Page 23 of His Gilded Cage

Carmella.

Veronica.

Carmella was dead to me and Veronica couldn’t help me, not anymore.

It was nightfall when I decided it was time. I walked into my bedroom and opened the safe besides the bed removing the handgun I’d purchased in case of emergencies. The truth was I’d become afraid I might use it while drunk, either shooting someone in a rage or shooting myself in despair. I’d locked the pistol up over a year before and forgotten about it until now.

I sat on the edge of my bed twisting the silver gun in the light.

With one pull of the trigger, I could right the scales of justice.

Luis had been pulling the strings for long enough. He had orchestrated my mother’s death, orchestrated my betrayal, and stolen the girl I’d loved and made a mockery of our past together.

A fair trial was too good for him.

He needed to pay.

I had a limited window to execute my plan. Carmella would be back in Guadalajara already. It was possible she had given me up to Luis but that would require her to reveal some truths that I imagined Luis might not bear well.

Will you tell him how I made love to you my darling?I wondered as I slipped the gun into my back pocket and walked towards the door.

Will you tell him how you begged me to fuck you again and again?I left the lights on. I didn’t bother locking the place. I had no intention of ever returning and I didn’t care if it was ransacked or burned to the fucking ground.

The lights were on at the main house in Guadalajara. I drove up to the gate and waved at the security guard. Years ago I had known all of the men who protected the grounds here by name. Now they all looked the same to me. They were an army of angry muscle bound thugs in dark suits.

“Good evening Mr. Amador,” the guard said, nodding as I drove past.

“Good evening.”

I felt high on adrenaline, my fingers shook as I gripped the steering wheel and parked in the drive.

It was just past 11:00 p.m. Luis was a night owl. The man could function on very little sleep. I saw the shadow of someone walking past a window upstairs. I froze for a moment before reaching around my back to feel the metal of the gun against my skin. It had warmed on the drive.

I wondered if Carmella was inside. Had she found a way to warn my father without giving herself away?

I climbed out of the car, making sure to pull down my shirt.

Then I walked through the front door of my father’s house with only one thought in my mind.

I wanted to look him in the eye when I pulled the trigger.

The house was quiet. I stood in the entry way uncertain of my next move, blood thrumming through my veins. My palms itched to hold the gun in my hand, but I couldn’t risk one of my father’s guards seeing the weapon. I was surprised that I hadn’t tripped a metal detector yet.

Maybe the old man was getting sloppy with age.

I walked up the front staircase, my footsteps quiet on the thick carpet. A housekeeper carrying a basket of freshly washed towels walked past me. I was shocked she was carrying the laundry up the main stairs but it was late at night. When I was a boy, my father had insisted the staff use the back stairs to avoid being seen.

I turned around and walked down the servant’s hallway to the creaky wooden stair reserved for the staff.

I doubted my father’s security system was as robust in this part of the house. It had been a long time since I’d passed through these halls but I knew I had a better chance of reaching his study this way.

The narrow staircase exited onto the first floor landing right next to my father’s study. The hall lights off, a beam of yellow light escaped from a crack in the doorjamb and under the door. The door was open.

I stood in the darkness wiggling my fingertips trying to get the blood moving in my hands. Then I nudged the door open slightly so the crack was wide enough for me to look inside.

Luis sat at his desk. His back to me, he stared out the open window facing the courtyard. The sound of crickets drifted in from the outside. When I breathed, I smelled the sweet scent of orange blossoms from my mother’s garden.

Luis wore a black jacket. His salt and pepper hair was closely shaved. His olive skin looked tan and rested. There was a noticeable slump in his shoulders.

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