I dropped to my knees and crawled to him. His long legs were spread wide, so I crawled between them. His signature scent engulfed me as my cry made its way up my esophagus. Gripping his thighs, I looked up at him through wet lashes and a racing heart.
“Get up.” His words weren’t stern. They weren’t angry either. They were flat, and that was worse. Here I was, at his mercy, and he couldn’t even look at me.
“Shio. Please!”
His eyes slowly lifted from his phone to my face. I sputtered a cry as tears fell.
“Don’t. Don’t fuckin’ beg.”
“But… but. Say something.”
He stared into my eyes, showing no signs of remorse, yet I stayed on my knees with his muscular thighs underneath my palms.
“Fuck you want me to say?” He blinked, his wild lashes brushing against his cheeks as his thick brows slightly folded.
His silence was unnerving. I would have preferred it if he yelled at me, cursed at me, questioned me, or even took a page out of my father’s book and slapped me. But, outside of him pushing me out of the house and lifting me onto the plane, nothing. That scared me more than being handed over to the Rodríguezes. The thought of him truly no longer caring for me made me ill.
“Say… Say… something.¡Cualquier cosa!(Anything!)”
His pink tongue slid across his bottom lip as his eyes moved from my face to my hands. It was as if his gaze were scorching because I immediately let him go. At the same time, the plane shook, sending me tipping backward. Before I could fall, he was up in a flash, his seat belt removed, and he caught me by the arm. I blinked repeatedly, nervous because I might’ve been injured, but happy to feel his touch. He tucked his phone in hispocket and then pulled me upward. The plane was still going through turbulence, but he was steady enough to guide me.
“No worries, we are just bypassing a storm coming through Jagoda Bay. Please fasten your seat belts.”
Shio bent, his necklace hitting me in the face as he pushed me into my seat. Knowing I wouldn’t get this close to him again, I grabbed his face in the palm of my hand, even though I knew I was no match for his strength and he could easily snatch away. He didn’t, though. Our eyes locked on one another as he stayed hunched over, his chain dangling, and our noses brushing. Without hesitation, I pressed my lips against his as he remained stone. I pulled back slightly and pressed my lips to his again and again and again and again. Shio didn’t return my advances, though. He just shot me a stale look instead. Not only was I defeated by his lack of response, but embarrassment washed over me for being so forward.
“Stay in your seat.” His lips brushed against mine as he spoke, his minty breath tickling my cheeks.
He pulled away and sat back in his seat, his eyes finding the window. I ran my tongue over my lips to savor his taste, then wiped the tears from my face. There was no sense in crying. There was no sense in feeling sorry for myself. I knew, no matter what Shio had promised me, that this day would come.
He said he had a daughter. I didn’t know what Felipe had told him over the phone, and I wasn’t a mother, but I understood that he was trading me for his child. Even though the thought of Shio procreating with another woman gutted me like the fish at the coastal markets, there was nothing I could do about it. I sat back and accepted defeat as we flew into the night’s sky. My only regret was that I didn’t snatch my drugs on the way out. I needed to be high to deal with what was to come since the high had now officially worn off.
Chapter 2
Tunan “Tune” Payne
“Uncle Tunan, you cannot pick up your phone. Your nails are still wet.”
Athena glared at me with what she thought was a menacing stare, but in reality, she looked like a baby doll. Her eyes were round and sparkled, and her cheeks were soft and blushed. The diamond earrings in her earlobes were as blinding as the ring light she had pointed directly at my face. Using the back of her hand, she swiped her braids out of her face, and because of the design, the two-beaded braids fell right back in place.
Beep Beep
“All dry. See?”
I removed my hands from under the UV light. I held them up so she could inspect them. My phone kept ringing, but I knew better than to touch it until Athena gave me the okay. My ass was numb from sitting on the small, pink furry stool, and my fucking back was burning from hunching over the small vanity table that had been converted into a nail tech’s station. Or maybe it was an actual nail tech’s station since there was a vanity tucked in thecorner, filled with too many makeup products for a seven-year-old. Athena had everything a child could ask for. For the last couple of months, she’d been on a nail journey, filming herself on her private page, where she had only her family members as followers.
Using her index finger, she carefully tapped each one of my nails. I waited patiently as she did her examination. My phone had stopped ringing, but the missed call notification flashed across the screen.
“You’re dry. But I really think you should let me add a color like last time.” She beamed.
The last time she painted my nails, she went back home to her mama and her stepfather without taking the color off. I bought every product at Walgreens to remove black polish, but the shit wouldn’t budge. When I showed my sister, she laughed herself to tears for at least ten minutes straight. She was giggling so fucking hard she had to run to the bathroom so she wouldn’t piss on herself. Tuscany had to take me to the nail salon up the street to get that polish drilled off. Apparently, Athena had used shellac and didn’t have the tools in her kit to remove it. I told myself that was the last time I was letting her practice on me, but here I was again. This time, I only allowed her to use clear products.
Instead of telling her hell no, I smiled at my pretty niece and stood.
“Next time, Thena.”
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a fifty-dollar bill and set it on her table. She grinned toothlessly, since she was missing both of her front teeth, and tucked the money into her little pink smock.
“See you in two weeks.”
