Page 13 of Capuleto

"Who the hell are you and where did you come from? Are you the new whore for the González? Tell that bunch of assholes not to come at me with this type of message." He tied his robe, which left a bulging belly and scant groin exposed.

"Here the only whore is the one who was sucking you off in that room, if she could even find it under all that lard."

"Did you come to my house to insult me? You have no fucking idea what you're doing!"

"You're the one who has no fucking idea," I commented, moving dangerously closer. His men drew their weapons. "Don't even think about it or I'll blow his brains out!" I threatened. El Gordo gestured to restrain them.

"You come into my house, smash the urn, threaten me... You're either a fucking lunatic looking to get killed, or you'd better have a good reason for all this."

"I heard you're doing business with some slant-eyed guys. You know, those yellow ones that look like they eat lemons." —He raised his eyebrows.

"And? You have a phobia of yellow or something?"

"No, what happens is you've opened an exclusive joint where new merchandise has come in, and they've been supplying you."

"Are we talking drugs or whores?"

"We're talking about my wife." I pulled out my phone and shoved a picture of Nikita in front of his eyes.

"She's got nice tits."

I pulled the phone away and disengaged the safety on my pistol.

"Don't you dare think about her in those terms." El Gordo raised his hands.

"I didn't mean any offense."

"She was kidnapped in Santorini a week ago. I got a tip she might be in your club."

"No idea, I haven't been there for a few days. I knew some new stock was coming in, but I don't know if your wife was among the new ones. If you send me the photo, I could send it to..."

"I'm not passing anything to you. You're coming with us right now and we're going to check it out."

"Or what?" I snapped my fingers with my left hand, and my men created new holes for his non-existent paintings. "Alright! Alright! Stop wrecking the place, damn it!"

"Don't worry about this; if you return what's mine, I'll write you a check for the inconvenience that could remodel the entire neighborhood. I'm a man of my word."

"Who the hell are you?" he wanted to know.

"R Capuleto. You haven't dealt with me, but I imagine my last name isn't unfamiliar to you."

"You could have started with that instead of setting up this whole circus. Give me five minutes to change, and we'll go. Oh! And tell your thugs to lower their assault rifles. My guys aren't going to shoot them."

He turned around and went back into the room.

7

Truths that hurt

Ilooked with disgust at the man who was undressing in front of me.

No matter how drugged and tied up I was, my stomach churned at the thought of him touching me. I knew it was part of the plan, that whether I liked it or not, I had to submit, and yet, I couldn’t calm my insides.

I had been away from everything and everyone for a week, except for my brother. We retreated to his summer house, located on the island of Menorca, in the exclusive area of Sa Farola in Ciutadella. I needed time to think, to recover, to adjust to new circumstances, and to tip the scales. He was my favorite brother, my partner in adventures and in childhood! And now I perceived him almost as a stranger, when in fact he had always been in my mind and in my heart.

My brother had acted wrongly, and so had my father. Or at least it seemed so to me. Perhaps if I had been Yuri instead of Nikita, I would see it differently. It's always said that there is no absolute truth or only one prism through which to view things. Therefore, I couldn't judge him so harshly.

M.F. Moonzajer said that loyalty was staying by someone's side even if their actions were against your will.

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