Rosa's POV
There were many words that could be used to describe how the past week had been. But the best one would be strangely quiet. There had not been a word from Alvaro ever since that last note brought by Dante. The note that was received from the dead bodies of our me, asking me to join him as I were his daughter.
He was not my father. Blood meant nothing when there was no bond.
As Alvaro's silence grew longer, the anxious weight in my body grew heavier and it drained me everyday. I'd wake up and I'd expect to hear some bad news like it was just around the corner waiting to take the turn as soon as I woke up. There have been days where I didn't even feel like moving. Going back to sleep and hoping it was all a dream. But of course, nothing like that was going to happen. There was no way for me to run from my problems.
It felt like a ticking time bomb or a boiling pot left unattended. A huge disaster was imminent, it was all just a matter of time. When the last tick would sound and an explosion would happen or when the boiling pot would finally overflow.
Frustration ate away at me and it was one of the emotions that I felt majority of the day. Physically exerting myself helped with it slightly but not completely. Perhaps my frustration would go away if the source of it was eliminated. With that thought, my mind imagined slowly driving a sharp knife through Alvaro's thick skull. Bloody. Gruesome. Satisfying.
I grunted as I kicked the punching bag once more. Sweat trickled down my forehead. Again I kicked the punching bag and followed up with a few punches.
"Rosa." Vince's spoke by the door. I pretended not to hear him as I continued to bombard the punching with more kicks and punches. They hit harder when I imagined my version of Alvaro in its place.
From the corner of my eye I saw Vince walking towards, his hands in the pockets of his black sweatpants. He stood behind the punching bag and held it in place for me.
A week had passed since the day I finally accepted him. I had yet to regret that decision but seeing him everyday, there was a deep feeling that something like would never happen. His feelings were genuine.
He's been trying his best to help me feel lighter but something like that isn't easy during a time like this. He knew about my anxiousness. I felt trapped. I wanted all of this to be over. It felt like it was purposefully being prolonged. If I just knew where Alvaro was, I would be more than happy to bomb that place into bits and pieces and ashes.
"What're you thinking about?" He asked me casually.
So many thoughts that I'm not even sire about that.
A sigh escaped my lips and my shoulders dropped as I stood straight. I brought a hand up to wipe away the sweat from my brow.
"Could you pass me the water bottle please?"
He nodded, grabbing the bottle of water from the table in the corner of the room and handing it to me. I took small gulps as Vince took a towel and began to dry the sweat from my forehead.
"Anything new yet?" I asked him.
I could tell by the look on his face that the answer was the same.
"Don't think too much about it." He murmured but it was little help. "You know what you should be more worried about?"
I looked at him expectantly.
"That smell. You need a shower." He smirked teasingly as he passed the towel behind my neck and pulled me closer to him.
A small smile formed on my lips. "How romantic of you."
He pressed his lips against mine in a firm kiss that released some built up tension within my muscles. As if he knew, he pulled away as his hands traveled from my arms up to my shoulders where he began to massage with the perfect pressure. Throwing my head back, I moaned softly.
"Better?"
"Thank you." I told him softly.
"You think this is good? I haven't even shown you my full massage potential." He spoke jokingly.
I chuckled lightly. "Maybe you can show me tonight."
"Absolutely." He gave me his devilish smile.
My own smile died down soon enough. "It's going to get better." He assured my quietly.
"How do you know?" I questioned him.
"Because I'm going to make it better."
I stared at him. Into his dreamy eyes that could melt me into a puddle.
"I'm going to wash up." I told him. Before I could walk away, he cupped my cheek and pulled me into another breathtaking kiss. His hand rested on my cheek, thumb softly rubbing small circles. His way of silently telling me that it was all going to get better. For some reason, I needed the constant reassurance to keep my mind from going insane.
With the hot water on, I sat down on the floor, letting my skin burn red. When I finally found the strength to move myself, I washed myself off with soap and shampooed my hair. By the time I was out my fingers had pruned up. The beautiful hues of red, orange, yellow and purple indicated that it was nightfall.
"Oh good, you're here." Dante strode inside at the same time as I walked out of the bedroom. The carrier of bad news had arrived. There has not been a single time that he's come here with good news.
"You got something?" I asked him.
"Why else would I be here?" He responded and I shrugged my shoulders not knowing.
"To spend time with your brother? To check up on him?" Vince jogged upstairs to stand beside me.
Dante scoffed. "Why do it the long way when I could just call you?"
Vince shook his head. "Nice."
"Tell me you have good news this time." He sighed and Dante shrugged as he jumped from the back to sit on the sofs comfortably. There was not a sign of stress on his face or in his body. He was completely relaxed as if he hadn't slaughter dozens of men in the past month while putting his life on the line. That was just Dante Vitale.
"Anna, you got some snacks?"
"Would you like a packet of chips, Mr. Vitale?" Anna questioned as she closed the front door and locked.
"Si." He answered and laid back on the sofa.
"Dante." Vince called him.
"Oh right." He shook his head as he remembered the real reason why he was here. "I wouldn't know whether it's good or bad news." He told us as he fished his phone out of the pocket of his black trousers. It seemed like there was a bit of crusted dried blood on there too. Not a wonder how that must have got there.
"That guy only spoke in Spanish so I recorded him. You guys can hear it and then tell me what the fuck he's saying."
"Is he still alive?" I questioned.
"He lives in hell now." Was Dante's response.
Anna came with a packet of Lay's chips. Dante took it from her hand, nodding his head slightly in appreciation and then proceeded to open it. The packet coldly rustled in the silent room. After having shoved 4 or 5 chips into his mouth all at once, he pressed around on his phone before placing it down on the sofa and then pressed play on a recording.
"Ahh, yes daddy! Just like that!"
"You like that, you little slut?"
Gradually turning my head in Dante's direction, I gave him a questioning gaze as he grabbed his phone again and fumbled around with it.
"Wrong recording. My bad."
"Puoi prenderlo sul serio?" (Can you take this seriously?) Vince gritted his teeth, glaring down at his atrocious friend.
Dante hushed him in response and pressed on the play button.
Screams. Horrifying screams and cries of a man sounded from his phone. Followed by those screams were grunts and ad more sobs. The man was being tortured by Dante. He was in the hell that came before hell. The screams felt like they were going on forever and I faced Dante, ready to tell him to skip forward to the part that was actually relevant when I heard his voice on the phone.
"Where is he?" Dante asked him.
He only earned a throaty laugh in response. There were coughs. The man was coughing up blood.
"No no no no no!!" The man cried out loud.
"I cut a finger." He announced as to provide context of what was happening.
"Get to the part that actually matters." Vince told him.
Dante rose a hand as to quiet him as his voice blared from the phone once again.
"Next one will be an ear." He told the man who audibly whimpered. "Where is he? I know you can understand me."
The man was sobbing. He knew this was the end for him. "Tell Rosamaria questa è la sua ultima possibilità. O unisciti a lui o affronta le conseguenze." He went dead silent after that.
"Translation please." Dante sat upright, placing his packet of chips at the side. "The look on both of your faces tells me that it isn't good news."
We both had a grim look on our faces. "He said that that this is my last chance. I can either join him or face the consequences."
"You're not joining him." Vince shook his head.
"I guess I'll just have to face the consequences then." I mumbled.
"Are you actually thinking about joining him?" Dante questioned me with a raised brow. My silence was answer enough.
"Absolutely the fuck not." Vince spat, a hard glare thrown my way. I matched his glare with one of my own.
"Don't look at me as if it's a bad idea. I can get him from the inside that way." I spoke in defense. The plan was admittedly dangerous and multiple kinds of stupid but worth the consideration. It could give me exclusive access to the Mexican Cartel and I could dismantle them from the inside while keeping the people around me safe. It might require distance from Vince but it would only be for a short while.
Vince shook his head at me. "You know what else can happen? You go to him and he kills you."
"I mean it's a slight possibility but-"
"It's a pretty big possibility." Vince cut me off. "I'm not losing you by putting my bet on slight possibilities."
I looked towards Dante, my eyes begging for some back up over this plan. "It's a good idea." He spoke. "But way too risky. I'm with Vince on this one. Chances are that even if he doesn't kill you, he's going to use you against Vince and that's two birds with one stone."
"Well then what do you both suggest?" I asked, leaning towards the sofa, my fingers digging into the fabric as I waited to hear a better plan.
"We stick to trying to find where he's hiding. Find him and then kill that son of a bitch." Vince answered bluntly.
I couldn't help but shake my head at him. "And sacrifice how many of our men?" I questioned him. "Too many have already died, Vince, and it's all been because of me."
"That's bullshit and you know that. They died because Alvaro killed them. No more than that."
There was nothing else for me to say so I remained quiet between the two men.
"I hate to admit it but it's hasn't been easy trying to track Alvaro down. I think he changes location every week and his men are loyal. They'd rather die than talk. Killing them has become boring too." Dante lightly scoffed.
"Have we gotten any close?" Vince asked him.
"I can't tell." Dante answered honestly. "One minute I'm close and then I'm not."
Vince's head was hung low. His frustration was evident. We all felt frustrated by the situation. We needed a break from it all.
"I'll do what I can." Dante spoke grimly. Vince nodded his head at him with appreciation. "By the way, I want a pay raise for my efforts and a 6 month long vacation after this is over. I have personal stuff to do as well."
"Is that personal stuff a certain ginger?" Vince rose a brow with a hint of a smirk dancing on his lips an attempt to lighten the mood around us. A small smile formed on my own lips as i turned my head to face Dante.
"A ginger? Does The Dante Vitale have a woman in his mind?" I teased and he rolled his eyes.
"He's been trying to find her for 3 years now." Vince told me.
"Three years?!" I looked at him shocked. Who was this woman who had managed to stay hidden from Dante Vitale for three years? She definitely had skills.
"Mi stai mettendo in imbarazzo." (You're embarrassing me.) Dante spoke irritably looking towards Vince who only winked at him teasingly. "I have a feeling that this is the year you'll find her." Vince told him.
"And if I don't?"
"Twenty-five grand that you find her this year." Vince was surprisingly ready to bet on it. "Fifty if you find her this year in Miami."
Dante leaned forward with an intrigued expression on his face. "Do you know something that I don't?" He asked slowly as he stood up from the sofa.
"I don't know why you would think that. I'm just simply testing my luck." Vince shrugged his shoulders.
I spoke without thinking. "I want in on the bet too." The two gigantic men paused to face me. While Vince had a small smile on his lips, Dante gave me the 'why are you getting in between me and my bestie' look.
"You sure? Because I really feel like this isn't the year." Dante tried to talk me out of it but I flashed him a playful smile.
"I'm pretty sure about this. I have a feeling too that you're going to find her this year. Besides fifty grand does not sound too shabby to me." I said as I made my way towards Vince who wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his chest.
"Hmm. Okay. Anyways. I'll be downstairs in one of the rooms. Don't call me. Don't disturb me. Send food and act like I'm not even here." He told us as he made his way towards the staircase with the packet of chips in his hand. As he descended the stairs, I heard him mutter, "Spero di perdere." (I hope I lose.)
"He's been doing the most out of all of us. He deserves the rest." I softly murmured as Vince buried his head in my neck while I blankly stared at the spot where Dante stood.
"I know. Hopefully he'll find that woman and find some sort of peace."
"So do you actually know where she is?" He lifted his head from my neck as I turned my head to face him.
"No."
"Then how come you're so confident that he's going to find her this year?"
"I'm not. I actually think that the chances of finding her are pretty slim but sometimes we all need something to look forward too and this bet helps. Don't you think as well?"
"I guess so." I replied softly.
Before I could speak about anything else, his phone buzzed in his pocket which cut our conversation short. He gave me a look to wait as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the caller ID. "I need to take this." He sighed, running a hand throw the dark mess which were his hair. When I took a peek, I saw a man that I didn't recognize. I rose a brow at him. "Finance director of the company, amore." He chuckled as he accepted the call and walked away to the bedroom.
At the exact same time, my own phone rang and I shuffled towards the coffee table in the middle of the room. It was my mother. What did she want? Things between us weren't exactly ideal and hearing her voice would be a painful reminder of every way she's done me wrong. But there was this constant ick in the back of my mind that urged me to answer her call. What if something was wrong? What if she was in trouble and she was calling me in a hurry.
With that thought, I answered the phone. "Mama." I spoke into the phone first. My voice was low but stern.
"Rosa. Is everything alright?" She asked me quietly but there was concern and worry laced with her words.
"Why? What happened?" I asked sitting up straight, my mind suddenly attentive to every word she was about to say.
"Nothing. I just thought something had happened because the number of men guarding the house has increased and one of the men has even asked to be inside the house all the time for my safety." She told me and my shoulders relaxed. I leaned back into the sofa and closed my eyes.
"We've been getting messages from your ex." I started and heard her mutter a curse on the other side. I was certain she called him an ugly rat in spanish. "He's been asking me to join him. Whatever that means. And he hasn't been entirely polite about it. He's killing our men and threatening even more." I told her in short.
"But you won't listen to him. You're smarter than that." She said but it sounded more like she was reassuring herself. "You won't right?"
"No. I won't. You don't have to worry about that."
There was a short silence in between us where we both pondered over what to say next to pierce the thick cloud of awkwardness. She was the first to speak. "Rosa, I know things haven't been perfect between us bu-"
"I don't have time to talk about that. Stay out of trouble. Goodnight." With that I ended the call with the release of a heavy breath.
"Do you need some tea, Rosa?" Anna asked me politely. Carefully. I flashed her a small, tired smile. "You are a gift from God, Anna." I told her.
She looked at me perplexed. "Is that a yes...?"
"Yes, I'd love some tea."
As Anna disappeared into the kitchen to prepare me some tea, I let my eyes rest and hoped that things would get better soon because I was slowly running out of patience.
The chapter is done and I would like to apologize for the 3 month wait. I really am sorry. But my exams got cancelled and the moment they did, I hoped onto to wattpad to update another chapter. It could've been faster if it wasn't for my fantastic wifi. And I know that this chapter was short but I wanted to get a chapter out as soon as possible to let my readers know that this book wasn't been abandoned. I promise that the next chapter will be longer.
And by the way, a friendly reminder that chappie 36 would be the last chapter of this book. (Maybe I put out an epilogue as well. Who knows.)
If you liked this chapter and you're not holding a grudge against me for updating so late then please vote on the chapter! Moreover, we are now close to 300k reads which is just mind blowing. Thank you so much for all the support that you have shown me on this book. If the support wasn't this strong, I probably would've discontinued this book.
You got a little bit more insight for Dante's story. If you guys don't already know about, Dante Vitale will get his own novel when this book ends so go check it out on my profile. I already have the cast uploaded on there. When I say that Dante's book will be much hotter than this one... I really mean it. There are a lot of things that I could add in this book but I'm saving it specifically for Dante's book. His novel would be short, a maximum of 100k words.
Now, I have a little something to ask of you my readers. I love writing and I'm always thinking of new book idea's so please reply with what kind of books you like to read (the genre, type of MC and everything like that.) Who knows I might just make it into a book.
This is all for this time. The next update will not be late. I promise! I have time to update now. Until next chapter!
Love,
PossessionPossessed