Short chapter but I just wanted you guys to know Mateo gets his happy ending too. ;) Thank you guys for reading!!! Please leave a review if you have enjoyed the book.
I woke up to someone banging on my apartment door. "Jane!" It was my brother, "Jane please wake up. I'm in trouble." I got out of bed. I was sick of this. I knew why he was here. He only ever called or visited when he needed money. My brother was good at spending money and didn't have the same enthusiasm to work hard and make it. "Give me one good reason to open this door, Jason?" I yelled, putting on my robe. "They're going to kill me, JJ. Please." I sighed, opening the door. He pushed past me, his clothes were torn and his nose was bloody. "What the hell happened to you?" "I took some money." He wiped his nose. "How much is some?" I demanded. "Five..." "Five hundred dollars?" I questioned. He remained silent looking around the apartment. "Jason. How much did you take." "I fucked up big time." He ran a hand down his face. "Five hundred thousand," he said. My eyes widened. "What did you do with so much money!" "I paid my mortgage, my car..." "So what the hell do you want fro
With each step I took, getting closer to a man I wanted to run from. His icy glare settled on me and it felt like my skin was being pricked with a thousand needles.I stopped for a second, unable to take the intensity. I could feel the barrel of a gun being pressed against my back as his goon walked me down the aisle. I looked for the exits. There was only one door. "Easy there," his goon whispered in my ear, "it's either this or a funeral. You choose." I narrowed my eyes at the man- indicating for him to move the gun, the material of the wedding dress was thin and the gun was digging into my back. The goon looked amused, releasing the pressure he was putting on the gun. I continued walking, looking at all the smiling faces looking back at me. I wanted to scream 'help me' but something in me doubted they would. "Smile," the goon ordered. I put on my best smile but I couldn't promise its genuineness. We reached the alter and he handed me off to the groom -as if I was his to give a
It was hard for me to believe that this is what my life came to be. Married to Alvaro. It had been exactly one week since we wed. I thought about what Jason said. He was right the only chance I had was running. I stayed in my room all day, every day. I didn't have a phone or a laptop. No access to the internet. Just a TV. I felt more like a pet than a human. Cynthia one of the workers was the only person I spoke to.She even helped dress me for my wedding day. It helped that she had a nurturing persona. She reminded me of my nana. She always smiled at me, and it warmed my heart seeing her every day or just having little conversations with her. She would always stay a little longer each time she visited but then she would say she needed to get back to work.She brought me breakfast, lunch and dinner. I refused to leave the room— telling her to tell Alvaro I wasn't feeling well or was napping. He never came to check so I got away with it and after a while I guess he got the idea that I
I phoned the store manager apologizing for not being to work for the past week. She was a grumpy woman and she threatened to take it out of my leave days. I had no problem with that, as long as I got my job back. I got ready for work and walked out of the house to see Mat had already pulled the car out of the garage. He opened the passenger side door for me. "Thank you," I said and he jogged over to the driver's side. I felt excited to go back to work, and I wasn't going to let having a bodyguard stop me, but Mateo looked young— now that I sat next to him. He was tall, just an inch shorter than Alvaro. "So who is Alvaro to you?" I squeaked, hating the fact that I was sounding nosey. "Alvaro kind of adopted me when I was five years old," he said, "I tried to steal from him and he was so amused by it that I won his heart." "That's sweet of him." I didn't think Alvaro was the type to adopt a child or even care about children. Mat shrugged. "He's always been so good to me. He is a n
Alvaro's POVI had made a lot of bad decisions in my lifetime of thirty years. But I also made some good ones hoping it would save my soul. One of my good decisions happened to be Mateo. He was just a kid, I found him in a rough neighbourhood. He tried to pick my pocket and I just couldn't get over how young he was, too young to start leading a sinful life. Abuelo and abuela were happy to take him in. I read to him every night and I taught him how to read and write before he could go to school. When I bought this place it was his choice to come live with me. I was going to make sure he turned out to be a better man than I was. There was no hope left for me. When that clock ran out I knew my final destination. Abuelo said being an atheist helped but being a human, flesh, blood and unlimited intelligence to achieve the impossible had to mean there was someone upstairs pulling the strings. I walked down to the bottom cellars. Miguel had called me while I was still having dinner with
Jane's POVIt was Friday and I wasn't as excited as I used to be when it came to Friday after work. I looked forward to sleeping in and watching Netflix while eating junk food—which lead to self-loathing on Monday when my favourite pair of jeans wouldn't button— I liked taking long walks to the store on Sundays to get whatever groceries I needed for the rest of the week and then I'd organize my closet, picking out clothes based on what the weather was going to be. Now I could still do Netflix but it just didn't feel the same outside the comfort of my own home and every time I put on headphones to watch something it's like I could hear voices. Sometimes it was Alvaro screaming at someone, and recently it sounded like there was a man screaming in pain. I never explored the noises I heard. I was too afraid of what I'd walk into. I couldn't relax knowing something was going on in the house. I also didn't care about the weather anymore. I dressed how I felt. There was a hollow feeling
He was towering over me like the angel of darkness. He smiled wickedly and alluringly, so beautiful yet deadly. He knew what I was up to and he wasn't going to stand for it. "You want to run from me, darling?"I shook my head. He wouldn't let me go— I was his lottery ticket after all. "Somebody has to pay for what your brother took," he muttered. Jason was sitting in a chair and the scene changed. We ended up in his basement. The room was illuminated in yellow light. Alvaro pulled a pistol out of his coat pocket. "You will learn to take me seriously," he threatened. He pulled the trigger putting a bullet into Jason. "Alvaro!" I shot up from my bed. Catching my breath. My heart was pounding and I was sweating. "Interesting," I heard his voice and I looked up to see him leaning against the dresser. I screamed and he stepped out of the darkness. He clasped a hand over my mouth. It was still a little dark and I could see his eyes staring back at me. "Be quiet.""What are you doing in
"Does Mateo know?" I spoke breaking the long silence between us. We were still parked on the side of the road and I was staring out the window watching kids play soccer on the road. "No. I'll tell him tonight." I turned to see Alvaro had a defeated look on his face. "How is he going to take it?""I don't know," he started, and the way he fidgeted in his seat told me he was feeling uneasy. "When abuela passed, he cried himself to sleep for more than a month. I had to send him for therapy." He ran a tired hand down his face leaving it to rest on his chin. "And how do you feel?" I knew he would never show any signs of weakness in front of me but it wasn't about being powerful when the life of someone you loved was in danger. "When that clock runs out there is nothing a man can do to stop it. Abuelo is old. He's been to the best doctors but he has too many underlying conditions." "You didn't answer my question," I said and he punched the steering wheel. "How do you think I feel?" He