34. Elena
34
ELENA
“ A nd yet here you are still fucking around with whores,” Anna’s voice states angrily as she steps into the light, and I see her holding a gun.
Shit.
“Princess, it’s not what you think.” Pedro gets up trying to placate his wife. And all I can think about is this is truly Anna. I try to catalog the changes. Her hair is blonder, her nails longer, and she is covered in fake tan. She is covered in diamonds. And the moment she looks away from her husband and sees the woman he is with she stills, blood rushes from her face as she turns gray as if she has seen a ghost and she’d be right, she has. But in that millisecond of a moment, I know she knows it’s me, her friend. I give her the faintest smile before schooling my features. “She is Manuel’s new woman.”
“Manuel’s?” she asks still pointing the gun at me.
“Si, princess. He wants what we have and it’s with this woman. I brought her in here to question her not to fuck her,” he tells her. Which is utter bullshit.
“He wants to marry this woman?” Anna asks, her blue eyes narrow on me as she slowly lowers the gun to her side, but I notice she doesn’t take her finger off the trigger. She’s not fully relaxed. Will she shoot me? To keep her cover, I’m assuming she would.
“I cannot speak for my friend, but he asked for her to be his,” he explains.
“His?” she questions.
“Si, and Carmen has told me she wishes to be his, too,” Pedro explains.
“Carmen?” she questions.
“That is her name. Come, meet my wife,” he says, ushering me over to where they are standing.
“Pleasure to meet you,” I say, holding out my hand to her.
“I don’t shake hands with whores,” she sneers at me.
“She’s not a whore, my love, she’s different,” Pedro tries to explain to her.
“What is she doing in your suite, the one you frequent with your whores, during your parties. And don’t think I don’t know about them. I do,” she says, waving the gun at him.
“I was testing her. To see if she was worthy of Manuel,” Pedro states.
“With your cock,” she says, pointing the gun at his dick.
“Never,” he tries to reassure her, “she will be Manuel’s. She is different to the whores at the parties.”
“You think this is different to the whores out there?” she asks, waving the gun around. Hey, what the fuck, Anna. I’m your friend. You know me. Don’t forget she’s playing the role of a scorned cartel wife. It’s hard hearing her talk about me like this. I’ve missed her so much. This isn’t at all how I thought our first meeting after all these years would go.
“Manuel thinks so,” Pedro adds.
“You truly believe she is going to be his wife.” Anna sneers again at me.
“I promised I would allow him to divorce his wife for her.”
“He’s that serious?” Anna questions.
“Si.”
Anna lets out a huff. “Guess, I should get to know this woman then.”
Pedro looks relieved. “I think the two of you will get on very well.”
“Debatable,” Anna snips.
“Why don’t you take Carmen upstairs to your parlor and have some champagne and chat. I have business to attend to down here,” Pedro tells her.
“Fine. I will leave you to your whores. Come on, Carmen, let me explain to you how it’s going to be when you’re Manuel’s bride. You’re going to have to put up with your husband fucking whores.”
“My love, it’s my job.” Pedro sighs as if this is a common fight the two of them have.
“To fuck whores?” She glares at him .
“Si,” he snips and the look he is giving his wife changes, she has pushed him too far and he has had enough.
“Remember, for every whore you fuck I get to do the same.” She smirks. Pedro mumbles a prayer asking God to help him with his wife before she turns on her heel and storms out of the suite. The door slams shut behind us and we are in the basement of a home.
“Anna …” I gasp as we are alone.
“Not here,” she hisses at me before strutting off up the basement stairs, where we emerge into a luxurious, palatial home. It’s all white, marble and gold, very much what a cartel house would look like in the movies. She heads to a grand staircase, via the living room, which is full of art pieces and leather sofas, we then make our way up the curved white staircase to the second level. We take a right at the top of the stairs and down a corridor all in silence. Thankfully, she has put her gun away in her pocket, but I still feel uneasy about her being armed.
“In here,” she states abruptly, indicating to an open door and I step in and still. It’s as if a ball of pink bubblegum has thrown up everywhere. All I see is pink, pink, pink. There’s a bookcase filled with books, that’s bright pink, the sofas are another shade of pink velvet, the curtains are a softer pink and look out over the ocean. There’s a white and gold desk which breaks up the pink in a corner with a computer, but the chair is pink. There is a champagne bar set up in another corner serving pink champagne. This isn’t Anna at all.
“Elena. Is that really you?” Anna asks in Russian.
I twirl around and rush toward her, tears falling from my eyes as I pull her into my arms. “It’s me. It’s really me. I can’t believe it’s you. I thought you were dead,” I tell her.
“I feel dead,” she whispers as she hugs me tightly, breaking down. We hold each other for what feels like an eternity.
“I can’t believe I found you,” I say as my hands pat her face, testing to see she is real and not some figment of my imagination.
“Me either.” She smiles. “Is my father still alive?” she asks.
“Yes. Sergei is alive. He misses you so much.” Relief washes over Anna’s face. “Where have you been? You disappeared. The agency is looking for you.”
Anna’s eyes narrow. “Why would they be looking for me when they know where I am?”
I still. “They know you are here?” Anna nods. “They told me they haven’t been able to find you since the first mission.”
Anna’s brows pull together. “They sent me here. My mission was to infiltrate the Dominguez cartel.”
“But they told me you went rogue.”
“They told you what? No. My instructions have been very clear. I wasn’t allowed to be in touch with anyone in case it blew my cover. I had to say goodbye to you, to my father, to everything, but they said it would only be for a couple of years or until I got what they needed.” I’m so confused. Did they lie to me? It’s not like they haven’t omitted things before. “I thought you had gone rogue.”
“Me?”
“Yes. They said you disappeared on a mission.”
I shake my head. “No, I came back.”
“So did I.”
“Fuck.” I look at her.
“They probably told us that story so we wouldn’t come looking for each other,” Anna suggests.
I pace the room. “I can’t believe they did that.”
“I tried looking for you,” Anna confesses.
“So did I,” I tell her.
“They never wanted us together. They know we are stronger together,” Anna states.
“We are. Always have been. I’ve missed you so much,” I tell her as we embrace again.
“I’ve been so lonely without you, Elena,” she confesses.
“Me too.”
“Where have you been?” she asks.
“Europe. With the Bratva,” I tell her.
“Shit. That is the last place you ever wanted to be.”
I nod. “Guess you can’t escape it.”
Anna shakes her head, “You can’t.” She gives me a sad smile. “Come, let’s pop some champagne, we have so much to catch up on. You’re safe here with me. None of Pedro’s men will hurt you here,” she explains as she walks over to the bar.
“Nice set up.” I grin as she grabs a bottle of champagne from her bar fridge and pops the cork.
“The color pink makes me want to vomit.” She chuckles as she pours us both a glass of champagne and hands one over to me. “To family,” she says as we clink the pink glasses together.
“To family,” I say in agreement.
Anna ushers us back toward the pink velvet sofas like the perfect host and takes a seat. “Now tell me how the hell you ended up in Mexico.”
So, for the next hour I explain to Anna about everything that I’ve been through, about The Bratva, about Dmitri, Zoe and Grace, my brother and her father. That I am on a quest to find the jewels that had been scattered around the world. And that one of them led me here. Anna was horrified and demanded I let her know who it was and that she would help me rescue her. I asked her about the women downstairs and she said they are hired prostitutes, they are not trafficked women, they get to go home at night with their wallets full. She doesn’t like it, but it is the cartel’s way and as a woman she has no say in the men’s matters. I then explain to her about what Manuel does and she seems surprised.
“This is the first I’m hearing of this. I will investigate it for you,” she assures me.
I ask her questions about her life and she explains everything. That her job was to become Pedro’s wife and to make herself his right-hand man in essence so she could find out the inner workings of the cartel for the agency.
“How can you sleep with your husband?” I shiver.
Anna bursts out laughing. “Thankfully, he doesn’t bother me too much because he is always being entertained by the women downstairs which leaves me to my own devices. Plus, his son is hot and satisfies me.”
“You’re sleeping with his son? Anna, that is dangerous. If he finds out he will kill you.”
She grins. “He knows. Pedro can’t have any more kids since surviving testicular cancer last year. When he was going for treatment for the cancer, he wrote in his will that Domingo is his rightful heir and the future leader of the cartel if he died. He would inherit everything and that would include his wife.” I’m shocked. “He suggested that his son should try to impregnate me while he was away getting treatment incase anything should happen. It would show anyone who thought Pedro’s legacy was weak due to him being sick. What my husband didn’t know was that Domingo and I have been having an affair since the moment I arrived. Before anything happened with his father.”
“You love Domingo?”
“You can’t love anyone in this job, but he makes the ruse easier.” She shrugs.
“And Pedro is okay with sharing you with Domingo?”
“Once a month he allows it when I am ovulating.” She smirks over the rim of her champagne glass.
“Is he not suspicious that you’re not pregnant yet? You’re not pregnant, are you?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Of course not. I have an implant, there is no way I am getting knocked up especially not to this family. I never want kids. I’ve witnessed too much human depravity to want to bring kids into the world. Wouldn’t you agree?” she asks me.
“Hadn’t thought about it.”
“You would want to bring kids into all this?” Anna asks.
“No,” I answer sternly as my mind wanders to Nash. Does he want kids? Where the hell did that come from? I like Nash. I want to keep spending time with him but marriage and babies? The thought sends a cold shiver down my spine. I’m too broken to be responsible for creating a new life, I’d only mess it up if I did. “There are too many monsters in this world.”
“Agreed. It would take us two lifetimes to rid the world of them all,” she states, taking a sip of her champagne. “So, what’s the plan now that you’ve found me again?”
“Ideally, you would come back to Ibiza with me and with as many girls as we can rescue. Your father would be so happy to see you again,” I tell her.
“I miss him so much,” she says, staring down at her champagne. “I don’t know if I can go with you, though. Pedro will hunt me down, he’s a cruel man. I would be putting you and everyone in danger. Plus, I am still on an active mission.”
“Can you tell them you’ve been compromised? They can extract you,” I explain to her.
Anna nods. “It’s a lot. I never thought I would be able to go back to my normal life until now,” she says, giving me a smile. I reach out and squeeze her hand.
“Now that I’ve found you again, I never want to let you go.”
“Me either,” she says, “I might need some time, but I’ll come up with a plan.”
“Everything is going down at the gala next week, I’m going to be taking the girls that night. I have a helicopter ready on standby now in Tulum and a jet waiting for us in Cancun.”
“I’ll make sure Pearl is there, somehow,” Anna asks.
“Not sure if it makes a difference, but Pearl was given to Domingo as a twenty-first birthday present.”
Anna stills. “I didn’t know that.”
“She was at the sex party Manuel took me to last week, and she will be at the after-party of the gala,” I explain.
Anna nods. “Leave it to me, I will know how to find her.” I relax, Pearl is going to be safe. “Do you have a number while you’re here?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say, pulling out my phone and we exchange numbers just as we hear a knock at the door, and moments later, Pedro and Manuel walk in.
“I knew our women would get on.” Pedro grins.
“You were right, Pookie. I like her,” Anna says, smiling adoringly at her husband. “I think we’re going to be the best of friends.”
“I knew it.” Pedro smiles triumphantly. “Manuel would like to take his woman home, sweetness.”
Anna’s face falls, and she starts to pout. “Can I take her home? It’s been too long since I’ve hung out with someone my own age.” Manuel stares in surprise at me and then defers to Pedro.
Pedro walks over to where Anna is sitting and kisses her head. “Aw, my princess. How can I ever deny you?” He proceeds to pat her cheek. “Manuel, I hope you don’t mind that my wife has fallen for your girl.”
“I’m honored,” he answers.
“You should be, she’s a tough nut to crack.” Pedro chuckles.
“Pookie,” Anna gives her husband her best baby voice. “Why don’t you and Manuel go back downstairs and continue hanging out with your friends? I was just about to show her my closet.”
“You’re willing to send me back down there with all those whores?” Pedro grins.
Anna smiles. “Of course, my love, I was being unreasonable earlier. You know how I get,” she says, standing up and wrapping her arms around his neck.
“You like keeping me on my toes that’s for sure.” Pedro grins down at her.
“You wouldn’t have it any other way.” She giggles.
“No, I wouldn’t.” He leans forward and kisses her. “Come on, Manuel, let’s do what the women say, unless Carmen doesn’t like to share?” Pedro looks over, testing me.
“I have no control over what Manuel does,” I state.
“You know they are going downstairs to fuck whores?” Anna snips at me.
I look up at Manuel and I can see he is waiting to see what my answer will be. “Your wife has explained what my duty would be like in this life, I am happy to share.”
Manuel’s face lights up, as does Pedro’s, who is back standing beside him, he claps his friend on the back. “She is perfect.” He grins at his friend.
“I think she is, too.” Manuel stares down at me as if seeing me for the first time.
“Go, we have serious girly business to take care of,” Anna says, shooing the boys from her room.
“Fine, have fun, my love.” Pedro waves.
“I’ll text you,” Manuel adds as he closes the door behind them.
“Manuel is so hot,” Anna sighs, “and he’s a great lay, too, don’t you think?” I still. What did she say? She sees that I’m stunned. “You’re not jealous, are you? I thought he was just a mark.”
“No, I’m not jealous, but when the hell did you sleep with him? Does your husband know?” I question her.
Anna bursts out laughing. “Oh hell no, he would kill me over that. Manuel is led by his dick. He was staying the night while my husband and Domingo were away, I crept into his room because I was needy. That is when I realized the power I had as the boss’s wife. I demanded he fuck me. He tried to resist but then I told him I would tell my husband that he tried to force himself on me, of course that did the trick and he fucked me. He’s good, we did it over and over again.” She giggles as if I would find that story adorable. “And now I just click my fingers, and Manuel does it whenever I need it. Sorry.” She winks at me.
That doesn’t seem consensual nor something my Anna would do. She’s always been timid when it came to men and a prude when we spoke about sex. Not that I should be judgmental. The job changed her, she’s not the same Anna you used to know, just like you’re not the same Elena you once were.
“I’m like, finally, the women get some power. It’s exhilarating, having that much power over a man, watching him get on his knees for you knowing you could extinguish his life with one word.” She smirks.
I don’t know what to say to that confession. “Wow, that’s some power,” I add.
“Right?” She chuckles. “Come on, let me show you my closet. You are going to die.” And the smile on her face reminds me of the Anna I used to know as she drags me through the parlor room and then through another door that leads us into the world’s largest closet.
“Oh my god, this is insane.” I gasp.
“Right? Remember how we always dreamed about becoming rich, how we would scour the magazines looking at the clothes, we always said one day we would be able to buy designer clothes and bags and shoes just like the ones in the magazines,” she says, waving her hand around the room. “I did it.” She replies excitedly. The room feels the size of a football field, all mirrors and glass and wall-to-wall space for bags, shoes, and dresses.
“This is … wow …” I walk in and look at all her clothes.
“I get private showings when I’m in Paris,” she states.
“You’ve been to Paris?”
“Yes, I go to all the fashion shows, but I keep my profile low. I go to London, Milan, New York, and of course, Miami swim week.”
I stare at my friend. Here I am fighting to survive, and there she is swanning around fashion week. Don’t be jealous. It’s hard not to be when it feels like she’s been living a cushy life. You don’t know what she’s had to do to survive. True. But all this was bought by cartel money.
“Look at this,” she says, pulling out a red Birkin bag, “remember we saw this in a magazine, and it was our dream bag.” I hold the gorgeous leather bag in my hand, it’s so soft, so beautiful. “I want you to have it.”
“What? No. This is too expensive,” I tell her.
Anna shakes her head. “Take it. I have plenty. I’m going to have to bring all this stuff with me.”
“You can’t bring all this,” I tell her.
“Why not? Do you have any idea how much all this is worth? I’m going to need money. There is millions of dollars’ worth of stuff here,” she tells me. I look around the room again. “Look at these jewels,” she says, pulling the drawers that have jewels in them. “I have more in the safe,” she explains.
“Anna, you’re not going to be able to take all of this.”
“You can, though?” She smirks as she grabs the Birkin bag and starts filling it with jewels.
“Anna!”
“We are going to need money,” she says, continuing to stuff more jewels into the bag.
“Your staff will know something is up and will report it to your husband.”
She shakes her head. “Not if I tell them I’m getting the jewels cleaned. I always do just before an event. It won’t be suspicious.”
“Seriously?” I ask her.
“Yes, now open the bag,” she demands, and I do.
“It weighs a ton.” I moan.
“There’s about twenty million dollars’ worth of jewels in there.”
“Anna,” I hiss at her, but she waves me away.
“Come, let’s get you home.”