10. Marisol
10
MARISOL
It takes a few days, but once everyone settles down after the disappearance of my mom, life seems almost… normal.
In the sense that I’m nearly completely invisible to my father.
My dad is spending so much time preparing for the arrival of the cast of felons that he’s trying to marry me off to, he literally doesn’t have time to talk to me.
And honestly, I am truly not complaining. It gives me time to just… sit. Be thoughtful. Meander around the house.
I sleep a lot. I think that’s a very important thing, because I’ve heard that when you sleep, your mind essentially runs a protocol where it gets rid of things it doesn’t need.
Maybe my brain just needs to do a lot of deleting in order to feel better.
Paulo, and his goons, are the biggest threat. They follow me around the house, lurking where they shouldn’t. Three days after my mother’s disappearance, they’re making me feel uneasy .
A feeling that keeps growing through the day.
I’m in the shower, thinking about Dino, when I hear the doorknob to my shower rattle. I’ve long learned to lock doors in my father’s home, so at first I don’t worry about it. Someone might have come into my bedroom, because the bathroom is connected to it, but I didn’t lock that door.
I think.
Either way, locking the bathroom door definitely happened, so I manage to keep my shower going.
Then, I hear something else.
A key.
Sliding into a lock.
I freeze, not sure what to do. The water beats on my shoulders, and I’m still covered in soap.
The key sound clicks. Then, there’s quiet, just for a minute. The doorknob turns…
Oh God.
Someone’s coming in.
I look around the shower, grabbing the razor I use to shave my legs like it’s going to be some kind of weapon. Maybe I can slice sideways with it? Or I guess if I just press hard enough, I can rip someone’s skin apart with it. I’m still contemplating how to best use it as a weapon when I see the door creak open, just slightly.
Shit.
I hold the razor up, ready to slash whoever is coming through that door …
Then, it stops, and I hear a muffled sound. Several of them, actually, including some pretty hefty noises that could be someone falling down.
Or someone being pushed down.
Either way, I need to figure out what the hell it is that I’m working with.
Quickly, I rinse myself off and grab a towel. I pull my long hair up into it, and then step into the fluffy robe that’s on the back of the door. Gripping the razor, I cautiously pad over to the door.
It’s quiet out in my room.
Too quiet.
My heart is slamming in my throat. I’m not sure if I want to open the door and see what’s going on out there at all. The best-case scenario is that one of Paulo’s people came into my room to get me, and he just… got lost.
The worst-case scenario is…
Worse.
“It’s safe, Marisol,” I hear a soft, dangerous voice say.
I know that voice.
I open the bathroom door. Andrei is there, standing over a body.
A very suspiciously still body.
Andrei’s eyes widen as he looks at me. “I… Please go back,” he says. “You don’t need to see this.”
“Is he dead? ”
Andrei doesn’t say anything.
I sigh. “Is there a lot of blood?”
“Would that bother you?”
Normally I’d lie and say no, but… I wrinkle my nose. “Yes.”
I don’t particularly want a ton of blood in my bedroom, if I’m being honest.
“Si. Well. Give me about fifteen minutes and it will be done. You can finish your…” he doesn’t say it.
I don’t miss, however, how his eyes glide down to my bare legs.
Shit.
Just like my mom said, it’s clear that Andrei Moretti is not just interested in me professionally.
You could do worse than a man who kills people for you.
Unfortunately, I don’t want a man who kills people at all.
“Okay,” I say quietly.
Then I sneak back into the bathroom.
I don’t get into the shower. After locking the door, I take the chance to brush my teeth and do some other grooming. I have some clothes in the bathroom, just the soft lounge pants and a shirt that I was wearing before my shower, so I quickly put those on.
A soft tap on the door comes eventually. I don’t have a clock on me, but I have a feeling it’s exactly fifteen minutes later.
Cautiously, I open the door.
It smells heavily like cleaner. Hydrogen peroxide, actually .
I look down at the tile, and I don’t see a single speck of blood there.
My eyes shoot up to Andrei. “You cleaned it?”
He doesn’t say anything.
I shuffle, vaguely uncomfortable. “Thank you,” I say finally.
He tips his head.
God.
What is wrong with me? He’s handsome. He’s already assigned to be around me all the time. Dino is out of the realm of possibility. I need to marry someone that my dad is going to approve of, in this stupid competition.
Moretti can’t enter.
But he can keep me safe.
I know what I need to do. I need to keep him interested, keep this going. Make him think that he has a chance with me, so that he can protect me when…
You need to lead him on. You need to keep him close.
You’re a terrible human if you do that.
I suck in a deep breath.
“Listen, Andrei…”
“Would you like to go for a walk?”
I blink, looking at him.
To my surprise, Andrei looks… nervous. His big, elegant hands, that normally are completely controlled, fidget on the zippers of his jacket. He looks like he’s waiting for my response, and he’s afraid of what he’s going to hear .
“Is my dad going to be mad about that?”
He gives me a look, and just the very corner of his lips tips up. “He won’t complain.”
“Okay,” I whisper. “Let me put on my tennis shoes.”
I quickly do so. Andrei is waiting for me by the door, which I close with a soft click.
He follows me into the hall.
Andrei always follows me about two steps behind. I thought, previously, that it was like… a guard thing. He would fall behind so that I could walk in front of him.
I didn’t consider that it was anything other than his work.
Until now.
Quickly and quietly, I take the fastest route to the garden. The estate is on top of a massive plot of land, and my father does employ someone to maintain a huge garden space. It’s not as big as the compound that El Chapo had, supposedly, and we don’t have a zoo on the premises or anything like that.
But I think that, given the chance, my dad would definitely try to import some zoo animals here.
We start through the garden, following a gravel path. My feet crunch on it, the sound almost too loud. We pass a couple of guards, who take one look at Andrei before looking quickly away.
Finally, toward the further part of the garden, I turn. “Do you notice that anymore?”
Andrei pauses. “Notice what? ”
“That,” I say, my eyes drifting to the place that we passed the last guard.
Andrei’s face hardens. “I don’t notice anymore.”
However, based on the darkness there, I think he very much does notice.
“Hmm.” I sigh. I look around. This part of the garden has a little green hedge, which my father employs multiple gardeners to keep looking crisp. I guess he must have let the gardening team go, though, because the hedge looks unruly and overgrown. Banana trees loom overhead, and there are other fruits as well. Mangoes, my mother’s favorite fruit, as well as some figs. Guava, which is what I love.
Huh.
I never noticed before.
The hedge arches around a large circle, and there’s a fountain at the center. The water moves quickly and smells slightly chemical, which is probably because of all the mosquito stuff that’s tossed in it to make sure we all don’t come down with malaria or something. There’s a small bench in front of the fountain, a cement thing that is slightly covered in moss.
“Here,” I say, gesturing to the bench. “Sit with me.”
I sit, and my heart beats a little faster.
I’ve never invited anyone to sit with me. Any man, that is. The only man I’ve ever really even tried to get close to is Dino.
And he’s not coming for me. Not here. Not when he has so much at risk…
And he better be looking after the girls until I can come back .
There’s a long moment where I’m alone on the bench. The fountain jingles, the water cascading over the sides in a clear, bell-like tone. It’s peaceful out here. I remember my dad saying that he built it so he and my mother could wander it together, before my mother told him she didn’t much like gardens.
Especially gardens in Brazil.
There’s a soft crunch of gravel, and Andrei joins me on the bench.
We don’t say anything. I don’t know what to say. I’m nervous, but not in the same way that I was nervous with Dino.
I’m just plain nervous here. I’m playing a game that I don’t know the rules to.
And I don’t know how to win.
“Why are you protecting me?” I finally manage to say.
Next to me, Andrei shifts. “I have to.”
“Not like this,” I clarify.
He huffs out a small breath. “No. Not like this.”
“So why, then?”
He opens his mouth. Shuts it. Opens it again. “Do you know why I work for your father?”
I shake my head.
He continues, each word halting as though it’s coming from somewhere deep within him. “My mother was… a businesswoman. She moved here from Italy when she was a teenager, and had me after. ”
Usually, that’s code for a sex worker. I nod, showing him I understand.
“She was killed when another gang raided our… establishment. I was alone. Your father found me and took me in, and taught me how to be… me. How to get revenge on the people who hurt her.”
“He does that,” I say bitterly.
“I owe him for it,” Andrei says softly.
I turn to look at him.
He nods. “I owe him for that,” he continues, “but I also think maybe that the things I owe Benicio Souza are.. ending.”
His words are so heavily accented that it takes me a minute. I turn to look at him. “You don’t want to work for him anymore?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“So the plan is what? To marry me and run everything?” I snort. “He’d never allow that.”
“I know,” Andrei whispers.
Ice skates down my spine. “Andrei…”
“If no one wins the competition, Marisol, he will still need an heir.”
I shut my eyes.
“I am not so bad,” he says. “I would make… I would make a suitable husband. I would not be cruel. To you,” he clarifies. “I would treat you well. I am not so bad to look at, no ?”
I don’t laugh at his joke.
He sighs, leaning back. “You are not so bad yourself.”
“I’ll pretend that’s a compliment.”
“It is,” he says quickly. “It is. You are beautiful. And there is so much more.”
He’s right.
There’s so much more to me. There’s my father’s organization. His debts. His failures.
Everything he has access to through me.
“Why not just enter the competition?”
“I can’t. No… I am not an heir,” he says with a frown in his voice.
“That’s a stupid rule,” I murmur.
Andrei doesn’t respond.
I don’t either. I stare at the fountain, aware of the dangerous Italian next to me. Andrei Moretti’s right. He wouldn’t be so bad, and I would be well taken care of with him. I think that I also would even be able to get the girls and bring them to live with me.
He’s not bad. It’s true.
But my heart holds on to one truth that it refuses to let go of.
He’s not bad.
But he’s not Dino.
Another three days, and it’s time .
My father is in the best mood. I haven’t responded to Andrei’s question, and he hasn’t pushed me on it. I’m grateful for that, because I don’t have an answer.
It’s an arrangement that makes sense.
But my mother’s voice keeps ringing in my head.
Decide with your heart .
My heart, unfortunately, is definitely not on board with the Andrei proposal.
I need to let that go. My future is about to walk into our courtyard. The whole thing feels absolutely archaic.
I’m dressed in an evening dress, like some kind of medieval princess. Inside, my father has prepared a welcome dinner. My role is to stand to the side, look pretty, and wave each of the men inside.
There are five, if the information I’ve overheard is accurate.
Five potential suitors. Five wealthy heirs to mafias across the world.
Five people who want to marry me for my father’s empire.
Zero who want to marry me for… me.
I shuffle. I hate wearing dresses like this, and I feel kind of naked standing here. Behind me, Moretti tenses, and I give him a little wave with my fingertips.
I’m fine.
He doesn’t move again.
Benicio opens the door to the house and the sound of the door slamming against the frame makes me jump. “Let them in!” he shouts to Paulo. My father turns to me, his grin turning sour as he does. “There will be no funny business from you, girl.”
I toss my hair back and set my shoulders. “I know what I’ve done.”
“You’re here willingly because if not, I will kill your mother.”
He’s clearly posturing. We both know that my mother has her ways with him, and he’s never quite been able to master them. All the same, I nod, showing him that I’m not going to fight. “I’m here willingly, father,” I say.
He stares at me for a minute before nodding. “Good. You’re not going anywhere. This is… if you do, I will come for more than just your mother,” he says darkly.
My eyes snap up to his.
This is the first time that he’s threatened the twins.
Ever.
My heart feels hard, but my father turns, waving me away. “Open the gate, Paulo.”
Paulo, whose hand is still in a bandage, shoots me a glare before snapping an order into a radio. Minutes later, we hear the sound of tires and an engine, and a car pulls into the courtyard.
Out steps a tall, pale man with a shock of white blond hair. His blue eyes run up and down, and I want to hide.
“Alexei Volkov. Russian,” Andrei whispers behind me.
“Thank you,” I murmur back.
The Russian shakes hands with my father before heading inside .
Another car appears. Then another. I listen to each of their names, muttered softly behind me, while I evaluate all of them.
Vuk Pavlovic.
Luca Costa.
Bastien Deloitte.
Johnny Spinoli.
Five men. Five people that I need to be on guard around, constantly. Five sets of hungry eyes…
My eyes widen as I hear another car drive up. My father, who was about to head inside, pauses. He mutters something to Paulo, who shrugs.
The guards lower their automatic rifles, pointing them at the car.
There’s a long moment before the door opens. Everyone is staring. There were only supposed to be five men here.
This sixth one?
Clearly, someone messed up.
Behind me, Andrei steps forward so he’s right at my shoulder. He’s staring into the car, his gaze as focused as a panther on the door.
The hair on the back of my neck raises.
Finally, the door to the car clicks open.
My heart is in my throat, and the sound of safety’s being clicked off of each gun only makes my nerves worse.
One leg, well clothed in a suit, emerges from the car. My eyes trace the line of the man’s body up, until they get to his face.
When I see who it is, my heart stops. I lose the ability to breathe.
Completely.
I make an effort to bring oxygen back into my lungs and I blink.
It can’t be.
I take another look. The tattoos covering his neck, I know. His eyes are the eyes I see in my children every day.
And they’re completely focused on me.
“Who the fuck are you?” Benicio snarls behind me.
Dino’s gaze never leaves mine.
“Bernadino Drakos,” he says. The name makes a murmur go around the courtyard.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Benicio barks.
The smallest hint of a smile tugs at the corner of Dino’s mouth.
“I’m here to enter the competition.”