Love and Lust (The Hamartia Trilogy Book 2)

Capitolo XI

Lucas
~*~

By lunch, Mari left with Chase to see her father and I was left on my own, which is how I like it. Daphne, the help, was kind enough to let me make the corner of my room into a make-shift study. She lent me a table from the storage room so I can finish some paperwork and to set my laptop. Today I skipped the gym, decided to do it later tonight. I called Harriet to check how she was and she was doing better. If only Mari decided to check with Harriet's therapist, then she wouldn't be so jumpy.

I replay the stunt I did last night in my mind, wanting to shoot myself in the head for letting it get that far. I have never seen Mari that scared since in Mexico. The way she trembled in my arms and the way she looked at me like I'm some kind of monster. I hated myself that I did that to her. Which is why I decided to tell her about Theresa. And it will be the first of many secrets I'm going to tell her. I know that she doesn't trust me and I trust her so little I wouldn't let her take care of a plant for a day. Yet it's the least I could after what she did for my sister. I was willing to give up my control in order for this marriage to work—in order for my plans to work. I badly needed her to trust me.

I send Mari a text message, asking how her father is.

He moved a finger, she replied.

Well that's progress, right?, I pointed.

Not the progress that I wanted.

I set my phone down, not sending another reply since I can sense how irritated Mari was. I couldn't set aside the thought that I might have a role in putting his father into a coma. Sure, the doctor said it was his vices catching up to him, but who's to say that the vial I put in his drink once or twice didn't fasten the pace of his lung disease?

My phone pinged and I immediately grab it from the desk, hoping it was Mari. But it wasn't. It was Theresa sending me a private message instead of sending an email like the rest of my business colleagues do.

Can't meet tonight. Tell Caterina I'm sorry. xx

I read it, not planning to reply. I know how Theresa works, sending text like this without any reason so I'm obliged to reply. But I'm smarter than that and I care lesser than she thinks, and I know how irritated she'll get when she sees seen on the bottom of her text. Theresa is smart enough not to cross Mari. Which is why I'm confident that she's already emailed Chase telling him the same bad news and offering an alternative. This text message was just her hoping to get a reply from me.

That afternoon was a series of phone calls and texts. I made sure that the shipments were successfully delivered and made sure that no one was stealing money from me by increasing the prices of my drugs.

When Mari came home, she looked pissed. Because of this, I didn't say a word as I eat my lunch in the dining room and she marched in, taking her seat across from me. A different maid brings her her meal and utensils and disappears as fast as she had arrived. For a moment, we eat in peace, forks clattering as we dug into our salad.

"You look pissed," I said, drinking my water from the glass. I felt Mari wince from the sound of my voice as it breaks the silence. "And that's not a good look on you." That was a lie. Mari looked stunning everyday. She'll still be beautiful wearing a sack and a pair of clogs. But with the black jumpsuit she's wearing, she was fire.

"Plans aren't going my way. If you were in my shoes, you'd be pissed as well. And for sure it won't be a good look on you too," she retorts, jabbing a chicken from her salad.

"What plans?"

"My plans of taking over the world," she joked nonchalantly, raising her eyebrows. "My father," she corrected, her voice turning serious.

"He'll be fine, Mari. He's a t—"

"That's just it," she snaps. I looked at her, dazed and confused. She looked flushed and stressed out with the crap she's been dealing. "I don't want him to be fine."

"What does that mean?" I asked cooly.

"It was me," she admitted. Yet I do know what she's confessing to. "I was slipping something in his drink the morning before you arrived. And I added it to his liquor every night. I have a friend who likes to play with shit. I had him made a vial for my father and make it look like his vices caught up to him." I was speechless for a moment, didn't know what I'd say to the revelation she just told me. I didn't even know she trusts me enough to tell me this. "Then you showed up and told me you were also slipping something in his drinks and I thought my plan was ruined. If anything, the vial you used fastened the effect. So thank you for that."

"But you were so upset."

"Making everyone believe was part of the plan."

I stare at her once more, letting her words register to my mind. Why didn't I see this? Why was I so dumb? "Remind me never to let you make my coffee once we're married."

"What makes you think I'll make you coffee?" she snorts. "We have help for that. And is that all you have to say after what I told you?"

"What do you want me to say? For sure you have your reasons."

"I don't know. Ask me why I really did it."

"Okay," I swallowed, leaning on the table towards her. "Why did you really do it?"

"Because he was the one who shot my arm," she says and my jaw tightens. That son of a bitch. "And he tricked me into signing a contract, he sold me out and he's a worthless father. Killing him slowly and painlessly was just me being kind."

"So him moving a finger means, what?"

"It means he's fighting it and knowing how stubborn he is, he'll probably be awake next month."

"We wouldn't want that, would we?" I smirked.

"No," she sighs, perhaps feeling a little bit bad that she's admitting this to me. "He'll know it's me. And he was never really the forgiving type."

"Remember when I told you that you're going to tell me who shot you eventually?" Mari nods. "And do you remember me saying that I'll get rid of them?" She nods again. "Then you don't have to worry about a single thing. By next month you'll be planning his funeral."

Mari stares at me, dumbfounded and amazed, processing in her gorgeous head why I'm doing this. Why am I doing this? Simply because I'm giving up control and actually trying this trust thing. If anything, I like seeing Mari pleased.