Chapter 13
Omar
“The engine is too loud,” I told Efrain. “If I need to go back to Miami at a moment’s notice, I can’t be seen or heard, yeah?”
“Sí, jefe,” the older man said. “Pascal and I can work on that. Though it might take us three or four days.”
I nodded. I didn’t know when Angel’s condition might change and I wanted to be prepared. I glanced at my watch: it was nearly eleven. “Keep me updated,” I said and patted Efrain on the shoulder as I walked away.
I had already grabbed a burner phone from the office. I was going to need Pascal to pick up more when he went for the grocery order on the mainland, what with the near-daily update calls I was making. I stepped out of the dry dock to call in. Lili picked up after a few rings.
“Idiota.”
I sighed; it said something about how stressed we both were that I didn’t have it in me to rise to the insult. In fact, it was almost a relief to hear that she could still be sarcastic. “How is he?”
“The same.” Her voice was devoid of emotion. “The doctors want to lighten his sedation later in the week, and Emma and I talked about it and she signed off on that plan. If he doesn’t start to come around after they lessen the sedation—”
She didn’t say it, but we both knew what it meant: if Angel didn’t start coming around, he was probably never going to. “He’ll wake up,” I promised. “He’s not going out like that.”
“Yeah,” Lili intoned. “I know.” But she didn’t believe it; she was losing hope, and I couldn’t exactly blame her.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
“I was never meant to be in charge,” she said.
I actually laughed. “Lili, you are more qualified than me to take over the day-to-day operations by far. You and I both know that.”
She made a sound that was almost a snarl. “Tell that to your Tíos. They don’t think that a little girl like me can handle all the pressure. There’s talk of a take-over.”
If any of our Tíos took over, Angel would have a hell of a time getting that power back. There would be bloodshed and more death. It would be all my fault. “I’ll come home,” I said. “I’ll stay in the compound, and—”
“You can’t,” Lili interrupted me. “We just got raided again, and a few of our guys were arrested outside of Elíseo. We wouldn’t be able to keep you hidden.”
Mierda. “I can dye my hair, wear a disguise if I have to.”
“Your hair is the least recognizable thing about you,” Lili deadpanned. She wasn’t wrong: I was six-foot-seven and nearly as wide. Angel and I had always been known around Miami, and it wasn’t always for the Castillo name. “How’s your plan coming along?”
I sighed. “There was a setback, but I’m working through it.” Felix Suarez had better come through. I might not be sure if I could go through with killing Lyse, not after yesterday, but I could still destroy him, and if something happened to my family while I was in exile, I would.
Lili didn’t plead with me to work faster; she didn’t remind me that the family needed me. She knew that I was doing what I could…it simply wasn’t good enough.
“How is Emma?”
“The baby is doing okay,” Lili said carefully. “They’re monitoring Emma’s blood pressure.”
The words were good, but the tone said something else entirely. “But how is Emma, Liliana?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone; it stretched so long that I wondered if she’d actually hung up on me.
Finally, Lili sighed. I heard the clicking of her throat, as if her vocal cords were dry and rubbing together.
“Emma and Manny are sitting vigil at Angel’s bedside.
I put Manny with Emma to keep an eye on her and to help keep her mind off things, but now they’re both losing their minds. It’s a mess.”
It wasn’t all that shocking that Manny was as upset as Emma at what happened.
Manny idolized my brother, and Angel and Emma doted on the youngest Castillo.
They treated him better than his own parents.
Ever since he’d shifted to homeschooling in order to take on more of the family business, he rarely left the compound.
“I don’t like the idea of Emma staying at the hospital all the time, but at least the doctors can keep an eye on her and the baby, right? ”
“That’s what we’re paying them to do, yes,” Lili said. Her voice was crisp again.
“I’m not questioning your choices, Mija,” I soothed. “I know that you’re doing the best you can. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I know you will. I better go. I’m going to finish going through Angel’s emails. Ademir sent a message thanking him for the use of our dry dock. He’s pressing for a meeting, and I’m going to try and push that off.”
“Don’t—”
“Let them know that Angel is hurt,” she finished for me. “I know, idiota. He will find out eventually, but I’ve no intention of telling him anything right now.”
“Gracias.”
We bid each other goodbye, and I headed to the dry dock, destroying the phone and tossing it into the rubbish bin as I did. “Whatever you’re going to do to the boat,” I announced, startling Efrain and Pascal, who were talking with their heads bent together, “you have two days. Do you understand?”
Efrain’s brows knitted together, but Pascal put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, keeping him from saying whatever thought first came to mind. “Sí, jefe,” Pascal said. “We’re planning it out now, and we’ll work around the clock if we need to.”
I need to get them a raise, I thought. The island’s skeleton crew were paid handsomely, just like any of the others who worked for the Castillo family, but Padre tiered everything.
Those closest to him were the ones who reaped the most benefits.
I wanted to make sure that Angel and I took better care of our people who were loyal, no matter how close they were to the seat of power.
“If there’s anything that you need, let me know,” I said. “I’ll make sure that you get it.”
I left the dry dock; my presence would only slow them up.
What to do now? Lili hadn’t needed me to do anything administrative.
I could have volunteered to look at Angel’s emails for her, but Lili was more than capable of handling the task.
She also had the best chance at putting Angel’s South American partners at ease until he could step back in.
Eventually, I would have to figure out how to play businessman if Angel remained in a coma.
Lili would have to teach me. As much as I would love to turn over operations to her, my Tíos were a prime example of why I couldn’t: they would never accept Lili as our leader, and while she could solve her problems the way Angel had, with carefully placed bullets in the right set of people, that might not be enough to overcome the traditions of our family.
Unsure of what to do with myself, I was heading to the house when a figure on the beach caught my eye. It was Lyse. She was holding a piece of driftwood and seemed to be…drawing something in the sand. An SOS message?
I wouldn’t blame her. The woman had to be confused…I knew I was. But I also couldn’t have her trying to escape or sending messages to passing tourist planes.
I crept closer and saw that she wasn’t writing out HELP or anything of the sort. Instead, she was drawing. It was a landscape; it might have been somewhere real or imaginary. But it was beautiful, especially for a sketch made in the sand. What could she do with proper materials?
She was so absorbed in the drawing that she didn’t notice how close I’d gotten. I stood for a moment, watching her work, and it was…fascinating. Entrancing. She’s beautiful, I thought.
I shook the rising affection away. I could get away with attraction to the woman: she was beautiful, and I was stuck with her on an island. I had no other options for my wayward thoughts. But the warm feeling in my chest? That was unforgivable.
I got close enough to reach out and touch her, and she still didn’t notice that I was there. Either she was far too confident that she could defend herself, or she was comfortable in her surroundings and didn’t think that she was in any danger.
The idea made my stomach burn with rage. Not because I wanted her to be afraid of me, necessarily, but because she should be afraid of me. It wasn’t smart not to be. But when I opened my mouth to…what? Scare her? Scold her? All that came out was: “That’s beautiful.”
Lyse let out a little scream and whipped around. She held the piece of driftwood like a bat, swinging it wildly. I caught it and yanked it out of her hands, snapping it into pieces. The fear that I expected to see from her now radiated from her eyes, but her mouth was set in a defiant sneer.
“What the hell are you doing, pendejo? Sneaking up on me like that?”
She was screaming at me. It shouldn’t be endearing, but I felt my lips curl into a smile. “Were you going to hit me, conejita? Really?”
Lyse scowled. “It would be what you deserve.”
Her words set off more heat in my stomach…but it wasn’t anger I was feeling. That damned spark of defiance made me want to pin her down and show her who was in charge. “Now you know how I felt after your family attacked my brother,” I said.
I had meant for it to be teasing, but my words landed between us like a bomb. “I wasn’t the one who tried to kill you,” she pointed out. “Or your brother.”
“No,” I agreed. “You’re just a poor conejita stuck in the crosshairs.”
“Stop calling me that.”
I scoffed. “No. It fits you too well.” I reached out, and she shrank back, scared. Good, Lyse, I thought. Be scared of me. It’ll be easier for both of us if you are.
“Don’t. Touch. Me,” she growled. “Not ever again.”
I stepped into her space and grabbed her chin. My lips caressed her cheek in cruel mockery. “I’ll touch you whenever I want, conejita. You don’t make the rules here. I do.”
She yanked backward, freeing herself from my grip. “Fuck you, pendejo.”