Page 40 of Submit

Something about the privacy of this room and the comfortable, familiar banter between people who clearly care about each other makes me bold. I sit a little straighter and turn to Casper. “What’s your real name?”

I don’t miss the look of alarm that Beatrice sends to Casper and if I’m not mistaken, she shakes her head slightly. Is it really that bad for me to know his first name? I already know which family he belongs to.

“I’ll tell you one day, but not today.”

I return his earlier shrug like it makes no difference to me, but of course it does. I tried to Google him that night at Johanna’s but nothing personal on the Hielo family came up. There were several headlines about their ruthlessness and what crimes they supposedly committed, but nothing could ever be confirmed and they still walk free. Oddly, no full names are ever listed.

“Okay, Casper Hielo it is then.”

“Briceño,” he corrects immediately. When I look at him puzzled, he elaborates. “My last name here on the island is Briceño. Richard gave me new papers, remember? Here, I’m Paulo Briceño. Or Casper.”

“Right.” I’m having a hard time keeping up. “Paulo?” I say skeptically, tasting the name on my tongue. It doesn’t feel right for him. “You don’t look like a Paulo.”

He drops his voice an octave as he licks his lips. “What do I look like?”

Taking the opportunity to assess him fully, I drag my eyes lazily over his features, getting drunk on the man in front of me. Now that I have a minute to inspect him up close, I notice that his striking green eyes have a thin ring of gold around the middle. They are absolutely breathtaking and I feel my breathing falter as I make the discovery. I’m unaware of the fact that I’ve moved closer to him on the couch and I have to work hard to stop myself from trailing a finger over his perfect nose and strong jawline. I don’t stop my eyes as they follow that exact path, however.

Beatrice cuts in, reminding us that we aren’t alone in the room. To be honest, I completely forgot she was here. She clears her throat as I sit back on the couch, trying to get my breathing under control and I snap my mouth shut realizing I never even answered his question.

She chuckles quietly before growing serious again. “Okay, first order of business, we need a timeline. You can’t be left alone with Will once you tell him you’re leaving.”

I immediately bristle. “Will would never hurt me.”

“We thought you might say that,” Casper says as he reaches for a folder on the table. I had been unaware of its presence until just this moment. “Before I show these to you, I can’t say for certain whether or not Will’s hands have ever taken another man’s life, but I have the proof to know that his words have. He’s ordered the deaths of at least five men over the last six years.”

He hands me a stapled stack of papers that has a list of names and highlighted phrases from an email address I don’t recognize on one sheet and headshots of four men and a woman fill the other pages. I’m so shocked that I immediately launch into the denial stage.

“There’s no way. I’m starting to think you guys have the wrong person. I mean, this isWillem.He doesn’t get overly emotional aboutanything! Certainly not angry enough to kill a man for God’s sake!”

Casper stays quiet as he clarifies, “I never said he was angry or emotional when he did it.”

I try to let his words sink in. Is he calling Will a sociopath? I scan my brain for the last two years looking for evidence of this to be true as Casper continues to talk. “Mostly, it seems there’s no emotion in it at all. He conducts it like a business transaction. Cold and calculated but from what I can tell, he never pulls the trigger or wields the knife himself.” Almost as an afterthought he adds, “It’s easier to stay detached that way,” as his eyes fall to the floor.

Myeyes fly to him. Even in my shocked state, it isn’t lost on me that he didn’t say it’sprobablyeasier to stay detached that way. I realize he’s speaking from experience.He’spulled the trigger or wielded the knife that took someone’s life.

Why doesn’t that bother me more than it does?

“Who? Why?” I start uttering single word questions, my brain begging for answers. Thankfully he knows I’m asking who Willem has had murdered, not who he, Casper himself, has killed.

“People who railroaded V&V Industries. Willem isn’t just a shark in the boardroom. He has a reputation for getting things done.” This I knew. “He gets them done because he cuts down the opposition and doesn’t play by anyone’s rules but his own.”That, I did not know.

Immediately, my head snaps to Beatrice. “Richard!” I cry, realizing that surely, he must be the next target if this wind farm doesn’t get approved and Bea already said that I need to get away from Will before the proposal is denied.

“Richard is being guarded around the clock. I told you we already thwarted one attempt. Richard and Bea know there will be more. It’s the reason for the guard gate, the surveillance, and the personal detail,” Casper answers. He’s sitting casually with one arm draped across the back of the couch as if we weren’t discussing a life-threatening situation.

As the shock wears off, I tell him that I felt like I was being followed the other day and ask if it was him or one of his men.

“No. It wasn’t. And it’s not good if Will is having you followed.”

I feel my temper start to rise to the surface. “What have I done that would make him follow me? I’ve invited him along. I text him my plans. I even texted him before I came up here! He’s turned down just about every attempt I’ve made to hang out with himandhe’s the one inviting female co-workers over to drink my champagne in the middle of the day…on aSunday!” I tick my points off on my fingers, my anger growing with each one.

Bea, however, remains calm. “Perhaps he feels you pulling away, dear. Willem is the type of man who has probably had things planned out for a while and has the perfect vision for how his empire looks. My guess is that he either wanted you to join him as an obedient, subservient wife, much like Marcel’s wife, Dania, or he now suspects that he won’t be able to tame you and needs to figure out what to do with you.”

“Do with me? Why wouldn’t he just break up with me like a normal person?” My anger is quickly being replaced by fear.

Beatrice continues, “Because he isn’t a normal person. We fear if he suspects you’ve moved on, not only would that humiliate him, but it would also mean leaving behind a loose end.” She pushes my tea toward me, encouraging a calming sip. I’m beyond being able to be consoled by a warm beverage right now.

“As far as he knows, I don’t even know anything. It’s not like I’ve gone home and asked him politely over dinner if any of this is true. And I sure as hell haven’t gone home and mentionedyou,” I say, looking at Casper.

---