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The phone clicked as my mother hung up.
* * *
“I can’t go further than this,” the driver said.
I blinked as I tried to get my bearings. Whatever Caleb had given me was starting to hit. I didn’t think it was ecstasy. I was rolling, but not in the way I was used to. Everything felt hazy and weighed down, including my limbs, and it was a fight to stay conscious in the car.
“Are you going to be alright? Should I call someone?”
I snorted. There was no one to call. I’d tried texting my brother when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to climb up the hill from our front gate to the entrance of the house, but he’d ignored me.
“I’m fine.” It took a great deal of energy to get the words out, and I was surprised I didn’t slur.
The old man looked at me with wide, concerned eyes.
“We have security.” This time the words were slurred, and the driver looked like he wanted to argue.
I pointed at the small structure next to the gate. “Security.” I grunted out the word.
The security booth wasn’t lit, but it was visible from the road, and the gate of our house was closed. We lived in the middle of nowhere, or well, as middle of nowhere a person could get in L.A.
“Stay safe,” the driver said as I opened the door and stumbled onto the dirt road. I winced as my knees hit the ground. I struggled to my feet and gave the driver a small wave, not looking back as I tried to focus on getting my legs to work.
The black iron gates that separated our home from the rest of the city were dimly lit, but I noticed they were cracked open.
“Thanks, boys!” I shouted as I stumbled through them. I’d ditched my expensive heels in the cab, knowing that there was no way I’d be able to get up to the house if I kept them on.
As it was, I could barely see straight as I stumbled up toward the house. My mind was foggy even as my heart raced with the effort of climbing up the hill. Next time Caleb gave me something, I needed to ask before ingesting it, because this was not the level of fucked-up that I was interested in being.
It only took a few minutes to reach out the front door, even though it felt like an eternity, and by the time I did, my feet were covered in dirt, as were my knees from all the times I’d stumbled.
My brain was foggy, but I knew my mother would be pissed.
Better get it over with,I thought.
“Honey!” I called out as I pulled open the heavy door of our home. “I’m hooooommmmmeee.”
The marble floors of the foyer were cold against my toes, and it took everything in me not to slide across them, allowing their cool slickness to glide across my skin.
The idea felt delicious.
But I knew I needed to try and keep my shit together.
“Where the fuck is everyone?” I muttered as I dropped my phone and bag on the floor. The loud clang echoed in the foyer. Still, no one came. I expected the noise to bring my mother, or the maid, but I remained alone.
How dare she order me home and then not have the decency to even be here to greet me with a downturned lip and disappointment in her eyes.
“Mother!” I hollered as I walked through the house. My mother tried to liven up our compound by filling our house with warmth and homeyness. There were overstuffed throw pillows on every surface and small knick-knacks that said, “Home is where the heart is.” If you walked through the place, you’d think a middle-class suburbanite lived there and not the wife of a Mexican cartel leader.
That was probably the point. My mother was never happy with my father’s choice of career. It scared her even though we’d never been affected by it.
As I stumbled towards the outside porch, I felt something heavy settle in my stomach. It was late, but it was unusual for our house to be so quiet. The place was normally teeming with staff and guards. Most of the time, we were never alone.
Stumbling onto the porch, I was relieved to see that the lights were on, and a small fire was burning in the firepit.
“Fuck, Angel,” I muttered as I caught sight of the back of my brother’s head. “Did you not hear me yelling?”
I caught the scent of something in the air, making my stomach roll. I gripped at my abdomen, which was bare in my crop top, and tamped down the desire to vomit.What the hell was that scent?
