’s handsome and powerful. Every one of us here owes him our life. Like you.”“Me, I don’t owe him anything.” How could I owe someone I’ve never met?“Then why are you here, aren’t you here to work?”She had assumed I was here to work like her. I didn’t even know if I was or not.I need an explanation.The girl named Lucy came in with a scowl on her face.“Is this the new girl?”“Yes, Coco brought her here yesterday,” Vic replied timidly. Lucy seemed like a bully.“When did Coco start bringing new girls? Anyways, get dressed, there’s no
It couldn’t be Carlos.But it could be.He had appeared from nowhere and disappeared without a trace.Why had he come to Mexico? It made no sense. It couldn’t be him.I looked around and realized I had been pacing around and was now heading to a place that was unfamiliar to my eyes.I knew I should have returned but I decided to be careful and keep moving. I got to the stairs at the other end. I climbed up.Now, this place was very different from the lower floor. It was beautiful and classy.There were portraits here too but only of animals and landscapes. These had a little bit of color and not white and black like the lower floor.I saw an opened door, and through the hole, I could tell it was a library. I could even smell the woody scent of hardcovers through the door. I found myself moving towards the door but the sound of voices coming from within stopped me.I could recognize that voice anywhere. It sounded more powerful, stronger, angry, and controlled.Hell, it was Carlos.
EpilogueRAYNAI smoothened my hands over my off-white dress. It had been a long and dramatic year but even through it all, this day had come.My wedding day.Because I was married once, I couldn’t wear a white gown so I decided to stay put with off-white instead of baby pink. I still wanted to feel like a bride.Planning for the wedding had been fun but I didn’t like how I didn’t get to see much of my new husband.Juan came in the door with a small smile on his face, he’s been smiling more lately, Surprisingly he was also good friends with the couple. Anna and Zane.They both had moved out after everything settled and were now staying in their own home. We tried convincing Anna to have an official wedding but she insisted the one she had was enough. She was married and satisfied.“You look pretty.” He said tentatively. I raised my brows at him, it was almost the first compliment I’d heard from him.“I just wanted to do this one more time.” He breathed, “Are you sure about this?”I sm
CARLOSIt would have been insensitive for me to ask Zane to check the car for the remains of his brother’s body so I managed to do it myself.Even as we raced down as we heard the explosion, there was nothing we could do other than to watch the car burn into crisps, they would have been dead even before we got there.We had to wait for the fire to be completely put out while Rayna was taken to the hospital, She had been given excess sleeping pills but they had been too strong for her body, and we could do nothing other than wait for her to sleep it off, it was torture watching her look so lifeless.Louis and Juan didn’t leave her side all day, I knew they would insist on taking her back to Mexico as soon as she was unconscious but at this point, I knew I would just have to live with whatever choice she made.Zade had disappeared as soon as Rayna was settled in the hospital, both of us were hesitant to return to the side, not ready to see or collect the bodies. Zade might not show his
CARLOS“None of your business, where is my money?” He barked.We stood approximately 10 feet apart. I tried to look at Coco who was behind him, she looked okay, not bruised or injured, but I had learned that wounds were beyond the physical, they were mental and emotional bruises too.I raised my hands to signal for Zade to come out of the car with the briefcase, which he did. I had a trick waiting for him in it.Zade came forth and handed the money to him, while he tried to open the box, Zade brought Coco over to us, Monday didn’t even try to stop him because he had sighted the many that had been neatly arranged in up the box, little did he know that there was a surprise awaiting him if he searched a little further.“Are you okay?” I asked, holding her face up and searching for any form of wound on her skin.Her lashes were already wet with tears as more threatened to escape. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect her. I told her to stay, but now he’d taken her away.”Even at this m
CARLOSMiguel Sinclair“He used to work for me, He was a big man, skilled, good with guns, knives, anything, I used to wonder where he came from but I appreciated his skills. That was why I put him to guard my daughter, she had just clocked 16, I couldn’t keep her locked in forever, she wanted to go out to make friends, so I needed someone to watch over her. He wasn’t the first I put to guard her but she hated it, she had hated them all before she met him. I could tell she liked him. It was fine with me, she was a kid, and this infatuation would die before long, but I began to feel wary when I noticed it wasn’t one-sided. It wasn’t her at all. It was him. He was obsessed with her.” He covered his face with both hands. I could feel his pain, the guilt, that It was all his fault, he brought Miguel into her life. I placed a hand on his shoulder because I knew he wasn’t alone, I had my share of faults too.“Now isn’t the time to point fingers and blame, we need to find him.” My voice came
CARLOSReinforcement wasn’t here yet, but calls had been made and strings had been pulled. I held the list of every active member of the cub for the past few years, I had gone through it twice but there was no familiar name or word, there was nothing fishy about the organization I had to admire whosoever was in charge, he did a very good job, he did well to pay necessary taxes and maintained order.The gambling club might rid people of their wealth, but it didn’t try to rob the government. If anything happened and they were taken to court, there would be nothing to use against them.I was getting frustrated, it was almost dawn, and all the leads we had led to dead ends. Blueblood was doing his best but no result seemed to be showing forth.“I’ll go through the names again, you should eat.” Zade took the papers from me, and I let him take them, I had gone through them over and over, and I could almost recite the names offhand, I stood up to brew myself a cup of coffee. Sleep wasn’t an
RAYNAMonday came in with a smug smile on his face.“I’ve decided to treat you well since I’m getting a huge sum of money after this, it wouldn’t have been possible without you.” For some reason, I had the feeling he was talking to Coco and not me, which was strange considering he had both of us.“I’m about to get dinner, What would you like to eat?” He finished.Just to test my assumption, I spoke fast. “I would like a sandwich.” It was a safe choice, sandwiches were sealed in their pack, and I wouldn’t eat them if the seal was broken.“I wasn’t talking to you.” He shot back without even looking at me, his eyes were all for Coco.I remembered when he had said earlier that one of us was for exchange, I knew at that moment that he had no plans of sending me back, no matter how this turned out. But why?“We would both like a sandwich,” Coco said, I could tell the attention he was giving her was freaking her out.He smiled at her, “If you insist.” He turned and left smiling.“Something i
CARLOSIt’s been six hours and there were no traces of Coco and Rayna’s whereabouts. It was an easy guess that this was Monday in action but he was yet to contact me, and it was not an exaggeration that I was freaking out.Monday was normally dumb but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was up to something this time around. I had expected him to give up on the whole inheritance thing a long time ago. Ordinarily, the guy lacked tenacity, but when he kept coming back, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone was behind him. He was getting advice and help from someone and the fact that the person was yet to show face meant there was more to come.I hated not knowing what I was dealing with, especially now that the two most important women in my life were in their care.It was also unnerving that both of them had been taken, they could have taken one and left the other, but no. he took both of them.I had a sick feeling that I could have to make a choice, that I might be able to
Monday, I collected the keys from Coco and switched seats with her while I was held down and taped in the mouth by a man I didn’t recognize.They tied both mine and Coco’s hands after collecting our phones. Coco’s mouth was left free while mine was taped.Where was he taking us? I looked at Coco, but she was still and calm, she probably trusted Carlos to come to save her, but he didn’t even know where we were. They might have not even gotten home yet.“You might be wondering why or where I’m taking you. Where I’m taking you doesn’t matter, but what matters is why I am taking you.” Monday began rattling, very dumb man. I could guess what he wanted.“I intend to make an exchange—a woman for a woman. Kavinsky gets to take one of you if he gives me Anna, I haven’t decided what to do with the second person but I’m first excited about who Carlos is going to choose. His wife or his mother.“I’m not his mother,” Coco said quietly. It was the first thing she said since the ride began.“You’re
There was no serious talk after that, we drove, we sang, we laughed, but most importantly, I called her mother, and she called me daughter.The birthday we delivered cookies for was for a very beautiful 6-year-old. Her mother seemed very nice and invited us to the party, Coco was sad she had brought no presents, but we stayed, nevertheless.It was the evening before left.The house was quiet when we got home, I didn’t see Carlos, but I couldn’t help but wonder where he was, he didn’t text me all day neither I he.“Rayna?” Coco called.“Yes?”“Can you spend the night in my room? Just tonight?” She asked in a small voice. I had been hoping to talk to Carlos tonight, but it would have to wait.“Sure.”We ate the cookie we had kept aside for Carlos together and talked. Coco had a big heart, but as much happiness she had in her, there was so much pain too and she had no one to tell.“Are you still in love with him?” I asked later that night, I wondered how she must have coped all these yea