14
Alone
I bit the inside of my cheek.
A thousand thoughts crossed my mind about whether what I was going to do was right or wrong.
I had arranged to meet my brother in a hotel room in Estepona. One of those crowded ones, where the receptionists don't know whether you are a guest or not until you stand in front of them and give your name for the reservation.
I had booked the room under my name, it was the safest option.
Yuri only needed to worry about entering disguised so that his face wouldn't be recognized, and I could inform him about what R told me last night.
I didn't have much to say yet, although Yuri insisted we meet face to face.
The three knocks, followed by a fourth more spaced out, were the signal that my brother was outside.
I went to the door and opened it.
There he was, in sweatpants, a hoodie, sunglasses, a cap, and a grin from ear to ear.
"Are you my brother or Justin Bieber's?"
"To my arms, Kalinka," he burst out, stepping into the room to hug me tightly.
Although I no longer felt the chill of rejection I had upon seeing him, my body didn't welcome him with much warmth either.
"You look fabulous," he noted, eyeing my bubblegum pink outfit.
"Thanks."
"Was it hard to get away from your hubby? I heard he blew a drug dealer's balls off."
"Considering he was going to rape me, what he did was mild."
"But they didn't touch you. The warning from my mole arrived just in time, and R's supervillain preferred to save your pretty ass rather than continue receiving consolation from his lover."
"What did you say?!" I almost choked. Yuri laughed.
"Well, as they say in Spain, honey isn't made for the donkey's mouth. No matter how much he fucks you and has a top-tier diamond by his side, Romeo has always been into cheap jewelry." Yuri took out his phone and showed me a photo sent to his WhatsApp. I wasn’t going to ask him how he got it because it was obvious. My brother had eyes and ears everywhere.
I looked at the date and time. Damn it! He was making out with Irene! There was even a mini-video capturing the moment until he received the call.
I felt nauseous. So much talk of exclusivity and liking me, only to end up making out with that bitch. That's how worried and messed up he was! And I almost believed him. What an idiot I was!
"We were lucky he stood her up and arrived in time to save you. Very romantic, all of it." I felt hatred and disgust.
Romeo was a fucking bastard. Just like all of them! And I was a naive fool who had been completely fooled in every sense.
"Ah yes, extremely romantic, I’m thinking about getting his face tattooed."
"I detect a bit of sarcasm. Don’t tell me you're upset that he's still messing around with the redhead? Because as long as he's fucking her, he leaves you alone."
"I don't give a damn about that. What pisses me off is having been in that fucking club like a piece of meat, with no choice in the matter. Maybe, if it had been you drugged and tied up to offer your ass to the highest bidder, you'd see it differently." He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder.
"Come on, little sister, don't be so dramatic. You accepted it."
"Because I had no other choice!"
"No, you accepted because deep down you're as ambitious as I am. Because your blood is my blood and you believe in the Bratva above all else. We both know that once we finish off those bastards, the world will dance in the palm of our hands. We'll end up on fucking Wikipedia as the youngest, smartest, and most bloodthirsty Vor."
No matter what he said, I was too annoyed with R for his words to lift my spirits.
"By the way, what did you tell Prince Charming to come without an escort?"
"I didn't need to say anything. Romeo had a meeting with Dante, I just pretended to be asleep, remember they think I've been drugged for a week."
"Smart girl. And the escort?"
"They're not glued to the door; they're stationed at the exit of the urbanization. I called a taxi from my room. I made sure no one from the service saw me leaving the house."
"And if your husband gets home early and finds out you're not there?"
"I'll tell him I went to get my nails done. I have an appointment at my sister-in-law's salon in half an hour, our conversation won't be long."
"I see you've got everything figured out."
"You wouldn't expect any less."
"Of course not, you're my sister," he said it as a compliment. I forced a smile. I didn't like being used by everyone, and now that's exactly how I felt. "If we're short on time, you'd better start talking."
"For now, there's not much to tell. I did what you asked, I pointed without accusing. Thanks to that, they'll start a no-return war against the Chinese. They will have the support of Don Giuliano."
"I expected no less, after all, he's the one in charge. Massimo will always be second in command, subordinate to his brother-in-law's decisions." "Like me since you came back," I thought. I pushed that harmful thought away before it poisoned me more than it already had and continued talking.
"There are still no dates or places."
"You'll need to stay alert to that, though what you're saying is great. The seed has been planted, now we just need to water it. We'll get them to kill each other, barely getting our hands dirty, and after that, everything will be ours, Kalinka." His arms enveloped me again. "You're doing wonderfully. Write down all the information. There can't be any loose ends, it's important."
"I know what I have to do, remember I've been handling your affairs for two years."
"And you've done it very well," he celebrated. I didn't care that he flattered me because I still felt resentment for how he acted. Now the important thing was to keep a cool head and my heart well-guarded. I had been close to giving it to someone who didn't deserve it.
"Bratishka, I need some information to speed things up."
"Go ahead."
"Massimo wants to know when the next shipment from the Chinese is arriving. Do you have a way to talk to Cheng to find out?"
"I might."
"Well, do it, and we'll see how I filter the information afterward." As soon as the image of the Chinese woman projected in my mind, I wanted to send her a warning. Ah, and tell her not to attack Andrey again, my men are off-limits, only the Capulleto's men are fair game." Yuri laughed upon hearing the nickname. "My man will be back soon, and I don't want him to suffer any harm. Are we clear?"
"Yes, of course. Although I don't know which kidnapping you're referring to."
"The puta china didn't inform you?" My brother shook his head, unaware. "Her men kidnapped and tortured Romeo's man and mine to find out his whereabouts."
"Impossible," he certified.
"I guarantee it."
"And I'm telling you no."
"Then you'll have to tell me who did it, because they were yellow and had slanted eyes. I doubt they were Congolese or mutant lemons with that look." Yuri ignored my joke and looked concerned.
"Cheng's men didn't do it, they were aware their boss was fine. I'll put it on my to-do list; I still don't know which gang tried to take Sarka."
"Sarka was almost kidnapped by our mother." I dropped the bomb without anesthesia.
"What?!" he exclaimed, stunned.
"You heard me." I updated him on the conversation I had with our mother, and Yuri ended up laughing.
"Does it amuse you?"
"Well, I'd rather it was her than someone I really need to worry about. And now that you've updated me, knowing her, it doesn't surprise me."
"I didn't find it funny at all."
"Forget our mother's crazy ideas and let me think about who could have attacked your man." My brother nervously paced back and forth in the room. He stopped in front of the window and snapped his fingers. "Maybe they were Jing's men."
"Do you mean the man Cheng works for?" That made some sense. My brother nodded. "I've heard of him. What's his relationship with her? They say he only gives power positions to his family and close ones."
"That's true, Cheng is his daughter."
"His daughter?" I asked, incredulous. "And why would her father be looking for her?"
"Maybe because she's avoiding and disobeying him a bit."
"In what sense?"
"Let's say Cheng's mission was to open the market in Spain, stay here for a few years until she found someone extremely trustworthy to delegate the area to. The positions designated for Jing's relatives were already filled, so her father's idea was for her to pave the way and then return to China to marry her fiancé."
"The Chinese woman is engaged?"
"Almost since birth, with a man chosen by her father."
"This obsession with choosing husbands for their daughters!" I couldn't contain myself.
"Customs and traditions. If you're talking about yourself, don't worry, you don't have much longer beside that Capulleto, as you call him." I bit my cheek again.
"So, do you think it could have been her father's doing?"
"I wouldn't bet on it, but it's a possibility. The first time you took her, he went crazy. So it's not surprising he thought her disappearance was your doing."
"And why didn't her men tell Jing that we didn't have her?"
"Maybe they received orders from her. Cheng has earned their respect through hard work, giving them privileges her father never would have considered, achieving a loyalty that's rare these days."
"And what does Cheng intend to do?"
"To prove to daddy Jing that she's fully capable of maintaining one of the main drug routes and making it flourish, so he spares her from the torment of marriage."
"I see her point."
"It would be valid if she wasn't going to die." Yuri glanced at his watch. "You're running late for your alibi. I'll find out what you asked and get the information to you. Let's meet here in a few days. Does that work?"
"Of course, bratishka ," I replied with tight lips.
I accompanied Yuri to the door and waited a few minutes before leaving.
I was fed up with men dominating our world while we had to settle for crumbs. Perhaps, at this moment, I was the person who understood Cheng the most.
I detested the patriarchy that surrounded the mafia with all my might.
I hated my husband for deceiving me, I hated my father and brother for using me. I hated Massimo for thinking I was harmless to his son, and I even hated my mother for manipulating me.
Alone, that's how I came into this shitty world, and that's how I felt at that moment.