Leonel got out of his pick-up holding a bottle with a golden ribbon. He was accompanied by Frank. A couple of men were also with him, although they only got out of another pickup behind and were stationed there to guard the main entrance and a little of the surrounding area. At the same time, the van that the businessman had sent for Sofia and Liam was still there, on the same corner. Larry saw him arrive. Leonel arrived at the celebration half an hour after the professor had been at the teacher's house. He approached the entrance to welcome the sponsor. "Mr. Vos." Both shook hands. He nodded toward Loman out of courtesy, receiving the same greeting. "Come in, please." "Happy birthday, Mr. McDonald. I have brought you this present." Leonel handed him the bottle of thick, tinted glass, much like the presentation of champagne. Larry nodded. "Thank you, that's very kind." They moved forward a few steps until they reached the middle of the living room, which was located on the righ
"Sofia, you have a visitor, can we come in?" She listened to Larry and closed her eyes. "Yes, of course, you can come in." The director opened the door. Leonel looked at the woman, he didn't move from the doorway. Now that he was there, he could understand the teacher's living situation. The apartment was small, but it looked cozy. He could see everything quickly, barely detailing things, but seeing her standing there, dressed so beautifully and looking into her eyes, which, despite the distance, he found sadness in them, almost destroyed his chest by the amount of emotions he began to experience. She looked directly into his face, but he could not hold her gaze. "Good evening, Mr. Vos. Well, it is almost late. Larry, have you been having a good time?" The director felt his heart shrink. He witnessed the moment when the businessman passed by her and entered the house, approaching her in short strides. "Sofia, I wish we could talk," Leonel said. The woman still didn't look at
Sofia was puzzled by the question. "The video of the tortures," she said. He froze again and approached her. "Sofia, how did you find out what Gael did to me? Didn't he tell you?" "He gave me his cell phone to show me a video." She swallowed thickly, trying not to let her stomach churn again with the images recorded in her memory. Leonel's gaze seemed to tinge with a strange mantle, something unhinged caused him to lose himself for a moment. "I didn't know he was recording." He turned his face toward her, but he couldn't see her. A sort of smile was about to appear. "So... he didn't tell you about it, but... you saw it?" Leonel reacted. "Fuck. Fuck, you saw it!" He put his hands on his head and turned away, turning his back on her, disgusted with himself for creating something as frightening as terror in that woman. "No way, you've seen it all. C'mon, what a fucking asshole!" He continued to wail, burying his fingers in his hair once more. She lowered her head, seeing him exp
Sofia removed the blanket from her face late at night. Larry's party eventually came to an end amidst singing, piano playing, dancing, drinking, and company she never expected. Raymond's sister attended, but her brother didn't, and Sofia thanked God for that, she just wanted to spend the rest of the night in peace, without too many complications already. Leonel looked at her and stayed close all night. They even managed to talk about the campus and things about Liam, who came up to them and was in their company during the cake bite. Larry, for his part, watched them still worried, but he understood that he should not insist on knowing more and that he would give the teacher time to tell him everything herself. Leonel left early and promised that he would see her very soon. He promised her that the men stationed out there would drive her to and from school and that she would work normally because he was sure that Gael would not do anything right away. If he had this plan between his
Elizabeth sat down on the largest piece of furniture, right in the middle of it, and crossed her naked legs, smeared with glistening, seductive body cream, the woman had preened herself thoroughly before she got there, ready for a great night with the man of her dreams. Leonel returned shortly thereafter and with the bottle tucked into an ice bucket, a white tea towel over his shoulder. His attire was casual. He wore a white shirt with sleeves rolled up, his dress pants were still on, but his shoes were off, he was barefoot and she was fascinated by that. Despite having seen him many times without any clothes, it was strange to see him like this. His hair was neatly combed and cut, and no beard, any stubble that he sometimes let grow, was cut. She noticed him relaxed, even friendly, it was all a bit strange, the woman felt surprised almost, because always that "lion" (as she called him) showed himself at all times as someone very serious and strong-willed, however, she would not allo
The woman looked into Leonel's burning eyes. Her heart broke a little more when she heard those words; the same ones that defined this man's life were none of her business. "We've been bedded for a long time, I've been giving you my body for all kinds of pleasures for years. If a woman appears out of nowhere and wants to take me out of the way, I'll do everything I can to make sure things don't turn out that way." Leonel felt tired and fed up listening to her, though a little regretful for having kept up his sexual dalliances with her all that time. The woman possessed knockout curves; she was sexy and good in bed. She put up with whatever his moods elicited, but he adored nothing else about her; he never felt anything for that girl. Around a corner, Frank Loman appeared in the shadows, the most reserved one in that apartment. Leonel then focused his gaze once again on the maddened woman, who, jealous, continued to claim from him that love that she demanded to be considered. "Are
Sophia and Larry found themselves in the kitchen. It was quite late, several hours after the party, and neither could fall asleep. "What are you going to do?" was the director's question after she told him everything, every detail of what was happening. Leaning back against the counter, she reached behind her to touch the counter and lean against it. "Ask me that again tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, or maybe Monday. Or never, maybe? I don't want to know what I should do or what I shouldn't do; it's exhausting." Larry smiled sadly. He lowered his face, focused his eyes on the floor, and back on her. "Is there any chance you could go to another state in the country? Or maybe... some confederation of the country? Some unincorporated territory of the nation?" She scrunched up her face in a smile of disbelief. "What are you talking about? I don't know what the chances are of anything, Larry; I'm lost right now. Leonel and I agreed to square all this away, but that's as far a
"I'm sorry I didn't come to the director's party yesterday, I was working," Raymond explained a few seconds after she hung up. "No problem." She put on her seatbelt and that's when she saw it: the Nordic's car stopped at a corner very close to the house. Her whole body went into tension. Raymond noticed how she pressed herself closer to the seat. "You sure have met Asgard." She looked up at him. Sofia still wondered how this man who represented the law could know about the existence of these people who seemed to represent everything that was wrong with Albany, but at the same time, her brain made her conclude that precisely because he was a lawman, he must know all the secret and dark loopholes of the place. Besides, she could not ignore the confession he made to her so few days ago, about having been a colleague of Leonel Vos and being in the middle of it all. "Asgard... As if I had gone to see him alone" she threw out the words bitterly. They arrived at the school. All vehicle
Leonel and Sofia were in a part of the gear of the San Juan house, near the pool area. It was daytime, almost lunchtime. Both of them stood, hugging, enjoying the quietness they needed. She took her cheek off Leonel's chest to look at him, caress him, and let him caress her. "Are you feeling well?" she asked, worried. They had operated on him again; his internal stitches had been compromised, and she wanted to be careful not to hurt him. He smiled and denied it at the same time. "That's for me to ask you." He lightly caressed his girlfriend's left shoulder; she was wearing a short-sleeved blouse, and the dressing of her wound could be seen through the fabric. "Are you sure you don't need one of these?" He moved his injured arm a little, talking to her about the sling he was wearing again. "Your friend's wife told me it's not necessary." "Great. If Pilar says so, it must be so; it means you will heal soon." "Yes, she's very good at what she does, I'm glad you contacted that nur
"Baby, look at me! LOOK AT ME! Sofia, don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes, baby, keep looking at me... Hey, what are you doing? What are you doing?!" "We're local police, let us help. We have to take her immediately to the hospital," one of the officers announced in English, trying to get Leonel to let the authority that managed to get there do their job since the ambulance hadn't yet arrived and had to act fast. Leonel took his girlfriend in his arms, he wouldn't let that man touch her. He ran to the patrol car, his truck was further away. They opened the back door, he got in with her, the officer who spoke to him got in front of the steering wheel, a colleague of his in the other front seat, and they sped off with sirens blaring, while the co-pilot radiated the situation, calling for backup. Dolores, who was still in the street, was crying inconsolably, hugging Liam, placing her face against his chest with the intention of not letting him hear, or listen. Other policeme
"I'm sorry, officer, you can't make me get into any car, I haven't committed any crime." From the vehicle stationed behind, the back door opened. "Cut the crap, Sofia, and get in the car. Let's go." One step back, stiffening, holding her child tighter, the teacher could feel the sulfur stink emanating from the voice of Gael Cliff himself, who had spoken to her. "What are you doing here? No, no! Help!" She wanted to take advantage of the fact people were recording, shouting for help as a way of making them see that these guys were bad and wanted to harm them. "Help me, help us, please! Help! They want to kidnap us!" "Mom, Mom, what's wrong?" Liam's whimpering touched Sofia's heart, it made her angry at the discomfort of living through that dreadful moment. Her little boy was so scared. "It's going to be ok, honey. Leo and his people are coming for us; nothing bad is going to happen to us." "My dear son, wouldn't you like to see what I have for you in the van?" "Don't say a wor
Dolores approached Leonel a few minutes after Liliana cleaned the broken glass from the cup he threw on the floor. "Is it true what that article says?" Leonel turned his face to look at her "Excuse me?" "Sofia told me everything and I know it couldn't have been you who did that atrocity with that girl, but are you involved?" Leonel looked at her as if she had grown three heads. "Are you saying that I had her killed?" She looked at him with apprehension and doubt but also boldness and determination. "You aren't a meek dove," Leonel straightened up, "you have your past. All that money you show now must not have been earned in a good way and now this..." Leonel stood up from the chair, and Dolores took a step back. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the gesture. "Dolores, but what...?" "I called the police." Leonel stopped breathing. "What?" She felt a pressure in her chest. "I dialed the Interpol numbers and told them you were here. The numbers are listed in the articl
"Sofia, can I talk to you for a moment?" The teacher nodded to the principal of the school where she worked, then followed him into his office. "Sit down, please." She obeyed. "I'm so glad you came today. I understand you will no longer be attending the event with the mayor." «What?». Sofia looked at her cell phone screen, she had a missed call from Leonel. «So we won't be going to the event; he was surely calling me to tell me and giving classes I didn't answer him.» She made a mental note to call her boyfriend after that reunion. "Yes, well, I couldn't miss this last day of classes. Besides, I've made arrangements with some students in the higher grades to continue online classes to prepare them for next year's tests." "Are these classes private, or are they on the school's account?" She frowned. "Aren't they part of the academic curriculum?" "No, Sofia. If you're going to teach off-site, you'll have to charge the students separately." She was very surprised by the way the
Dolores found out every detail the next morning, her younger sister thought it was a good idea to tell everything. Dolores didn't like what was happening. She always accepted Sofia's decisions despite refuting them, but this time, she wanted to be more attentive. Leonel talked to Adam in the pool area. Sitting around one of the tables and under an umbrella, totally alone, taking advantage of the fact that Liam was in class and Sofia was working right there, the businessman was able to find out the health status of his lawyer's assistant through a phone call. Lawyer Adam Coney's worker had a severe blow to her head, doctors were keeping her sedated while she recovered from her injury, so she could not issue a statement yet. However, Adam filed the complaint with the emphasis of immediately finding the culprits of that attack, linking the assault to the Elizabeth Cord case, having the evidence in his hands of her attendance at that hearing which someone—they didn't know if it was Eli
It was a cool night, clear skies in that part of San Juan. The water was warm thanks to the pool system. Leonel had been swimming for a few minutes. It was a little difficult at first, but he found the perfect trick to do it without his arm. Now his feet were the only limbs submerged in the water. Wearing only a shorty-type swimsuit, he ingested some black soda with ice in a short glass. For the first time, he felt good. And the confirmation of this was given by the simple fact of being there with a group of people he could call Family. He thought of his mother. Living in the United States, south of Albany, she was the only blood family he had left. He had visited her little lately, although Frank helped him to make sure she lacked for nothing. He thought about bringing her to Puerto Rico, introducing her to Sofia, that she would also meet Liam and they would spend some time together in that beautiful place. While his longings and thoughts about it were shaping new plans, his cel
Lawyer Adam Coney's assistant arrived at his apartment on the outskirts of the Big Apple's largest Latino neighborhood. It was already late at night, she was carrying a huge fatigue, high heels that she was crazy to throw over any part of her apartment, and folders in her hand, along with a leather briefcase. Dressed in office attire, although with a slight dishevelment of her hair thanks to the cold that barely covered the long coat and the few beers on top ingested at the bar in the corner of the buffet, she lamented once again because that nice housing complex used magnetic cards for the doors, missing very much some keys as she fought with the system failure. About to launch another expletive, the young girl bent down a bit to set the gear on the floor so she could perform the task of unlocking her home with both hands. As she straightened up, a sudden push slammed her against the door. She cried out urgently, but no one would hear her, because the force of the gloved hand si
On the plane, the couple talked about Liam and the decision to live together. Leonel agreed to everything the little boy's mother proposed. It was not the best idea to sleep in the same room when they arrived. They wanted first to explain to Liam how the situation would be from now on, to see if he would accept it, but without stopping spending time together inside the house, investing more time between them as a new couple that longed to settle down in the middle of chaos and fear, with outings, in family life, now that Dolores was there and that the others seemed to join that nice circle. So it was done, all accomplished, and in a couple of days, which were work days for the teacher at the school, as well as school days for the child (these being the last school days of the year), they began to make room for Christmas; it was not yet December, but it was so close, that guided by traditions, they began to decorate the house. They had the time of their lives, as never before. Therap