Charlotte
Chapter 5
Charlotte
A s consciousness returns, I struggle to pry open my eyes. They seem to be sealed shut, as if someone has applied glue to keep them closed. Simultaneously, I am hit with an intense sensation of dryness in my mouth.
My heart is pounding in my chest, and beads of sweat trickle down my forehead. The throbbing sensation in my head intensifies, as if my brain is pulsating with every beat. It feels as though a weight has been placed upon my shoulders, causing my limbs to feel heavy and sluggish. The combination of physical discomfort and mental exhaustion leaves me feeling drained, as if my energy has been sapped away.
When I finally manage to open my eyes, my vision is blurry, and my brain is foggy. I feel strangely disconnected from my body. I’m stiff and scuffed up with aches in places I don’t understand. I don’t know what happened but I’m sore all over, almost like I’ve been in an accident of some kind.
Trying to focus on something other than my physical state, I take in my surroundings. Nothing looks familiar.
The sight of the luxurious room is mesmerizing, with its white silk covering and dazzling gold embellishments. The air carries the faint scent of expensive cologne, a mix of spice and citrus. My brow furrows in confusion.
Eric doesn’t wear that cologne. In fact, his cologne is the kind you can taste in the air. I despise it. This is masculine and alluring—the kind of scent I could bathe in and still not get enough.
Where the hell am I?
As I turn my head and sniff the pillow, the scent becomes even stronger. I’m in a bed that belongs to a strange man, and I want to drown in his cologne.
Memories flood back to me of me leaving work and going out to the dark parking lot. That’s the last thing I remember.
Where am I? Did Eric do this because he knew we were over? No. Even his family couldn’t afford a room this luxurious. Plus, I don’t think he has the balls to drug and kidnap me. He’s more likely to just throw a tantrum and tell me how lucky I am that he would lower himself to be with a nobody like me.
“Hello, Carino.” A man walks into the room, and although my vision is still hazy, he looks familiar. Even his voice sounds like I’ve heard it before.
Where have I heard that voice before?
Reaching up, I rub my throbbing temples. Trying to focus and figure out where I am and why this man is here causes my head to ache worse.
“Don’t force yourself to remember. The drugs will wear off soon and everything will be clear.” The sound of his voice is husky and hypnotic.
“Where do I know you from? Why am I here?” My voice trembles, but I know I need to be brave and not show my fear to this stranger.
The figure moves closer to the bed and becomes clearer through my spotty vision. He exudes danger; his presence by my bedside sends a chill scattering down my spine.
“I’m Javier Amari Consuelos of the Consuelos Cartel.”
Focusing on his hands, I notice the tattoos covering them. “You are the man from the bookstore. The one who was an asshole.”
“That I am.” He chuckles.
“Why did you take me? You wouldn’t give me the time of day when you came to pick up Abuela.”
He smiles at the use of the word Grandmother.
“I don’t understand. Why me?”
“It’s you because your father tried to play games with the Cartel by misplacing my…” He pauses and seems to contemplate his words before he continues, “…product. Once I started doing research on him. I found out he has a weakness. A beautiful, sweet daughter who is nothing like him. At first, I was looking for a way to keep him under my thumb, but then I realized I could have you and now it’s all I want. From the moment I saw a photo of you, I knew you were it for me. You will marry me, and we will have a child as soon as possible. Abuela will be over the moon.”
“Are you fucking insane? I don’t know you. I can’t get married to you when I’m already engaged to someone else.”
The man’s jaw ticks as he clenches his hands into fists at his sides.
“Don’t fucking bring him up to me. I have plans to make sure he drowns in his own blood.”
Taken aback, I gasp in shock. “You can’t kill someone.”
“I’ve killed many men, including the one I sent to retrieve you, for touching what didn’t belong to him.”
Not knowing how to react to that, I stay silent. If this man is a murderer, I could be next.
Reaching out, Javier lifts a glass of ice water to my lips, allowing me to relieve my parched mouth. I know I shouldn’t consume anything he gives me as it could be drugged, but I’m desperate for something to wet my mouth with.
“My father will be looking for me, and he’s a detective. He won’t stop until he finds me, and when he does, he’s going to lock you up and throw away the key.”
A loud laugh comes from deep within the man. “Who do you think sold you to me to begin with?”
“My father wouldn’t sell me!”
“Wouldn’t he?” The deep tone of Javier’s words sounds almost like a purr. It makes me wet between my thighs, and I squirm with the sensation. The movement doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Your father lost two kilos of coke. For me, you are priceless, but to a man like your father, you are worth whatever he can get for himself out of the deal. You were traded.”
That’s when I think about the fact that I was only with Eric because my father insisted. No matter what Eric did, my father was clear I must stay with him and marry him. He wouldn’t have been concerned hearing about Eric’s cheating.
Father told me many times, it wasn’t about love. Love doesn’t pay the bills. Connections do. It made me feel gross, like my father was willing to pimp me out for financial gain. It’s the reason I refused to have sex with Eric before marriage. Apparently, that’s exactly what he did, and not to just a politician’s son this time. A cartel boss.
“We will be married this weekend. You will allow Abuela to be part of the planning, and you will not fight me.”
“You can’t expect me to marry you. You are in the cartel! You’ve already admitted you sell drugs; I don’t want to think about what other products you sell. There’s no way in hell I’m marrying someone involved in that kind of shit.”
“May I remind you, your father is just as filthy as I am. And, Carino, I’m not in the Cartel, I am the Cartel.”
Feeling like a deer in headlights, I don’t know what else to say. This man is clearly insane.
Reaching over, the man places his hand softly against my cheek as he speaks. “You will marry me, or I can turn in the evidence that I have on your father. I promise you, I have a lot. Years of dirty dealings with criminals, bribes your father has taken. If you don’t walk down that aisle, your father will be wearing orange and rotting in a jail cell.”
With that, the man turns around and stalks from the room.
How could my father have done this? Is this all I’m worth to him? I don’t know anything about drug deals or bribes; I don’t deserve to be caught up in all of this. My chest hurts at the thought of my father selling me to someone he knew was dangerous. The worst part is, I’m hurt but not completely shocked.
The day I was born was the day I lost my mother, and my life with my father began. The crushing weight of guilt for stealing her from him compels me to prioritize his happiness above all else. It’s like a constant, gnawing burden. I yearn for his approval, but my persistent self-doubt tells me I’ll never measure up. He’s told me countless times that I’m her spitting image, the resemblance uncanny. When he looks at me, the rage in his eyes is a searing reminder of my father’s grief. The way he treats me is wrong, I know that, but the guilt gnaws at me because I feel responsible for his pain. I took the one person he loved away from him.
If this man—Javier—is telling the truth, then my father is in danger. I can’t lose another parent; I don’t think I’ll survive it.
With a sob, I bury myself under the covers. It seems my fate is sealed.