Page 15 of Defy

He starts to walk away but I keep talking to his back. “Perhaps if either of you cared to share even a modicum of truth, I wouldn’t have created thismessin the first place.” My tone works and he pauses before turning back to look at me. When he stays silent, I press on. “How do you even know about Willem anyway and why do the Dutch have a direct line to you? I thought you fucking hated them after screwing you over in the energy deal all those years ago?” The deal that would have made my parents billionaires overnight.

Omar and Imelda share a look as if they’re debating what to share with me and I just can’t figure out how it matters at this point. Finally, my father shakes his head and says, “Not yet. I don’t trust him.”

“I killed a man for you this morning!” I yell, outraged that ending another man’s life isn’t cause enough to trust me.Granted, they shouldn’t trust me because I want to destroy their empire but, Christ, what am I going to have to do to get back in their good graces?

“I said,yet,Dominic, notnever.” With that, he walks away.

Before she turns to go after him, my mother says softly, “I’m sorry, Dom, but I’m also glad you’re back.”

That’s twice now she’s apologized. Until this moment, I’d never heard her utter one word of remorse or apology, let alone two. Could I have misjudged my mother? Is it possible that she carries her own demons around on her shoulders?

I need to blow of some steam and since I can’t fight and I can’t fuck, I go in search of Diego and ask if he’ll go down to the shooting range with me. I don’t have access to the weapons in the armory but he does and I figure it’s better to operate under theask for forgiveness, not permissionrule when dealing with my parents.

As I make my way back into the house, I hear a familiar female voice that causes me to pick up my speed and make a beeline toward the foyer.

“Yes, I understand. Stay out of the personal bedrooms and –” Libby is interrupted by my outburst.

“Oh,FUCK no.” My voice booms off the stone walls in the entryway. “She’s not one of your whores, Luis. No way in hell am I letting her prance around this house inthatfor every member of this household and its staff to see. It’s bad enough she’s here at all. You’re not going to put her on display for everyone.”

Luis has Libby dressed up in a black, low cut, skin tight cocktail dress with the world’s tiniest white apron around her waist. It looks like a slutty French-maid Halloween costume.

I can’t imagine who he borrowed it from.

He laughs at my anger which only pisses me off even more. I swear, once I can use my right arm again and I can inhale to a normal depth, all these assholes are going down. He trails his fingers up the back of her thigh and eyes me the entire time.

Originally, I hadn’t planned to kill him. The last thing I want is another sibling’s death on my hands, but he just crossed a line and signed his own death warrant.

No one touches what’s mine.The shadow of the man I used to be is becoming more solid every day.

“She’ll do whatever I say, Dominic. Besides, I thought a little practice might be good before she hits the stage.” He moves his hand to her lower back and ushers her away. “Come on,Libby,I’ll show you where to start.” Luis throws a smirk over his shoulder as he grabs his dick, insinuating that she can start with it.

I never thought there would be a time in which I’d be happy to see my mother but she turns the corner in that moment and sees what’s happening. “Oh, for God’s sake, Luis. She isn’t a dress-up doll and you wouldn’t know the first thing about cleaning this place.” She reaches out and pulls Libby to her. “Come with me. Let’s get you out of this ridiculous outfit and into something more suitable. Although, I’m not opposed to the idea of adding you to the housekeeping staff for now if you’d rather not stay confined to your room. With strict rules in place, of course.”

“Yes, please. I’d be happy to help,” Libby says with a meekness I know she’s putting on for show.

“Great. Luis, get back to work. Dominic…” She trails off, unsure what to say to me.

I just nod and turn my back on them. Once they’re all gone, I whisper to myself, “Sleep with one eye open, brother,” before continuing my search for Diego. Realizing I’m no closer to finding out what role Libby plays in all of this, I feel my frustration rising.

Six

“POLLITO!” DIEGO SAYS with a smile when I find him scouring monitors and typing something into a laptop. He’s a jack of all trades around here. It seems he’s become my parents’ right-hand-man.

“Diego,” I nod. “Any chance you want grab a couple pistols and take me to the range?”

He cocks an eyebrow at me. “They letting you play with more weapons so soon?”

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them.” I shoot him a devious smile.

“Oh no, I’m not getting on their bad side for you, brother. I’m not as valuable to them as you are, so what they don’t know can definitely hurtme.” He goes back to looking at the monitors in front of him.

“Didn’t you say if I needed anything to let you know? Right now, I need more practice at shooting a pistol left-handed. If they find out, throw me under the bus. Tell them I lied and told you I had permission. I knowyoucan make it convincing and you knowI’lltake the fall.”

He mulls it over for about ten seconds and then smiles, shakes his head, and agrees. Grabbing two pistols and about twelve loaded magazines from a drawer, we head out the back door and down the left side of the property.

We make small talk and try to catch up while still feeling out the new boundaries of our friendship. I can tell my presence makes him nervous by the glances he keeps throwing over his shoulder on the lookout for my parents.

“Diego, I got you. I’ll take full responsibility if they come down here,” I reiterate. He relaxes, but not fully and my guilt kicks in. Why should he trust me? I abandoned him just like I did everyone else.

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