Page 61 of Defy

I promised Irina that if I could find a way to get us out, she could come with us and start a new life that was all her own. I haven’t thought this all the way through yet, but I owe Camila the same offer. Hell, I probably owe her more.

I couldn’t save Adriana. I couldn’t save my mother. I couldn’t save Irina. Perhaps, I can help Camila get the life she always wanted.

When I turn the corner, she’s sitting at our kitchen table, worrying her lip through her teeth as she should be. I can tell she’s heard the news and has been waiting for me to show up.

“Is she okay?” The fact that Camila’s first question is about Libby and not Luis makes me soften toward her a little more.

“She’s fine. Luis is dead though.” Might as well rip the band-aid off.

I gauge her response but she doesn’t look surprised. Or particularly sad. I choose not to divulge the details about Libby being the one who killed him. It will be hard enough to have peace between these two as it is.

~

THE NEXT SEVENTY-TWO hours are a blur. Turning over an entire cartel’s empire involves a lot of steps. No one fought the handover. It would have been pointless anyway. I’m the only surviving member of the Hielo family, so what I say goes and I say Mateo’s now in full ownership of everything my family owned.

Good riddance.

I thought briefly about attending the Hielo service just for my mother, but decided that our last moment should be left as that: our last. Instead, I choose to spend the day of their service at Adriana’s gravesite with Mateo, Libby, and Diego. Camila took me up on the offer to find a new life, but Libby wasnothappy, so Camila decided to hang back.

I’ve never been to Adriana’s grave since I left before she was buried, and I’m swallowing my grief every second we drive up the hill. I didn’t realize closure hurt so much.

When we park, I unfold my frame from Mateo’s truck and I can’t help but notice that it seems almost cruel that the sun is shining and the warm breeze feels radiant against my skin. I think this warm sunny day is a gift from Adriana for finally exacting revenge and I smile into it with tears pouring down my cheeks. I don’t bother to wipe them away.

Here I am, tears and all, feeling her presence around me.

Everyone else disappears and gives me space while I put my face to the ground at the bottom of her headstone and pour my heart out to my sister and beg her for forgiveness one more time. I try to tell her that I did what I said I would do and that I hope she can truly rest now but she’ll have to see it in my heart because my words are indecipherable.

When my sobs slow to deep breaths and a steady stream of quiet tears, Libby comes to kneel next to me and places her head on my shoulder.

“Anyone who’s lucky enough to have been loved by you has lived a wonderful life, Cas. Even if it’s brief.”

I want to tell her how much she would have enjoyed Adriana as an older sister. How kind Adriana was and so full of life. How she loved anything that glittered…but I can’t. The words are stuck in my throat. Maybe in time.

Mateo kneels slowly on my other side with help from Diego. “It’s time to let her go, Dominic.”

I know he’s right. I’ve held on to my rage, fury and vengeance for far too long, but selfishly, I thought it would be easier to let go than this.

Inhaling deeply and pressing a goodbye kiss to my sister’s headstone, I grab Libby’s hand and turn back toward the car.

As we bump along the road, Mateo and Diego up front, Libby and I in the back, Mateo wraps up another loose end for me.

“I went ahead and had a tombstone placed in your honor along with your family.” His eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror so I know he can see the question in my features.

“The Dutch don’t want to give me their money, Dominic. They don’t want anything to do with any of this anymore. You see, I killed you this afternoon and buried you alongside your mother. May you rest in peace. As long as you’ve been wiped off the face of the earth, they’re content to never hear the name Hielo again and lucky for you, I have a plan so they never do.”

Twenty

BACK AT THE HOUSE, Mateo gives Libby a locket of her mother’s that has pictures of her and her sister as babies in it. I watch Mateo as Libby puts the necklace on immediately and fingers it around her neck. It’s easy to see that parting with that treasure is physically painful for him but he recovers fast when she reaches out and pulls him into a hug.

While she and Diego are looking through old photos, Mateo pulls me aside and hands me a large manilla envelope.

“What’s this?”

“Your future, Dominic. And your freedom.”

I open the envelope to find U.S. passports for Libby and I under the names Casandro and Isabel Guerrero.

“I hope you don’t mind. I took the liberty of renaming you. I chose a last name meaning warrior because you saved my daughter from a terrible fate. Also, because I can’t thank you enough for caring for Adriana while she was here as well. For your first name, well, I hear you had a nickname you were quite fond of in Aruba.” He casts a glance at Diego who somehow must have been able to track down more information on me once he knew where’d I’d been. “Casandro was as close as I could get to Casper without being alarmingly obvious should anyone dig, and that way if Daniella slips and calls you by your nickname, it’s close enough to not raise questions.”

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