Chapter 12
Chapter 12
"By the time people realize it, it will be late. Prime Minister Destine has everyone in his pockets. I told you not to trust that donation money for the new track and field. If I have to report on another turtle turning a hundred years old, I'm quitting journalism."
I smiled at Samara's threat. She made it at least once a week.
Our conversation was interrupted by the insistent shrill voice I recognized as Jamira running towards me at full speed.
The excited grin on her face made me instantly wary.
"Dove!" She called again, waving her hands as she pushed people out of her way, not caring that nearly knocked poor Sister Beatrice off her feet.
Lucia followed close behind, fanning herself with the same sweet grin.
"What's wrong with tweedle dee and tweedle dumb?" Samara asked as Jamira stopped before us, struggling to catch her breath.
"You won't believe who's outside the gates waiting for you!" Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
My stomach dropped, that familiar sensation I only got when I thought of him . The potent mixture of fear and something forbidden…slowly heating in the base of my spine.
O utside the gates of St. Cecilia, Meroveo stood patiently waiting. There he was, leaning against a luxurious car no ordinary man could afford on this island.
Our eyes met across the courtyard. I felt the invasive touch of his gaze on my skin.
"What is he doing here?" Samara asked, whispering over to me. "Is this his messed up way of courting you? Que caballero ." Samara said sarcastically,her lips curving up with disdain.
Without words, Meroveo naturally commanded the attention of everyone around.
I felt the weight of hundreds of eyes on my back, the sudden roar of whispers loud and buzzing behind me. Girls giggled and fanned themselves in protective circles, whispering and pointing. The boys looked at him with fear, many with respect and all in admiration. Some of the Sisters performed the sign of the cross, many blushing, while others scowled with judgment.
"Dove, don't worry about him. I'm here, and I can take you home." Aristeo's hand grabbed my arm, forcing my attention to him. "You don't owe him anything," he said adamantly, scowling bravely towards Meroveo. Trying to pull me away with him, not giving me a chance to think or to respond. He had remained persistent. The snake in the garden that night didn't scare him away. It only fueled him more. He made up his mind that he was determined to save me.
He didn't understand how futile it was.
"Aristeo," I stopped, pulling my hand away, seeing the hurt in his eyes. I knew he meant well, that he wanted to protect me, but what he couldn't see - what he couldn't understand was that I was trying to protect him. "I can't," I whispered. "Please understand, he'll hurt you." I pleaded, turning my back and walking towards the gates.
I ignored Samara's warning to stay away from him. She also didn't understand.
I walked towards him. "Mister De Los Santos," I greeted him. He looked past me with a furious calm at Aristeo before returning his attention to me. Meroveo made a slow and intimate perusal of my body. Standing in front of him in my school uniform, I felt childish, suddenly self-conscious, but instantaneously thankful for the length of my skirt.
"Missus Solomon," he said in greeting. The masculine rasp of his voice ignited a smoldering secret that licked at the most intimate part of me. It made my stomach twist with confused revulsion. "I came to offer you a ride home, " he smiled. "I have some business with your uncle." He glanced up one more time towards Aristeo.
"My mother wouldn't want me to be alone with you until we're married, and I prefer it that way," I spoke up, trying to stall the inevitable for as long as possible.
"Get in," he said. Gently ignoring my words, he opened the door and revealed the interior of a spacious backseat.
We both knew I was going in the car with him.
"Oh, no." Thankfully, Samara came running to my side. "If you think I'm letting you get in the car alone with him, you're crazy," she said, stopping me. She gave Meroveo one of her silent death glares, doing nothing to hide her hatred.
"You're welcome to come as well, Samara. I was counting on it." Meroveo offered politely. "You can join my driver in the front. " He stressed the last word, meeting her glare with a composed look of his own.
"It's okay," I reassured her. "I'll be fine, I promise." Squeezing her hand. "I don't want to drag it out," I whispered closer, knowing she would understand.
Samara looked at me before turning to scowl at Meroveo."Scream if you need me," she answered cooly, giving me another lingering look of worry before she made a show of opening the door and slamming it shut.
"Get in the car, little Dove. "My patience has reached its point."
" I told my driver to take the scenic route," Meroveo mentioned casually after a silent moment between us.
I made it a point to look out the window, watching the passing traffic of the streets turn into the green and familiar winding roads of the hills.
A divider rose between the front and the back seats, separating Samara from me and leaving me alone with him.
The seating was arranged so that we were face-to-face, creating a more intimate atmosphere and further closing me in with him.
"Have you been good, little Dove?" I heard the metal click of his lighter as he watched me while blowing out the smoke.
"Aristeo is my friend," I said curtly while meeting his eyes and sitting up straighter. My heartbeat thundering under my chest, but I knew I needed to confront him. "I won't let you decide who my friends are," I said, angry that he felt he could dictate and disturb my life more than he already had. "You're forcing me to marry you, Mister De Los Santos, against my will. What more do you want? " I held my breath, waiting for his response. I knew now was not the time to goad him or make him angry. I didn't know what his temper was like.
"One of the things you should understand about me, Dove, is that I am a man of my word." The incendiary heat in his eyes overwhelmed me with his darkness. "If I wasn't a man of my word, you would be convincing me otherwise with those sweet lips why I shouldn't put a bullet in that boy's head." He had a disquieting smile as he watched my trembling lips. The backseat felt too small, the air too shared, and the closed space between us made it harder to breathe. "I have another question for you," he continued, blowing more smoke and pinning me to the seat. "What do you think is the worst injury for a young, talented football player trying his hand at making it to the international league?" he questioned, watching me, waiting for an answer.
My voice was lost to me under his relentless gaze. My hands trembled at the promise of violence in his eyes.
"It could be something as simple as a bad fall," he suggested casually with his hand, the golden ring reflecting on his finger. A broken leg," he continued. A fractured vertebra or two." The eerie calmness in his smoky tone did not match the brutality of his words. "But nothing like the bite of a snake . " He mocked with a menacing smirk.
I tried to maintain my composure.
"It would be a shameful ending for a young man with such promising talent." He took a pause for a drag of his cigar. "All because he touched something that didn't belong to him." Settling his heavy gaze on me.
"I don't belong to you," my heart pounded. I felt a potent mix of fear and anger burning my throat.
In one quick movement, Meroveo pulled me to him, grabbing my chin and holding me so that I looked straight into his eyes. The eyes of the devil, with the face of a man. "Would you like to test that theory, little Dove?" he threatened, his voice lowering. "Skip all the niceties of polite society and force me to break the agreement with your mother." Never changing the pressure of his firm grip on my skin.
"Don't hurt Aristeo," I whispered with a broken spirit, yet furious, tears burning my eyes. I hated that he got to see me like this. "I won't go near him again." I was only able to manage a whisper.
He moved his face closer, our lips almost touching as he devoured me with his leer. The intoxicating smell of spices and tobacco drowned my senses. "Good girl," he whispered against my lips, letting me go, watching the tears on my face with his possessive satisfaction. "You can tell your mother she can stop with her clever tricks. You belong to me, and I'll tear apart every barrier in this world and the other until I have you."
I tore my eyes away from him, relieved we were in front of the great house. Tio Franco was already waiting outside.
"Do we have an understanding?" Meroveo posed his gentle command as a question.
I struggled to answer with the word suffocating in my throat. I refused to let it come out.
"Dove," he coaxed patiently, ignoring Samara's loud threats from outside.
"Yes," I answered after meeting his triumphant gaze.