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I open my eyes to see them looking at one another.
“Alright,” Alvaro says softly, “a week of whatever you want before we do what we have to do to ensure we get a lifetime together.”
My eyes close as I release a sigh of relief that turns into a yawn.
“Thank you,” I tell them as I blink through the sudden sleepiness.
“You need sleep, baby.”
I nod with my eyes closed, my hands holding theirs tighter. “Stay with me.”
At least, that’s what I think I say before I'm suddenly in a dream of green fields beside a blue ocean.
* * *
Romero
After Vicenta’s eyes roll closed for the final time, I kiss her softly before heading to the bathroom for a quick shower. Alvaro doesn’t follow and that’s fine by me. I’m not going to force shit on him. If he wants a relationship withDiablabetween us, I won’t complain.
Perhaps for him, our past is exactly where it should be, in the past.
When I’m done, I wrap a towel around my waist and enter the bedroom, finding Alvaro with his phone in his hand, a dead look in his eyes as he rubs his temple.
“Marío keeps calling.”
I push my wet hair back before walking over to the closet. “What’d he say?”
“I haven’t answered him.” He stands and moves to the restroom, looking over his shoulder as he steps through the doorway. “Your phone keeps going off. Get it before it disturbs Vicenta.”
I roll my eyes as I get dressed, opting for casual rather than business. Vicenta wants her week so I’m going make sure she never sees a suit for the next seven days. With my joggers and Jordans on, I leave the shirt and rush to the nightstand when I hear the vibrating device from the closet.
I get to it just as the screen goes dark. I unplug it and swipe it open, seeing Marío’s text message with a video attached to it. My heart speeds up as I click on it and come face-to-face with the very type of situation I want to protect Vicenta from. I cast a glance at her sleeping face as the shower turns on before grabbing my AirPods and leaving the room. With my earbuds in, I lean against the loft railing and play the video.
There’s a circle of men in camouflage uniforms that Marío’s soldiers use, a beaten and naked man hanging in the center of the circle. The Banderas soldiers laugh at the captive as a couple of them pour scalding water on the gagged man. As the cameraman walks around the room, pointing the lens at the hanging man, another soldier moves in a stabbing motion with a long rod with electricity zapping on the end. When I finally see the face of the victim, I almost drop my phone.
Vicenta’s father, Victor Guzmán.
“Puta madre.”I breathe heavily as I click off the video and read the attached message.
Marío:Hand her over today or the next box to arrive will be her father’s head. A new box, a new gift each day she’s not in my hands.
I can’t tell her. I can’t tell her what’s happening to her father or she’ll put herself in harm’s way to save her father. She’ll give herself up without a second’s thought. I can’t allow that. If I have to choose between her and the person who gave her up like a breeding mare, I’ll choose her every fucking time, no matter who it is that dies in her place…no matterhowthey die, so long as it’s them and not her.
Maybe I’m justifying my choice to keep her father’s torture to myself, but that in no way means my justification is incorrect…it’s just morally wrong and thankfully, I never claimed to be a moral person.
I pocket my phone just as Alvaro comes out of the bedroom, a pair of my sweats riding low on his waist. He eyes me, probably wondering why I’m standing just outside the bedroom door like a fucking weirdo.
“Why do you look pissed off?”
Oh,that’swhy he’s giving me the eye.
“Your bitch ass father.” I give him a half truth because I’d rather be the only one lying to Vicenta. “He’s trying to goad me into giving Vicenta up. Have you talked to him?”
Just then, his phone rings, his father’s name on the screen. He looks at me before jerking his chin to my office across from the bedroom.
“Bueno,” he answers smoothly as we walk.
“Where is the Guzmán boy?” Marío’s voice makes my jaw grind.
