I swallow hard, tugging my arm away. “That won’t be necessary.”
I hurry off to the stairwell, and when he is out of sight, I rush up the steps to my room, making sure my feet are light against the marble, afraid to draw attention to myself. In my room, I slide off the jacket, and something light hits the floor. A folded piece of paper rests by my feet. I take my time bending down to pick it up, crumpling the corner when I read the black cursive words strewn across the paper.
Meet me by the fountain out back in the garden when everybody leaves.
There is no signature at the bottom, and I can only assume the man I met outside intentionally left it there for me. Perhaps red flags should flood my mind but instead I remain intrigued, wanting to know who the stranger was, wanting to know whose jacket I hold in my hands.
“Mateo!” a loud voice laced with annoyance calls from below the stairs. The voice that reminds me of my life as a prisoner. I walk toward it, clutching the note in my hand. The one that may lead me to the small bit of freedom I crave. I won’t let him take this from me.
2
Gabriel
Ihad him. I was so close to getting my revenge; it was staring me right in the face. The moment his gaze met mine, I was frozen in place, all coherent thoughts escaping my mind. He wasn’t what I expected. He was nothing like his father. He was small, with a head full of soft curls spiraling against his head. They were falling into his face, grazing his defined cheekbones. His full luscious lips were red, probably from the combination of the champagne and cold air.
His voice was soft and delicate. No sign of the maliciousness his father or fiancé held.His fiancé.The man made my skin crawl and I couldn’t help but clench my jaw at the mention of his name. The man was a leech, always waiting for the right moment to pounce and take what wasn’t his. Once he married Mateo, he would take from him too.
Not if I took it first.
I walk through the wet, tall grass, distancing myself from the loud music, bright lights and shouting voices. The anticipation grows, as I watch each person disperse from the large, white, stucco mansion. I stand by the gray fountain shaped like an angel and lean against the hard, cold cement, waiting. The house grows quieter and one by one each light shuts off. I stare near the large balcony with the light left on. Shadows of what appears to be two people move behind the thin curtains. It’s hard to make out their shapes from here. Minutes later, the shadows move, and the lights turn off.
The house is left completely dark, and as I’m ready to give up and walk away, I see someone walking down the narrow stairway from the balcony. My hand rests on my gun, being prepared for whoever is walking my way. Once I notice someone wrapped in my jacket, with a head full of curly hair moving against the cold night’s air, I relax, taking my hand off my weapon.
He came, just like I told him to.
This was way too easy. No, he is nothing like his father. Miguel never made anything easy and he smelled a trap from miles away. There was no way Mateo did, because who would walk into one willingly? Who would come outside to meet a stranger, being aware of all their family’s enemies? It’s not unheard of for others to go after a cartel boss’s family and loved ones. If anything, it’s to be expected, and that’s why they were usually surrounded by guards. Not Mateo. He was alone. He appeared as this little sweet lamb and I was the lion about to claim my prey.
The frozen grass crunches beneath his feet and he stops in front of me, staring. No hint of fear to be found. “Who are you and why are you here?”
I smile, mockingly. “If you were smart, you would have tossed that letter and stayed inside your room.”
He tugs on the lapels of my coat, licking his lips. “If you were smart, you never would’ve come here at all. If you plan on harming me, you’ll live to regret it.”
“Typical Jueventino, always with the threats and always assuming everything is about you.”
“Don’t call me that,” he sneers.
“But it is your name, isn’t it? You are the son of Miguel Jeventino.”
“Last time I checked, I was only me.” His eyes become distant and his face mimics the way a lost child’s would.
“And who might that be?” I inch closer, noticing the fresh forming bruise on his left cheek becoming more apparent underneath the fountain lights. Those moving figures behind the balcony doors earlier weren’t just two people talking, they were two people fighting.
“Mateo, just Mateo.”
I graze his cheek with my thumb, and he flinches from my touch. “Who did this to you, Mateo?”
“It doesn’t really matter, does it? It has nothing to do with why you’re here. If you are here to kidnap me, then you better hurry before my father realizes I’m gone, or before Santiago comes back.”
My eyes are locked on him like magnets and I’m more intrigued than ever. He is giving himself to me willingly. But why? He is nothing like I expected he would be. The impending fear I was used to seeing in others was nowhere to be found in him. No, I won’t be taking him tonight. I’ll wait until he’s begging for me to do it. I’ll earn his trust and then destroy everything he ever thought he was. Thinking it was all his idea, and not a kidnapping, he will be nothing, or no one, by the time I’m through with him. How would his father feel about the son of his old partner taking his son for his own personal plaything? The thought alone has me smiling wide. “We won’t be going anywhere, Mateo. You will go back to your room like the good boy you are, and you will pretend you never saw me.”
He scrunches his face up in confusion. “Why did you invite me out here tonight if it wasn’t to take me? Is this something Santiago put you up to? Is it some test of loyalty?”
“If it was, you would have failed badly. Be glad it has nothing to do with anyone but you and me. Now hand me my jacket and run along.”
He tugs off the jacket, handing it over with a look of hesitation. “Are you going to tell me who you are?”
“Who I am is of no importance to you. The less you know, the better. Go back inside now, Mateo. We will meet again very soon.”
