Chapter 273

Marvin “Calm down. It’s me!” Victor growled. I stared my adoptive brother in the eyes and pushed him against the wall. “All the more reason to choke you!”

I squeezed my hand around his throat for a split second, before releasing him as I did not want to ruin Tiago’s day. There was nothing more which I wanted than to kill this father-stealing bastard, but that would have to wait.

“Where is dad?”

Victor let out a cough and held his hand against the wall as he caught his breath. “You sick motherfucker, they should’ve kept you in your cage!”

I rolled my eyes at Victor’s way of overreacting and folded my arms as I waited for him to get back to normal. “It’s a mystery how you’re able to take anything, but a hand around your throat.”

“Now tell me, where’s dad, and why isn’t he with Tiago?”

Victor cleared his throat and fixed his tie.

-We were taking care of the possible hit on your brother, but don’t worry-because we’ve got double the security, so all should be fine.”

“Hit. what do you mean, possible hit?”

I only had one brother, and that was Santiago. The idea of someone being able to hurt him made me sick to my stomach. “Where is my father?”

“One of the Hernandez’ men snitched on Freddie and told us that they’re planning to strike at the wedding.” Victor ignored my initial question and continued talking. “Freddie gave them one simple instruction. He told his men to execute your brother at the wedding-as revenge for what you’ve done to Danny.”

“So you’re telling me they’re after Santiago?”

“Yes, but-

“Then we have to cancel the wedding, w-what are you doing?” I furrowed my eyebrows. Tiago’s life was at stake, and all he could do was tighten the security. Freddie’s threats were not to be seen as a joke. “Cancel the wedding?” Victor scoffed. “Everything went downhill when you didn’t follow the plan and gave up Danny to that DEA agent like a piece of meat-”

“Shut up!”

“You were the one who so desperately wanted to get out your cage, or don’t you remember anymore?” Victor commented. “Dad warned us about the consequences, but you just had to go and-”

“Shut up!” I yelled at him. His words made me furious, and him calling Mario dad made it even more intolerable.

I clenched my fist, preparing myself to punch Victor-but got interrupted by the sound of my dad’s laughter. In a split second, I dropped my fist and turned around as he clapped his hands with a devilish smile on his face. “Speaking like a true bitch.” He mocked me.

“Dad? What is all of this, and why isn’t the wedding canceled?”

“Because!” Mario Castillo raised his voice. “I will not let Freddie Hernandez win, and this is exactly what he wants. He wants to scare us, and I will show him that I will not cancel the wedding. The Castillo’s do not take orders from anyone.”

“But Tiago?” I asked, irritated. Ever since a young age, I had already realized that this man was a monster, but was I really any different from him? Even though I didn’t want to admit it, Victor was right. I was the one who wanted to get out of prison earlier than discussed, and I was the one who got Danny Hernandez arrested—while I knew who we were dealing with.

I was the one who had put my brother’s life in danger.

“Dad, you need to cancel the wedding. I told him. “Think about Tiago, think about mom-you can’t do this.”

“They don’t know, and they don’t have to know. We’re not canceling the wedding, and we will proceed as planned.” My dad decided. “And Tiago? He has you-1 came here to tell you not to lose your coward brother out of sight, even if it’s for a second.”

I watched as my dad pulled out a gun and handed me the weapon. “I know your mom’s rule was no guns, but we don’t have a choice.”

I was speechless as I looked from the gun in my hands to my dad and Victor. Back in prison, the words had left my mouth so easily when I had told my dad to double the security, but now that my fear became a reality, I had a slight change of mind. Us going to these lengths to protect Tiago was enough to prove that this wedding shouldn’t even be happening today, What were my dad and Victor even thinking? Did they really think that Freddie Hernandez would back down because of a bit of security and tell his man to retreat?

“Did any of you see Marvin?” I heard my brother’s voice from afar.

I immediately took action after hearing Tiago’s voice and hid the gun. He couldn’t think under pressure, and we had all learned that when he killed that DEA agent. Seeing as I would not change my dad’s mind. I would have to work extra hard to keep the situation a secret from Tiago.

“Marv-oh, there you are!” Tiago spoke as the smile on his face had slowly vanished. He cleared his throat and looked at my dad and Victor, the two people who probably terrified him the most.

One man had been mistreating him since the day he was born, and the other man whispered lies into his ears and was mainly to blame for his low self-esteem.

“Dad…you’re here,” Tiago spoke with a doubtful look on his face. My dad laughed and opened his arm to pull him into a hug. “Of course I’m here!” He exaggerated and kissed his head.

I hated whenever he got like this. I hated whenever he pretended to care. The only reason why he was determined to get on the good foot with Tiago was because many guests, including our entire family, would be here. He felt desperate enough to seem like the ‘good’ father in front of Anya’s parents, while he didn’t even came close to being one.

Tiago, on the other hand, seemed happy, but I couldn’t blame him. All he ever wished for was our father’s affection, so at times like these, he was too blind to see the truth. I glared at Victor, who had also planted a fake smile on his face. I had him all figured out, and if looks could kill, Tiago would’ve been dead right Perhaps it was a good thing not to leave Tiago’s sight for the day. I bet Victor would’ve loved to see one of us-if not both of us, dead.

“Santi, how does your dad look? I’m so proud to see you finally getting your life together.” My dad insulted Tiago in his face. He was, after all, the king of uncomplimentary remarks, so there wasn’t anything surprising about that.

“Looks like it, doesn’t it?” Tiago spoke. “It does.” My dad raised his eyebrows. “I’ll find your mom, go and talk to your brother.”

My dad and Victor walked off and left us behind. Mario Castillo was so ridiculous that it was just humiliating at this point. If it didn’t concern the business, he was not interested in interacting with us and didn’t know how to hold a normal conversation. “You okay?” I asked Tiago, who gave me a slight nod.

“So, did you need me?”

“No, you just left out of nowhere, and I wanted to make sure you were doing fine,” Tiago said. “I don’t know if it had anything to do with yesterday or…

“Well, it doesn’t,” I spoke rudely. It was going to be hard to forget about Elena when he mentioned her every damn second. Tiago shot me an unsure look. “Does that girl has a name?”

I felt terrible for my outburst because he genuinely seemed interested. “Lena,” I muttered. “And it doesn’t matter anymore, so drop it.”

He defensively raised his hands as his lips curled in a smirk. “Okay, okay-I’ll stop asking.”

“Good.”

Good? Was it really good?

It felt great to release my frustrations, but it didn’t erase the humiliation I felt. Elena practically ditched me in broad daylight, and everyone was there to see it.

What was happening to me?

Should I even let myself get disrespected like that? Because the old Marvin wouldn’t.

I took a deep breath as I returned to my senses. Whether she wanted to get to know me or not, it wasn’t up to me. It was up to her, and I had to respect her decision.

I had respected and trusted her enough to not even order anyone to run a background check. I would’ve never walked out on her the same way she walked out on me because I was an honest person who was not afraid to speak my mind. I had always respected everyone.

So why couldn’t I get the same respect in return?