Page 13 of Sold Blood
“I know and I’m sorry. I never intended to be gone this long. I never wanted to leave to begin with, but if I didn’t leave when I did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today. I would be a rotting corpse, buried six feet under and there would have been no coming back for me. Someone wanted me dead ten years ago and I can’t help but feel they are involved with my boyfriend's disappearance.”
“What is it you want? I’m guessing you’re not here for a family reunion.”
"I need some information on a man named Santana and I think you can help me."
He tilts his head to the side, folding his arms. "And you expect me to help a complete stranger who claims to be my dead brother?"
"Please, Mateo. I know you don't owe me anything and I can't expect you to even want anything to do with me after I left you here...I swear I never thought she'd hurt her own son. I would have never left if I did, but who knows what would happen if I stayed, how much worse it would have been—"
"I probably would have never been engaged to Santiago and spent years feeling like nothing but a disappointment to our grandfather and being our father’s only hope for staying at the top. But I also would have never met Gabriel Castaneda and Julia probably would have never gotten what she deserved. Things happened how they needed to happen. I know that now. I also know we can't change the past, but we can plan the future and I'd rather have one with my older brother in it."
"And Father?"
He stares at the house and back at me laughing. "Honestly, I think he will be happy to know there's another Juventino alive."
"I guess only time will tell. After spending years running and hiding, I'd hate to have done it all just to be killed by my own father when returning home."
"Then maybe you should get out of the damn car already and stop hiding out like some fucking spy."
Behind my brother, my father Miguel Juventino stands tall in one of his suits with his lips formed into a thin line. "Welcome home, mijo. It's about time you've decided to come back up to join the living."
I shove open the car door and stand between Mateo and my father, staring them up and down. We were never the hugging family or the type to throw “I love you’s” around either. A few simple nods of respect from my brother and my father would be the closest I get to any kind of affection or welcome home. "We should go inside before we draw too much attention. No one needs to know you're here. Not yet."
I nod, following my brother and father down a long concrete path through a gate, leading to a large mansion made of mostly glass windows. The way it's decorated inside tells me Julia had never stepped foot in this place or if she did, every last bit of her had been erased.
Nothing in here is of her taste. It's simple and less materialistic. My father has always been a simple man and I can tell by looking at my brother, he has followed in his footsteps in more ways than one.
"Let's go to the back room where we can talk more privately," my father says, waving off his security.
Once inside the small room, Mateo closes the door behind us, locking it while clearing his throat. "I know you didn't come here for family movie night. So go ahead and get on with it, hermano. What is the real reason you're here?"
I take a seat in one of the beige chairs. "I told you before. I need some information."
My father shakes his head, sighing loudly. "No hijo, what's the reason you're here?"
I lean back in the chair, gripping onto the arms. "I'm here, because of Joey."
"Ahh, the real reason you ran away from your family."
I shake my head. "I would have had to run anyway, and you know it. Getting hit on the way back to my car was not an accident. The very night still haunts me. I think about it every day, and I think about how angry Veronica was that night. Her eyes were full of anger and rage. She was a woman in love, ready to go to war and claim what was hers."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, I think Veronica tried to kill me all those years ago. What if she's trying to hurt Joey? What if the man with the scar who attacked us two years ago works for him or her father?"
"We looked into it, mijo. It wasn't her car and her parents claimed she never left her house that night. Trust me, I wanted a reason to go after the Trevinos. I never did like those people. Besides, she's moved on. She probably hasn't given Joey a single thought these last few years."
"How can you be so sure?"
Mateo sighs heavily. "She's married and with child. The baby is due any day now."
My eyes grow wide and I scoot closer to the edge of my chair. "Married to whom?"
"Some rich lawyer. She moved out to the country with him years ago. Supposedly she wanted out of this life after her parents got in a car crash a year ago."
"A car crash? So the Trejos are dead?"
"Yes. At least it was made to look like a car crash. Their bodies were found inside the smashed car. They had many enemies just like the rest of us, so who's to know what really happened. All I know is it was one less enemy I had to worry about. Julia was probably working with them the whole time too. Apparently she was fucking Jose Morales. I wanted to remain blind to it all. Iknew she was seeing someone else, but never knew who. I didn't care, because it kept her away from me. I should have cared more. I underestimated her. She always said she was never like her father, but she was much worse. At least her father admitted to being a monster."
