Happy Valentine's Day 🥀
"Let me out of here!!" Jazmin screamed for the hundredth time since arriving, and that was over two hours ago.
"Stupid girl." I shook my head disappointingly. With all the time that's passed, never once did she stop to think throwing a tantrum, screaming at the top of her lungs and banging on the door wouldn't help her.
"How much longer are we going to sit here and listen to this?" Leia questioned, annoyance prominent in her voice as she sat up.
"Well, there's always the option for you to go to bed early." I narrowed my eyes at her.
"How about you go to bed?" she muttered, thinking I didn't hear her, but I did. I nudged my head towards the door, and she huffed before dismissing herself.
"She's right, you know. That noise is insufferable," Felix says.
"She's so angry. I'm wagering she's willing to go all night, or at least until she tears her vocal cords. Anybody want in?" Mateo asked, plucking a hundred bucks out of his trousers.
"I'll raise you two hundred." Felix weighed in.
"Aye, don't be betting on my girl, pendejos."
"Just thought we could make light of this situation, since it seems never ending." Mateo shrugged, putting his money back in his pocket.
"She'll stop soon. It's been hours. She'll get tired or thirsty."
"I don't know. I've seen kidnapped victims go for days, no food or water." Felix replied.
"We did not kidnap her." I snapped.
"Whatever you say, I'm getting a severe case of PTSD over here, so I'm going to leave." Felix declared, sitting his glass down on the mantle above the fireplace.
"See you tomorrow, jefe." He added, patting my shoulder.
"Alright." I nod my head.
"I understand why you're so crazy about her, jefe." Mateo says.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm guessing that mouth of hers works as well in the bedroom as it does right now." He joked, but I wasn't in the mood.
"Mateo, you better get the fuck out here before you be swallowing your teeth." I glared at him, and he chuckled, putting his hands up in offense before exiting the room.
With everyone gone and Jazmin quiet, I decided it would be a fine time to go talk to her, since I knew a strained voice would prevent that from happening. I got up and went into the kitchen to get her a drink of water before going to the office.
Opening the door, I expected Jazmin to come running at me like a madman, but that didn't happen. Instead, she stood by the door, head resting in her hands as she sobbed, and there was a slight moment there where I felt sorry for her.
"Uhuh." I cleared my throat , and when Jazmin realized she was no longer alone in the room, her head shot up.
"Tell me what the hell is going on!" she demanded, voice hoarse from crying.
"Drink." I ordered, pressing the cup into her chest, and she looked down at it.
"No!" She refused, smacking it out of my hand, and the glass went flying across the room.
Naturally, that pissed me off but I refrained from ringing her neck out.
"I'm not doing anything you ask until you tell me why I was just scooped up off the street by your stupid goons. Do you know they attacked my friend? Huh!—" she ranted.
"You're in danger." I cut her off.
Jazmin froze for a moment, one hand clasped over her mouth. "W-What do you mean?" she stuttered, and I watched as her breathing quickened.
"Well you're not in any severe danger. But you could be." I proposed, and I watched as her delicate features became pinched as her mouth twisted into a snarl.
"You're fucking insane, you know that." she seethed. "I'm leaving." she announces, moving to leave, but I blocked her path.
"You're not going anywhere, and you know that, now I suggest you sit down before I make you." I threatened, and she stands still as I watch her with my arms crossed.
"Okay." she sighs, before sitting down on the sofa in the corner of my office.
"I'm sat, now can you tell me why I'm here?"
"A series of events will be taking place in the coming days—" I explained, but it wasn't long before Jazmin was cutting me off.
"Okay, and what does that have to do with me?"
"If you shut your big mouth for once and let me finish, you'll know how any of this involves you." I snapped at her.
"Fuck you, Fernando." she spat, standing up but I didn't detect any real anger behind her words just hurt. So I grab her waist, pulling her firmly against me. Her chest to mine, bonded and trapped. The only thing keeping us from being too close was the height difference.
"Keep talking like that, and I might have you act on it." I glared.
"You're an asshole." she shove at my chest.
I sniff. "It's been mentioned every now and then."She huffs and glares at me. I release her, letting her fall back on the couch. "Now as I was saying before, some things will take place in a couple of days... and because of it, I've decided it would be in my best interest to put the people I care most about in one location so that it might be easier to protect them."
"You care for me? I am so honored—" sarcasm seeped from her voice as she placed a hand on her chest.
"You know I care about you."
"Well, If this is any indication of how you handle someone you care about, I wouldn't want to be someone you hate."
"Mira. I'm not going to go back and forth with you. I'm giving you two options! I can zip tie you to a bed, make you remain there and MAYBE IF YOU'RE GOOD I'LL LET YOU STAY UP PAST YOUR BEDTIME or you can behave yourself and roam freely. Either way, you're hating me, won't be an issue because you're still going to be here with me for the next few days."
Her chin does that jutting out thing she likes to do when she's feeling defiant and tough. It's adorable. "Fine, but if I have to be here, I would like to stay in my own room."
"Okay."
"Really?" Shock is prominent in her voice at how I so readily agreed to her demand.
"Of course. Anything you want, it's yours."
"I want to leave."
"Anything but that," I said, a dark chuckle pass through my lips and she sighs.
" I'll need clothes if I'm going to be here a while."
"I knew that, so I sent someone to your place to pack you a bag. Everything you need should be inside. If there's anything missing, I'll have it collected in the morning."
"What the—" Her eyes widen." You broke into my place again."
"Yes!" I said, and that earned me a dirty look.
"If there's anything you need, I'll be downstairs, otherwise goodnight princessa. Sleep well." I told her as I got up from my seat, with her watching my every movement.
"Goodnight, Asshole." she flipped me off as I walked away.
I wasn't in the comfort of my home, but I tried to stick to my morning routine like every day before. So I was up early doing a little yoga when a light knock on the door called for my attention.
I lift from the downward dog position and made my way over to the door.
"Buenos Días!" The welcoming smile of Fernando's housekeeper, Marie greeted me.
"Good morning."
"I'm unsure if you recall this, but we met not too long ago." she spoke, hinting at our brief encounter and I nodded.
"Yes, I remember, How can I help you Marie?"
"Right, I'm sorry if this is a bad time, but senor Rivera has requested your presence in his bedroom."
"Has he now?"
"Si senora."
"Just call me Jazmin!" I told her and the smile on her sweet, aged face seemed to extend.
"Of course, Jazmin." she acknowledged her head before departing.
Two days. That's how long I have been stuck in this stupid house. There was nothing to do but binge-watch old TV shows or talk with Leia, and even that was far-fetched because she had a short attention span.
Fernando had been so busy with work I rarely heard from him, besides the times he checked in on me through phone calls on Leia's phone or the bodyguards that stood outside all day, which made me wonder what required me to come visit him.
I sighed, leaving my room to go to Fernando's, which is three doors down from mine. I tapped on the door, and my knocking went unanswered. So I knocked again. After a while of not receiving any response, I grew concerned and nudged open the door.
"Fernando." I said, lowly as I peered my head inside the vacant bedroom, Fernando was nowhere in sight but I heard the shower running, so I assumed he was in there.
Deciding to just wait for him to get out, I forced open the door and entered. I walked further inside, glimpsing what appeared to be a picture frame face down on the beside table, and I couldn't resist the urge to look at it.
In the frame there was a photo of a girl, a woman who looked like a much elder version of Leia; beautiful brown skin that was littered with wrinkles, long salt and pepper hair, pretty hazel eyes, and a smile that could make any heart melt.
My eyes were analyzing every part of the image when I noticed something shiny around the woman's neck, It was a necklace with a gold crucifix, a pendant that looked similar to the one Fernando frequently wore.
"That doesn't belong to you, angel." I heard, and I snatched my attention away from the frame and placed it on Fernando as he walked out of the bathroom with his towel wrapped around his torso.
"Who's the woman in this photograph?" The question fell from my lips with more ease than I intended it to, but I was very curious.
"My abuela." He answered, taking a few steps toward me, and in a matter of seconds, he was in front of me.
"She's beautiful." I said, gazing up at him through my lashes.
"Indeed." He said, picking the photo from my hands and placing it back down on the table.
"The pendant you bear. Was it hers before it was yours?" I asked, finally meeting his eyes, and he nod his head once.
"You wear it in memory of her?" I questioned, and he tensed before relaxing his body.
"Si." He answered before walking away, and I furrowed my eyebrows at how curt he was being.
"Were the two of you close?" I sought as I sat down on the bed, watching him as he rummaged through his drawer for clothes. He didn't get to answer as his phone rang, interrupting the task at hand.
"Riverá." He spoke in a collected and professional tone. Somehow, I toned out the conversation he was having on the phone and leered at his body and I swear if I wasn't semi-mad at him, I would've jumped his bones.... my eyes focused on the water droplets that trickled down from his naked chest, especially the deep v-cut he had on him.
"Take a picture. It'll last longer." Fernando's expression broke me from my trance.
"What?" I glanced up at him, meeting his eyes.
"You're staring, angel. Rather boldly, " He added, I wasn't at all ashamed that he had caught me. So I cleared my voice and said, "Well, I wasn't trying to be subtle. If I'm going to be in here with you, I should at least be allowed to ogle."
"I guess that's fair," he smirked, and I rolled my eyes. Cocky bastard.
"Are you going to tell me why I've been summoned?"
"Well, I have some business that requires taking care of, and I'll be gone for a while, so I wanted to see if you needed anything before I head out." He said, and I smiled as an idea came to my head.
"There is something I want."
"Okay."
"I wish to leave the estate."
"No,"
"Come on... I need some personal things and I prefer to pick them up myself."
He gave it some thought before saying," Only if you'll behave yourself."
"What is that supposed to mean?" I furrowed my eyebrows, wanting him to further explain.
"Let me rephrase that don't be a brat today." he said, which irritated me.
"Do you wish me to be brat?" I fold my arms, glaring at him.
"No, do you want to piss me off?!" he shot back.
"No." I gritted.
"Then I need to hear you say it."
"Fine. I won't be a brat."
"You'll be a good girl?" He sought tauntingly, and I got a little aroused, but I couldn't have him know that.
"Fernando!!" I said with an angry face, and he chuckled.
"Fine, I can arrange for you to leave the grounds, but just know you won't be going anywhere alone."
"How many guards are we talking?"
"Six will accompany you, as will Leia. She'll be suitable entertainment, and I'm sure she wants to get out as well."
"How about three guards and Leia?" I proposed, and he shook his head.
"Absolutely not. Six and that's final." He stared at me with firm eyes, not on edge, just demanding.
"Okay."
"Can I go invite Leia now?"
"Of course." He said, before turning to the dresser to continue getting dressed. Meanwhile I inched toward the door but stopped in my tracks when I heard him say something.
"I don't want you walking around wearing that tiny bra any further, so put on clothes first, then go ask her." He told me, and I frowned at his demand, but didn't oppose.
In my bedroom, I did a quick outfit change into a pair of taupe colored dress pants that flared at the bottom and a cute cropped vest with brown buttons going down the front, after I was clothed, I exited my room and headed down the hall to Leia's.
I knocked twice on the door before it's opened, revealing Leia, and her appearance stunned me. She had green facial cream on, her usual silk hair was wild all over her head and there was black gunk on her teeth. My guess is: It was for whitening.
"Don't give me that look. We both know this doesn't happen overnight." she muttered, motioning towards her face.
"I can come back if I caught you at a bad time." I pointed behind me, and Leia shook her head.
"No, now is good. How can I help you?"
"Fernando said I could leave the estate and I wanted to go shopping. Would you care to join me?"
"Hell yeah, give me thirty minutes, and I'll be right down."
"Okay." I smiled big at her before turning on my heels and heading downstairs.
******
"My brother cares a lot about you." Leia's sudden announcement, pull my attention away from the shirt I'd be contemplating buying for the past ten minutes.
Fernando had upheld his word about arranging for us to leave the estate and go shopping. I had gotten what I wanted hours ago, and now we were just shopping around for the fun of it. Buying anything that caught our eye, I got silk sleepwear. I purchased perfumes, lotions, body shimmers, lipsticks and all the makeup I could ever want in the world.
"What makes you say that?" I asked her.
"I mean, it's obvious he's willing to do whatever it takes to make you happy. Like I beg him to leave the estate, he tells me no and quite literally slammed the door in my face, but you ask him, and he doesn't even think twice about it."
"He didn't flat out say yes, but I hear your point. " I muttered, she didn't know what I had to endure to get here.
"If you know he cares so much about you, why are you being so hard on him?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I noticed the separate bedrooms, and you hardly acknowledge him when he's at the house. What's up with that?"
"We just haven't been seeing eye to eye lately."
"Oh, so you date the head of the Mexican cartel and are shocked when he does something bad?"
"Did he tell you what he did?"
"No, with him, you don't ask, you just assume."
"Well, you should have. He freaked out on me, accused me of being an informant and not only did he accuse me, but he kidnapped my neighbor, accused her of being an FBI agent, killed her and forced me to watch. "
"H-He did that?" Leia looked at me with wide eyes.
"Yes, and you know what, while he did some pretty unforgivable things, it's not just about that, it's about him trusting me."
"Okay, I'm not excusing his behavior because I think he could've gone about it a different way, given it was you...but can you just give him the benefit of the doubt this one time? I mean, imagine if you were in his loafers... Wouldn't you have done the same?"
"I can't imagine being in his shoes because I'll never be in that predicament and even if I were, I would have never questioned his loyalty." I told her and a sadden look crossed her face before the sound of her phone ringing wiped it away.
Leia checked to see who it was before saying;" Excuse me for a moment," and stepping aside to answer the call. Meanwhile, I browsed through the rack of clothes, looking up at her as she engaged in what, I assume, was a serious conversation.
Some time later, Leia returned, and we continued to shop around, but she seemed a bit more stand-offish.
"Are you okay?" I asked, pulling her focus from a pair of shoes.
"Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"
"You just seem a little different after that phone call. Who was it?"
"My brother."
"What did he want?"
"Apparently, we'll be having guest over for dinner."
"Guest? Must be pretty important if he's allowing them to visit while we're on lockdown."
"Well, we can have visitors. We just aren't leave. Unless of course it's with a sea of guards." Leia explained, and I nodded my head.
"So, tell me who these guest are?"
"Joaquin and his family will join us."
"Aww, I expect that's exciting news for you.
"Mhm. " She hummed in reply, not the feedback I was expecting. "On a scale of one to ten; how excited are you to see your fiancée?"
"Probably a four."
"A Four?"
"Yes, is there an issue with my answer?"
"No, but I mean a four is very low, granted this is the man you love."
"Who said anything about love? I do care for Joaquin, maybe semi-like him, but love him...Absolutely not!"
"How does marriage work if you don't love him?"
"If it's meant to be, feeling will develop later." she shrugged her shoulders.
"Does he know that you don't love him?"
"He knows. Typically, those who are betrothed don't love their supposed significant other, granted they hardly know each other... currently were both just content with the fact we get along with each other."
"Betrothed?"
"Yes, this all seems like news to you. Have you and my brother not had this talk."
"Apparently he didn't find me fit to know. So you and Joaquin are betrothals, how did this come to be?"
"My betrothal to Joaquin was arranged a long time ago, to assure our families would cease fire against one another."
"I don't understand, why would you want to marry someone you do not love?"
"My obligation isn't to love. It's for my family. Which means occasionally I have to do what's right, even if my heart is against it."
"Wow. That's deep, but I know it also sucks."
"Yes, but I mean if I can't wed the man of my dreams, I might as well marry the man of my dream bank account." she laughed, halfhearted.
"Only you would find a way to laugh at your own misfortune.."
"Yes I know, sometimes you just have to laugh to keep from crying." she stated, a frown etched on her face as she played with the large diamond ring on her left hand.
As the day progressed, Leia gave me a brief summary of what it was like to be betrothed, and by the end of it, I was grateful that I didn't have to experience what these women go through.
Apparently, this journey began at age seventeen. Yes, at the ripe age of seventeen girls are required to get to know these men. And you can't change it if you don't want it. You have to stick it out. You have to marry a fellow you're probably going to resent; luckily for Leia she didn't have so experienced that, but still, it's strange, given these men are usually over the age of twenty-five, and they're courting a seventeen-year-old?
Not only that, but the night of your eighteenth birthday, which is typically the day of your wedding, you're expected to perform the deed to consummate marriage, you're just supposed to hand over this delicate thing to a man you hardly know and expect them to be gentle.
This was horrible. At least in America we have some choice in the matter ... But someone blatantly handed these women off and no one does anything about it. It's normal. Sadly, It's what's happened for hundreds of years. An inevitable process they forced many women to endure.
When lunch ended, we went shopping a little more and brought so much stuff that when it was time to go, we had trouble getting everything in one vehicle.
"I feel like an total ass. How are they possibly going to fit everything in there?" I whispered to Leia as we sat and watched the gentleman pack up the truck.
"They'll be fine." Leia shrugged, throwing her cup in the trash before walking over to the passenger side of the car to get in. I stayed out of the car for a while watching the men struggle until finally, they could get everything inside, with half the bags extending into Jax's car, and the other fraction in Victor's.
"We're all set to go." Jax told me and I nod my head before getting in the car.
When we arrived at the house it was very busy. The aroma of food was very heavy and made my stomach growl on the spot. I walked into my room, and noticed clothes spread out on the bed, accompanying it was an note.
Get dressed and join us downstairs — F. Rivera
"How romantic' I thought before flicking the card on the bed. I wasn't pleased with the note, but didn't disregard it and decided it was best to start getting ready.
I went into the bathroom to turn on the water, allowing it to warm up a little before turning on the shower. While I waited, I diverted my attention to my hair. I tied my silky hair up with a claw clip before refreshing my baby hairs, amid doing that someone delivered a soft knock to the door.
"Who is it?" I shouted, walking out of the bathroom to go answer it.
"Me." Leia chirped.
"Sorry, I do not know any, Me's!" I giggled, swinging open the door to see her on the other side holding a curling iron.
"You're so childish." she rolled her eyes.
"What's up?"
"Can you please help me with my hair?" she asked.
"Sure." I smiled, stepping back and allowing her inside.
Leia thanked me as we went into the bathroom, and she plugged the curling iron into the wall before adjusting the setting. While we waited for the iron to heat, Leia told me all about Joaquin's family.
There would be two members of his family joining us this evening: Joaquin's cousin Manolo, who was also like his right hand and Joaquin's sister; Audrey.
Leia didn't quite fancy the sister, and when I asked her why, she said, and I quote, "What she lacks in wit and intelligence, she more than makes up for with serious good looks.." I wasn't sure of what that meant and one could only wonder if she was dumb or crazy, or a bit of both, either way I had no intention of finding out.
My game plan for tonight was the same as always, fly completely under the radar with a plan like that, what could go wrong.