33 32. Mini Ricards

"Well, no shit," I spat.

She opened her mouth to say something but then resorted to silence and stared at me. "How old are you?" She asked, narrowing her almond-shaped, green eyes.

I stared back at her, solemn-faced, caught off guard by her question. "Is that relevant-" I started but she interrupted.

"You are twenty-five-" She stated, looking at me dreamily. "Mara told me."

I frowned at her. "You're going-" I started but she interrupted again. I, naturally, was beyond furious.

"You're too young to be doing this, son." She dared tell me with some twisted smile as I speechlessly stared at her, because, wow, I never encountered a person who seemed too eager to die.

"Get to the point," I demanded as she sank back in the couch, still smiling. I shifted in my place irritated.

I was losing control.

"You are a twenty-five-year-old boy, holding a gun, threatening a woman your mother's age. You look like a baby." She then shrugged confidently and I smirked.

"Well, maybe if I put a bullet in one arm of yours, we'll see who screams like one," I snapped seriously and her smile faltered. "For the last time," I said miraculously calmly, tightening my hold around my gun. "-I'm not here for chit-chat and sweet tea time. You're going to answer my damned questions the way I want when I want. Don't let me use barbaric methods and most importantly-" I paused to stare icily in her forest-green eyes. "Do. Not. Underestimate. Me. That's a common, fatal mistake."

Her hands reached for the pearl necklace that surprisingly didn't choke her tree-bark-like neck. "Okay."

"Good. Now, Danielle-" I exhaled, standing straighter, my gun still trained at her leg. "-tell me, where the hell are Ricardo's documents?"

"Weird-" She scoffed. I thought you came here to discuss Mara-" I shut my eyes in renewed rage and, with a quick movement, pulled the trigger.

I heard glass shatter and opened my eyes to find the vase that stood in the room's corner become glass shards with its flowers littering the pristine floor.

I looked at her. She had her hands' heels pressed to her ears and her eyes squeezed shut. She let out a whimper as I sighed boredly. It was no longer entertaining.

"You weren't deaf when I gave my terms. And I certainly was not joking." My voice came harsh and she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"But I can't tell you!" She argued defeatedly, wringing her hands and sobbing. "You can kill me if you'd like to-"

"I WILL!" I yelled furiously and she recoiled in evident fear, biting her lower lip raw. I then threateningly approached her and clutched her dress's collar in my hands. She shrieked and tried slapping my hands away.

"Shut up!" I barked as her lips trembled. "Why the fuck aren't you willing to tell me?" I cursed, shaking her vigorously; thus tearing her dress from the shoulder.

Danielle's other hand flew to hold her dress helplessly as she hyperventilated and stared at me. "They will kill Bianca!" She whispered desperately, looking in my eyes, with tears staining her cheeks and drowning her foresty irises.

"Who will-?" I asked, narrowing my eyes curiously at her as I let her go.

"Ricardo's sons-" She breathed out terrified as if it was a burden her lips and tongue couldn't handle any longer.

"Sons?" I snorted ungracefully. "Now where the fuck did that come from?" I asked angrily, screwing my face. Well, new things popping up like this meant more worries and damned thinking.

"Leonard and Maxime-" Her breath hitched as she whispered their names and her eyes vacated. "I swear."

"Well, goddammit!" I shouted in frustration. "Explain!"

"Please-" She muttered, shaking her head as her eyes filled with more heavy tears. Her veiny hands grasped my wrist. "Please, they'll kill my only baby-"

"Stop whining," I scowled, shaking her hand away mercilessly. There was no way I'd comfort a mother like her. "Tell me everything you know-"

She sobbed harder and I averted my gaze from her shaking figure in irritation. I hated the way she cried. It was with so much ferocity and heat. Like it actually came from the deepest pits of her heart. Her pain was real, I couldn't help but realize.

I sighed."If you tell me, I promise no one will harm her. They wouldn't know," I tried logically.

She sniffed loudly and looked into my eyes pleadingly and I clenched my jaws, threatening myself not to soften.

"I TOLD YOU, I'LL PROTECT HER!"

I noticed her hands shake beyond control before she rolled them into tight, shaking fists. She then nodded robotically as if paralyzed from fear.

I then leaned in and clutched her chin in my hand. Her eyes widened as she held her breath. "Tell. Me."

Her right eye twitched as she nodded. "I will-I will-" She hyperventilated and I nodded slowly.

"Good. Talk. I'm listening. We've got all day."

"They are sons from his very first wife which he cheated on with Samara's mother." She said dryly, her eyes losing focus as she slipped into memory mode. "They're about your age. I don't really know them but I know they're dangerous. They do their father's unprofessional jobs. Mini Ricards is what they call them. They were born and raised in France. France where he met Samara's mom. Where she lives now after they divorced."

Great.

"Ricardo-" She continued, with tears flowing out. "-valued them the most. He told them that he tru-trusted me," her voice broke. "And that's why I should keep his possessions in case anything happened to him."

She sobbed hard and I let her as I processed what she said. "But he never really trusted me-" She frowned and shook her head. "Bianca would be the price I paid if I tried doing anything treacherous. He knew I'd die for her-" She wept as I shook my head in disbelief.

I let go of her and dragged my hand across my face, exhaling loudly in exasperation. "So you have the documents?" I asked directly and she nodded hesitantly.

"Can I have a set?"

She looked up at me.

"It's about my father's company," I said matter-of-factly and she shook her head with her eyes wide open.

"Ricardo left his sons and trusted them to continue his legacy-" She tried ignoring me, but I was already waist-deep in this.

There was no backing out.

"But the thing is Danielle," I pressed, raising an eyebrow and leaning closer to her. "I happen to really want those documents. Because even Samara's life is on the line because of them. And many other people's of course," I subtly threatened.

"But-"

"I will be the one to get the documents. I'll get you out of the picture," I explained slowly and she shook her head as she stifled a whimper.

"You'll have to get through them first-" She 'warned' with a shudder and I raised my eyebrows.

"Alright, sure, where can I find them?" I gritted on my teeth.

"The brothers?" She flinched and I pursed my lips.

"The documents. Danielle," I snapped and she looked away.

"They check on them-"

"You keep running away from answering and I keep running out of patience," I enunciated, patiently impatient.

"They're with me-" She drawled and I almost ripped out my goddamned hair.

"Where the fuck, may I fucking ask?" I cursed, sucking the insides of my cheeks as she clasped her shaking hands together.

"With me. Here. In a safe." She whispered cautiously and I lifted my eyebrows.

"Great! Lead me to them," I ordered as she sniffed, pretending that I didn't exist. Or more of, acting incredibly idiotic and oblivious to the fact that she was sitting in front of an armed man while being uncooperative.

So I frowned. "Get up!" I then demanded and she immediately tried to stand up, but her knees failed under her weight. She tried again and got up.

I clutched her fat arm harshly as she directed me to a big, fancy office next to the kitchen. There were beige, plain walls with a few random paintings of horses, a big office desk in front of a huge, book-laden shelf, and big windows through which the sun rays penetrated, lighting up the room. There were also several wild plants lined up along the windows.

Danielle tried to kneel but collapsed on the floor in front of the shelf, behind the office mahogany table and leather chair. I watched her shaky hands remove books away frantically.

Then there was a security safe.

She looked up at me and I glared down at her. "What?"

She shook her head, shuddering and turning away as her hands fumbled with the lock. She opened it and I knelt immediately, pulling out five big folders.

"That's all?" I asked and she nodded, her thin lips stifling a sob.

"They take one every month. F-finish the cases," she said as I glanced at the folders.

"Alright then. I think I have to-"

"NO!" She cried frantically, grasping my arms and digging her nails in my skin. I looked at her shocked. She shook her head. "You can't leave like that! You promised! You promised-"

"I'll send someone-"

"No, no, no!" She hyperventilated and shook her head. "There might not be tomorrow, please-" She sobbed more as I resisted the urge to slap her hand away- because first of all, who the hell was she to touch me? "Please, Julius. You wouldn't know how it would feel to lose a child. Please-"

Mid-grimace, I looked at her sharply and said nothing. A slight pang in my heart. A cold, drifting, lone memory.

I shook my arm free of her grasp.

"What will I do now?" She was more of desperately whispering to herself as she frantically slapped her face with both hands. "What will I do? Samara-"

"I'll handle Samara," I said curtly. "You take care of Bianca or whatever. If you feel unsafe, you can leave the town-"

"But- I can't-" She breathed defeatedly, a hand on the floor next to her sprawled self and a hand on her chest as she looked in my eyes pleadingly. "I don't have the money! I don't have anything!" She was frantic and I was irritated.

"I'll give you the money then, dammit!" I told her and she shut up.

"When?" She asked and I sighed.

I then reached for my back pocket and took out some bills. A lot actually. "Leave. Get a house. Have a job and raise the kid. This isn't a way to live the way you were living."

And I soon was out of the house with five documents in my arms. I'd never been so close.

I then thought of Samara's surgery. It must've been over. I had to go but after heading to the hotel to hide away those documents.

I wondered what secrets they withheld.

...

I inhaled deeply and opened the door to Samara's post-operation room. The lighting was faint and comfortable. There was simply a bed and a heart monitor, next to which were a chair and lots of flowers. I walked in smiling, remembering her obsession with flowers and sitting on the chair.

She was covered in a starchy, blue-green blanket that reached her smooth, round chin and her eyes were concealed with white patches that covered half of her face. Her hands laid on top of each other on her chest while her dark hair flowed around her head on the pillow. Her lips were slightly parted revealing the edges of her front teeth.

Beautiful. I wanted to take a picture.

I found myself hesitantly reaching for her hand before taking it and sighing heavily.

What was I going to tell her when she recovered? How was I going to tell about how her family cheated her and used her and her disability? How was I going to tell her that who she was trusting herself with was not Amanda but Danielle?

I let go of her hand as if it burnt.

How dare they? How dare they use such innocence and purity for their corrupt endeavours?

I clenched my jaws but then convinced myself to calm down. There was nothing I could do more than protect her. But how could she wake to see a world that hated her and wanted her blind? How would she handle it?

She won't be alone, I thought. I'd be with her. I gently brushed her forehead with my thumb and let my hand rest on her soft hair.

"Oh, love, what are you going to do now?" I whispered to myself, exhaling, then leaning in to plant a kiss on her forehead.

I then backed away and smiled slightly at her peaceful, fragile figure, before getting up and leaving.

...

I felt my chest tighten as I reached for the five folders I got from Danielle and lit a cigarette. I then flipped open the first file but immediately put it away. It was about some stolen diamonds I think. I reached for the second file and then flipped it close again. It was about some kidnapping.

Two cigarettes and a can of beer later, I boredly reach for the last file skipping the rest. Shockingly, 'Gorj' was written across the front page. I carefully flipped the page to be startled by a phone call. I groaned and glanced at my phone.

Caroline.

I watched the bright screen for a while, not sure if I should take the call or simply reject it. But then, I had had enough of being bad today. I sighed and answered.

"Hey," her squeaky voice said.

"Caroline," I stated.

"How are you?" She then asked hesitantly.

"Good, you?"

"I'm okay-" She said and I narrowed my eyes.

"Okay, huh?"

"Yeah-" She almost hesitated and I smiled, catching her lie.

"Oh? That's cute," I commented sarcastically. "What happened?"

"Well, if you insist-" She muttered then took a deep breath. "Tom. He wants me back."

I think I choked on the beer I was drinking.

"Romeo? Romeo, are you okay?"

I coughed a little before recovering. "I'm fine. What did you say again?"

"Tom wants me back. Well, that's what I called you for. I'm really confused." She drawled and I shook my head, setting the beer can on my bedside table.

"What are you confused about exactly? I don't find your situation particularly confusing," I said, thinking of my situation.

"Do you mean, I should've agreed?" She whispered hesitantly and my eyes widened.

"No!" I said. "You should never, Caroline. He's a dick-"

"But-" She paused. "But he said it like he meant it, you know? He looked sincere. I really wanted to agree but I remembered you-"

"Good you did. Because you were about to do the most colossal mistake ever."

"I was scared of that and that's why I asked him for some time to think," she said and I sighed.

"Good. Don't ever go back-"

"But he calls me and texts me like he actually cares, you know?" She paused and I didn't say anything. "Like he really learned from his mistake-"

"He is definitely using you," I stated irritably. "If he really liked you, he would've known your worth from the very beginning."

Wow, Julius, nice seeing you become a counsellor. Again. A counsellor to particularly dumb ladies who didn't seem to understand what it means to get used and then dumped. It was infuriating.

A defeated sigh. "I know. But my heart keeps pulling me to him."

"He's toxic. You have to give him the pain he caused you. You say he wants you, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Well, shut him off. Completely. And I mean it when I say completely, Caroline. Let's see how long he'll last. Give him a week and he'll be gone out of your life. He will think that you aren't worth the time he'd be wasting, waiting for you-" I advised as if an expert in relationship matters.

Hell, I am not.

"You think so?"

"Yes. You gotta do it, Carls," I said, physically cringing before I heard her laugh. "What?" I asked innocently, raising a brow. But I mean, she essentially needed a nickname. Her name was three damned syllables long. Repeating it was very exhausting. And 'Carls' was just one syllable.

"That's one weird nickname. You can call me Carol-"

"Nope, I'll stick with Carls," I insisted, remembering Augustus.

It's over, mate. Once a nickname is out, it sticks...

I smirked bitterly as she giggled.

A yawn. "Alright. Romeo. I'll go to sleep."

"Yes. Pleas- Sure. Goodnight." My eyes widened at my slip but sighed in relief when she replied.

"Goodnight."

She hung up.

I sighed heavily and looked back at the folder in front of me. My heart rate picked up as I turned the page and held my breath.