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.
I just wished I could watch how everything went down. Too bad.Noises of gunshots filled the air along with glasses smashing and wood breaking. It went on for like twenty minutes, then there was silence. Then voices but I couldn’t make out who they belonged to or what was being said.Was I so bad at untying knots or the idiot that did this was very good? I pulled at the rope frantically, I’d given up on untying it, maybe if I could pull my hands out or just one hand, I could move with the second hand. I pulled until it felt like my wrist would disconnect from my hands. The pain made me stop.I took a deep breath and tried again. This time I didn’t stop, finally I felt my left foot, although it hurt like hell.I looked around for a weapon that could be useful. I found nothing, I moved slowly towards the door, no one was in sight but I saw a gun on the floor not too far off, I prayed it was loaded.Just as I wanted to place my hands on the gun a leg came and kicked it away. It was one o
“You see, I’ve hated that boy, especially for a very long time. His parents were so annoying. Especially his mom. Let me tell you a secret.” He moved closer to me and whispered. “His mom was my therapist.”Dante leaned back again and gave his hideous shriek he called laughter.“She tried to help you and you killed her.” It annoyed me how sick he was.“Only because that kid kept coming in the way,” He pointed at Louis angrily. “It was more annoying to see how she adored him.”“Is that reason enough to kill them?” I was hurt, mad, angry. It was worse that I was powerless against Dante.“I didn’t kill them because of that, c’mon. They crossed the boundary themselves like you all are doing now.”“What do you mean?”“You see, they managed to get out of my radar for quite a long time, then they came back.” He paused dramatically. In my heart, I prayed desperately for Carlos or Zade, anyone to help Louis. I couldn’t watch him die.“They wanted to take drugs off the streets.” Dante’s eyes nar
Louis had to undergo surgery to remove a bullet stuck in his ribs, he was alive but in a vegetative state. The house had been busy all through the last month. Juan had taken up a huge responsibility of being in charge of Dos Santos. Many came to pledge their allegiance and condolences concerning Louis. It almost seemed like they were mourning him so Juan forbade anyone from talking about him.Every night, Juan came to the room and talked to his brother. The doctor had said he might be able to hear us. On the day Louis's coma completed one month, Juan tattooed his brother’s name on his left index finger. That night, he sat with his brother and spoke,“Hi, Louis. It’s getting tiring to see you lie down in there doing nothing. You used to be so good at bossing people around and I thought it was easy. You made it look easy. Now I have to do it. It was hard at first but I’m now getting the hang of it. So., I decided to do something to show you my gratitude, for taking care of me all this w
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
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