SARIAN I was left all alone in the garden or maybe, I chose to stay back since Don Julio had walked away angrily.They were cool before, so what had started this sudden anger.I didn't say anything to Don Julio How could I possibly say anything? I could still hear the warning in her voice. She didn't speak loudly, she didnt have to. Her cool collected words were enough to send shivers down my spine.‘You will be buried in it.’ I couldn't tell which frightened me more: her hatred or her air of confidence. For most of the day I remained in my room. I didn't go downstairs for dinner and I couldn't sleep either.I was just lying there looking up at the ceiling I tried to figure out how love could be so sweet one moment and then feel like poison the next. The quiet was scary and oppressive and I couldn't stay there and let it envelope me.I got up and made my way downstairs. The silence in the mansion was excessive. Like statues, the guards stood outside, ignoring me as I passed the
SARIAN I didn't know where I stood abd right now, trusting anyone in this mansion was like walking on hot coals, because even if you tried , you would still burn your feet. Abd sadmy, I think I won't trust Greta too. Who knows if she's part of them.Thinking that Greta might be part of everything made me feel so guilty, the old lady was just doing her job here and she might be in danger too.I felt as if I understood everything but somehow I was still standing in the center of it all. Far away from the club, away from the guards and away from the eyes that were always on me, I sat by myself in the garden. The wind smelled like rain and the sky was gray. As if to calm the storm inside my chest, the nearby fountain bubbled softly. I hadn't heard from Don Julio since he showed me the picture. And I didn't know where he was.He said that Hugo was coming and he said I was important. He refused to explain why though.It was so quiet now and no gunshot could have sounded as loud as that s
SARIAN It felt weird the following morning. I didn't sleep at all and It made me feel numb. Like something had frozen inside of me over night and was now immobile and cold. I showered for a long time, kept replaying everything I had heard, over and over in my mind and wishing this was all some terrible dream.I got out and dressed slowly. I put on jeans and a basic black blouse but my hands were shaking. I was scared of too many things.I was scared of seeing Matteo, scared of him knowing that I had heard him but then pretending not to, scared of seeing the man sent to kill me, walking behind Don Julio and wondering if he would kill Don Julio too.Who would surprise me next?Greta?I needed to see Don Julio and I needed answers. I needed to find out who Matteo was talking about if he was actually involved in something risky—if he was referring to a man named Hugo. Why did that name make my heart race? Again ,I heard voices as I arrived at the main hallway. Enzo and another guard
SARIAN By the time I arrived at the house that night, the sky had grown dark. Most likely out of guilt or fear , the club manager had told me I could take the night off or maybe due to my near death experience. I didn't argue in any case. I still felt heavy all over and needed room to sleep.I had heard Don Julio asking him softly in Italian what had happened. I knew just a little Italian but I knew Don Julio wasn't soft or anything.The club manager had gone into an office when Matteo had called me from the club where a stripper had tried to give him a lap dance and he came out after some minutes looking like he had almost drowned in a whirlpool. His clothes were neat but his face was off like he had been given a quick makeover.I didn't ask questions and I was glad to be far away from all that, I needed a place that didn't smell of blood, whiskey or cigars. The mansion was as large, too silent and too cold as ever. I went through the side entrance in the hopes of avoiding a coll
SARIAN. I shouldn't have visited the beach.I should have said no but somehow, Simeon has a charming way of doing what you don't want to do and you have to like it.I smiled as I remembered our time at the beach as I stood behind the bar the following evening trying to concentrate. That was all I could think about. I sighed, when I remembered I was pretending not to notice the heat of Simeon's kiss still burning on my skin.I repeatedly wiped the same glass. I shut my eyes. What was I thinking? The club was more boisterous than normal, packed, drunken laughter here and there, raising and falling.Caresses, rapid discussions , women walking around, looking for the next customer They are conducting business in whispers. It all felt normal. Too normal. Tonight a new bartender was working next to me. A man with a sharp jaw and a slicked-back hairstyle. He was not smiling at all, just serious and focused on what he was doing and he said nothing. Just swiftly mixed drinks without ever
SARIAN The night lasted a long time. It felt hotter than usual under the club's lights. I pretended to smile at the customers and the music was too loud. Too loud for my ears and I felt this was more than a debt Don Julio said I would pay, it was more like a punishment.My heart felt heavier than ever and my feet hurt. Then I saw him again. After talking to me in my room, I had resumed my job and he was nowhere to be found and I was happy for the rest of the day, only to see him now. I rolled my eyes and groaned. I thought he won't come back but he was standing at the far end of the club talking to one of those customers who never misses a day, dressed like he was shooting a movie or something.He smiled slowly and softly as if I were the only person in the room as his eyes met mine. Then he took a seat at the bar he said ..“Good evening Eve.” I forced a smile while swallowing hard. “Back again?”“ Obviously.” He leaned slightly in. “I promised to be here.”I was thinking he had
SARIAN I shut my eyes, trying to push the pounding headache out of my head as I sat on the bathroom floor, naked, my knees drawn to my chest and the water from the shower pouring over me.The quiet wasn't serene. It was heavy and loud. As if I wasn't prepared for what was about to happen. My tears had dried up after everything—Don Julio, Catalina the lies, the kiss. I had stopped crying. But I still had chest pain and whenever I remembered what had happened, I felt like crying again.But this pain didn't go away immediately, it was the kind of pain that prevents you from breathing normally as if it were sitting on your ribs. I had lost all sense of what to believe. Gradually, I got up and entered the bedroom. I looked at my bedside tables, the old music box, the drawer and the walls. It had been weeks since I had touched it. I remembered bringing it along that night that I and Marie were supposed to leave that god forsaken town and Marc had sold us out like hand me downs.I haven't
SARIAN She was back in my life. It was my off day and she was the first person I saw or should I say the smell of her perfume fought off the smell of freshly brewed coffee and drifted into my noseThe icy-eyed, gorgeous and expensively dressed woman from the club. That evening she had entered the mansion as if she had been invited for a party or something.She felt at home in Don Julio's arms. Catalina was back when I thought she couldn't return and I didn't know why a bitter taste rose in my throat when I saw her.And she was no ordinary person. She was rich and powerful too.Some of the guards were whispering about her and I heard them. Don Julio was once saved by her father Don Manuel. Even the most dreaded men in South America respected him because he was a strong cartel boss. Catalina was his only daughter and child . A cartel princess with lots of connections. Everything about Catalina screamed poise. She was saucy a
SARIAN I had told myself that I wasn't ever going to fall for another again. It's been three days here but I had told Simeon some very interesting lies. I had told myself that I would focus on repaying my father's debt just as Don Julio had said and then I would leave and her a better life somewhere else. But with him . It was different. I had lied about my name and everything and he had believed and he seemed to like me. Damn. It was a Friday evening. It was him again, same dark eyes. The same serene assured smile. Simeon. He entered like he belonged here with deliberate slow steps that seemed like he wasn't scared of anyone. He had asked for my section for the third consecutive night. Despite his loud presence, he was always courteous and quiet. Too polite for a man who looked filthy rich. I made an effort to remain calm. I took his order, smiled and turned to go. But the truth was that every time he gazed at me my heart raced. It seemed as though he could see right