Page 20 of Girls Night
Adopted or real.
He slumps in his chair and clasps his hands over his chest. A moment later, a small snore escapes him, and I know that even in a room with two other men, I’m alone again.
I sit up, an idea tearing through my mind as I painfully crawl toward the edge of the bed.
My eyes fall on Santiago’s shoes, but those aren’t the ones that betrayed me earlier. Taking a deep breath, I turn my head and crane my neck to look at Hector’s. I squint in the darkness, but a quick illumination of moonlight shows me what I want to know.
It wasn’t him either.
I feel relieved and worried all at the same time.
I had hoped that it would be a quick retribution to find the man that did this to me, but apparently, he was able to slip away.
For now,I think grimly as I lean back against the headboard and clasp my hands behind my back.
Chapter Five
Almost three months have passed. I’m finally comfortable enough to leave my room, my killers having left six weeks before.
I watch the feet of every person I pass, hoping that I may find the shoes I saw that night, but so far, no one around me seems to have struck that blow.
Breakfast is quiet when I join Tati and my father for the first time in a long while. He made sure I had my meals in my room and rotated Santiago and Hector out after the first month and a half.
My father is a smart man and knows that the only way I would shake what was done to me would be to leave me where I felt safest.
Alone with my thoughts to regain the strength that matters most—the one of the mind.
When the body fails in strength as mine did, the mind is the last thing to break, and I refuse to let that happen.
Papa is somber, but in his silence, I can see the rage surging in his mind. That someone would dare to attack a daughter of his in his home is bad enough. To not have their head delivered the very next day makes it even worse.
I sit in my chair to the left of my father and one seat in. He smiles at me when he sees me through the haze of his anger, and I reach over to lay a hand on his.
“Good morning,” I greet him softly, and he nods.
“Morning, Tati,” I say to my sister, who looks up at me and begins to chew the inside of her mouth.
“How do you feel, Sofi?” she asks timidly, her eyes darting toward our father briefly.
“I’m fine. I’ve told everyone that’s asked me that since that night,” I say with a dismissive laugh. “Don’t worry about me. El Señor is my father, and that alone makes me strong.”
Papa chuckles as he reaches for his cup of coffee. I know his thoughts like I do my own. He’s thinking that had Inotbeen his daughter, this problem wouldn’t have landed at his feet.
“So, what did the mayor want that night?” I ask, desperate to change the subject from myself and keep it off.
I’m asking things I have no business knowing, but I have a feeling he’ll grant me this just once.
He shrugs as he sets his cup down and picks up his newspaper. The way he whips it open and begins reading tells me that maybe I shouldn’t have asked.
“Do you want to do something today?” I ask my sister as I pick up a piece of toast and begin to butter it.
“Like what?”
I arch an eyebrow.
Her voice cracked, and the tone is nothing like I’m used to.
I hope I’m not going to be treated like fucking glass over this.
