Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Liesel
As much as I want to know what happened, I don’t.
Jorge’s back in one piece, and short of my father coming home, that’s what matters most. I peer over his shoulder as Joaquin and Alejandro come through the front door.
All three men have wet hair, and Jorge smells like he just stepped out of the shower.
After seeing amputated body parts, I force my mind away from why they needed to clean up before coming back here. As long as he isn’t hurt, I know deep in my heart that I don’t care what he and his family did. I don’t care who they might have hurt or what laws they broke.
I just don’t give a shit.
If you asked me even a week ago, I doubt I could rationalize what I am now. But my father wasn’t missing, and I didn’t fear death around each corner. Whatever Jorge has to do to survive and to bring my dad home is fine with my conscience.
I suppose that makes me a horrible person. I suppose it makes me amoral.
I have no fucks to give.
The Liesel who existed before meeting Jorge doesn’t exist anymore. It’s not his fault. It’s whoever targeted my family. I’d already changed when I accepted being part of a money laundering ring and taking orders from an anonymous syndicate. My father’s kidnapping and torture just sealed the deal.
I’m stronger for being with Jorge. The weight of the world’s still threatening to crush me, but at least I’m shouldering it with a backbone of steel. He’s helping me see I’m more resilient than I imagined. I’m not weak anymore, and I’m not giving in to these faceless fuckers.
I don’t have a bad boy or violence fetish, but knowing Jorge is an apex predator of sorts is hot.
He’s more than a Rottweiler. He’s lion; a king of the jungle.
Without a doubt, I know I’ll always feel protected and safe with him.
Even when we’re not eyeballs deep in the shit, he’ll make me feel cherished and valued.
I can’t explain my certainty, but it’s there unlike in previous relationships.
“Did Hisham go out?”
Jorge’s question pulls me back to the present as he lets go of me and looks around, spotting my family.
We tried to doze in the living room while the guys have been gone.
None of us could face going upstairs to sleep.
Neither my mom nor I wanted to be alone, and neither Heidi nor Friedrich wanted to leave us alone.
“Yes. He and Noor did nearly two hours ago. He said they had something they needed to see to.”
Jorge just nods. I think he knows where our hosts went. I already know better than to ask.
“They’re wrapping up some stuff for us.”
That as much as I’m going to get. They reassured us that they had extra guards posted around the house and the neighborhood. I wish we were in gated community like at the safehouse. But I trust Hisham and Noor despite barely knowing them.
What choice do I have if I want any peace of mind while Jorge’s gone?
“Let’s join the others, chiquita.”
I nod—begrudgingly.
“What happened? Did you learn anything? Do you know where he is yet?”
My mom clamps her mouth shut before she full-on peppers them with questions, but we all want to know the answers. I shift my gaze from Jorge to his relatives. I already know we’ll get a fraction of what happened, but I pray they can give us something.
“Gretel, we’ve ruled a few things out. But we don’t know where he is yet.”
“You were gone for hours though.” Heidi’s fighting tears of disappointment as she speaks.
“I know it’s not fair to ask for your blind faith while giving you so little information, but we need you to trust that we’re making progress. It’s not safe to tell you more than that.”
“Were you doing something illegal?” My mom’s whisper is barely loud enough for any of us to hear us.
All three Diaz men stare at her. I’m already far too familiar with that expression.
The resignation that settles on my mom’s face tells me she knows the answer, but she makes no protests.
I shift my focus to my sister. She’s darting her gaze back and forth among them before she looks up at Friedrich.
He’s the same kind of stoic that describes Onkel Clyde.
He pulls Heidi closer to him; both arms are already wrapped around him.
She buries her face against his chest, and her shoulders rise and fall.
She silently cries. I hate thinking it, but it’s better than her asking questions the men won’t answer.
We’ve all settled in seats in the living room. Joaquin leans forward in his chair, his forearms resting on his thighs.
“We wish we had more to tell you. For right now, everyone needs some sleep. We’re all exhausted. We know it was impossible for you to relax while you waited, but it’s the best thing we can do.”
My mom’s stare is a million miles away as she heads upstairs.
Heidi and Friedrich soon follow her, my sister’s boyfriend carrying her as she silently cries.
Jorge slips his hand into mine, and we bring up the rear.
Joaquin and Alejandro remain downstairs despite what Joaquin said about them being exhausted too.
“They’ll sleep down here. Joaquin’s practically an insomniac anyway, so I’m sure he’ll check a few things before passing out one of the sofas.”
“Are they guarding the front door? Do they not trust Hisham’s men?” I keep my voice down, not wanting anyone to overhear me.
“We definitely trust the men. It’s just what we do when we’re somewhere other than our own homes. At least two of us are the first line of defense when we’re protecting our family.”
Our family.
It warms me all the way to my toes that they consider my family and me as part of theirs. All three men have since the beginning. It speaks to the deeply ingrained sense of loyalty, honor, and duty they possess.
Once we’re inside the bedroom, we both get undressed and climb into bed. I wrap myself around Jorge’s side, resting my head on his chest. His fingertips trails along my back as he hums a lullaby.
My tears begin with a slow trickle before they’re flowing. I’ve tried so hard to keep them at bay, but the cumulative effect of the past week slams into me now that I’m in Jorge’s arms again. I only cry when he’s here for me to lean on. Around him, I don’t have to be strong for anyone else.
When I shudder a sigh and the tears slow, my mind reaches the point of releasing control.
We move at the same time, wrapping my hand around his semi-hard cock.
It lengthened when he saw me naked just like I grew wet when I saw him.
Neither of us acted on our bodies’ reactions at first. But now we know what we need.
It’s the same thing we did after he spanked me. It’s not sex. It’s deeper than that. When he’s fully hard, I straddle him and take him into my pussy. Instead of just humming, Jorge sings to me.
“Duérmete nina, duérmete tú, antes que venga el currucutú. Duérmete nina, duérmete tú. Antes que venga. El guanaguana. Qui-qui-ri-qui.”
When we come to the end of the song, I kiss his neck and lean back.
“What does it mean?”
“Go to sleep child, go to sleep, you, before the screech owl comes. Go to sleep child, go to sleep, you, before the black skimmer bird comes. Caw, caw, caw, caw. My mother sang it to my brothers and me.”
“I never would’ve imagined you have such a rich voice. It’s like listening to honey.”
He chuckles, and his cock flexes inside me. I moan and rock my hips twice before I settle.
“Thank you, chiquita. I sang in a boys’ church choir until my voice broke. Then in college, I sang in an acapella group.”
“Like in the movies?”
That really makes him laugh. “Hardly, but it was the only time I didn’t feel uncomfortable being in front of people. I actually minored in vocal performance.”
I sit up and cup his face, kissing his forehead, the tip of his nose, and then his lips.
“You’re truly a Renaissance man. Is there anything you can’t do?”
“Well, besides when I’m singing, I loathe being the center of attention, even though sometimes work forces me to be.”
As I study his expression, I know he means more than just presenting before boards or interviewing them. Sharing something that makes him so vulnerable completely calms me. I feel like I can tackle whatever the next conversation will be.
“Tonight was about luring out whoever’s responsible.
We focused on the most likely suspects, but we didn’t get anything definitive.
I don’t want to beat a dead horse, chica, but I’m going to anyway.
I’m sure you must’ve thought about previous clients when all of this started.
Was there really no one at all? Not even a twinge of concern?
Maybe, just maybe, there’s something you haven’t thought of yet. ”
“There were the Kutsenkos, but they were always strictly business, and everything I learned looked like the deals were above board. We had some California tech guys who wanted to invest through crypto. I wasn’t entirely convinced at the time, and I’m not convinced now that the assets were legally obtained.
I’m not sure they were theirs to spend, but all of the profit they made from those transactions got reinvested back into their company.
I didn’t question it too hard. There were three Spaniards who used us about a year and a half ago.
However, all three of them are now in jail for tax evasion that they were already committing, but we never knew about. ”
“I—”
“Jorge! Jorge!”
We hear Jorge’s brother thundering down the hall.
“?Joaquín, no entres!”
I’m certain he’s telling him not to come in since we’re in a position neither of us wants anyone else to see. We hear his hand twist the doorknob, but at the last minute he stops.
“Jorge, get downstairs. We found him.”
“What?” I look at Jorge not wanting to get my hopes up.
“My brother found your father. Let’s go.”
We hop off the bed and struggle to balance in our scramble to get our clothes back on.
“How, Jorge? How did they do it?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll find out in just a moment.”
Jorge flings open the bedroom door, and we run back to the living room. He grabs my upper arm to keep me from falling down the stairs. It shocks me to see Hisham with them. I never heard him or Noor get home. I glance toward the stairs, and he reads my mind.
“She went to bed.”
Joaquin turns his laptop toward us. “We picked him up on the CCTV as they tried to get into your office building.”
We can all see Papa looks in pretty good shape.
He’s upright and walking on his own, but I suspect there’s a gun pointed at his lower back, even if the camera doesn’t show it.
The cameras are on the opposite side of the hand he lost. We watch them enter Papa’s office and look around, but they come out empty-handed.
Joaquin taps on the keyboard a couple of times and brings up the cameras in the underground parking garage.
“What’re they doing?” I point to men moving across the screen.
“Those are our men. They’re putting trackers on whatever vehicles those kidnappers are using. Joaquin, Alejandro, and I need to leave again.”
“Okay, but do we tell my family anything?”
All four men shake their heads like they’re synchronized swimmers performing a routine. Jorge brushes the back of his fingers against my cheek.
“No, not yet. Not until we have confirmation that what we saw is an accurate feed, and we can get your dad back. Tonight’s already been long for them, and I know they don’t feel like we accomplished anything because there’s nothing we can tell you. I don’t want to get anyone else’s hopes up yet.”
“All right.”
My mind’s too much of a jumble to do more than nod and barely mumble my thanks. Despite still having little to go on—or at least, I think they still have little to go on—who knows what no one’s telling me—our relief is nearly palpable.
“What do I tell everyone when they wake up? Do we wake them now?”
“We let them sleep for now. Tell them the truth when they get up. We got called away, but you know none of the specifics.”
I sigh with resignation. I know Jorge, his cousin, and his brother are doing the best they can. I just don’t look forward to facing my mom and sister. Friedrich won’t be any easier.
“Anne?”
I turn toward the stairs and find Heidi, Friedrich, and my mom on the landing. So much for not waking them. It was likely Joaquin calling out to us now that I think about it.
“The guys are going out again.”
Jorge squeezes me hand. “We’ve made progress, and there’s possibly more information. We’re going to investigate.”
As my family comes downstairs, Hisham speaks to Joaquin, and Alejandro makes a call.
I think he’s speaking to their men. Jorge says his goodbye to me.
He eases me against him as he presses his lips to mine.
He can’t linger over the kiss he gives me because there’s no time, and it’s not the right place.
We whisper to each other, not wanting to share any more than what we have to during what should be a private moment.
“Daddy, come back to me. Be careful.”
“I will, chiquita. My first priority is you and everything that keeps you safe and makes you happy. Nothing is keeping me from coming back to you.”
I love you is on the tip of my tongue, but it’s way too soon to say that.
I’ve had hours and days to mull over my feelings for him.
I know my feelings for Jorge came on strong from the get-go, but it’s because I weighed the circumstances and decided.
I don’t expect him to be in the same place as me.
I don’t want to say it and make him uncomfortable.
I certainly don’t want to say it and not have it reciprocated. I do the best I can.
“Jorge, I care about you more than anyone in the world.”
“I care about you that way too, Liesel.”
I don’t want to doubt whether my words can be true when I just broke up with someone. I pray Jorge takes them to mean what I intend. We exchange one more kiss and then he’s headed out the door. I huddle with my family while Hisham speaks quietly to his wife, who just joined us.
Now we wait.