Page 10 of Vow of Sin

I look at his file cabinets and pull them open, digging through every file until my fingers are sore. When I find nothing, not a password or anything, I slam the cabinet shut and kick it. I hear something metallic drop to the floor and tilt my head, my heels clicking against the hardwood as I approach the desk again and look under it. When I look down, I see a small, metal key sitting beneath the desk. I pick it up and stand, holding it in my hand as I inspect it. It’s not a house key because it’s way too small to fit inside of a door lock. I try to insert it into the cabinet drawers, thinking maybe it’s for when he locks them, but it doesn’t fit. I look around the room and freeze when I spot his safe sitting near the bookcase, my head tilted and my eyes narrowed as I gaze at it.

I walk towards the safe, the room still and quiet as I crouch and insert the key, turning it until the lock clicks and the door opens. When I pull it wider to reveal what’s inside, my jaw nearly drops to the floor. Inside this safe, lies a few handguns, a manilla folder with papers inside and a stack of cash that’s larger than my head. I pull it out, staring at the massive bundles of one hundred dollar bills. This must total to at least a million dollars. What I don’t understand is why all of this is here. Sure, it’s important to keep things locked away in case of an emergency, but Luis told me everything. Surely he would inform me of this in case I needed to access it. In all honesty, I just thought this safe held stolen firearms, or ones that were used in homicides.

I put the money back inside and grab the file. I hold it to my chest as I walk back to Luis’ desk, sitting in his massive, leather chair as I lay the folder down on the desk in front of me, my hands shaking as I rest them atop it. I don’t know what kind of Pandora’s box I’m about to open, but I do know that I’m nervous. Nervous mostly because Luis never told me about this, so it could be something really, really bad. Or something to do with this business that I either won’t know how to handle, or won’t be able to stomach. I take a deep breath and open the folder, a frown lowering my brows as I stare at its contents.

Inside of the folder, lies several bank statements from the account that I didn’t have access to, the last four numbers matching to the one in the email. They date back to seven years ago, each month totaling to over twenty grand withdrawn. I guess that explains why the account is negative, he hasn’t been around to replenish the funds to this secret account. I put the statements aside, freezing when my eyes land on a small, black and white photo. It is of Luis and a woman that I do not know. He looks young, the photo was taken at least ten years ago. The woman in the photo is smiling up at him, her teeth straight and perfect, her eyes glittering as she looks up at him from where she stands in his arms. I nearly gasp when I look at his hands that are settling on her waist, tears filling my eyes when I spot his wedding ring on his left hand.

Who is this woman? Was Luis having an affair all this time? Why is there over one million dollars missing and documented in this folder? Was the money sent to her?

My heart starts to race in my chest, pounding as if it’s trying to escape from my body. My eyes fill with unshed tears, my vision blurring as my hands shake while holding the photo. I set it to the side to look at the picture that sits in the folder. It is small and is of a little boy, a toddler. He has dark brown hair and golden eyes, his face becoming more familiar the longer I look at it. When I grab the other photo and hold it next to the one of the small boy, a cry of anguish leaves my throat. This boy looks exactly like my husband, like a younger, cloned version of him. I flip the photo of the boy over, elegant handwriting spelling out the nameFrankieon it. There is no date or any other information, just the name.

I shove everything back into the folder and slam it shut, pushing away from the desk and sobbing into my hands as the shocking revelation of my dead husband's affair that definitely resulted in a love child hits me like a box truck. This explains why the safe is here, why there is a secret account. It explains why so much money is missing, why there is a stack of a million dollars sitting inside there. It’s all for her and for him, for the little boy and the woman he tried to keep from me.

I get up from the chair and walk to the safe. I shut it, lock it and then I grab the key and set it inside the folder before I tuck everything under my arm and walk to the door of his office. I look over my shoulder, tears still clouding my vision as I scan the office one final time before I slam the door behind me and walk up the stairs and into my bedroom. I sit down on the bed, setting the folder next to me as I sigh and wipe my tears. I want to talk to Sofia, but I can’t involve anyone until I have more details. I doubt that he would tell Carlos or Andreas or really any of his workers, but then again he lied to me, so who can I really trust or believe?

Then Nico enters my mind. The best friend that has stayed away for years only to return the day of Luis’ funeral. The best friend that is quiet, but demanding. The man that has refused to give me full control of this business.

That is the man I need to talk to.

* * *

Nico

I enter the mansion with an audible sigh, today's bullshit weighing heavily on me.

The sun has set and I smell Camila’s cooking as soon as I enter the mansion. That is the one good thing about being here, there’s always food, but with the food, comes people. And I really fucking hate people.

Especially the tall red head with a perfect ass that constantly makes my life a living hell.

I undo my tie and throw it on the end table in the foyer, bits of blood marking my cufflinks as I remove those as well. We had a small inconvenience during a deal today, one that left my designer suit in need of a good dry cleaning. Surprisingly, that wasn’t enough to piss me off. In fact, I was relived to blow off some steam after my run ins with Scarlett today. That woman is enough to drive any man mad, no wonder Luis kept so much from her.

I’m walking through the foyer and about to round the corner towards the kitchen when I hear someone sniffling in the adjacent living room. I walk in there and freeze in the doorway when I spot Scarlett sitting on one of the designer couches, her eyes red as she brings a glass of amber liquid to her mouth. When she spots me, an intense glare covers her face. Judging by the blush of her cheeks, I can tell that’s not her first drink of the day. She looks tired, overwhelmed even and while I could easily chalk that up to grief, I can tell that’s not the cause of her distress. The air in the room is tense, charged with animosity that is now directed fully at me.

“What’s happened-” I try to ask, but she cuts me off with a wave of her hand.

“Who is she?” she asks, eyes narrowed and voice thick, trepidation washing over me as her words sink in.

I look to the coffee table and try not to growl when I see an open manilla folder. Bank statements and photos are scattered in and around it, a black and white photo of Luis and his older lover, Elena, sitting atop all of the papers.

Shit.

“Do I need to ask you a second time, or have you recently become deaf?” She sneers, slamming the glass down on the table next to the papers, her tall body coming into view as she stands from the couch.

She’s wearing a tight, dark grey dress, the color making her eyes pop. Her hair is kept long and straight today, stopping at the middle of her back. If she wasn’t so clumsy in nature, she’d make the perfect model. She walks towards me, her heels clicking against the ground before she stops a breath away, the fires of hell displayed over her striking face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I say, my voice low and void of any emotion.

Something in her snaps then. A million emotions flutter across her face and a rush of air leaves her chest. Her manicured fingers come into view before she lands a solid and quick slap to my face, the sound echoing off the walls.

“Don’t you fucking play dumb with me, Nico! I’ve found everything.Everything. And I know for a fact that you know about everything. You were his best friend. And you’re a better liar than you ever were a friend. Except for right now. So tell me the goddamn truth!” She roars, fresh tears forming in her turbulent gray eyes.

For a moment, I want to let myself feel bad. I want to pity the woman my best friend lied to for years, but I don’t allow myself to. This isn’t the moment for pity or for comfort. It’s the moment for truth, especially since the woman he cheated with is dead. It’s not like she can get answers elsewhere.

I walk to the bottle of bourbon that rests on the coffee table, grabbing myself a new glass from the tray and filling both mine and hers. I hand her the glass and sit down on one of the leather arm chairs, drinking from my glass as I stare at the floor. If Luis was alive today, I’d knee him in his balls for putting me in this situation. I have enough of his messes to clean up, I didn’t want to deal with this one too.

“What do you want to know?” I ask, holding the glass in my hand as I look up at her, her slender body shaking with rage and confusion.

“Who is she?” she asks again, her voice quiet, but just as lethal as it was before.

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