AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know you’re capable of standing on your own. You’re old enough to make decisions for yourself, even if I don’t necessarily agree with them. It pains me to admit that I’ve made great miscalculations in judgment and entrusted you with people I shouldn’t.”
He doesn’t mention Judge by name, but it’s evident by the way his eyes flare that’s exactly who he’s referring to. I want to defend him, tell him it wasn’t Judge’s fault, but Santi doesn’t give me that chance.
“This is where we’re at. You said you want to live a life free from the rules, but I need you to be aware of what that choice means. Without being wedded, you will be an outcast from IVI. That I cannot change for you. They will whisper. They will judge you for it, even if it is irrational. So if this is the path you choose, I must advise you that you have to be willing to let that part of your life go. You will no longer attend the events. You won’t associate with your friends in The Society. You will have to accept a different life from the one you have always known. But in doing so, there is one assurance I can give you, and that is regardless of you severing those ties, there is one that can’t be broken. You are a De La Rosa. You are my family, my blood, and nothing will ever stand in the way of that. Do you understand?”
“I understand.” I blink through my glassy eyes. “That’s all I care about, Santi. If I can still see you and Ivy and Elena, I know everything else will be okay.”
He nods, clears his throat, and then speaks firmly. “I’m signing over your trust to you. You have my blessing to make a life for yourself outside. However, there is one point I won’t negotiate on. For my own peace of mind, I need to know you’re safe, so you will have two guards watching over you until this situation with Vincent Douglas is resolved. Do you accept these terms?”
I can’t help it. Despite my promises to myself that I wouldn’t cry, moisture gathers at the edges of my eyes. And much to my brother’s discomfort, I don’t give him my answer verbally. I take the first difficult step, closing the distance between us and pulling him into a forced hug. His arms hang awkwardly at his sides until he slowly wraps them around me.
“Thank you, Santi.” I burrow my face into his chest and cry in relief. “Thank you.”
12
Judge
I sit in my car and watch the condo. It’s a little after eleven at night. Two IVI guards lurk not so discreetly in a Rolls Royce, getting looks from every other resident of the small development. I understand why Santiago doesn’t have more discreet men here. Vincent Douglas is still a threat. He wants to be sure if Douglas wants to try to get at Mercedes, he’ll have to get past these two first.
At least with them around, I blend.
Or so I think until I hear a tapping at the passenger side window and turn to find Solana standing there, the hood of her wool cloak pulled over her head to shield herself from the drizzle.
When I don’t move to open the window right away, she gives me a look and points at the button that would lower it. I push it so it comes about a third of the way down.
“Yes?”
“You are scaring the neighbors.”
“No, that’d be the two soldiers in the Rolls.” I point as if anyone could miss them.
“You’re not exactly incognito here. Please tell me you realize that.”
“What do you want, Solana?”
She reaches into her giant bag and retrieves a jar. “Here. Your salve. You're probably running low if you’re using it as I instructed.”
I open the window a little wider and reach out and take it because I don’t think she’ll go away until I do.
“Madame Dubois told me you’d be here, so I brought it with me.”
“Madame Dubois is a crackpot.”
“She’s the real deal, Judge. And she told me a few things about you.”
“Like what?” Why am I playing along?
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.” She pulls her arm out, straightens, and looks up at the sky. “I’d better get inside. Mercedes is expecting us.” She gives me a grin just as Georgie pulls up, honking his hello to her as he parks directly in front of my car, just tapping his bumper to mine. He smiles at Solana, then glares pointedly at me and mouths an oops.
“For fuck’s sake.” I roll up my window and watch Solana slide her arm into Georgie’s. They walk together to Mercedes’s front door. He’s carrying an enormous bouquet of roses in every color but red and some sort of sparkling beverage, which I hope he realizes Mercedes won’t be drinking.
They ring the doorbell, and in the light over the front door, I see Mercedes when she greets them. When her eyes flit to me, my heart skips. But she is quick to look away, and her smile is for her friends. Not me.
I guess I’m not so incognito, not that I thought I was. Her hair is braided in one long, dark plait over her shoulder, and she has a turquoise shawl draped over her shoulders. I can’t see her swollen stomach because Georgie and Solana are standing in the way, and I find I want to. I want to see it more than anything else.
I set the jar of salve on the empty seat beside mine. Solana was right. I am almost out. And the stuff is good. That lashing will leave scars but less. She delivered the first jar to my office about a week after she busted in, telling me she only did it as a favor to Mercedes because in her opinion, which I didn’t care to hear but she shared nonetheless, I didn’t deserve it.
A few minutes later, I see the three of them gather around the kitchen table I remember from the last time I was there. Mercedes sets the flowers Georgie brought in a vase in the center, then moves to the window, where I swear she takes a pointed moment to look at me before swiftly shutting the blinds.
