Page 64 of Game of Revenge

“It is safe,” added Dolores in an attempt to appease me.

“Yes. No one knows she comes here—or that we are here, for that matter.”

“And I will be coming every day,” she announced, turning to Alejandro. “You should be resting. You have to stay in bed as much as possible,” she ordered.

I was glad to see that someone else would take charge of forcing this man to recognize that he got shot recently. It was starting to feel like forever ago.

“The doctor also said I need to move around,” he protested, smiling.

“I will make sure you rest,” she countered, dismissing his statement. “I am going to go make breakfast. Amelia, I will bring you more clothes, okay?”

“Thank you!”

Dolores left and closed the door behind her. Alejandro walked to the door and locked it. I took a deep breath.

“I see you are enjoying my shirt,” he teased as he slowly walked toward the bed.

“I didn’t exactly have anything else to wear,” I retorted, not in the mood to play games.

“Fair. I should have thought of that.”

“Do you need anything?”

“We do have a conversation pending,” he answered.

“We do.” I sighed.

“Sit with me.” He sat on the edge of the bed, facing the window. I followed.

“I am sorry that you got caught in the middle of all of this.”

“Me too.”

I understood deep down that he might have felt like committing a crime was the only way to have a shot at avenging his brother. I didn’t have any siblings, but my friends were like sisters to me, and if someone ever tried to hurt any of them, I knew there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do to protect them. So, in that sense, I understood. That didn’t mean I wasn’t still bothered by what he had done to me. It didn’t mean I wasn’t still hurt.

“That night,” he continued, “I was a guest at your party, but I wasn’t there to take you. As far as Richard knows, I am a prospective investor in his company, so he invited me to your birthday party.”

“He doesn’t know you kidnapped me?”

“No”—he paused—“because I didn’t. He thinks you are with Mathias and his people—the man he robbed. He has no idea about my brother or that I have anything to do with this.”

My eyes squinted, confused.

“I told you; I did not kidnap you. You weren’t part of the plan. I was at your party to find the diamonds. Mathias had some of his men and mine break into your house, taking advantage of the distraction created by the celebration. My job was to be a guest and keep my eyes open in case Richard or you decided to go to his office.”

I swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump that was threatening to choke me.

“I see. And I take it they didn’t find the diamonds?”

“No, they broke open two safes in Richard’s office, but no diamonds were found. Mathias got desperate and ordered his men to take you, to use you for ransom in exchange for the diamonds. I tried to stop them. Putting lives in danger wasn’t what we had agreed on, nor was taking anyone hostage, but it was just me and two of my men against ten of his. They grabbed you and took you to that house. I rushed there to get you away from them, but I had to play it safe. I could not seem too eager to help you, or they wouldn’t trust me. These men are dangerous, Amelia, and I just could not leave you with them. But at that point, I also couldn’t simply bring you back to your house. It was too late. They had already contacted Richard; the news was out in California.”

Alejandro got up and started pacing slowly, hands in his pockets.

“They could have raped you. Their idea of using you was to cut off a finger and send it to Richard. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to let you suffer at their hands for a bit so that Mathias would think that, even if I took you with me, I would be willing to hurt you if it came to that. He needed to trust I wouldn’t mess anything up for him. He eventually accepted that you be under my watch. That day you tried to escape from where they had you, I convinced him that I’d be able to keep you from escaping and I’d use you when needed to get the diamonds. Your attempted escape helped me convince him I would do a better job watching you than his people. But he still insisted on sending Juan and Karina to check on you, to make sure I was still holding you captive. I couldn't give you special treatment in front of them.”

I could not take my eyes off him, feeling like if I did, I would realize that this was just a dream. He looked sad and frustrated. This would explain some of Dolores’s anxiety and comments when Juan was around the house.

“If it looked like I was treating you like a guest, or really anything more than a means to an end, Mathias could insist that he take you back in his custody. And I would kill him and every single one of his men before I would let that happen. There was no fucking way I would let anyone of them put single finger on you, fuck the consequences. But I had to gain his trust, so I had to pretend I would be willing to torture you if need be.”