CARLOS“Stay with me, Rayna.” I shook her in my arms, but her eyes had closed, she felt lifeless in my arms. “Please.” I couldn’t recognize my voice in that plea.Coco dismissed everyone in seconds and grabbed my car keys. “You hold her, I’ll drive.” I wanted to ask if she was feeling better, but I couldn’t hold in the guilt. I only nodded; grateful she was here. I missed Zane and Zade.I wouldn’t deny that my heart skipped a bit when Coco started my favorite car. It was sleek, fast, and expensive but my main concern was if she could handle it. When the engine roared to life my heart skipped another beat. The feeling of Rayna weak and dying in my arms made me swallow the disapproval that had wedged its way into my throat.Surprisingly, she drove it perfectly. The engine seemed to love her, and even if there was a bit of tension on her face, I almost felt she loved driving it.I didn’t take her to the hospital Coco had gone to earlier, thankfully Doctor Cross was back in town so I took
RAYNAI might not have known when I was pregnant, but I knew now that my baby was gone, that I was empty.It felt like nothing was inside of me and only a hollow space where my heart had once been. I never thought myself to be the crying sort but I found myself breaking into tears, my chest racked with every deep sigh and sniff.“Rayna, you’re awake.” It was then I noticed Coco had been sitting by the window. She ran to me. “Are you hurt? Should I call the doctor? What’s wrong?” She bombarded me with questions, worry was boldly written all over her face.“My baby… my baby… where is my baby?” I whimpered. I was a bit glad Carlos wasn’t here, I needed to gather as much strength as possible before I saw him.“Oh child, your body couldn’t handle a baby yet, we needed you back and alive, the baby was killing you.”“No!” I screamed. I could feel myself going crazy. Her words sparked something inside of me. My baby would never kill me, I loved my baby. But a tiny voice inside my heart laughe
I was both happy and surprised, they looked so grown up, in that blue gown and cute boots. I hadn’t known I would be able to recognize her. I could see why we had easily assumed she was a kid, she had this very shy aura and she was quite short. Even shorter than I was, I would admit she was even more beautiful than I remembered. Standing there is flesh, with a mix of cotton and a touch of leather was Anna. It would seem so much time had passed because she looked a lot like a woman now, and she recognized me too, “You must keep it away from Carlos. Please.” Zane begged with pride in his voice as she came closer. “What makes you ever think Carlos and I stay up at night exchanging secrets?” I snorted with all the sarcasm I could muster. Anna came to stand beside Zane, looking so small beside him, I watched their hands link together. Something swelled in my chest…envy? When would I have such kind of love? I feel like I had passed the time in my life where I might have had a little ho
The room that used to be a mono color of brown and wine was now bright and colorful, the colors of the walls remained the same but everything else had changed, from the couch to the bedboard to the desk and every other furniture in the room, I could see almost every color, the couches where different shades of blue and the curtain that had once been wine was now beautiful shades of pink. The center rug was a design of furry rosed and was as beautiful in sight as it was beautiful to touch. I didn’t know who advised him to do this, but I loved it.He knelt beside me, “This is my promise to adjust as much as I can for you, I’m willing to change… for you Rayna.”“I love it,” I exclaimed. I could see how much my approval satisfied him.“This is your castle,” Anna added. She had come back home with us and I heard earlier that her presence should be hidden for a while, according to what I heard, she had to be 21 before she could claim her rights as her grandparent's heiress but several peopl
By now I had gotten used to how Carlos cleaned anything related to the underworld off my path. He changed their meeting points, those men in black never came to the building where I was, and the top floors were being modified into something else that was safe and boring. If by chance someone comes to the house, he never got in, Zade or Zane stays in the middle and passes on the message. The men were no longer allowed to bring girls in. My stay brought lots of changes. But when everyone began slowing their steps around me, glancing at me, and whispering over my head, I knew something was wrong. Although Carlos had promised to not hide things from me, I couldn’t put off the feeling that everyone was trying to hide something from me. When sleep refused to take me after an hour of lying on the bed, I sat up. Just in time, Zade came in. “Are you okay?” He asked, rushing to stay beside me. “I can’t sleep,” I answered, placing a pillow on my legs and bouncing my hands on it. “Wanna play
The sound of fired bullets only heralded a maddening silence. Zade and I had frozen with the sound in the air, our conversation abandoned even though I knew later the question would rise up again in my heart. Zade had moved into action mode and carried me into the room, “I’ll have to lock you in. It is not safe.” He said like he knew what was happening downstairs while I was once again in the dark. “Tell me what’s wrong?” I asked, I needed to know. “It’s nothing Carlos wouldn’t sort. Don’t bother yourself, you need rest.” He said again. Nevertheless, I could always ask what happened later, the least I could do was to stay out of the way and not cause trouble, especially with bullets flying around. But it was surprising no sounds followed the two gunshots we heard earlier. He tucked me into the bed and left, turning to give me one last look before closing the door. I heard the click that told me he had locked me in. I pulled my phone out of the drawer it had been since I was in t
In less than three hours, I was read. I decided to dress corporate like I was going to the office to work and not just to see my husband, the main reason was to attract as less possible as possible. Zade would rather I stayed at home and rested but Carlos had given the go-ahead so he had no choice. My husband called the shots. Coco ensured I had more than enough breakfast food, so I was feeling quite full and steady. Excitement bubbled through me as I made my way downstairs with Zade, we were both arguing about where I would sit. I wanted to sit beside him in front, but he was insisting I sat at the back and left him to play driver. The man was stubborn, so I stopped arguing, but just as we were about to enter the car, I made sure he had opened the car, I pulled a trick I had tucked in my sleeve all through our banter. “What happened to your shirt? There’s this oily stain at the back, did you run into something? Or fall into something?” I asked, looking all serious and innocent. Za
“I get to buy cake for all the staff too.” I smiled, expecting him to say I sit and wait instead of spending so much. I could guess that there would be at least a thousand staff in that building, instead, Zade smiled and stood up.“Time to spend Kavinsky’s money. I agree, it would help draw the staff to your side. I agree to your condition.” He said, relief evident in his voice, making me wonder why. Although I would have preferred to wait, baying cakes for everyone was also a win for me, and spending Carlos’ money was a way to punish him for backstabbing me.On our way to the Cake shop, I got to find out that there were approximately one thousand and four people employed at the office building but only seven hundred and fifty-two of them were available and present today.Let’s go spend some of my husband’s money.I could perceive the aroma of the cake and pastries even before we entered the place, I had decided to walk there because carrying a car would be unnecessary. It was a bit s
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