Chapter 25

ELLA

We drove for some hours more. Every now and then, I brought my fingers to my tender eye to investigate the swelling.

Spoiler: It was bad.

On the plus side, my eye had caught the metallic shimmer of a blade in the pocket of the driver. Andrea was busy brooding at the time, and I was able to discreetly reach for it and slip it from his pocket and into my own.

I took no joy in hurting people, but if I had the opportunity with Andrea, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second.

Eventually, the car came to a grinding stop at the edge of a muddy, fast-flowing river.

“This looks like the sort of place you bring someone to discreetly murder them,” I mumbled as Andrea hauled me out of the car by my arm and dragged me onto an overgrown jetty where a singular boat bobbed on the brown water.

“Don’t tempt me, Blanca,” he replied, before reaching into his pocket and handing the silent driver a wad of cash.

The car was soon speeding back down the track, kicking up dust as it went and leaving us alone on the derelict jetty that was so rotten we could have fallen through at any moment.

Taking my arm once again, he began leading me to the tiny motorboat.

I heard the high-pitched buzz of a mosquito in the air. It landed on his tanned skin, and he lifted his other hand to slap it off.

I flinched and closed my eyes for a brief second.

Of course, Andrea noticed, and he looked down at me, and his eyes fluttered across his face before he smirked and looked away.

“You’re scared of me, Blanca,” he stated.

I didn’t respond.

“Tell me why,” he said.

“You know why,” I replied quietly.

“I want to hear you say it.”

I hesitated for a few moments and took a deep breath. “You’re terrifying.”

He gave me a sarcastic smile.

“Thank you,” he said in a light tone, before his face hardened. “Now get in the boat.”

I looked down at the old wooden thing and the relatively fast-flowing river. I then thought about where it was going to take me and felt a sudden urge to do anything in my power to not end up in it.

I backed away, shaking my head.

“No,” I refused.

“Now that your son is safe you think it’s okay to be difficult?” he said, grabbing my wrist. “Get in the fucking boat and don’t make me say it again.”

“Fuck you,” I hissed, withdrawing the stolen knife and surging it toward him.

His grip loosened on my wrist, and I cowered away. He brought his fingers slowly up to his cheek and dabbed the scratch I had left on him.

Blood oozed onto his fingertips, and a slight trickle dripped down his cheek to his jaw. He stared at the blood on his hands for a few seconds before lifting his eyes up to me.

“You better run, Blanca.” He growled as his face twitched with anger. “Before I fucking kill you.”

I heeded his advice and bolted into the jungle. It was dense, and the vines whipped and lashed as I fought through leaves, branches, and roots.

His footsteps thundered toward me. Every stride of his covered twice the distance of mine.

In my panic, I lost my step and caught my foot on a protruding root, which sent me onto the floor.

I rolled onto my back to see Andrea above me, still with murder in his eyes. He leaned down and grabbed my ankles, pulling me underneath him and seizing my face in his hand.

“You fucking bitch, Blanca,” he snarled, his mouth so close to mine.

My pulse throbbed in my ears as watery tears built in my eyes. His glare was relentless and dark, and his claws dug into my cheeks.

“I was told that you knew how to fight, but that was pathetic, sweetheart,” he said, ripping the knife out of my hand.

The cut clearly only stretched across the surface of his cheek, and the blood had already stopped flowing.

He slowly brought the knife to my throat and pressed the back of the blade against my skin.

“I am going to make you pay for this,” he said slowly and clearly, every word deep and cutting.

I then briefly saw his fist flying toward my face before everything went dark and silent.

LEO

The second the truck rolled into the base, and I opened the door. In the front, there were two men: one driving and one clutching what looked like just a bundle of blankets.

The bundle of blankets stirred, and I was met with a pair of innocent, watery eyes.

“Papa,” it sobbed.

Its lips quivered, and its eyebrows furrowed before tears began to stream down its soft little cheeks.

I instantly pulled it into my arms and held it tight.

“Cato,” I whispered, kissing his head time and time again. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

He wrapped his little arms around my neck and clung to me as he cried into my chest.

“Thank you,” I said to the soldiers that had brought him back to me. “Your bravery will be rewarded.”

They nodded.

“We’re just sorry that it came to what it came to and that your son had to experience it,” one said.

“You did what was necessary, and with time, he will recover.”

The course of Cato’s return hadn’t run smoothly. Ella handed herself to Andrea, and he released Cato.

Cato was driven as far as California, but then being the lying cheat Andrea was, he withdrew his part of the deal claiming that Cato would remain in his custody until he no longer needed the threat of his demise to control Ella.

The time frame for that was unclarified, and I saw the rescuing of my seven-year-old son from the trauma of being kidnapped by a gang of thugs as far too urgent to wait.

So I had my men intercept the vehicle just before they got back to the border.

It resulted in Cato witnessing the deaths of his abductors, which was something no parent would ever want their kid to see, even if they were bad people.

I held myself fully responsible for this. I’d failed as a parent, and to make it even worse, now I was a single parent.

Ella and I always brought the kids up together, and she was so naturally good at it and always there to provide a voice of reason, but she was no longer here, so now I had to do it alone.

When I arrived home with Cato, the house was dark bar one lamp on the coffee table in the living room. At least I still had my own mother, Rosa, to help out.

She woke immediately from the sofa and rushed to comfort Cato who was still in my arms.

“Oh, bambino. You’re home,” she said, kissing his cheek and taking his little cold hands into the soft warmth of hers.

He produced a smile. It was small and feeble, but it was there.

“You better get to bed, young man,” she added. “It’s awfully past your bedtime.”

He smiled again, and I slowly carried him upstairs.

“Can I sleep in your room tonight, Daddy?” he asked as we reached the top of the stairs.

I nodded and made my way to the room I shared with Ella with great caution not to wake any of the others.

He was asleep within minutes of lying his sweet head on my chest but held tightly to me the entire night.

I wrapped my arm around him and closed my eyes, letting out a deep breath.

Now all I had to worry about was Ella.

All?

I couldn’t bear to imagine Andrea’s reaction to the ambush and how he would have taken it out on her. But I knew that it was what she would have wanted me to do. Put our son first and do whatever it took.

The least I could do was honor her wishes.