Page 56 of Defy

“Yes.” I don’t hesitate even though a warning is blaring in my head.Nothing lasts forever.

He nods. “Then this ends today.”

Eighteen

WHEN MY PARENTS PULL UP, we hear multiple car doors slam because of course they wouldn’t come alone.

I hear my father’s angry voice through the open window in the adjacent living room and a sudden random thought pops into my head:it sure will be a shame to stain all that white furniture red.

“Mateo,” Omar calls from outside, “I believe you have something of mine.”

The guard that had been watching Luis moves to open the front door, a semi-automatic rifle in his capable hands.

While everyone is focused on what’s happening at the door, Mateo leans down and whispers in my ear. One more question meant only for me to hear.

My answer is a slight, but unmistakable nod.

“Omar. Imelda. I’d say it’s a pleasure but we both know that’s a lie. And if you’re here to discuss things I have that are yours, perhaps you’d be willing to make a trade. Your kingdom for your sons.”

Checkmate.

“This isn’t a fair-trade situation, Mateo. We came to destroy you,” my mother spits at him.

“And yet, I hold all the cards,” Mateo replies calmly.

It’s then that I feel the guard behind me nudge my back with his knee and tug lightly on the ropes at my wrist. I assume he’s securing everything in place until I feel the butt of a gun hit my hand.

He’s arming me. I can’t explain why the grips on this pistol feel familiar but I swear I’ve held it before. The weight, the ridges, they’re not standard pistol grips.

I look around the room and realize I’m the only one whose hands were tiedbehindhis back. Diego, Irina, and Luis’ hands are all tied down to opposite legs of their chairs, in plain sight.

I suppress a grin. Mateo is a sneaky bastard but he must trust I love Libby with my whole person, the way I loved Adriana. The same but also very, very different.

I need to wait for the right moment. So many thoughts are rolling around my head right now it’s hard to keep them straight.

If I shoot Luis now, Libby will be dead immediately because my parents can’t see inside this room. They won’t know it was me that shot him and they’ll assume it was Mateo’s guard. Same goes for Irina – who I had no intention of harming but she crossed a line when she deceived me and threatened Libby.

I listen more to the exchange happening outside. Mateo is on his doorstep with the front door cracked behind him.

“Luis? Dominic?” my mother calls.

“I’m here!” Luis calls.

“Mother, I’m good.” I choose my words carefully, knowing Imelda will catch on. I’m good because Libby is safe. If Libby is safe, then whatever happens is okay. I wish there was more time to get to know the real Imelda Hielo. The one I caught brief, truthful glimpses of over the last week. The mother who was able to show emotion with her eyes when she couldn’t use her words. The one who admitted to loving the daughter she stole. The one who learned how to apologize. I think back over the moments I caught her watching Libby and I and it clicks; she was going to make Libby a bartender to protect her. To provide a barrier between her and those who would grab, grope, and touch. She couldn’t tell my father no but she tried to protect Libby - and me - as best she could.

My heart falters and I make a silent vow to try and get my mother out of here alive.

Mateo speaks next, “Both of your sons sought me out themselves, here, onmyproperty if you care to know. It was a member ofyourhousehold that broke the treaty we agreed upon.”

“No…” my mother says but her voice trails off. She sounds horrified but I don’t understand why. I don’t know what treaty they’re discussing.

“Yes.”

“How?”

Again, my mother is showing her hand by admitting she’s in the dark. A careless move for her but in this moment I’m thankful, because I’d like to know the rest of the story as well.

“Your youngest son, approached my man, Jugo Garcia, seeking permission to meet with me. Supposedly, he had news of my daughter.”So that’s what Luis was doing walking out to the car. Such a careless move, it would have been better if he’d been buying drugs.“Naturally, I declined the request until Jugo showed me a photo of a woman whose eyes I’d know anywhere. The day she was born they were all anyone could talk about. Young Luis would have me believe that Dominic had spent the last eighteen years traveling abroad in search of my sweet Daniella and when he found her, he brought her back to be slaughtered. Of course, that didn’t sound right because I know what I saw the day you fooled Dominic into murdering Adriana. But I’m an old man and all I wanted was the truth, so I decided to go along with this rendezvous to feel things out for myself. It didn’t take long for Luis’ temper to get the best of him and he revealed that,”oh shit, I know what’s coming next,“Dominic is, in fact, in love with Daniella and wants nothing more than to see her live.” I hear no gasps from my parents telling me that perhaps I didn’t play my part as well as I thought I had. Mateo continues, “Now,thatsounded more believable for the man who was ready to die when he pulled the trigger on my firstborn daughter. Not to mention, Dominic didn’t deny it.”

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