AllFreeNovel
Share Us
One thing she isn’t tolerating right now is her relationship being disrespected like that, and that is good for her. I fucking love it when my sister sticks up for herself. I hope in some time, Mona will begin standing up for herself the same way. I think she’s starting to undo all the damage Duarte did, but I know it might take quite some time for her to work through everything he put her through.
She’s a damn strong woman, and I don’t think she’s weak by any means. If anything, I think she’s a force to be reckoned with. I’ve seen bits and pieces of Mona standing up for herself, but it doesn’t happen every single time someone pushes her buttons. With Eset, she has no problem putting a bastard in his place. I don’t want to change Mona, but I do want her to get to the point where she has no problem speaking her mind so openly.
“I see that,” Duarte comments in a defeated manner.
I can’t help but wonder how things are going in Portugal. I know Mona is with some of the best of the best, though it doesn’t ease my worries. My stomach is flip-flopping around, and it probably will be until I get some sort of update. We discussed periodic ones, but Ruslan thought it would be too dangerous for them to check in during the raid. We received a text that they made it to Portugal a couple of hours ago. Now, all we can do is wait for the next update, which will hopefully say they’ve made it out of his home and are fleeing the country.
The door to the gallery opens, and Santos comes in, carrying Meryem with him. This little girl has gone through so much, and my sister and brother-in-law have worked very hard to try to catch her up to speed. My niece was malnourished and wasn’t taken care of for ages. She was barely walking when my sister and Santos took her in. They made it look like Eset and Santos had physically had her since the day she was born, but the reality is they adopted her from a bad situation. Eset actually killed Meryem’s biological father, but his dying wish was that his daughter would be taken care of. My sister had no problem honoring that promise and understanding why he’d make such a request.
Meryem holds her arms out to Eset, and Santos presses a chaste kiss to my sister’s lips before handing the girl over.
“How is my sweet girl? Hmm?” Eset asks Meryem, who mumbles lowly back at her. She sees a speech therapist every day of the week, and I think Meryem has come a long way. We’re all seeing more of her personality now, and I think when Mona’s children are with us, the girls might enjoy playing with one another.
“Santos, I haven’t seen you in years,” Duarte speaks up.
Santos looks right at Duarte. “I wasn’t aware we’d met.”
“You probably don’t remember me. I’d come over to your father’s place every now and again. We’re very good friends, your father and I.” I think we all know what Duarte is doing right now. He’s trying to come off as an intimidating man, but the only thing he’s doing is showing that he’s someone we’ll have to deal with. I already plan on doing that anyway… but he’s making it a much easier decision.
Santos chuckles. “You should take your hand away from the snake before it bites you.”
“Think of it this way. I keep snakes in their enclosure until I’m ready to part with them. Your father did mention to me that you betrayed him.”
Santos smirks and shakes his head. “I didn’t betray him. I walked away from the situation being placed at my feet.” Santos might be trying to make it sound better, but he did go against his father. He went against everything his father wanted him to do and, in turn, became loyal to my sister and our allies. It was a good decision for Santos, but it ruined everything his father was trying to achieve.
I know now more than ever there’s no way I’m going to let Duarte leave this exhibition today. He’s loyal to Santos’ father, Julio, and we already know Duarte has a lot of manpower behind him. If we let him live, he’s going to want an all-out war with us, and I’d put my money on the fact he’d try to recruit Julio into his cause.
I doubt he’ll even know what we’re going to do tonight. I doubt he’ll even get a call that we’ve raided his estate or that his children are gone… but I want him to know what we’ve done before I take his life from him. I want him to look into my eyes and pray that they’re going to be okay. Now, I’d never harm a child… but Duarte doesn’t know that. He might think he knows me, but he doesn’t. He thinks he knows who I am. He thinks he knows how my mind works… but again, he doesn’t.
“Meryem, look at you, baby girl.” Amelia, Ruslan’s wife, comes walking up, and Meryem holds her hands out to my sister-in-law. Amelia takes Meryem into her arms and smiles brightly at her. Eset has her eyes on her little girl, smiling brighter than I’ve ever seen. Eset might not realize it, but motherhood has been good for her.
“Do you have any pieces that others haven’t had the pleasure of seeing?” Duarte asks, and Eset nods.
“Yes, I have a few pieces downstairs that I didn’t have enough space for in the show. Would you want to see them?” Eset asks Duarte.
“I’d love that. Thank you.”
“Of course. Come on, I’ll show you what I have.”
Duarte and I follow Eset toward the back of the gallery, and then we head to a doorway that has an electronic pin pad on it. She punches in some numbers, and the door clicks open. We follow her down the stairs, and I shut the door behind me. Once we’re at the bottom of the stairs, we open up to a massive space. It’s nothing special, just concrete floors and walls, but there are paintings scattered around the area on large canvases.
“It’s a shame none of these were able to be in your show. This one especially.” Duarte points to another abstract painting. This one is a mixture of deep purple hues and oranges.
He’s busy talking about this painting, telling my sister he wants to purchase this one. But he adds that he’d like to continue walking around the space to see if there’s any more that catch his eye. Meanwhile, Eset looks right at me.
There’s no fucking way he’s leaving this place alive.
Duarte is going to pay for what he’s done, and he’s going to pay greatly for it all.
Chapter Eighteen
Mona
This has been such a long time coming, and I’m finally at the tail end of it. I’m currently in Portugal with Lom and his team of trained mercenaries. We’re only a few minutes away from Duarte’s estate, and I’m anxiously awaiting the moment we step foot on the property. I can practically hear their voices in the back of my mind. That’s how close we are to reuniting me with my baby girls.
“Are you ready for this?” Lom questions me, pulling me out of my internal thoughts.
“I’m as ready as I’m going to be,” I reply and swallow hard. I need this to go well. I need to get my girls and get them to safety. Duarte split us up, but he isn’t going to succeed in keeping us separated. Not in the slightest bit.
