Chapter 27 – Serena
I stared at the vehicle being rolled off the flatbed. When I wanted to take revenge on Markos for threatening my brother and forcing me into marriage, I began to spend his money. With a little help from my good friend red, I apparently made a huge purchase.
I can’t believe this wasn’t flagged as fraud. Or that it overdrew the balance.
Once the deliveryman handed me the keys and pulled away, all I could do was stare at them. This was my very first car. I was mid-twenties, and while I knew how to drive, my license was fake. I never took Driver’s Ed, nor had I practiced on the roads.
“Well, it would be a shame not to use you,” I reasoned, smiling at the shiny red coupe.
But first, I ran upstairs to change into sneakers and leave a note for Markos. The words scribbled over the page, informing him that I would be back by suppertime and if he wanted to know my precise whereabouts or contact me, he should think about giving me a phone.
Maybe I should just buy a burner while I’m out. Take matters into my own hands. Not a bad idea.
Pocketing the credit card, I rushed to my vehicle. Inside smelled like peaches. I rolled the windows down, pushed in the clutch, and started the engine. A thrill ran through my veins that echoed the purr.
It was a damn good thing my brother had a stick shift. I only killed the engine once at the exit of the condo, waiting for the gate to rise. After that, I learned the rhythm of clutch, brake, and accelerator in the next few streetlights.
Stabbing the radio, I warbled to a pop song as I turned the wheel to merge onto the highway. There was nothing quite like speeding into traffic, nearly sideswiping a driver who didn’t look, and tearing across the road.
This was freedom.
The freeway took me farther and farther away from home.
With more confidence, I loosened my grip on the wheel and enjoyed the hum of the engine.
I curved around exits and followed signs that pointed east and west, uncertain where I was headed but happy to wander.
This was an adventure. More focused on the road, I made a wide lap around Northern Tampa, seeing its various neighborhoods and trying to find my bearings while being swept up in speed.
It wasn’t until I veered onto a split for a new highway, my heart thrilled and pounding through my ears, that I realized I was hopelessly, utterly lost. Nowhere seemed familiar.
And there was no digital map to instruct me how to return to the condo.
“Merda,” I muttered.
But even this dire straight couldn’t dampen my happiness.
“I can always call Delphi.”
Someone there would know how to contact Markos.
He would be able to track me down, guide me back to the condo.
Not wanting to think of those consequences or what such a call would mean, I decided to make the most of this joyride.
Markos would be furious when he found out, and the thrill of his possible anger drove me to go faster, to push farther.
But there was no reason to fear his wrath.
I wasn’t doing anything wrong, nor was I leaving town.
A sign caught my eye for the next exit.
What better way to spend my day than at the zoo? Looking upon caged animals, I could whisper promises that their cages didn’t have to be permanent and escape was possible.
I was manic, full of a wild, reckless delirium.
“I don’t care, I love it!” I screamed with the radio as I pulled into the parking lot.
The day wore on as I wandered around the zoo, lemonade clutched in my hand.
This was what normal people did. But the more I walked, the more something tugged on my chest. It wasn’t seeing the animals trapped behind plexiglass.
I swept my gaze over the crowd, and an all too familiar feeling began to poison my mood.
So many unfamiliar faces. They didn’t know me, and. ..there was no one walking by my side.
I was lonely.
This was the freedom I so craved once upon a time. But just because I claimed it didn’t mean it was perfect.
I was still that solitary figure. I might not be dreaming of the outside world, I was finally walking in it! Exploring and taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the world. But I was alone.
There was a middle-aged couple holding hands when their children weren’t interrupting them. They shared a popcorn, despite the husband’s insistence that it was gross. Every bite he took, he told his wife. The woman rolled her eyes, pointing at the wolves.
I rubbed my opposite arm. I wish...he was here.
Freedom was only half the equation, but it was hollow with no one to share it with. I wanted my pirate. These past few weeks with him had filled the other void. The one that made my soul ache.
He was my person.
I knew, even without having tested the theory, that he would walk with me at the zoo, hold my hand, share a popcorn with me.
Next time, I would bring him.
“Mother of God, I’m falling for him,” I whispered.
Just when I was about to head back to the administrative building to find a phone and begin the process of tracking Markos down, a familiar voice called for me.
“Maria!”
That single word had the capacity to sap the life from my stunt of freedom. My blood turned to ice.
“Maria, is that you?” The voice was closer.
There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
Summoning every ounce of bravery, I turned and plastered a smile on my face. “What a surprise!”
Alexios stopped before me. While his smile appeared friendly, it didn’t reach his eyes—his hard, calculating eyes.
Quaking under the weight of his scrutiny, I fumbled for the right thing to say. “I came back.”
“I see that,” he said coolly. “Everything okay?”
“Yes.” No, not at all. “Tampa is my home, and if I didn’t come back, he would win. So here I am.”
Alexios nodded. “I guessed you were a fighter.”
The note of praise was more than I deserved. Swallowing past the hammering lump in my throat, I changed the topic. “What brings you here? To the zoo, I mean.”
“I own it.”
My heart stilled, making it impossible to get a response out or even a proper breath.
“Are you enjoying the exhibits?” His question was laced with a more friendly smile.
I needed to get the hell out of here. I could figure out how to call Markos from a different location.
“Yes, but I have to go to work,” I hedged. “I was just on my way out.”
“Let me walk you,” he offered.
There was no good reason to refuse the mobster. We began to push through the crowds, and I scrambled for anything mundane to talk about.
“So...animals? What makes a man want to run such an enterprise?”
Alexios slid his hands into his pockets, the picture of casual. “Family business—”
Oh, shit. This was a mob front.
“—but personally? I enjoy knowing that I can give these creatures a better home than the wild.”
“In cages?” I countered, instantly wishing I bit my tongue.
Alexios shrugged. “They don’t have to fight to survive.”
“But they’re not free.” Why? Why! What madness possessed me to die on this hill? “Such pretty cages, I’ll grant you, but they aren’t living to their fullest potential.”
I felt more than saw his side glance.
“Can I tell you a secret, Maria?”
“Sure,” I breathed. Why not?
“Some nights, I let them out to roam the parkways.”
Astounded at his revelation, I laughed. “You’re joking!”
“Nope.” He grinned, this time with actual friendliness in his tone. “If you’re free after work, I’d love to show you.”
Oh, sweet Mother of God, I needed to leave. Markos would blow a fuse if he knew his rival was asking me out.
“How do you corral them before business hours resume?” The exit was a few feet away. Just a few more steps and I would be free of him.
“Easy. I give them a tempting reason to return.” He stepped so my path was blocked. “Where are you working, Maria?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say the first thing that popped into my head. A thick drawl interrupted before I could make a cataclysmic mistake and say I worked at Delphi.
“Mr. Skorpios, what personal attention! Come to meet me at the gate instead of waiting for me in your office. I’m touched.”
I’d just been saved from saying the name of the Twelve’s bougie club by none other than the land developer.
“Mr. Smithfield, you’re early, sir,” Alexios said over his shoulder before turning his attention back to me.
“I’ll...see you around,” I rushed to say.
“Ah, you have company—Mrs. Demetriou! I didn’t expect to see you so far away from your village,” the faux Texan gushed.
The split second was all it took for lightning to strike and wipe any trace of friendliness from Alexios’s face.
I shifted my stance, ready to bolt for the gate. It was right there, escape so close.
“Demetriou,” Alexios thundered, voice low and terrible.
Just like that, I was trapped—caught. Deep in trouble. And yet, the only coherent thought in my head was how the hell the Texan knew who I was.