Page 25 of Bad Blood
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll be the one to take everything you have left, and it will no longer be my father you have to worry about.”
I laugh. “Now is not the time for jokes, Mateo.”
“Jokes? That’s all I’ve been to you this whole time, a joke, haven’t I? Well let me leave you to laugh alone.”
I reach for his arm and he slaps my hand away. “Don’t touch me. I should have never let you to begin with. This whole time you thought I didn’t know, but I did. I knew you couldn’t really want me. After all, who would want someone weak and helpless,” he spits. He turns away but I don’t reach for him again, no matter how much it kills me. I want to tell him I did want him. I wanted him from the moment I laid eyes on him, from the moment I slipped my coat over his shoulders. But I don’t because I’m the weak one here, not him. I’ve fought against my feelings for him for weeks, shoving them down in a place of my mind and locking them away. “Mateo...wait!”
He spins around mid-walk. “What? What do you want? You want your revenge? Well I’m right here, come get it. What has taken you so damn long, huh?”
“I couldn’t do it anymore. Not to you. This is between your father and me. You have no role in this.”
“Not anymore, it isn’t. You dragged me into this and now I can’t escape it. I can’t escape you. Even if you do leave from here and never come back, you will never leave my mind.”
“Mateo...”
“Goodbye, Gabriel.”
He walks away and I don’t stop him. My gaze follows him until he disappears into the dark night. I stand there like the helpless man I am, watching the one good thing in my life walk away from me forever. Before I thought I had lost everything. It turns out I was wrong. On the other hand, I guess you can’t lose something you never had.
23
Mateo
Iwant to scream and shout and tear things apart as I walk back across the street. Instead of going inside, I walk to my car, kicking the dirt with my brown boots. I get in the driver’s seat, putting the key in the ignition, and stop moving when my gaze is met with someone else’s. The man in the mirror smiles and it’s unnerving taking notice of the darkness filling his eyes at each further stretch of his thin lips. “Hello there, pretty boy.”
It’s the man from the club, the one Santiago kicked out almost a month ago. Before I can speak, he presses a knife to my neck. “I’d think about your next move very carefully.”
I close my eyes as the knife presses against my skin. I remain still, gripping the seat with my fingers. I don’t want to know or see what’s about to happen. I let myself drift off into my safe space, instead it’s no longer me playing in the garden with my brother, it’s being pressed against a tree by Gabriel.
As much as I don’t want him to be, Gabriel has become my safe haven. I tremble at the touch of cold hands sliding beneath my coat and the smell of liquor and cigarettes hangs so strongly in the air. It pulls me further away from my memories, bringing me back to reality as the man’s hands slip further down my body. Bang! Everything shakes and goes blurry around me, and time stands still with a loud ringing in my ears.
I open my eyes and there is broken glass around me and the guy is motionless in the back seat. I step out of the car and a black sedan drives up. I think it’s Gabriel until a man I’ve never seen before gets out. “Get in the car.”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t want to.”
“I said get in the car. It’s at your fiancé’s request.”
I swallow hard and another guy gets out and walks toward the backseat of my car. “I’ll get this mess cleaned up and call for Ivan to take care of the body.”
The other guy nods and opens the back door of the sedan and I climb in. I jump up in my seat when I notice I’m not alone. “Hola, mi amor.Did you have a good time tonight? I hope so, because it will be your last night out for a while. Driver, takes us to the Jeventino mansion.”
“Yes, sir.”
He reaches for my hand and I shake it off. Sneering, he grabs it again and places it on his leg, wrapping his fingers in mine. “I’m going to help get you home and we are going to have a nice little talk. In the meantime,mi amor, I got you that tea you love so much.”
He hands me the warm cup and I clasp it in my free hand, staring down at the Styrofoam. “Drink it. It will help settle you.”
“Did you kill that man?”
He laughs, and his head falls back on the seat. “Yes. He touched what’s mine after being warned before. Looks like someone else should have died right along with him. I need him living for now though.”
“Who?”
He laughs again. “Oh, Mateo, you and your stupid questions. You know damn well who. Now please,mi amor,drink your tea.”
Needing to feel the warmth in my throat, I sip my tea and calming music comes from the front of the car. It’s even more soothing than the tea. My eyes grow heavy and my body becomes relaxed. I know something must be off because I am never at this much ease when I’m near Santiago. It can only mean one thing. My head grows too heavy to hold up and I willingly let Santiago place it on his shoulder.The asshole drugged me.
