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Buttoned. Unbuttoned. Buttoned. Unbuttoned. The guy couldn’t stay still, and when I heard him sniff again, I guessed why.
He’d been sampling the goods.
‘If he let it go to voicemail every time he got a call in the middle of shooting someone,’ the Suit said, ‘well, he’d have a lot of fucking voicemails.’ He tilted his head as he spoke, just adding to the psychotic vibe he was giving off. His accent was distinctly American.
I threw him a disgusted look before returning my gaze to my father.
I’m sorry, he mouthed, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. It was a bit late for sorry, and he just looked pathetic trying to apologise while he was on his knees at gunpoint. I shook my head minutely and stared at the ceiling instead, making sure to keep the Suit in my peripheral vision at all times. No way was I turning my back on that crazy-looking bastard.
Emilio returned to the room, tucking his cellphone into his suit as he walked with purpose. ‘Time to go,’ he barked.
‘Can I at least pack some things?’ I asked, my brain screaming at me to stall what was happening. What the goddamn was happening? Este was probably still lying dead in the alleyway, and my entire life was disintegrating in front of my very eyes.
And the worst part was, I wasn’t even surprised. I’d been waiting for this moment since the day I found out what my father really did.
Emilio almost laughed. ‘This isn’t a holiday, bambina. You are not a person any longer, do you understand? You just became a piece of property. My property.’
Panic bubbled within me. ‘Your property is going to be cold at night without her coat,’ I said stubbornly. ‘Please —’
‘No,’ Emilio said. ‘Don’t make me shoot you all, cholita. You will obey me.’
My head was spinning, and for a moment my vision blurred.
‘Can I at least say goodbye?’
‘No.’ He snapped his fingers, gesturing to me, and the Suit pushed off from the wall he was leaning against, approaching me. No!
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Suit smile. It was so small I barely caught it at all, but it was there. My hands began to shake.
‘Enjoying the show?’ I shot, before I could stop myself.
He laughed, feigning amusement, but the tightly bunched muscles in his neck told a different story. ‘You’re riding with me on the way back,’ he said, his weird eyes going even wider. ‘So yes, I am enjoying this.’
The smile vanished from his face, replaced by a scowl, as he pushed past me, deliberately knocking me. Motherfucker. The guy who’d been watching guard over my brother and father was suddenly beside me. ‘Walk,’ he said, pushing the tip of his gun into my ribs. I recoiled from the gun, hurrying quickly behind Emilio and the Suit.
‘I’ll be okay, Mama,’ I called out in a shaky voice that teetered on hysteria.
I didn’t look at my mother as I left the house I had grown up in. The house where I had spent almost my entire life. I couldn’t look her in the eye, because if I did, I would have reneged on the deal, ran to her, and let her hold me in her arms as bullets ripped us all apart.
I looked at the floor instead, and tried feverishly to ignore her sobbing, the protests of my sister, the muttered swearing of my father. I pushed it all away, focusing only on the bright tiles on the floor.
The Suit appeared in front of me, looking excited as he held a black piece of hessian material in his hands.
A bag. And I knew exactly where he was going to put it.
‘We’re going to have so much fun,’ he said, grinning.
My hurt blossomed into a steadily increasing rage as he seemed to feast upon my family’s misery. I longed to strike out, to channel my rage physically with a fist to his face, pushing my nails into his eyes until I heard two meaty pops, but I pushed it down, delayed it. Later. Use it later. Instead, I hung my head, and waited as the black bag went over my face. The world turned dark as the thick material covered my eyes, and I struggled to contain my rising panic as ropes at the bottom of the bag were pulled tight around my neck, making it hard to breathe. A firm prod to my back with the gun, and I walked from the only home I had ever known, the last sounds to reach my ears being my mother screaming my name, and my father cursing the cartel.
CHAPTER SIX
MARIANA
It was entirely disconcerting to be wearing a hood over my head in the back of a car, with no idea where I was going. Even worse, I wasn’t sure who was with me. I guessed the Suit was in the car, but I couldn’t be sure who else was in there. My legs stretched out in front of me without end, suggesting we were in some kind of a limousine. The car drove for what seemed like hours before anyone spoke.
‘Excited?’ the Suit asked, sarcasm dripping from his words. I jerked upright at the sudden noise, muffled as it was through the bag on my head. He was somewhere in front of me. We had to be in a limousine. I imagined the fuck-you grin he was sporting, and pushed away thoughts of launching out of my seat and flying at him. I wasn’t even entirely sure if he was sitting opposite me or further away. And even though I was regretting my rash move to offer myself up, I still didn’t want a bullet in my head.
So instead of biting back at him I remained silent, chewing on my lip to try and distract myself.
