35. Chapter 35
Miles
I’m sitting down, looking at my mother’s garden. Tia Susana has been resting since I arrived. My plan was to welcome the new year with Veronica, but I received word from Tia’s doctor that she wasn’t doing well, so I rushed to be with her.
I pull up the security feed for the building, my eyes tracking the digital time stamp. It flickers for a few minutes, static white noise that makes the hair on my neck stand up. I don't like gaps. I don't like silence.
I call the front desk, my thumb tapping a restless rhythm against the phone.
Will answers on the second ring. He tells me everything is fine, that Veronica is in her apartment, safe and sound.
I check her tracker next. The red dot glows steadily on the map of her floor plan, but when I try to pull the feed to her living room, the screen remains a mocking, empty screen.
“Camilo.”
The voice breaks through my concentration. I lock my phone and slide it into my pocket as Tia Susana approaches.
“Tia, you should be resting,” I say, my voice automatically dropping into the dutiful tone I’ve used since I was a child.
“Mijo, I needed some fresh air.” She stops beside me, her gaze searching mine in the moonlight. “What are you doing out here by yourself?”
“I’m just thinking.”
“About what?”
“Not about what, but about who.” I glance at her. We don’t talk about this, not relationships, not feelings.
She doesn't flinch. She just waits, her silence a heavy, expectant thing. “Who, mijo?”
“Veronica Kayde.”
I catch the sharp, unmistakable stiffening of her shoulders at the mention of that name. The air between us suddenly feels brittle. “Camilo, she isn’t good for you.”
“Neither was Papa for Mama.”
“Sí,” she says, her eyes drifting toward the dark shadows of the garden. “And look what happened.”
“Don’t you ever get lonely, Tia?”
The question hangs between us. She doesn't look back at me. “No. Because I have you.” She offers a thin, practiced smile and turns to walk back inside, leaving me alone with the ghost of a girl I can't stop watching. I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here, but a familiar tone brings me out of my thoughts.
It’s Gabe. I immediately answer. “Is she all right?”
“No.” His voice is tight—strained. “She knows. Tabitha told her.”
“Fuck.” The word is a snarl. “I’m on my way.”
“Miles, she knows you knew.”
Fuck, this isn’t good.
I head to Tia Susana and tell her I need to leave. I can tell she’s upset, seeing as how I just arrived. I have a bad feeling. How the fuck did Tabitha find out where Veronica lives?
I see Veronica is back at her apartment.
I try to call and send her messages, but there’s no response.
I’ve been watching the screen on my tray table for the last couple of hours.
She’s lying on the couch, crying. Just absolutely shattered.
My chest tightens; my heart actually breaks at the sight of her like this.
I can't look away, even when the tears finally stop and she drifts into a restless sleep for a couple of hours.
When she finally stirs, she gets up; her movements are lethargic.
Then she disappears into her ensuite. The camera feed provides the sound: the shower running, then cutting off.
I watch her exit the room a couple of minutes later, dressed in something tight and dark, makeup applied with a heavy hand.
Then she does it. She walks right past the kitchen counter, pauses, and leaves her phone sitting there like a challenge.
Purposely. A sick, defiant gesture. The absolute nerve of her. I’m putting a fucking tracker in her.
I follow the movements Kai makes. My thumb sweeps across the live feed to the car’s location tracker. She’s been at the same spot for an hour now: a bar out of reach from her cousins, a place where I have no eyes on the ground. It seems she’s in the mood to party.
That won't do. I know she’s in a self-destructive mood. She’s like this when she feels pushed against a wall by her family and me. My plane is landing in less than an hour, but it feels like the longest flight of my life. Soon, this will all be over.
There’s less than thirty minutes to go. Her car is moving, so I call the driver.
“Sir,” Kai answers.
“What’s going on?” I ask, but my question is answered when I hear laughter in the background. It’s accompanied by another laugh. Is that a man?
I ask again. “Kai, what the fuck is going on?”
“Sir. Ms. Kayde asked to be driven to a bar. Now…now we are on our way back to her apartment…with a gentleman.”
“What gentleman?” I can feel my eye twitch.
“Sir, it’s a gentleman she met at the bar.” I hear the laughter.
“Take the long way home from wherever you are,” I order as the plane begins to descend. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
FUCK!!
I run out of the plane and jump into my waiting car. I step on the accelerator and call Kai.
“Do not let whoever the fuck that is enter the building,” I yell.
“Sorry, sir. She’s already in,” Kai tells me.
FUCK!!
Less than fifteen goddamn minutes later, I put my car in park and yell at Will to take care of it. I run into the building and take the elevator more than thirty floors. When I reach into my pocket, I pull out my brass knuckles.
The elevator door opens, and I eat up the steps to her apartment. Her laughs grow louder as I approach her door. I reach for the door handle, and it’s locked. Fuck, my keys are in the car. I take a step back, and with one kick, her front door swings open.
The sight in front of me makes me lose any control I had.