“Do you realize how stupid you are?” Carlos greeted me harshly. I hadn’t expected anything softer but itstill hurt.And I deserved it.“I’m Sorry.” I saw Zain raise a brow. I’m sure he hadn’t expected me to give in this early but I’ve had along day. It was dark and I was very hungry.Carlos ignored me and turned to Zain. “Have you heard from Zade?” “Yes,” Zain replied eagerly. It guessed it was Zade he had been talking to on the phone. Zade… Zain…They were probably related. Maybe that was why I wasn’t so afraid of Zain. He didn’t seem anything like his brother though.“When will I see him?” Zain asked. I remembered the longing in his voice when he ended the call earlier.“That would be when I go through your doctor’s report and see how fine you are myself,” Carlos spoke.His hands remained in his pocket as he replied to Zain. It felt like he kept his hands there to refrain from doing something crazy.Doctor? Was Zain sick or something? It annoyed me a little that he
I stretched my hands forward and picked up the papers. There were like five sheets but one had the writings printed more boldly and it caught my eye.I read it first.“No,” I murmured.“You do not have a choice, Rayna. I told you, I’m going to own you in every way possible. If I need to remind you, I have your father's blessings. Now sign it.”“No.” I voiced more boldly.It was a marriage agreement.I wouldn’t marry like this, not to someone who offered me no respect. He pushed a pen into my hands.“Sign the fucking papers Rayna.”“No.” I just couldn’t.“How about for Bob, I’ll kill the fucking driver if you don’t sign it.”The man had lost a finger because of me, I couldn’t watch him lose his life too.I signed my name with shaky hands.“Take your bath and maybe I’ll be able to recognize you as something more than dirt. I’ll send food up, I’ll eat well if I were you because I’m going to have my wedding night.”As he got to the door, ready to leave, “I wanted to offer to shoot someone
“Are you camera shy?” He asked, making me wonder if he wanted to take a picture of me, or us.“Not really,” I said, looking around in the hope of seeing someone bring my food.“They should be done by now.” He said calmly.“Are they just preparing it? Why didn’t you ask for something ready?” I whined.“Be patient.”In a short while, Two men pushed a rolling table to us. I almost screamed finally.They arranged the food on the table in silence, I couldn’t help wriggling my fingers in anticipation. I reached for the spoon immediately they left only for Carlos to slap my fingers away.“I’ll feed you.”“I’m not a child.”“I’ll do whatever I like with you.” He leaned forward. “You don’t get to say no, Now, open your mouth.”I opened it reluctantly.Oh My God.It was awesome. Soft and delicious, melted in my mouth like butter. I could taste potatoes and some veggies.“Like it?” He asked.I could only nod. It was awesome. Worth the wait.Carlos fed me more spoons; I was already waiting with m
My heart didn’t stop ramming against my ribs as I sat on the bed waiting for it to get dark. I tried to tell myself I was not waiting for Carlos and that I hoped he never came. Lots of scenes had played in my head. In one, he fell from the stairs while coming up and broke his neck. That felt too brutal so I decided it would be better if he broke his legs.I didn’t know how long it usually takes for a full-grown man’s bone to heal after being broken but I began to doubt that one’s leg could break merely from falling down the stairs.I heard the car outside earlier so I pictured another scene in which something happened in his company, maybe a man’s hand got crushed while sharpening one precious stone. I had never been in a refinery or seen stone cutting but it sounded like it was not an easy job or maybe had lots of risk. Then Carlos would have to be a responsible boss and go check on his staff.But that scene had two errors. First, it would be very bad of me to which evil for someone
It was dark as I tried to move back to find the stairs, yet the clear picture of how he had held the lady was clear in my head. My hands found the railing and I gripped tight.Crazy as it sounds, I couldn’t help jealousy from springing up inside of me. I had no right to be jealous, I had no claim on the man.But I did. I was now his wife, right? Why should I be the one to run and hide? Why couldn’t he even come after me?“Rayna. Don’t move. We don’t want you getting injured, do we?” His voice was as dark as the night and stopped me in my tracks. “The lights would be back soon.And it did.I looked back to see the lady standing beside Carlos while they stood there looking at me. Grateful that I looked presentable at the least I stretched to my full height. Though I was not tall, the stairs gave me leverage.Unlike my thoughts, the lady’s front was quite covered. At least her boobs were, her stomach was in view but less than I had expected.“I’m Hailey.” She spoke, and she had a small n
I felt both hands cup my breast through my dress.“I know you wouldn’t dare forget that tonight belongs to me.” He whispered into my ears.It was at the tip of my tongue to remind him that he had been holding another woman not long ago, but tonight was mine too. I wanted my husband.He had done well in taking my mind off the fact that I would have been raped, sold, or any worse thing that my father and that evil woman had in mind for me. Even though I had tried to hide it, I knew I was scared.I was so scared and I needed his touch to chase that fear away. Only his touch could assure me I was in arms again. I was safe.I was wrong to think I would find safety only with Louis. Safety was here too. And tonight, I wanted to come under his touch.Carlos's surprise must have hit the roof when my hands went to his that were cupping my breasts and urged him to squeeze them.He obeyed only for a few seconds before he stopped.“You don’t tell me what to do with you.” His voice came out as a sn
Although the bed was cold beside me, a flurry blanket kept me warm. I didn’t have expectations for this morning but I hadn’t expected Carlos to disappear.After an hour of lazing on the bed, I got up and took a bath before going downstairs.Guess who was standing there to greet me?Not Carlos. Coco.But today instead of scolding or calling me ‘child’, she surprised me.“Good morning, Madam.” I could see her smile even as she said it.To her surprise, I ran to her and hugged her. It was nice seeing a familiar face. “Coco.”She could no longer hide her true feelings. “You disobedient child, why don’t you ever listen.”I understood that she was scared for me, I was scared for myself too.“Well, I’m glad you’re fine. And you now belong to us.” Her voice was Calm.“You think married women do not cause trouble?” I said defiantly.“Not for long? Very soon we would have babies.” She said happily.It was after I blushed that I remembered I could get pregnant. Carlos and I had used no form of
“What the fuck?” I felt my heart which had been hanging on my throat sink back to my chest and position itself behind my ribs. It was Carlos. I would recognize his voice anywhere.“Preparing to run already?” His voice was angry but I didn’t understand why. Maybe I was not awake.I still didn’t even understand when he pulled my hair. “What’s wrong?” His actions were forceful and my hair had begun to hurt.“Did you think I wouldn’t come back? Where did you plan to run to this time.” As he spoke he pulled my hair harder and I couldn’t stop myself from screaming.I tried to free myself from his hold by untangling his hands from my hair but his grip was strong.I succeeded when he got distracted when the door opened. Coco stood by the other side but didn’t come in as she saw Carlos inside.“I didn’t know you’re back, I heard her scream. What’s wrong?”I immediately understood even before he said it. It was the look in his eyes that gave it away.It was my hair, I looked different. If I cou
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