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It was a trick. It had to be. “Are you sure?”
“The only places that you can’t go are his office and his bedroom…though I can’t imagine that you’d want to be in either ofthose rooms.”
Absolutely not. I wanted nothing to do with the Castillos’ business, nor did I want to be anywhere near Omar’s bed.
Except…it was nearly impossible not to think of the way he had touched me. Even if it had all been a cruel joke, a punishment for being so brazen in the first place, he had evoked feelings in me that I hadn’t known were possible.
I shouldn’t be thinking about it now, not after what he did, but still, the word “bed” had brought it to the forefront of my mind. “So, if I wanted to spend the day outside, I could do that?”
Helena reached out and patted my cheek. “I think that’s absolutely what you should do,mi amor. You have been cooped up in this house for too long.”
After finishing my breakfast, and helping Helena with the dishes despite her protests, I walked out the front door and into the sunshine. I hadn’t actually seen much of the island the day before; I was too terrified as Omar carted me outside.
The sun was high in the sky, and it was hot, but as I stood on the porch, blinking while my eyes adjusted, my chest relaxed for the first time in a week.
The beach sloped to the edge of the blue water, and terrifying dock aside, it was beautiful. The water stretched out to the horizon, brushing the sky.
I want to paint.
It had been so long since I'd touched a canvas. My hands suddenly ached for it.
Spying a piece of driftwood, I walked down to the beach and smoothed the sand. Picking up the driftwood, I began to draw. It was messy and not good at all — drawing shapes in the sand with a stick wasn't exactly the best of materials — but the more I added to the drawing, the less tension there was between my shoulder blades. Painting and sketching had always been a source of peace. For the first time in far too long, I got to feel it again, and it was glorious.
That was until a loud rumbling sound erupted from somewhere on the island, sending birds scattering into the sky.
CHAPTER13
Omar
“The engine is too loud,” I told Efrain. “If I need to go back to Miami at a moment’s notice, I can’t be seen or heard, yeah?”
“Sí,jefe,” the older man said. “Pascal and I can work on that. Though it might take us three or four days.”
I nodded. I didn’t know when Angel’s condition might change and I wanted to be prepared. I glanced at my watch: it was nearly eleven. “Keep me updated,” I said and patted Efrain on the shoulder as I walked away.
I had already grabbed a burner phone from the office. I was going to need Pascal to pick up more when he went for the grocery order on the mainland, what with the near-daily update calls I was making. I stepped out of the dry dock to call in. Lili picked up after a few rings.
“Idiota.”
I sighed; it said something about how stressed we both were that I didn’t have it in me to rise to the insult. In fact, it was almost a relief to hear that she could still be sarcastic. “How is he?”
“The same.” Her voice was devoid of emotion. “The doctors want to lighten his sedation later in the week, and Emma and I talked about it and she signed off on that plan. If he doesn’t start to come around after they lessen the sedation—”
She didn’t say it, but we both knew what it meant: if Angel didn’t start coming around, he was probably never going to. “He’ll wake up,” I promised. “He’s not going out like that.”
“Yeah,” Lili intoned. “I know.” But she didn’t believe it; she was losing hope, and I couldn’t exactly blame her.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
“I was never meant to be in charge,” she said.
I actually laughed. “Lili, you are more qualified than me to take over the day-to-day operationsby far. You and I both know that.”
She made a soundthat was almost a snarl. “Tellthatto your Tíos. They don’t think that a little girl like me can handle all the pressure. There’s talk of a take-over.”
If any of our Tíos took over, Angel would have a hell of a time getting that power back. There would be bloodshed and more death. It would be all my fault. “I’ll come home,” I said. “I’ll stay in the compound, and—”
“You can’t,” Lili interrupted me. “We just got raidedagain, and a few of our guys were arrested outside of Elíseo. We wouldn’t be able to keep you hidden.”
