“If you ever had to choose between Louis and me, who would you go with?”“Choose as in?”“Let’s say you wouldn’t be able to see the other person ever again”That wasn’t even something I had to think about.“If not for Louis you would have sent my body to my dad and he would have fed it to vultures.”The words came out laced with hurt. I had forgotten about that and he just had to bring it back.I sat up, ignoring the pain in my stomach, and removed his hands from me. “I’d choose Louis over and over again.”He said nothing. Just stood up from my bed and left my room.That was the end of any situation ship between Carlos and me.One evening we had visitors. Some guys who worked for the Dos Santos.They brought bad news.One of their hideouts and been attached and five men were killed.Louis looked like he wanted to explode, and Juan looked like he wanted to cry. Only Carlos seemed calm.“Did you drop a message?”The guys looked at Carlos, surprised. “Yes, they did”The one named Jose op
Carlos came home a few minutes before midnight, his shirt was soaked red with blood.I was surprised to see he could still walk upright; I ran to him.“What happened? Where do you hurt, where you shot, knifed?” I was trying not to touch him but I wanted to help. I was very infuriated when he stretched lazily and gave an amused smile.“It’s not my blood”Oh, why was I even worried about him? Not like I cared anyway. I dropped my hands to my sides, it felt awkward so I folded them under my breasts.Carlos didn’t change his bloody clothes.When Louis got back, we did our progress check.Carlos’s day had been very eventful, he had discovered where Doom’s precious daughter was hiding and we were going to keep an eye on her in case Doom moved mad.The girls had been successfully dispersed. Now the battleground seemed fair.Juan had checked out Doom’s main source of money. It was right under our nose and we didn’t even know.On the streets that were claimed by Dos Santos, Doom had been using
I got to the car and moved immediately.I had noticed a little traffic jam earlier so I decided to take another route, it was a longer one but I would be able to speed up.I stepped up the gas.Frustration hit me when I saw a slow sign down ahead I slowed down even before I got to it, I almost didn’t notice the big truck coming at me.It didn’t horn or do anything to hide its intentions. I was about to be murdered.I hit the brakes immediately.Fear gripped my hands and then began to shake, I tried taking a U-turn but it would be of no use. There would be no surviving that.Sweat broke out on my forehead. Never have I felt death so close. I couldn’t die like this.There were so many things I needed to do. Carlos was waiting for me. Everyone was waiting for me. This cannot be my end. NOOOO.Then all of a sudden, another truck horned behind me.I almost accepted today would be my last day. Whosoever wanted me dead had planned it thoroughly.I wondered what to say as my last prayer.I c
I offered to go to wherever Anna was to protect her, I might not be the best in fighting but I knew how to defend myself but Carlos strongly objected but everyone else thought it was a good idea.“No, it won’t, we would be putting both women in one basket, Doom gets one, and he gets both”“But I do nothing here, I would go crazy if I didn’t do anything.” I was almost screaming, why wouldn’t let me breathe? He fills me with sexual frustration, he is never nice to me, he expects my absolute trust, and doesn’t want me out of his sight. Why doesn’t he understand he had no claim on me?Carlos seemed to have a very important card because everyone eventually sided with him.On day 5, Jose taught me how to play cards and the rules of gambling.I was quite good already. One of my past bodyguards was good at it. Miguel was very handsome and I tried hard to mess with him, but he never even kissed me. He said I was twitchy because I had nothing to do so he taught me how to play cards. He once pro
He did.“You’ve been avoiding me, you teased me and dropped me, you’ve stalled sex with me. Why now?”How dare Carlos call me a tease. I’ve given him all I could. I am playing my last card; couldn’t he see my desperation?The fucker’s hands were still on my boobs. I threw them away and tried to adjust my clothes.Something flashed in his eyes and he drew me close that there was no space between our bodies. My boobs were kissing his chest and we were looking eye to eye.He looked mad, angry. His breath came out harshly and his voice came out cold. His hands went around my neck.“You would keep still and wait for me. When the time finally comes, we would have all the time in the world to do all the shit and games we want. For now, you will keep calm.”He arranged my gown and tied it behind me.His hard demeanor lessened a bit. “For Anna”That was enough to calm me. “For Anna”Someone was called to do my makeup and style my hair. I felt very conscious because Carlos sat and watched me.W
The attention sent a rush into my body. The auction continued but I could still feel eyes on me. Zade helped me calm down.I began to like the attention, I flipped my hair, I smiled, and I sipped my drinks slowly.Zade gave me a small smile, “Nice move, but let’s not attract the wrong people”“Spoilsport”Finally, the auction ended and the next half hour was for dancing. A very handsome but eerie-looking man walked up to me.Zade whispered something into my ears and left me alone, “Doom”“Hello beautiful, you look stunning in that dress.” For some reason, I wasn’t afraid of him like I thought I would. He looked nothing like I thought he would.He looked like he was in his late 50s. most of his hair was grey, it gave him a look people spent a fortune to get. But what made me at ease was his smile. I didn’t know evil people smiled too.“What can I say? Red suits me well. You look dashing yourself”“Looks like Tuxes are my thing” He was wearing a very expensive Tuxedo.“Very much”“My na
Luckily, Miguel didn’t act like he knew me, that was the only relief I had. I knew I was going to lose.And I lost.At least it didn’t lose as woefully as I thought I might. I held my ground long enough, or it could just be him taking it easy on me.Miguel kept his eyes on me, he was probably trying to figure out what I was doing here. I tried not to meet his eyes as I wondered what he had been up to. It’s been close to four years since we saw each other, he no longer worked for my dad.I wondered what would happen now that I didn’t win. I wondered what would have happened if I had won.I didn’t bother to fight it or blame myself. I couldn’t have won Miguel even if I had been playing cards since I was born.We ended the game; Dante didn’t take the money Miguel had won from me.“C’mon, we all play for fun.” He laughed too loudly, it seemed like he had resprayed whatever gave him that choking smell because it was really strong in the air.“How about we all have a drink”He didn’t ask wh
Cat got your tongue?” He had a very loud not so funny laugh. I didn’t have the heart to mind him, all I did was focus on breathing. I was sure only one faith awaited me if I ever fell into my father’s hands. He would sell me in a heartbeat. He would sell me some strong enough to be useful to him, someone strong and evil enough that I wouldn’t dare run away.I wanted to fold myself in a corner.Where’s Louis? Where’s Carlos? I wouldn’t forgive them if something happened to me.But thinking about Anna, Dante wouldn’t be so mad if he had gotten his hands on Anna. Meaning things were still going well. There was hope.“Looks like I’ve gotten myself a name for killing families, who would have guessed the two Dos Santos boys would die by my hands too.”My eyes were blindfolded so my ears were quite sensitive.I got two things from that statement. One, Dante didn’t know a thing about Carlos, he thought the Dos Santos were only two. Two, and quite hurtful, Dante killed the Dos Santos parents.
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