Chapter 36
Kairo~
When I had sent Triana the text to meet me, I hadn’t been sure what she’d do.
Since she had finally blocked my number a few weeks ago, I hadn’t had a way to get a hold of her, especially since she’d also blocked me from all of her social media sites as well.
Plus, if that hadn’t been enough, Tomasco Medina and Sonia Torres had done the same.
So, because desperate times called for desperate measures, I had used my father’s phone to text her, and when she had replied that she’d meet me, I’d never felt so fucking relieved in all my life, and that included when she had come home from Mexico.
I had also deleted the text and her number from my father’s phone, wanting to respect her privacy as much as possible. I knew that she wanted nothing to do with me, and I suspected that her decision also included the rest of my family.
At any rate, once again, I was waiting for her by the oak tree, praying that I hadn’t lost her for good. Three months or three years, I loved her every bit as much as I’d had when we’d driven towards the border, and nothing was going to change that.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been waiting for her, but when she finally showed up, she’d chosen to disguise herself again, and I couldn’t blame her.
Even though her celebrity had died down a bit, meeting me was still a huge risk to take, and if a crazy paparazzo got any pictures of us together, who knows how they’d spin the photos.
As soon as she was close enough for me to hear her, she asked, “What’s so important, Kairo?”
Her voice hit me square in the chest, and it was unfathomable how much I missed her.
Three months of biding my time, letting my father do his thing, and I wasn’t even sure how I had managed to get through each day.
Working endless hours had been my only saving grace, but even that hadn’t staved off the lonely nights of not hearing Triana’s voice.
Before I had fucked our relationship all up, we had spoken or texted every night before going to bed.
“Have you seen the news lately?” I asked. “Have you heard about the lottery?”
She nodded. “Yeah...I was watching the news when you texted me earlier.”
“That was my father’s doing,” I confessed. “He came up with the idea, and he’s the one who proposed it to the others.”
Her head reared back in surprise. “Why would he do that?”
“Because he wants me to be happy,” I said, skipping the bullshit. “He wants to see me happy, and he knows that I can’t be without you.”
“Kairo-”
“No, Triana,” I said, cutting her off. “Just...just listen, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I love you,” I told her. “These three months don’t mean shit when it comes to how I feel about you. I love you, and my dad found a way for us to be together, and so...that’s what I’m doing here. I’m asking you to forgive me and to give me a second chance to get it right this time.”
She immediately scowled. “What are you talking about? It’s a lottery that thousands of people are probably going to enter, but only two people will be chosen, Kairo. How does that help us?”
I let out a deep breath, knowing that she wasn’t going to like this next part. “Our names are guaranteed to be chosen in the first lottery,” I finally explained. “All we have to do is fill out the application to enter.”
Triana’s dark eyes widened with disbelief. “What?”
“Our names are going to be pulled,” I repeated.
“Why...why would...it’s supposed to be a random drawing,” she practically squawked. “How is that even going to be possible?”
“The panel will review the applications, but the governing body from each region will pull the names of the entries,” I answered.
She started shaking her head in confusion. “Okay...well...while I understand your father being able to pull your name, what makes you think that Benicio Cortez will pull mine?”
“The first selection isn’t going to be random, Triana,” I finally admitted, and her eyes looked like they might pop right out of her head.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Yeah, she definitely wasn’t going to like this part.
“The first selection will appear like a random drawing, but the Administrators all agreed that the first round of migrants should favor the lottery in the best light,” I said, trying not to wince at the political stench that was going to, hopefully, favor me in the end.
“So, the first so-called lottery winners will be political pawns?” she practically gasped.
I nodded because it was the truth. “By pulling my name, it’ll show that the Administrators believe in the idea so much that they even encouraged their own children to enter the lottery.”
“And what about me? What advantage could I possibly give to the idea?” she asked.
“It’ll be a slap in the face to Mexico’s earlier offer to grant you residency in their country,” I answered. “It’s Benicio Cortez’s way of shutting down any rumors that you’d been trying to cross your way into Mexico.”
“I was trying to cross my way into Mexico,” she retorted.
“Which is why he’s trying to squelch the rumor,” I pointed out. “By you accepting residency in Blooming Heights, then it will show the world that you’d still rather live in the RNA than ever live in Mexico. The first-round winners will all be political PR stunts.”
Triana began shaking her head, running her hands down her face. “This can’t be real.”
“It is,” I assured her. “All you have to do is apply, baby.”
Still shaking her head, she said, “Tomasco, Sonia, and I are already packing to move to Hillrom. Tomasco and Sonia already have jobs there, and they’ve even sold their homes.
We’re...we’re moving, Kairo. We’re making new lives in a new town, and...
and I’m not just going to back out because of a rigged citizenship lottery. ”
I could feel my heart drop to my feet. “Wh...what?”
“Yeah, I’m moving,” she repeated. “I’m moving with my brother and Sonia, and...and it’s too late, Kairo.”
Despite the reason that we were in this position in the first place, I raced across the creek like I’d done the last time, and when I was standing in front of her, I took her face in my hands, saying, “Don’t fucking leave me, baby.
I will do whatever I have to in order to make you forgive me, but you can’t leave me. You just fucking can’t.”
“Kairo-”
“It’s not too late for us,” I begged. “It’s not too late for us, and I refuse to believe otherwise.”
“Don’t do this to me,” she whispered, her voice choked up in an attempt to fight the tears. “Don’t do this to me, Kairo. I...I’ve made other commitments that I’m not going to break for you.”
“Then break them for you,” I urged. “Break them for the freedom that you’ve always wanted. Break them for the chance at some real happiness, Triana.”
“I can’t,” she bit out as she stepped back, forcing me to drop my hands from her face. “Tomasco and Sonia are the only two people in this entire world who have proven their unconditional love for me, and I am not going to repay that loyalty by backing out on them.”
“Baby, please...please just...just give it some thought,” I said, suggesting anything to keep her from leaving me for good.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, Triana. If you don’t apply for the first drawing, then that’s it.
Any hope for something different will be completely lost. You might be living in a new town and have a new job, but your life will still be the same one that you wanted to escape from. ”
“It doesn’t matter,” she lied. “I owe my brother and Sonia the same loyalty that they’ve shown me, and if I end up alone for it, then I’m prepared for that.”
“Baby-”
“Go back to your life, Kairo,” she said, and not for the first time. “Go back to your perfect life and leave me alone.”
My back straightened, regret trying to drop me to my knees. “Say it.”
“Say what?” she asked as her brows furrowed in confusion.
“Tell me that you don’t love me anymore,” I ordered. “Tell me that you’re no longer in love with me and that Hillrom is where your heart really is.”
“Hillrom is where my future is because it doesn’t matter if I still love you or not,” she replied brutally. “Love doesn’t conquer all, Kairo. If it did, then the United States of America never would have become the Regions of New America.”
I had nothing to say to that.
I had nothing to say to that, and she fucking knew it.
We both fucking knew it.