Page 56 of Submit

I feel tears stinging the corners of my eyes. I want to wake up from this nightmare. I want to drag Casper back to bed and stay there until this whole thing blows over.

He walks to the door and opens it to find - who is undeniably - Luis Hielo standing on the other side, arms stretched wide and a grin to match. His presence alone is enough to startle me, but what really catches my attention is how much Luis looks like his older brother. If Cas had stuck around, I’m sure these two would have been an unstoppable force, probably never even having to make a demand. All the women, money, drugs, cars,anything, thrown at them for free. The smiles these two bare are indescribable.

Luis is eye to eye with Cas. He looks to be around thirty or so. Dressed in a tailored, gray suit, I can’t help but notice that his frame is leaner than Cas’s. Luis takes his brother in perhaps marveling at the family resemblance, himself, although Cas is rugged and rough around the edges while Luis seems softer, somehow less capable of handling himself the way Cas does.

Already missing the comfort of Casper’s embrace, I want to crawl in his arms but I know he has to do this on his own. Luis wraps his brother in a hug that Casper loosely returns. I silently wonder if he regrets this decision already until he speaks. His voice quivers just a fraction as he clears his throat to get rid of the emotion. I guess family reunions, no matter how strained, are emotional. Unfortunately, I’ll never experience another one of them myself.

“Lu, look at you. You’re a man.” Casper breaks the hug and holds his brother by the shoulders inspecting him.

“Twenty years will do that to a boy, Dom. Although you look like you’ve aged about forty years,” Luis teases like they haven’t spent almost two decades apart. It’s strange hearing Casper’s real name being casually tossed about.

“Yeah, it feels like it too, most days,” Casper replies, the sadness in his voice noticeable to my ears. “Where are your men?” he asks, changing the subject.

“I dropped them off with Mr. Von Hoff. I’m sure they’re getting cozy.” There is a small hint of a threat in his voice that makes Casper whip around with lightning speed and grab his brother by the lapels on his suit jacket. He smashes Luis against the wall of the foyer with ease. Morphing from emotionally damaged brother to lethal assassin in a split second.

I guess the reunion fuzzies are over.

“Make no mistake,brother, I called because I need your help but if you turn on me, I’ll make sure that my face is the last thing you see while you drown, choking in a pool of your own blood. I’ve already murdered one sibling. Don’t force me to make it two.”

Luis holds his open hands in the air. I have to give him credit, he doesn’t even flinch despite knowing that Casper would not hesitate to put Luis down if it meant protecting Richard. “Down, Dom. The men have strict orders that they aren’t so much as to sneeze in his direction. Your precious governor and his wife will be fine. Besides, they no longer hold appeal to me. Dear Mom and Dad have wasted too much time trying to push a deal that holds no long-term advantage. Even if weweregiven permission to drill, the supply is so small, we’d waste billions of dollars bringing in the equipment for only a few hundred million in oil. Either they didn’t do their research or it was more about their vendetta against the Dutch, which I’m not interested in.”

Casper slowly lets his brother down and Luis makes a show of straightening out his jacket.

“I don’t understand,” Casper admits.

“I wouldn’t expect you to. You left before they were ready to share the rest of the story,” Luis says and Casper and I quickly realize we’re waiting for an explanation that isn’t coming. Finally, Luis turns his attention to me. “You must be Elizabeth Baker.” Luis’ gaze rakes over me leaving my flesh burning in its wake. It’s not the good kind of heat. Not like the look Casper gives me. This gaze makes me want to slink into the shadows. It’s like looking at a possum with black, soulless, beady eyes...and his fangs out.

Casper moves ever so slightly in my direction, on edge and high alert.

The movement isn’t lost on Luis who chuckles. “Relax, brother. I won’t bite. Unless she asks for it, of course. I imagine it’s hard to deny her anything she wants.”

Casper snarls in response as Luis takes a step closer, starting to make a slow circle around me.

“My God, she is breathtaking, isn’t she? That flawless warm skin, those bright blue eyes.”

Casper cuts in to Luis’ assessment. “What do you know of her?Howdo you know of her?” He’s asking all the things I want to know but he is also revealing just how much Idon’tknow and I’m not sure I’m ready for Luis to have that kind of power over me yet. I won’t trust this man so easily.

“You forget how far the Hielos reach, hermano. I know a lot of things about a lot of people, but it just so happens that your Elizabeth here was destined to cross our path sooner or later. I’m glad to know it’ssooner.” He rakes his eyes over me again, making my skin crawl.

Unable to keep quiet any longer I ask, “Why?”

“Because, you are the key that unlocks the rest of my kingdom,” Luis says cryptically. “The key that Willem Van den Tweel wanted to get his greedy fingers on. I don’t know how he managed to find you but I could kiss him for placing you in my lap.”

Casper growls menacingly causing Luis to chuckle. “Proverbially speaking, of course.”

“What does that mean? How could I hold the key to anything?” I ask, frustrated.

“I’ll consider telling you what I can once we’re tucked safely inside the fortress back home.”

He’s bribing me. He thinks I’ll come back to Venezuela with him in exchange for information. But going from being one man’s prisoner to another’s doesn’t interest me. “In that case, you can keep your information, Mr. Hielo, I have no intention of accompanying you to Venezuela.”

Casper,yes, I’d willingly follow him anywhere, but I don’t see any reason to show my entire hand to this man just yet.

The smile that creeps across his features is cold, his eyes colder. “I’m afraid you have no choice. If you don’t agree to my terms, I’ll put a bullet in my brother’s head while you watch, then I’ll have my men overpower you and throw you on the boat anyway.” I cling to Casper as I inhale sharply knowing I’ve given too much away already.

Like hell.I feel a dragon waking in me and I confirm again, in that second, that I’ll happily cut down anyone who tries to take Casper from me. Luis continues, “I’ve been looking for you for quite a while,Elizabeth, and I almost hate to slaughter Van den Tweel since he brought you to me, but alas, it has to be done and I’ll threaten anything to ensure you’re on the boat back to Venezuela with me.”

“What do I have to do with anything? I’m an orphan from New Hampshire. Why have you been looking forme?” Panic is starting to grip my lungs and squeeze. I feel the edges of my vision growing hazy. In a second, Casper’s arm is around my shoulders.

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