Page 108 of Game of Revenge

“No, I would have no idea where they are.”

Nicholas stared at me for a minute, clearly suspicious. I kept a cold face this time and held his eye contact. When it came to protecting Alejandro, there was no strength I couldn’t conjure. He sighed.

“Well, now that he is in prison, he won't be enjoying them anyway. Are you going to file a complaint for this?”

“No, there is a video of him clearly killing a person. He stole some of my money, committed fraud…he is done for. I just want to move on.”

“I know.”

Nicholas got closer to me and wrapped me in his arms. I enjoyed feeling another person's warmth and strength, but I slowly pushed him away. I did not want to cause any confusion.

Nico treated me to dinner as a thank-you for bringing him what he called “a Wild Wild West case.” I gladly accepted. The less I was left alone with my thoughts, the less likely it was that Alejandro would haunt me. It had been a few days since he had called, and even if I was not answering him, just knowing that he had been trying to reach me gave me a sort of masochist comfort.

It was one a.m. when I woke up to my phone ringing.

“Hello?”

“Amelia, I’m sorry for calling you so many times. Something happened…” explained Nicholas.

“What’s wrong?” I immediately sat down, not knowing what to expect, hoping nothing had happened to Alejandro.

“It’s Richard…he…he committed suicide. He’s dead, Amelia.”

Chapter 53

Alejandro

That lawyer was still standing next to her. I knew they had been high school friends, but it didn’t mean I enjoyed knowing how much time they spent together, especially when he was in the apartment she was renting. Amelia was surrounded by the three women who had been with her since she came back to California and the person I knew to be Martha. All those people had been investigated, in case any of them had a concerning connection with that fucker.

They had finally lowered his coffin into the ground, and they were covering it with dirt. I had been in my car the whole time, watching her. I wanted to be with her, console her.

Even though Richard’s death was good news, I understood that, for better or worse, she was burying the only father she had ever known. She barely cried during the ceremony, but she looked skinnier in her black dress and cardigan, her eyes hidden behind black sunglasses. She finally broke, turning around into the arms of that fucker. That was the last straw. She was in pain, and I needed to be there for her, not him. I got out of the car and told Carl, my driver, to wait for me.

They were all staring at me as I closed the distance between us, the grass crushing under my feet.

Amelia lifted her head and looked in my direction.

God, she was beautiful, her hair arranged in a ponytail, that dress unable to hide those curves that haunted my dreams. By the look I was getting, if I had to bet, those friends had an idea of who I was. I was hoping it was a good sign, but the death stare the brunette gave me said otherwise.

They all stood next to her, as if any of them would be able to stop me from talking to her.

Amelia took a timid step in my direction. My heart lost it, wanting nothing more than to take her with me and never look back. She wrapped both her small hands around my lapels. I wrapped my arms around her shaking shoulders, holding onto her like my life depended on it. The friends backed away, giving us some privacy. I kissed her head, caressed her back.

“It’s okay, mi niña. Everything is going to be okay. I promise.”

“I'm sorry,” she said as she lifted her head.

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” I said, her words giving me a sliver of hope.

“I am crying in your arms over the death of the man who killed your brother,” she explained.

“It's normal for you to feel pain. He was family—however shitty.”

“He was…both things,” she said as she straightened up and took a step back.

“Thank you for coming,” she said as she lifted her head in my direction.

That wasn’t good. She was putting some distance between us again, treating me like any random person who would have come to give her their sympathies. My heart sinked, the pit in my stomach growing wider.