14. Marisol
14
MARISOL
There’s another note.
Meet me in the garden. Afternoon.
At least this one is more specific.
Ish.
It’s been two days since the melee fight. I haven’t seen any of the contestants since. I do know both Luca Costa and the French man have left.
Apparently my father is being merciful, and allowing contestants to leave rather than just die here.
It’s unusual of him, but I think he likes that. He wants to keep everyone on their toes.
Myself included, I guess.
Which is why when the note appears, another awful, terrible thought enters my mind.
What if it’s my father, trying to trick me into something ?
Shit.
I pace again, staring at the note on my bed. At this point I don’t know that it’s Dino, but I also don’t think it could be anyone else…
Or at least, I hope it couldn’t.
There’s a rap on my door. Quickly, I snatch the note up and fold it in my hands. “Come in,” I say to the person on the other side.
The door creaks open, and Andrei’s head pops in. “Your father would like you to come to the kitchen for brunch,” he says.
Quietly.
My stomach sinks. “Why?”
“Why does he do anything, Marisol?”
Fuck.
“Okay. Just. Give me a second,” I say.
I don’t want Andrei to know about the note. If it is Dino, then I need to make sure Andrei doesn’t see it.
The scene at the melee a few days prior is still fresh in my mind.
I think Dino would have smashed Volkov’s head in. If he’d had the option. The way he stood over Volkov’s body, the way Dino’s leg was tensed… I’ll never forget that.
He was… unhinged. Violent. Brutal. They didn’t know, but my dad was commenting on every single one of the fighters.
And for Dino?
Even Benicio Souza said that Dino was ‘aggressive’.
I’m not certain why my dad gave Andrei the command to stop him. Clearly, he’d been enjoying the show so far, so for him to just… call it off like that was wild.
I did, however, catch the way that Andrei looked at Dino. The coldness in his face. I’ve seen that look before. Andrei hates Dino, with something more than just the average amount of dislike.
Whatever he feels towards Dino, it’s… deeper than that.
For his part, Dino also seems to hate Andrei. The smile he gave wasn’t joyful in the slightest. It was a baring of teeth, and the flash of white through the blood dripping in his mouth had been nothing short of savage.
I shuddered.
Quickly I duck into the bathroom and put the note in my makeup case. I grab a lip gloss and step out, holding it to my lips to apply it as I walk toward Andrei.
He raises an eyebrow.
“Can’t leave the room looking disheveled,” I comment. “My mom always said that your appearance is like armor. Putting it on right can help you stay safe during the battle.”
My mother did say this often. She also said that beauty was a weapon that could take out a man’s heart as sure as a bomb, and to be sure to use it with that intent.
I didn’t tell him that, though.
Andrei quietly falls in behind me as I walk down the hallway. When I get to the kitchen, my father is sitting in the small breakfast nook, which is unusual .
He is also alone, which is even more unusual.
I sit and he nods at Andrei. “You can take the door,” he commands.
Andrei’s eyes linger on me for just a second. I look away, hoping my father doesn’t notice.
When Andrei leaves, Benicio sighs. “Your mother has the same effect on people.”
“What effect?”
“Draws their attention like a flame.”
I duck, my cheeks red. “I don’t want to,” I say quietly.
“You never have, have you?”
Curious at my father’s calm tone, I look up at him.
His eyes study me. I definitely favor my mother in terms of looks, but I can see how my father and I are related. The high, proud cheekbones, for one. I have his nose, arching and patrician.
Have I noticed the gray in his hair before?
Or the scars that feather out from one side of his head?
“You are quiet.”
“I have nothing to say,” I murmur.
“Nothing to say, or nothing to say to me?”
I don’t answer that question.
My father sighs and looks over the table. “You know, I would let you have a choice, if you wanted it.”
That makes me bite back an acidic laugh. “ Excuse me?”
“In the suitors. You could tell me who you prefer.”
Absolutely not.
I look at my father. “Do you remember when I was six, you kidnapped Mamá and me, and you kept us in your house that was on the plains?”
He grins. “Ah yes. I loved that time.”
Of course he did. “You told me you would buy me a horse.”
“Anything for my princess.”
“It was a nice horse. I think they call the color palomino.”
“Gold,” he grins. “For my golden girl.”
“Then, when Mamá and I escaped, you sent its hide to us.”
His face falls.
I stand. “I would not tell you my choice, even if I made one. I will choose whatever you want. There will be no horse hides on my conscience. I will agree to this marriage. I will participate in your farce. But do not think that for one second, you can pretend to be a father.”
“Marisol, I…”
I hold up my hand. “You have done nothing but hurt me. This is no different. I will not be manipulated by you, Benicio.”
I can tell the use of his given name instead of “father” or “Papao” irks him, because his eyes flash. “You are my child. I am free to do with you as I wish.”
Anger, bright and hot, flares in me.
I’m lucky that I had my mother. She taught me that children are not clones of their parents, but their own people. I am not a tool to be used by Benicio.
I choose how and when I will be part of his plans.
I’m only here now because I had no other option.
I lean forward so that our faces are close. “I am not a child, Benicio. I am my mother’s daughter. I will play your game now so you can get what you want, but I will also get what I want.”
“That is what I am trying to tell you. You could tell me which of these…”
“And have you kill them? No,” I sneer. “You’ll have to make those decisions all on your own. I’m just the prize. But when you’re finally flush with the cash you need and you have your precious son-in-law to hand everything over to, remember that you will just be their father-in-law. I will be their wife.”
I grin at him, as some kind of understanding flashes. “You are not the only one who can manipulate others, father,” I hiss.
Then I gather myself.
And I leave.
I stalk toward the pool.
While there is an outdoor lagoon, which my father maintains for reasons I can’t fathom, the indoor pool is where you could swim laps. Built for a politician and his family, this estate has many such amenities.
I want to take advantage of it .
Andrei follows me, a shadow that’s always three paces behind. I turn to look at him. “I want to be alone,” I say, right outside of the changing room where I keep a couple of swimsuits.
“Marisol…”
His accent makes my name musical.
But it’s not the raspy growl that makes my blood run hot.
“Please,” I whisper. “There’s only one entrance. You can sit outside of it. Please just leave me alone.”
Actually, it’s not true. There are two ways to enter the pool. One of them happens to be connected to the pool maintenance room. It’s a mess of pipes and chemicals, and if someone did enter through that way, they’d have to navigate a terrible crawl space filled with whatever nasty insects the jungle wants to produce that day.
Technically, there’s another entrance, but I’ve never seen anyone actually use it. They’d have to know the compound really well, and they’d have to be very okay with being bitten by something that would likely take their life.
Or worse.
Andrei looks at me. His eyes, which normally are so impassive, become rounded with concern. “Marisol…”
I look away.
He sighs, but relents. I hear the door to the pool room close, the sound echoing around the space.
I’m grateful that he is willing to leave me alone.
God knows my own father would be less willing to do that. Clearly .
Remembering the horse has dredged up a thousand more memories of my father. I’m struggling under the weight of them, and I think a quick swim might be helpful.
I braid my hair into a long rope before I change quickly into the unassuming one-piece that I keep down here. I’ve definitely grown a little since I last put this on, so it stretches tight against my breasts and comes up higher on my ass, but it’s fine.
I’m alone, after all.
Silently, I play a game that I used to play when I was little. How quietly can you swim?
I think my mom taught me this one with the vision that one day, I would likely need it to escape.
One day.
I silently glide into the water. I take a few tentative strokes, noting how smooth it feels against my skin, before I drop the routine of silence and shut my eyes.
I start to swim, eyes closed, and see how long I can go without breathing. How long it takes me to reach one side and push away, gliding back.
How long it takes me to stuff the memories down of my father, and remember the ones I love instead.
The girls.
My mother.
Unbidden, Dino’s face springs into my mind. I pull up, gasping, wiping water out of my eyes.
I can’t count him among the things I love .
I don’t even know him.
The brutal man from several days ago. The bloodthirsty fighter. The man who entered, uncalled for, and stood before my father.
Drakos .
I tread water, trying to shake my head as I rid myself of thoughts of Dino.
There’s a sound. It’s so small I might miss it, but in the pool room, every sound is magnified. I can hear the water sloshing, and my own breath, sawing in and out of my lungs.
And something else.
The back of my neck prickles. I spin, looking around.
It feels like there are eyes lingering on me.
“Andrei?”
The word echoes. The door to the pool room snaps open, and Andrei comes in, his pistols out.
“Marisol. Are you okay?”
I frown. I look around again. There’s no sign of anyone else, and the room echoes with the last of Andrei’s concerned footsteps, accompanied by the light slap of water against the tiles.
“I’m fine,” I whisper. “I just…”
I pause.
I just thought someone was watching me.