Page 89 of Game of Revenge

“Cuidate mucho,” sobbed Dolores as she hugged me in front of the door. I did my best to not let tears roll out of my very wet eyes.

“Thank you for everything,” I whispered before letting go. I silently got in the front seat. He looked concerned and very focused, and he avoided my gaze.

“We will meet with some of my men when we get closer to the meeting point. You will then have to get in the back with two of them next to you. We are going to an abandoned area with barely any structures left standing. Richard wanted to make sure there was nowhere to hide. He will ask to see you from a distance before he leaves the money. Then you will be allowed to walk to him as we take the bag.”

“I assume he will bring some people with him as well?”

“Yes, the rule is that four people show up on each side, but I will have more of my men close if things take a turn.”

We continued the rest of the drive in silence. I couldn’t bear to see Alejandro’s face so distorted with concern and anger, but every time I tried to talk, he gave me a cold answer, clearly not in the mood. If that was how he wanted to spend our last time together, then so be it, I thought, ignoring the hot pain I felt searing in my stomach.

After driving for an hour, Alejandro suddenly pulled the car to the right side of the street, his hands strongly wrapped around the steering wheel, his profile looking sexy and menacing at the same time. He pulled something from his pocket and handed it to me.

“Is that…is that my bracelet?”

“Yes, I had it fixed.”

“Thank you.”

I put it back around my wrist, hiding it under my sweater. My throat closed a little bit. That was very thoughtful of him.

Alejandro and I sat in silence for a few minutes. He shook his head, seemingly wanting to say something. Instead, he started the car back up and drove at the speed of light.

As Alejandro had explained, after a couple hours, we met with his team. I sat in the back, and two of his men sat on either side of me, with their masks on, and one more in the front seat. Finally, as we got closer to the exchange location, Alejandro stopped.

He looked at me through his rearview mirror. I felt like he was saying goodbye.

Without a word, he put his mask on as one of them put a bag over my head.

I let the tears that were haunting me roll down my face in the darkness.

After another thirty minutes, the car came to a stop. My heart started to beat faster as a hand landed on my arm, prompting me to get out of the car. Another person grabbed my other arm, and we started walking.

“Aqui la ve!” screamed the person to my right. “Ahora traiganos el dinero!”

I knew that Alejandro was the man on my left. I could smell him, feel his proximity to me. I desperately wanted to lean on him, tell him that I had changed my mind, beg him to end this and take me back to his home. We could just live there. I could change my name, get a job there, whatever it took so I could stay with him.

I was starting to reach for his hand when I felt the bag on my head suddenly being lifted off. It took me a few seconds to understand what was going on as my eyes were trying to adjust to the dark. I could see a couple black cars in front of me with four human shapes standing there, one holding a bag.

I thought I saw Richard, but it wasn’t very easy to see facial features with barely any light in this dark location. I could see that we were in the middle of nowhere, with some remnants of what used to be a house on my left. I looked up to Alejandro. He was avoiding my gaze, staring at my stepfather instead, as one of his men was slowly walking to a pillar in between us to put the money down.

“Don’t be afraid,” whispered Alejandro as he turned to look at me.

I could only see his eyes—those eyes that I now would never wake up next to.

“I don’t want to go,” I whispered back.

Alejandro shook his head.

“I don’t want you to, but it’s too late. I can’t risk your life by backtracking with his men here. I promise, I will see you again, even if it’s the last thing I do.” His words sent shivers down my spine.

The man on my right pulled me away, a gun pointed at my head, as Alejandro suddenly let go of his grasp on me. I continued to look back as I saw Alejandro also grab his gun and point it straight at my stepfather. I was forced to look forward so I didn’t fall. The exchange was being made. The man stopped halfway as the money was put down.

“Walk to them very slowly,” he ordered, “or I will shoot.”

I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. My emotions were on pause, far away, and I was just automatically going through the motions.

I started slowly walking toward Richard and his men as the gun was still pointed at me, while another of Alejandro’s or Mathias’s men headed for the money.