Raymond explained to the teacher during the flight that Leonel had already taken care of everything in San Juan: accommodation for that night and the installation during the time she and Liam would be there. The child and the mother felt tired. She would have liked to walk around a bit, see some of the surroundings, and get into what little she could see through the car window, but there was no time or energy for that. Sofia had no idea what she would find the next day. She had information about the school, its location, and the contacts of Larry's friend, who also served as a teacher and campus coordinator, but no one informed her of the magnitude of her status in which she would live there in Puerto Rico, she didn't know where she would be staying, nor all the things she would benefit from, not even intuiting it when it was a vehicle with an assigned driver who picked them up at the airport and not a cab, being a luxurious dark blue van with a very well dressed driver, plaid shirt
The woman could not move; in her head, only one question was formulated: how is it possible for him to be here? Leonel approached her. When he had her close enough, he placed his hands on her delicate shoulders covered by the pink cloth. He rolled his manly palms a little lower, encircling her arms, squeezing a little, looking into her face, contemplating once again the beauty in Sofia's face, controlling himself, calming the fire in his hands and that violence in his mouth, feelings that were born just by seeing her. He was not wearing a suit, but a black sweater that made Sofia salivate, they lowered her gaze and quickly looked at the man's body, stunned by the detail; she couldn't believe she was seeing him there, so beautiful, so handsome, so powerful. "How is it...?" Sofia's words didn't reach the end because it was Mr. Vos's mouth, which fell in a crash and mutilated them before they could be released. The teacher's skin was filled with a great sensation and surrendered to
(Days ago...)A day after Larry's party, Mark, the man who worked for Leonel, had an order, and he was sure it would be easy to execute. However, there was always a great risk of everything going wrong. Leonel Vos' closest and most trusted team had worked closely with Gael Cliff's men as if every one of them had been on the payroll of the same company. But those who were truly loyal to the businessman and former intelligence officer had a life incentive: to put an end to the mafias and powers led by the Cliffs, especially the son, Gael. They turned out to be few police officers in Vos' favor, those that even he trained (in the beginning) for the benefit of his enemy. The businessman's men, who were part of his clandestine security company, were trained to fight, carry out espionage, and speak at least two languages; they also learned to handle themselves within the world of the elite, to use formal suits and good behavior for different celebrations. Each one of them, women and men,
Amapola nodded, realizing that there was no way out. "Good. Don't be absent, Harais. I know where you live and what you do when you don't come here. I know details of your life that you yourself don't even imagine anyone else could know. I could use all that information to harm you. If you go crazy and give me away, we understand that you are inside a place full of danger, don't we? Asgard is one of many here, that's why it will fall sooner or later, but it won't be easy. I don't think you dare to give away an infiltrator." "He's coming today," she announced. "I know, that's why I won't be here long. He knows me, he can't see me. If he sees me here, he'll know what I'm up to and everything will be ruined, so you won't say anything about me. You'll lie and you'll do it right. You'll say I was just another one of the bunch, whatever, always distract the attention of your coworkers and your boss from me. In the meantime, work with the Nordic; don't show any mood swings in front of him
Sofia was sure that the house Leonel took her and Liam must be worth more than a million dollars, at least, not that she knew much about property values on that side of the world. She didn't know exactly where he decided to put her until she got into the area, but even before that, she imagined it would be somewhere expensive. However, when she fully entered that street of San Juan, his expectations were exceeded. That place would turn out to be one of the most exclusive places in the whole city, and she didn't have to investigate it; just by seeing it, she could describe it that way. Sofia entered a residence of buildings; she expected it to be a rented apartment, but once again, the businessman surprised her by lodging them in a more reserved place at the end of the complex. She, her son, the detective, the chauffeur (whose name she now knew: Mr. Francisco Gutiérrez), and Leonel were surrounded by a branch of very beautiful buildings, but which hid a building behind them. The ex-c
"You don't have to thank me. And you can call me Leonel. C'mon, give me five." The boy bumped his palm with his. "Shall we play now?" Liam shrugged and nodded, smiling too. "But would it be possible to play football?" "Okay, I see you're more into that sport. What's your favorite team?" Raymond listened attentively, folded his arms, looking away from time to time, hiding what could make him feel that camaraderie between his friend and Sofia's son. "El Atlético del Madrid." Leonel smiled. "Of course, obvious, why didn't I think of it before?" Sofia walked around the place, she allowed herself to get lost just for a moment in her thoughts, something that used to happen to her very often. "If you feel overwhelmed, just say it," Raymond advised, approaching her. Sophia looked at him, denied once more, and exhaled. "And if I refuse all this if we go somewhere else, will it make any difference?" She looked around, back at him. "Yes, I'm overwhelmed, but I hadn't thought about the
Raymond received a new call. He made no gesture, just got up to walk away. Leonel looked at him. "Do you know how I've been living all this time?" She spoke, making him look at her instead of at his friend, who had already left the room. "You know where I come from, Leonel. I never had luxuries or privileges; I've always had to fight for what I want, especially for what I need, even more, when Liam came into my life..." "I know." "Do you understand that all this is overwhelming for me?" "Yes, I do." Sofia sighed. She got up, apologized, and headed to the bedroom to see what Liam was doing. When she arrived, found him asleep on the bed. She proceeded to take off his shoes and change him into something more comfortable. The suitcases were already there and it was easy. "Will you sleep here with him?" She gasped as heard Leonel's almost whispered voice under the doorway. "I'm sorry, I know it's daring of me to be here..." "No, no, don't worry about it." She finished settling L
Leonel was standing beside the stretcher of his trusted man, Mark; one of the few he cherished. He was now a man with a bullet wound. It could have been worse, the doctors had already explained to him that he would heal soon, but he had to be constantly observed. The guy faced several gunshots and it was only one that sent him to the emergency room. The businessman ran into the current director of the police department, Mark's boss in Intelligence. The meeting took place at the hospital. They conversed without any additional problems beyond what was already going on. Both men knew who everyone was there, no one would put on a show for a case that was unfolding underhandedly and was very sensitive. Even so, even though the famous director was always against the Cliffs and their henchmen, in Vos' personal opinion, he was not doing much to eradicate that extremely organized mafia, so the director couldn't be part of the famous team that wanted to finish off that family, especially the
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