Vera
Everyone has been on edge since we found out who orchestrated everything a few days ago. Cade did fake my death, but everything else was my father's doing. Personally, I think we have some amazing fathers. #1 dad mugs to the both of them.
The odds of them knowing about me or Silas are low but not zero. I went to an underground boxing ring, yelled Santi's name, and left with him. That can definitely attract attention, so Si and I have been staying inside. There's security everywhere, and Santiago's fuse has been cut in half. Before it was already small, now it's almost nonexistent, especially with his men.
Without me being a buffer, about a quarter of them would've been dead by now.
I've also had to stop Santiago from killing his father a number of times. The death of a Cartel leader by his own son could be fatal and lead to a war. We're trying to form a plan however every time we attempt to, we hit a wall.
We figured Mila would be safest at the hospital, so she's gone back to work. And Alex was called out to a job. While Silas knows something is wrong between the security and small, vague talk we had with him, he doesn't know the complete extent of things. To get everyone's minds off of the anxiety in the house, Santi came home with chocolate chip cookie ingredients, but Silas decided to make it a competition.
Just by the sight of the kitchen and the monstrosity of burned, paper thin cookies, you can tell Santiago has never cooked in his life. While Silas has fluffy, perfectly cooked cookies that look delicious.
"How do mine look like this and his look like that?" He asks, pretending to be frustrated to make Si laugh.
"Maybe because you put half a cup of salt instead of sugar and no baking soda." I say looking at his 'cookies'. Santi dramatically gasps, snapping his head towards Si.
"You sabotaged me, didn't you." Santi accuses while Silas just laughs with a wide grin. He lifts Si from the ground and tickles him in his arms. My boys. My heart jumps with happiness at the scene. I never thought Silas would have this. His own father being there for him, laughing and smiling. He just learned the joy of having both parents that would die for him. Hell, having an entire family that would. I can't let him miss out on anything else. I won't.
"Go clean up it's almost 8, and you have flour all over the both of you." I speak up over their roughhousing. After they grab one of Silas' cookies, they go upstairs to shower.
...
I feel chills all over my body, and my mind feels foggy. I'm aware of Santi's front pressed against my back, and his head tucked into my neck. I crack my eyes open to read the bright red numbers that blare in the dark. 1:45 am.We've only been asleep since 11. As I sit up and swing my legs off the bed, I still feel uneasy. Like I'm anticipating something—as if in the back of my mind I know something is going to happen that I have to be ready for. What is it?
I slowly stand up, the bed creaks from my movement. My heart beats hard against my rib cage. Something's wrong, really wrong. I can feel it in every part of my body.
"Vera, what are you doing?" Santi sits up groggily in a rough, raspy voice. Normally, I'd melt over that voice, but I can't shake this feeling.
"Something's wrong." I whisper. I pull open my nightstand, grab a small, silver key, and unlock the second drawer of the nightstand. I pull out the gun Alex gave me and creep to the door. When Santiago sees how serious I am, he grabs his gun from the nightstand as well.
"Go get Silas. I'll look downstairs," I go to open the door, but Santi stops me by grasping my arm.
"No, you go get Silas. I'll go downstairs." I can tell Santi's nervous, terrified even. His jaw is set and his face is clear of emotion, but his eyes are where his poker face fails. I'm not going to be naive. If there is someone in the house and I go downstairs, I could die, Santiago could, God forbid Silas getting hurt. We both would protect Silas with our lives. Silas just got his dad. Santiago just got his son. So, I make a risky decision but one that I stand by.
"Okay," I see some anxiety melt from Santi's eyes. I stand on my toes, using his shoulders to steady me, and press a kiss against his lips. I feel tension leave his body while he deepens the kiss. I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. I repeat over and over in my head, hoping Santi can feel it. Hoping that Silas already knows and never forgets how much I love him. I push the hesitation out of my mind. I have to do this.
I gather all the strength in my body and shove Santiago's chest. He falls back onto his butt, caught off guard. I dart out the room, close it as quietly as I can, and lock it. I make a dash to Si's room and lock his door too. Thank God for Mila being terrible at putting things together, and Alex being too in love with her to care.
"Vera, open the door." I hear Santi whisper from the other side of Silas' door. Our room is connected to his, so I knew I had to lock it too. He's not going to kick down the door because if there is someone here he'd give away the element of surprise.
"I'm sorry, I had to. Put Silas in the hidden space in the closet. I'll be back," I swallow the lump in my throat. "I love you and Silas, so much." I strength my resolve, ignoring Santi calling my name.
My heart pumps faster from being enveloped by shadows. I try to calm myself. It's not even definite that there's someone here, but I swear I feel it in my bones.
I creep downstairs with my gun ready to fire. The moon illuminates the front room. Silence hangs in the air. I keep my back to the stairs just so I'm not completely exposed. I don't see anything or hear anyone until I hear heavy footsteps coming from my left. A brute force crashes into my side causing my head to slam into the ground. It knocks the air out my lungs and makes black spots cover my vision. It's a wonder how I don't lose consciousness or a hold of my gun.
The person turns me on my back and starts choking me. I can tell it's a man, his hands are rough against my skin. My first blow to the head still hasn't cleared, so I can't focus. My head pounds from lack of oxygen and pain. I can't aim my gun from how close he is, so I do the next best thing which is driving the butt of my gun into his head. His grip falters, allowing me to break free. I flip him so he's on his back, hitting him over and over. I get off of him and fire a shot to both of his leg. Adrenaline has lessened the full extent of my pain, letting me see who this is.
He's writhing in pain, trying to get up but unable to. He has a head of silver hair and a silver beard, only a few strands are black, dark eyes, soulless even. It doesn't click in my mind until I see the scar. Pink puckered skin, from his ear down, continuing under his shirt.
My father.
Anger courses through me. Anger for Callum, for my mother, for my life, for me. He use to seem so big, so powerful. Intimidating, now he's trying his damn hardest to show he's not in pain. Trying to be that same man that would hurt Cal and feel good afterwards. The same man that fed off of our fear. A pathetic, awful, cruel man that deserves more pain than I could ever give him. If I wasn't scared that he'd find a way to survive, I'd torture him for the rest of my life.
"Look at my daughter and the monster she's become." I'm not going to let him hurt me anymore. I'm not giving him that power.
"What is it that they say? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." He spits his words out with poison, intended to kill, but as I see him below me, wounded, I feel an ounce of sympathy. He lost his wife, who—from what I hear—he loved dearly. I can understand that kind of pain and grief, but I can never understand why his way of coping was to hurt his children.
My mother died giving birth to me, she didn't die because of me. And Cal did nothing to deserve my father's wrath. I feel sorry for the man that lost his wife—the love of his life—but I am not sorry for the man that took it out on his children.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Michael, but I'm not sorry for you. I wish I could've seen the man you use to be. I wish I could've met my mother. I wish Cal was still here, but all of those things are just wishes. You can't change the past, but you can hope for a better future. And I will never feel safe in my future with you alive, so goodbye Michael. I hope you burn in hell."
I raise my gun, aim the muzzle, and fire. He tried to get me before I pulled the trigger, but he was too slow. I watch his body go limp, blood flows out of the hole in between his eyes, covering the grey hardwood floors in crimson. It's done. It's over. It almost feels like I'm telling Cal, like he's right here with me, hugging me. I want to break down and cry. I miss my brother. I miss his voice. I miss his comfort. I miss him. Before I can collapse on the floor, I gunshot rings-out upstairs, and my heart sinks.
...
Santiago
I swear to God Vera drives me crazy. I want to yell for her to comeback and unlock this door, but if I do that she could die. I clench my fists, having a strong urge to punch a wall, but I resist.
I have to hide Silas. I go over to his bed—we just got a few days ago—and pick him up. In spite of me lifting him out of bed, he stays asleep. I don't want to wake him, but I can't just cramp him in a small hiding space and expect him not to panic. I shake him until he eventually cracks his eyes open.
"Hey, Si, I need you to wake up." He rubs at his eyes, trying to listen and be alert. "You remember that little room in the closet mommy and I told you about? I need you to sit in there and be really quiet." Although Silas is half asleep, he nods his head and listens. I bring him to the closet and put him down. He stands while I push clothes away from the almost invisible opening. I open it by hitting a button marked by a tiny dot. Si gets down crawling into the space, pulling his knees to his chest.
"Okay, you have to be really quiet. One of us will come and get you soon." He nods reluctantly. He's scared and I can't comfort him fully right now because I am too. The most amount of comfort I can muster for him is combing my fingers through his hair and kissing his forehead. I linger longer than normal because if this is it, I want my son to remember me in a good way. Even if he's only known me for less than a month. I pull away and close the door, covering it with clothes again.
Walking back to Si's room, I look around for the tool box we had when we built his bed. I find it and begin trying to get the door off the hinges. After 5 minutes I haven't gotten one hinge undone, but I have heard two gunshots downstairs. It makes my hands shake making this even harder. I'm about to just try breaking through the door but I hear Silas call my name from the other room. Did he leave the closet? I told him to stay in there.
I storm into the room, pissed but trying to tone it down. My gaze lands on Silas with a gun to his head, held by Cade. A cunning grin plays at his lips while Silas shakes with fear. No, please no.
"When was I going to meet my grandson?" My teeth grind together. You can't say anything, he'll hurt Silas. His eyes look down at my hand that's chocking my gun in a death grip.
"Drop it." He commands me like a dog. I swallow the words that threaten to come out and slide my gun against the hardwood until it rests at his feet. A sickening grin spreads across his face.
"You know the Cartel doesn't look well upon bastard children, especially with sluts like her." My fists clench and my jaw aches from how hard my teeth are pressed together. I want to beat him until he's unrecognizable. I want to hit him until he stops breathing. I can't hit him, not now anyway. If I could just get the gun out of his hand, it'd be no match. A light bubble turns on over my head.
"You taught Antonio how to box and fight, didn't you? He always said you were the best fighter he knew, but here you are, hiding behind a gun like the pathetic man you are." I see my words hit their target. Cade was a fairly decent father before Antonio died, but once his favorite was gone, he couldn't handle it.
"Show me if Antonio was right. Prove it." I see when his final nerve snaps, and I applaud myself for my acting.
He shoves Si to the side making him collapse to the ground, and throws his gun right beside him. He gets in a boxing stance, and I get in one also. He launches a hit at my face first which I block. I take that opportunity to take a hit at his gut. It makes its damage, but he recovers. My contact stokes the flames in his eyes.
In an instant, he throws boxing out the window and tackles me to the ground by my torso. He mounts me, taking advantage of my surprise and wails on my head. Hit after hit until I hear and feel my nose break. The pain jolts me into action, flipping him on his back and swinging on him until I hear his jaw snap. Which is ten times more painful than a broken nose. He grabs my arm when I'm winding up for a hit and twists it. I feel like it's going to break if I don't move which is his motive.
He flips me again and this time picks my head up and bashes it into the ground, over and over. It steals all the strength from my limbs, so all I can do is take the beating.
"Get off of my dad!" I hear Silas yell from the side of the room. It effectively stops Cade. I'm completely surprised and confused. Why would he stop just because Si told him to. I use the little bit of strength in my neck and turn to look at him. With tears streaming down his face and terror written all over it, Silas is holding a gun in his trembling hands. Cade knows one accidental squeeze of Silas' finger, he's dead.
I gain an ounce of strength from adrenaline and rise out from under Cade. Curled over, I walk over to Silas. He's only 5, as much as Cade deserves it, my kid will not take his first life at 5. I ease the gun from Si's shaking hands, crouching down so he can put his weight on me. He cries into my chest, his body quivering. I don't want him in this world. He's too good for it. When he's older I'll give him a choice, he won't be forced into it like most kids of organized crime leaders.
For whatever reason, me holding Silas angers Cade, so much that he charges at me. He intends to kill me and Silas, I can see it in every nerve of his body, but he won't take my family away again. I lift my gun and fire off one shot straight to his heart. Si lets out a shriek from the noise, his ears are probably ringing from how close the gun was to him.
My last bit of adrenaline runs out making my weak body collapse. I keep Silas' eyes away from my father's bleeding out body. I can't find the energy to leave, so I just sit and hold Si, consoling him. A few seconds after Vera comes rushing up the stairs. Her chest rises and falls rapidly, fear constricts her shoulders until she sees Silas and I on the floor and Cade dead.
She lets out a heavy sigh, running over to us. Vera crouches down, kissing me with tears falling down her cheeks. She pulls Si into a hug and kisses all over his face too. Silas wraps his arms around both of our necks, pulling us together.
My body screams in pain, but it's finally over. My family is safe. It is finally over.
AN:
I'm not gonna lie when Vera was talking about how she missed her brother, I teared up. Anyways, one more chapter until their story is over. If y'all want an epilogue, let me know and give me some ideas.
Thank you all for all the love. I am overwhelmed by it. Thank you. And sorry for the super long chapter and taking so long to update.
I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. 💙