Page 15 of Cutting Ties
Chapter 8
Anthony
Well, the rumors that her brother was a killer had just been confirmed, straight from the horse’s mouth. It certainly didn’t make me feel great about the situation, but it wasn’t enough to turn me away from her either. “Why did he do it? And how do you know it was him?”
“I know it was Asher because he told me he did it. Asher isn’t scared of anyone – he never has been, and certainly not his kid sister. He acts as though he’s invincible and perhaps on a certain level he is.”
“No one is too good to die.” I knew that from experience. Before I was a plastic surgeon, I’d been an ER doctor. I’d seen more than my fair share of deaths. Some doctors become immune to the sorrow that comes with losing a patient, I never did. That was part of the reason I’d become a plastic surgeon. It wasn’t all millionaire socialites, but also people with serious issues that only surgery could fix. For those people I provided fresh starts.
“Perhaps not, but he acts as judge, jury and executioner. That’s what happened with Alejandro. One of the worst things you can ever be is a snitch. Once you become part of the family, you remain part of the family. I met Alejandro at college. He was one of the smartest men I’d ever met and he had dreams of being a lawyer. He had his BA and was about to start law school. He’d proposed and I’d said yes. We had plans that once he finished law school we’d be married and start a family.”
The tears she’d fought so hard to withhold came freely now. “But Asher took him from me.”
“Why?” Reaching out to her, I began to stroke her long, dark hair, the satiny strands easily slipping through my fingers. “Why would he do that?”
“Asher claimed that Alejandro was talking to people.”
“Like the police?”
She laughed, but the sound was hollow. “La policia? No. The cartels here, they own the police in many senses. They look the other way. He was talking to someone much higher up than some silly local authority. My brother found out and killed him.”
“Do you think he was talking?”
She chewed at her lower lip and shook her head. “I do not know. But that doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t change the fact he’s dead and Asher still walks the earth.”
I sighed. Wow… Her confession hit home for me. I knew the risks when I came here. I knew that her family consisted of dangerous people, but that someone she loved was murdered by her own brother for allegedly snitching on them was a fucking scary concept. What if the day came along that Asher felt I was a threat to them?
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll hate him until the devil takes him away.” Tears flowed freely, smudging her eye make-up and sending it rolling down her cheeks in long black smears.
Pulling her into me all the way, I held her tight, allowing her to unload her sadness onto me. The information she’d provided should have sent me running. It would have sent any sane man running for the airport and never looking back.
But how could I?
I was in love with the woman lying next to me, her small hands clinging to my t-shirt as her tears saturated the cotton. “Shhh. It’s okay. I’ll always protect you, until my dying breath.”
Her sobs subsided and she looked up at me. Even looking like a deranged raccoon she was beautiful. “I need you to know what happened because I love you, Anthony. But I can’t put another man at risk.”
“Hey.” Using my thumb, I attempted to remove some of the black from her face, only to smear it worse. “I knew what I was getting into before I came here. You didn’t lie to me. I knew who your father was and suspected what your brother is capable of. I fell in love with you these past months because of who you are on the inside, and that won’t change now.”
A wide smile spread across her lips, despite the sadness in her eyes. “One man has died because of me. I can’t have more blood on my hands because someone else dared to love me.”
“These past few days were some of the best in my life. I’m not Alejandro. I pose no threat to your brother, father, or the business they’ve built here. I’m simply a doctor and I want to take you from this world. I can only hope your family sees I’m not here to make waves or disrupt their business, but to bring you happiness.”
She sniffed and wiped at her face with the back of her hand. Looking down at her hands she grimaced. “I must look horrible.”
I couldn’t keep from laughing. “You’ve looked better, but still stunning.”
Her mood lightened and she laughed with me, placing a delicate kiss on the side of my neck. Looking back up at me, her expression turned serious again. “I love you Anthony. But I will understand if you want to change your mind about me and go back. It’s not too late to forget about me and go on with your life.”
I shook my head, my heart breaking a bit at the thought of going anywhere without her. “I love you. More than I’ve ever loved anyone. The only way I’m going back to my life is with you at my side.” As I said the words, I meant it. This was a dangerous situation, but I felt strongly that we could make it work. I wasn’t foolish enough to think I could stop the cartels in Colombia. If history were to repeat itself as it tended to do, if her family was stopped, then another one – or perhaps several –would spring up in its place. My personal opinion on her family and their enterprise was irrelevant. The only thing that mattered to me was getting her out of this situation and starting our life together.
Valentina
For the first morning in as long as I could remember, when I awoke, I woke with a smile on my face. I’d been carrying the weight of Alejandro’s death on my shoulders for a long time now and I’d carried it alone. I’d never been able to vent or mourn his loss, for fear that my family would think I was in on his plan to expose everything. Until that night.
That night felt like it might be a fresh start for me. I could start over and love Anthony freely. I would always have feelings for my first love, but I could now move on to the man I hoped would be the second and final love of my life.
Slowly I opened my eyes. Arching my back, I relished the pull of the muscles in my body coming awake. Settling back into the mattress, I stared up at the white ceiling as the bright morning sun shone through the crack in the maroon drapes. Anthony was lying next to me, breathing heavily, but not quite snoring.
