Page 143 of No Greater Oblivion

He returns to his conversation.

They exchange rushed, whispered words before Mauricio gestures upstairs and the rest of them nod. Alejandro removes his gloves and shoves them in his coat pocket as he follows the men up to the apartment. Mauricio and Dimitrio give me curt, albeit respectful bows of the head to acknowledge my presence but Alejandro whizzes right past me. I have to grab his arm to get him to stop.

“Alex?”

He stops but not fully. He still has one foot on the step ahead of him, ready to take off. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, I just⁠—”

“So long as you’re fine.” He caresses my cheek but the touch is mechanical. “Diego, Lettie, and Doña Ana are leaving for Abuelo’s in a bit. Why don’t you get dressed, and I’ll meet you there later.”

“Alex, I really don’t want to be around other people right now.”

“Está bien, mi amor. Como tú quieras.”

“I was thinking we could⁠—”

Either he doesn’t hear me or he doesn’t care. He takes the stairs two at a time as if our conversation has ended and I haven’t been left here with words in my mouth. They rot my teeth and turn my tongue to cotton. Voices scream in the back of my mind to fight back. Call for him, cry for him, demand his presence, beg for his attention.

Love me.

Want me.

See me.

Am I even here?

I must not be enough for anyone.

I descend the last few steps. The movements are automatic and devoid of feeling. We’re trapped in a cycle of promises and changed behavior that only last long enough for the dust to settle. It’s endless. It’s soul crushing.

My keys are on the diadem table in the main foyer where I leave them in case one of the men needs to move my car or take it out of the garage. I grab them without thinking. I’m not dressed to go outside—my cashmere lounge set will do little to keep me warm if the temperature drops any further and the matching slippers will fall apart on the sidewalk. But it should be fine if I don’t leave the car.

I’ll be fine.

I leave without my coat, wallet, or phone. The traffic isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I drive in silence. I count the streetlights. I drive and drive and drive…

I keep driving.

Alejandro

Beni is already upstairs waiting for us, seated on one of the wing backed chairs and typing furiously on his laptop. “I’m taking the others to Vallvidrera in a bit but didn’t want to leave before you guys came back. The warehouse is taken care of. Everything should be ready to go by tomorrow.”

I nod and close the study doors behind me. “Good. What’s going on with Sandro?”

Dimitrio sits across from Beni who hands over his laptop and Mauricio pauses halfway across the room to check the messages on his phone.

“Law enforcement raided his offices three days ago but they haven’t found anything significant yet,” Mauricio answers. “He’s since ceased operations and has a handful of his men tasked with finding Montserrat, led by Regina, obviously. Ferrer’s taken care of everything on that front.”

“And Monse?”

“Still in the villa. Fine, but worried for her sister.”

“What else?”

Dimitrio speaks this time. “The Lopezes want to call a meeting between the apostles but according to Ferrer, Sandro is holding off. He doesn’t want to risk the fall out of a possible intervention.”

“He’s stretched a mile thin,” Mauricio adds. “He’s down in numbers, morale is low, and whoever’s left has been turning on him. He has men looking for his cousin, Montserrat, a few men guarding his warehouses, and security in his territory is so scarce they don’t even have men to spare to surveille their homes.”