[A/N: Hello my lovelies! I hope you're enjoying the playlist as well as the chapters I've been working hard on just for you! I explained it previously, but I'm purposefully trying to stretch the chapters to elongate the scenes from the movie, so I hope you don't mind! Anyways, I love you all and hope you enjoy! -K 🖤]
[🌿This chapter contains swearing, angst, and slight, sexual tension.🌿]
***
I hurried down the pavilion steps, mindful to hold onto the wooden rail to prevent myself from tumbling forward in a clumsy and drunken rampage. I wasn't frustrated because I was a little buzzed, I was fucking pissed because I felt so damn stupid.
Perhaps I was easy. A whore. I had exposed myself and had considered the thought that I was harboring unspoken feelings towards Santi. Everything that I had been named, tagged, and targeted towards me began to wash over me once again in unwanted memories.
Maybe they were right.
It made the rumor that had been spread about me easier to believe even though I knew it to be completely false.
My boots reached the dampened soil, squishing slightly as I walked in determination towards the waiting, conversing men at the vehicle. I stared murderously at Will, attempting to telepathically berate him for being such a fucking idiot.
"William Miller." I huffed, directing my steps and my silent rage towards him. I clenched my jaw and balled my hands into fists. His eyes met mine and his eyebrow raised in entertainment, amused that I was rapidly approaching him with indignant wrath.
I reared my hand back, but found my wrist trapped under the fingers of a larger hand. "No. No ma'am. None of that." Tom was dragging me away from smashing Will's nose in, disarming my prepared fist with soft words. "Come on, kid, stop it! Benny, a little help, hm?"
Ben immediately reacted and took step towards Tom and I, grabbing my waist as I thrashed against the both of them. "Damn, (Y/N)!" He grunted, struggling as I tried to lunge for Will's face. "I know you hate my brother right now," He whispered into my ear, "But this isn't the best place. There's too many witnesses and you won't get away with murder." Ben chuckled, which had me calming slightly, realizing the inevitable consequences.
"Fuck you, Will." I groveled lowly as Benny convinced me to retreat with him a few feet away. If I could have kicked the mud into his face, I would have already painted his face with the dampened shit on the bottom of my boots by now.
"You already did, (Y/N). More than once." Will slyly returned, crossing his arms and leaning back onto the vehicle as Benny's hands prevented me from charging him like an unstoppable freight train.
My face flushed with shame and embarrassment as my eyes watered with humiliated tears. I was mortified that he referenced that in front the guys, reminding me of how much I had loved him and sacrificed for him, and the betrayal that I endured because of him.
"Jesus, Will!" Ben gritted, softly holding me near his chest. "Shut your fucking mouth, you douchebag!" Benny profanely directed towards his brother, his body heat increasing with burning resentment and an innate need to defend his best friend.
Fish's demeanor soured as he uncrossed his arms and glared at Will's smugness. "What the hell, Will? Un-fucking-called for." Fish's finger was pointed into Will's face, fuming at the way he so effortlessly talked inappropriately to a woman, let alone his ex-fiancée.
Tom suddenly stood between us, interrupting our stares of daggers and impenetrable tension. "Hey!" He stated, holding out his hands in the direction of us on opposite sides of him. "William! Watch your damn mouth. Don't you dare talk shit about my sister, you understand? I will find a way to court-martial your ass!" Will dropped his eyes and nodded, while Tom then turned to me. "(Y/N), I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that. But why are you trying to kill your fiancé?"
Benny and Fish exchanged suspicious glances while I viciously tried to release myself from Ben's unbreakable hold around me. "You son of a bitch. I can't believe you!" I growled towards Will who was now watching Santiago approach the standoff in a hurried concern.
"What is happening?!" Santi questioned, seeing Tom mediate the potential hurricane that was brewing between William and myself. Benny was still holding me back, and although I was roughly trying to free myself, his hold was continuously gentle. I leaned my head back against his chest, feeling pained tears continue to sting my eyes.
"Forget about it. Whose money is it, huh?" Tom changed the conversation, hoping to relieve the steaming anger from several of us while addressing our previous topic of conversation.
I finally calmed my erratic thrashing and dropped my head in guilt and belittled defeat. Ben had trapped me against him by fully wrapping his arms around my middle, and trapping my arms against my sides. He was also panting against my back, not realizing just how much energy it took to contain my resentment against his brother. "He-he didn't tell them, Benny." I angled my head upwards and slightly behind me to see into his face.
"Will didn't...?" He groaned quietly and released his arms from around me, but hurriedly steadied me once I started to definitely lean, unable to hold myself up any longer. "Okay, stop worrying, sweetheart. You need to rest, you're gonna make yourself sick." He whispered, positioning himself behind me to stabilize my exhausted and defeated figure with a large hand on my back.
"It was my money." Santi suddenly broke the silence of the group, causing shocked expressions to be audibly heard from the rest of us. If I wasn't slightly tipsy, unbelievably exhausted, or raging with vehement wrath, just hearing his admission alone would have caused me to faint.
"Geez." Will grumbled, running a hand over his face and scratching the side of his bearded cheek.
Santi scoffed and walked through the group, turning around once he reached the center of our semi circle. "Does that change anything?" His curious eyes searched our faces, but I ignored his desperate and longing expression, not having the energy nor the ability to look at him the same way.
"Yeah, man." Will answered for us. "You fucking lied to us." He gritted, causing me to vibrate with rising frustration once more. How dare he accuse Santiago of betraying us when Will had been doing it for five years?
And why was he still lying to my brother and Santi this very moment? Why did he need them to believe that I was still with him?
Ben's hand dropped from my back and rested along my shoulders, hooking me against his side and preventing me from attacking Will when I had the chance. I leaned my head into his shoulder and used my arm to wrap around his lower back.
I didn't realize just how exhausted I was, and leaning my weight against Ben was relaxing in and relieving in a sense.
I was grateful for my best friend. If it wasn't for him, I'd be in prison or an asylum by now.
"No. I didn't lie to you." Santi sighed, and continued, "I asked you guys to come down here, do reconnaissance, and make a plan. Now, we can execute that plan alone and take all of the money. Or you guys can fuck off, and I'll bring the team from down here in. But I assure you, if I do that, this fucker will find out about it and he'll be gone, and I need this guy." He sounded desperate and was pleading to us to see his perspective.
"You know how many fucking bad men are out there all over the world?" Tom inquired, crossing his arms defensively, not understanding what obsession fueled Santi's desire to take out Lorea specifically.
Santi set his jaw by clenching it in resolution. "Yeah, well, this is my last one." He stated, quickly sending a glance towards me. I turned my head into Ben's shoulder, not wanting to meet his eyes after the interaction we just experienced.
Ben and Tom chuckled simultaneously, knowing that for Pope, it would never be a last one. He would always find insurmountable thrill in the chase of hunting down yet another monster of a man.
"And you may not believe it, but I have been here for the last three years of my life, trying to make a difference, but it's a fucking mess. And it's all because of Lorea. The thought of leaving everything we've done behind for the last 17 years, with nothing to show for it..." Santi passionately explained, which effectively excluded me from his statement. My brother and the guys had been in the military "business" for longer than I have.
"Fuck you, nothing to show for it." Tom interjected with a scoff, offended that his sacrifices were insinuated to be all for naught.
Nothing to show for it? I gripped onto Benny's shirt, feeling the physical scars burn in remembrance. The scars that they hadn't seen and that I wouldn't never reveal nor tell them about.
"Look, if...if we had accomplished half the things that we've accomplished in any other profession, we'd be set for life." Santi explained, watching the group's expressions as we all realized that there was truth in that statement.
If the world knew even a sliver of the interactions we've carried out on the behalf of the population, we'd never have to work again.
"Hey, man, that's the deal we cut." Will gritted, standing straighter from his leaning position on the vehicle. He glared into Santi's face, but, with even more disdain, Santi glared right back into Will's.
"Well it's a shitty deal." Santi grumbled, taking a step forward and challenging Will. From my position with Benny, it almost appeared that Santi was purposely irritating Will, and trying to initiate a response that gave Santi an excuse to punch Will.
Honestly, I wanted Santi to punch Will. Even thinking about Santi mercilessly fighting Will made my heart beat slightly faster.
"Yeah, well..." Will shrugged and used his hands to run through his hair in exasperation.
Santi pointed at Tom who was still considering the consequences of the proposition. "Because this man's a goddamn hero and he can't even send his kids to college." Santi then motioned towards Fish who continued to stare at Will, still pissed off about the moments before. "And Fish is the most talented pilot I know, and he's grounded on a bullshit coke rap." Fish glanced to the ground in shame and shoved his hands into his pockets. Santiago sighed, now looking at Benny and I. "And how many more times can your brother get the shit knocked out of him for-"
"I didn't get the shit beat out of me. I won that fight." Benny interrupted, nodding assertively and straightening his posture defensively. Sure, he had won plenty of fights, but not the one against me. I poked his side in teasing and he chuckled, understanding what I was referring to.
"Sorry Benny." Santi quickly apologized, then turned back towards Will. "How many more pep talks can you possibly give?" Will sighed and found more interest in staring at the ground, because he was aware that Santi was delegating the absolute truth.
"Look, Pope..." Will tried to counter Santi, but was interrupted in a rush of words.
"And what about (Y/N), hm?" My head abruptly raised at hearing my name fall from Santi's mouth. He was staring directly at me, completely ignoring the existence of everyone else. "She deserves better than this fucking life. She deserves a beautiful house, a damn library, and peace of mind." I swallowed harshly, feeling a tightening sensation form in my throat as Santi seemed to speak directly to me. "She... should not have to worry about finances that should have been secured for her."
Santiago's eyes were sympathetic and compassionate as he observed me standing with Benny. My dream, before becoming involved in the dangerous affairs of the world, was to enjoy life in a home that I could call my own, with an extra room that acted as a library.
It had been years since I had mentioned the idea in a fleeting conversation, but...he remembered.
Will never did.
"I'm done, man. Both knees are shot. That neck operation I got last year made the whole thing worse. So, the question is, do we finally get to use our skills for our own benefit and actually change something?" Santi offered as a finale to his proposal, beckoning the attention of all of us to consider the benefits rather than the consequences of performing the mission with just the six of us.
Everyone exchanged glances and Benny's hold tightened around my shoulders. I massaged my temple and sighed. This conversation and the realization that Will refused to admit the truth had depleted the rest of my energy.
***
In the span of a half an hour, we had all piled back into the vehicle and a torrential rainfall had begun. Fish was driving impeccably well into the thunderstorm, and I felt extremely protected with him at the wheel, even in the middle of the harrowing weather.
I nuzzled my head comfortably against Benny's shoulder as we both sat in the farthest seat of the vehicle. After a moment of argued deliberation, we had ultimately agreed to share the back seat because I didn't want to be forced between Will and Santi.
"So, are we doing this?" Will questioned from the row ahead, leaning forward to grab the passenger's seat in the front portion of the vehicle where Tom was sitting.
Tom groaned, "How the fuck am I supposed to know? This guy doesn't come through with the one key piece on intel we need to make this decision. For all we know, she could be setting us up just to get her brother back." He glanced back behind the driver's seat to where Santi was peering out of the window.
"We'll know tomorrow." Santi returned, now glancing at Tom. "She should have been recording that whole thing today." He confidently stated which had me rolling my eyes once again.
I was absolutely fed up hearing about this informant that Santi had been working with. Girlfriend or not, I didn't care anymore to keep envisioning Santi engaged in promiscuous and overtly sexual acts-
Not that I had been picturing him- No, no, I didn't need those images burned into my thoughts.
Fuck. It was too late.
My cheeks burned hotly as I tried to close my eyes again. "All right. If it does come back clean, how would you do the Sunday morning version?" Will inquired, interrupting my derailing train of thought. He was still directing his interrogation towards Tom who was quietly considering his own schemes.
"I haven't thought about it." Tom sighed and shook his head negatively.
Fish chuckled and hurriedly interjected. "Bullshit. You can't help yourself." He quickly glanced from the road to Tom, who ultimately gave into the curiosities of all of us who had been listening in.
"All right." Tom conceded, effectively running over the plan that he had been concocting for days. "In the first pop, you'd have 40 minutes to get in, get the job done, and get out before the family comes home from the church. That's a hard out. We need to breach the fence, sweep the premises, find and subdue the guards, scrub the hard drives in the security room, get rid of Lorea, find the money, pack the money into 18 hundred-pound bags, and then hoof it half a mile to the nearest vehicle. There's only two ways out: the fence in the front or the mountain we came down, and I'm too old for that."
I rubbed my eyes, knowing my brother had been formulating this for some time. His plan was extremely detailed and apparently well-thought out. Benny's hand rubbed at my shoulder as I leaned against him. "It's okay, you can rest your eyes, sweetheart. I know you're tired. Being surrounded by these idiots exhausts me too." He whispered, purposely positioning himself against the side of the car, so that I could make myself more comfortable as I laid against him.
With a sigh, Will offered into the planning, "We need to use one of their vans."
"There were two vans in the courtyard. But if the family uses those vans to go to church, then we got nothing. So we need another van. Can your girl work that out?" Fish asked, directing his eyes into the rear view mirror to see Santi's shrug in response.
"I can ask her." Santi stated, causing my eyes to close tightly in response. Silent tears slid from my eyes and down my cheeks sideways due to the position I had my head tilted. My hand hurriedly wiped them away, not waiting to indulge in feelings, which I had determined were a waste of fucking time.
I had been contemplating returning back for another tour of service over seas once finished in South America. Tom would be fucking pissed, but I needed to forget this trip as soon as possible.
I needed to forget Santiago.
"Still got your aviation guy down here? 'Cause we would need a heavy-lift helicopter in 32 hours to get us over the Andes and to the ocean." Tom directed his inquisition towards Will who was still leaning towards the front portion of the vehicle.
"I don't know, but I'll give him a call." Will decided and finally leaned backwards in his own seat, sending a glance towards Benny upon hearing his voice.
"Oh, yeah! Big dog is back! Redfly's gonna be rich, boys! Now we're talkin'!" Ben tapped the roof of the vehicle, earning chuckles and whoops from the guys as they realized that moving forward was the only plan of action now.
Upon hearing Benny's sudden proclamation, I jolted against his chest, having been abruptly awakened out of a twilight phase of early sleep. "Damn it, Ben..." I groaned sadly, having been so close to sleeping peacefully.
"Oh shit...I'm sorry, (Y/N)." He apologized, patting my back softly as I closed my eyes again. He shuffled forward just for a moment and sighed as he situated himself back comfortably. With a swift movement, he draped something over my shoulders. It was warm and immediately comforting.
I grabbed the material, and nestled myself deeper into his chest and under the jacket I assumed Ben had covered my torso with. His hand was brushing my hair back in a pattern that relaxed me and also distracted me from worrying about anything trivial in the moment.
With a small smile, I inhaled the automatically comforting scent of Santiago's jacket as I began to slip into unconsciousness with a last tear escaping my closing eyes.
***
Ben and I followed Santi through a busy market plaza. The plan was that Santi would meet with the informant, and Ben and I were following as undercover, should Lorea's men be trailing her and attempt to attack Santi or ourselves.
Being undercover meant that Ben and I were pretending to be a couple as we left a short distance between Santi and ourselves, holding hands and overly playing into our assigned roles.
I pulled the plastic fork from my mouth, groaning in delicious acceptance. "That...is so good." I relished in the absolutely palate-pleasing dessert. Ben and I's hands were interlocked as we strolled through the crowded market, to sell our undercover story, and so that we wouldn't lose each other in the overwhelming crowd.
"What was this again?" Ben questioned, his free hand holding the plastic container that the dessert was in for me as I stabbed it again with my fork. I retrieved a small piece and offered it towards his mouth which he opened immediately.
"Well, Santi ordered it for me, but I think it was...cuscuz de tapioca?" I tried to remember correctly to effectively pronounce the name like I had heard Santi say, but he had conversed so quickly and fluently that I couldn't exactly catch what he said.
It had happened so fast, as Santi had previously ushered me towards the dessert stand and hurriedly ordered something to the man on the opposite side of the counter. Santi had offered a bill in exchange for the dessert, guiding me back towards Ben with a hand on my lower back.
My face was still blushing in reminiscence of the interaction a few minutes before.
Ben closed his mouth around the fork, and as I retrieved it, he also groaned in response. I chuckled at his reaction as he chewed slowly and savored the flavors.
"Be careful Ben...you're going to give people the wrong idea about us." I tossed my head against his shoulder in laughter as he nodded in agreement, tightening his hold on my hand lightly.
"That's my goal, sweetheart." He returned, licking his lips in enjoyment and then pressed his lips to my temple once he realized that he did catch the attention of some curious patrons. In order to satisfy their interest, he followed it by another kiss to my cheek.
Santi looked back over his shoulder and noticed Benny's lips on my cheek. He sniffed and stiffened his posture with a scowl on his face. He then approached a butcher's counter where a young woman was waiting for her order to be completed.
She noticed his presence and kissed him on the cheek before accepting the package from the butcher. My cheeks flushed at realizing that this was the woman that I had seen exit the van just the day previous.
Their arms interlocked as Santi began to guide them through the crowd, carefully glancing around them for any suspicious characters. His eyes kept finding mine as I watched him lead her down an alley towards an outdoor kitchen where they sat at the private counter.
"Alright, we'll stay here. We don't want to spook her." Ben whispered as I leaned against a wall with a perfect view of the alleyway. My stomach was uneasy as they talked quietly and in hushed voices to each other. "What? Are you worried about Santi?" Ben followed my gaze towards the alleyway.
"No, no, I'm not worried about him. He can hold his own." I explained, digging the fork into the white coconut dessert that he continued to hold steady for me, and bringing it towards my mouth hurriedly.
Ben chuckled and angled his arm on the wall above my head, leaning in closely. "Are you jealous about her?" He motioned his head towards the informant and searched my eyes intently. "Hey, (Y/N)... You have nothing to worry about, okay? She could never replace you." He whispered, seeing how my eyes retracted from her figure that was close to Santi and then inspecting the ground. "No one could, Angel."
My eyes met Benny's soft gaze that was delicately trained on my face. I smiled softly and scooped the last bite of the dessert onto the fork and angled it towards his mouth. He tossed he container into the trash can that happened to be on the other side of us.
Then, he softly grabbed my wrist and turned it towards my own mouth, causing me to feed myself the last bite. "There you go..." He whispered before swiping the fork from my mouth and throwing it away too.
My face flushed at the close proximity and the strange, but welcomed intimacy between my best friend and myself. I chewed the savory dessert and swallowed it gratefully as Benny grinned down at me cheekily and wiggling his eyebrows.
What a sneaky bastard- he was trying to distract me from feeling saddened about the circumstances and returning my eyes to the alley.
"You've got a little..." Benny's eyes flickered towards my lips, where I'm assuming that he saw a remnant of the sweet, white dessert on my mouth. "Well...we shouldn't break character now, should we?" He raised an eyebrow, leaning down towards my face as he whispered quietly.
I shook my head, knowing we had to keep this facade alive to prevent being found out. His free hand cupped my cheek softly as his nose tenderly brushed mine. I could feel his breath hitting my mouth, his lips just inches from mine.
Before he could remove the dessert from my lips, he was forced off of me. "What the ever-living fuck, Benjamin?!" Santi growled, grabbing Ben by the collar and glaring into his eyes lethally.
I immediately wiped my lips to clean my mouth, but found no evidence of any desert that was supposedly left behind.
"Santi!" I gasped in surprise and irritation, watching him stare murder into Ben's smirking face. "You're going to out us." I warned, watching his eyes flick towards my face in concern and...
Jealousy?
"She's gone. She said she's getting the van in the compound. And when I turned around to tell you the good news, I just so happened to see Benny here getting a little too comfortable with my- with his brother's girl." He venomously returned, balling his fist in uncontrollable anger, preparing to use it against Ben.
"You fucking donut!" Ben snidely returned, shoving Santi away from him roughly. Santi's eyes widened in shock towards Benny who was brushing off his wrinkled shirt. "You've gotta be the dumbest motherfucker on the planet, not to mention completely blind as hell. She's not his fiancée anymore, Santi." Ben grumbled, shoving Santi square in the chest.
Santi immediately looked into my saddened expression. "W-what? You're...not engaged to him anymore?" He breathlessly questioned, his body relaxing when I shook my head, confirming Ben's sudden declaration.
As much as I wanted Will to make amends and reparations, it was probably better that Ben revealed it to Santi. He seemed to have calmed somewhat, but then remembered what Ben was doing just minutes prior when I was leaning against the wall.
"For someone who gets paid to pay attention to details, you're shit at noticing her." Ben toxically spat towards Santi, whose eyes kept meeting mine.
"Watch your fucking tone, Miller. You were supposed to act as her significant other, not attempting to fucking kiss her behind my back." Santi returned menacingly, angling himself between myself and Ben.
Patrons were now intensely eyeing the tense confrontation of Ben and Santi. "When you boys are finished and the rulers are put away, come find me." I lowly stated in frustration, walking past them and mingling into the crowd, following the path that Ben and I had strolled down.
I pushed past countless people, overwhelmed by the crowd and the smells, by the limited space and the increasing sounds. The most overwhelming fact was the relieved and desperate expression on Santi's face when Ben had finally revealed the truth to him.
And his reaction to seeing another man's hands on me confirmed the sinful revelation that I couldn't fight any longer.
The Devil was irreversibly and irrefutably in love with the Pope.
How sacreligious and blasphemous was that?