45. CARLOS
CARLOS
“ I really appreciate you going out of your way, Pedro.”
“Anytime, Carlos,” he says.
Pedro was visiting New York with his family, and was kind enough to physically bring me all the documentation from my lawyer, worried something would go wrong in the mail.
All the legal copies I needed, but also the account information for two offshore accounts in other names that my lawyer had stumbled across. Gabriel was definitely a planner.
“How long are you here?” I ask as we walk outside of my office and over to his car.
“I’m leaving tonight, meeting Daniel in Miami for a few days before we head back to Brazil.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Pedro. For everything.”
He pulls me into a hug and I take advantage. I’ve no idea if we will ever see each other again. He is family to me, the brother I never had. Just as I’m about to pull away, Pedro is forcefully pulled from me and thrown onto the ground.
Simon.
“Keep your dirty hands off him. Didn’t you get the message in Brazil, shit brains?” Simon shouts before pulling Pedro up by his collar and punching him in the face. Pedro can fight, so he regains his balance and goes to hit back, but I stop him.
“Stop! Pedro it’s just an incident of confusion. Simon, you can’t just hit him like that. I’ve told you countless times, there is nothing between us.”
“It didn’t look that way to me. The stalker is obviously making the moves on you,” Simon snarls, and I have to hold him back.
“Stalking? Be quiet, little boy. I was here on business. Carlos is my friend, you psycho.”
“Oh I can be a psycho when I need to be, bitch,” Simon says.
“Be careful calling me a bitch, I can easily knock you the fuck out.”
“That’s enough! Pedro, it was nice seeing you. Take care and say hi to Daniel for me.”
“Bye Carlos,” Pedro says as he fixes his coat and walks back to his car, looking at Simon like he wants to beat him to death.
“Daniel? How many men has he got?”
“Only one. You need to calm down. The doctor said you’re not supposed to exert yourself.”
“I’m fine.”
Simon scowls as he fixes his own coat and smooths his hair. I can’t help but grin.
“What the fuck is so funny?”
“I love it when you get jealous and territorial.”
“That’s because you have an inflated ego.”
Unable to resist him, I pull him close and bite on his bottom lip.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were working.”
“Brace yourself, I have the most fucked up story to tell you.”
We sit in my office, and it takes Simon about twenty minutes to go through everything that's happened with Noah. I don’t think my eyebrows have left my hairline.
“How did it feel seeing that bastard dead?”
“Happy. I’m glad he is no longer around to hurt people.
It made me sad finding out what he did to Leo, but at least he moved away.
Started a new life. Things changed with that whole thing once I was open in front of everyone, I was finally proud.
But I have to say, Noah doing this was like tying a bow on the whole thing. It's actually freeing.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah, I’m more freaked out about Noah.”
“I would thank him if he gave a shit.”
“When can we go home?”
Home. He called it home.
“Home? Finally admitting defeat?”
“I could always move back to the mansion if you’re going to make a big deal over it.”
“You’d never make it past the door.”
I stand and walk over to where he is sitting and I lean down, my mouth hovering over his.
“You’re never gonna escape me, little lion.”
“Its a good thing I love my cage then, isn’t it?”
“I love my lion back.”