Say Yes, Senator

“So, he owes them money, and they’re going to make him pay, right?” I urged her on, and she shook her head. A certain wildness had entered her eyes.

“As far as I know, they’ve already cut a deal. Do you remember, his beautiful young daughter, Valentina?” she asked, looking up at me with a vengeance in her eyes. Any pain that the Muerte Viviente caused to Romero Luis would be vengeance for what they had done to me. She had no idea of my relationship with Valentina, so she didn’t know how this could affect me in turn too.

“Yeah, I remember her,” I said, and mom threw her head back and laughed. I had to clench my hands so that I didn’t reach for her and shake her. The words “cut a deal” were fresh in my mind. I didn’t want to hear what I knew she was about to say.

“Romero is trading his daughter for the debt. They’re going to sell her off into the flesh trade or something; I don’t know…I don’t care. I just want that family to burn in Hell!” she snapped, and I could see the fire erupting in her eyes. Nobody was crueler than a mother whose child is harmed, and she was one such mother, and I couldn’t blame her for it.

“Are you saying that Romero Luis arranged for his daughter to be kidnapped?” I asked, standing up from the rug. Mom looked up at me, and the fury was still in her eyes.

“What else would you expect from a man like him?” she said.

xxx

I burst into Moira’s guest room and found Valentina still in bed. She was naked under the covers but had her eyes open. Fuck, she looked gorgeous! The way the light pouring into the room caught the edges of her chestnut hair and set it on fire! I gulped, to steady myself. She looked over at me, her face morphing into a smile. She thought I had returned to take her into my arms, to make love to her again.

“Jesus…” she said huskily and reached out a hand towards me. I was almost tempted to comply. Tempted to forget about the real reason I was here and just pull her into my arms again.

Instead, I stood with my legs parted at the door, my nostrils flaring with rage and my fists clenched on either side.

“Your father pawned you for money,” I growled, looking at her from under my heavy lids. I could feel the fire smoking out of my nostrils as I glared at her. Valentina’s expression changed, she pulled the covers up to her breasts and moved herself to sit up in bed.

“What are you talking about, Jesus?” she said and I took a few steps towards her.

“You heard what I just said. He wrote to you, knowing that you would come back here. He set up a deal with Muerte Viviente and Juan to trade you for the debt,” I said through gritted teeth as I edged closer to her.

Valentina’s eyes were wide, and she looked aghast. Another second and I predicted she would burst into tears.

“I didn’t expect this from you, Jesus,” she said instead, in a low guttural voice and I crossed my brows.

She still had the covers clutched to her breasts, and I could see her bare shoulders quivering with anger.

“I know Papi hurt you, and he shouldn’t have. I know Papi did things that I could never forgive him for…but this, what you’re claiming…he would never do this to me!” she shrieked and I took in a deep breath of anger. I couldn’t believe that she was siding with him. After everything I had already done for her, after everything he had done to me…how could Valentina not believe me?

“Your father was and is an evil man, Valentina, and it’s a shame that you don’t see him for who he is,” I growled, and she snapped her head away from me. She didn’t want to look at me anymore.

“My father is capable of a lot of things, but trading his daughter to pay off a debt…he would never do that. He has pride, and he’s an arrogant man. Give him some credit for that!” she cried, and I clenched my jaw. I wanted to hold her and console her. I knew the feeling…of realizing that your own father has betrayed you, is selling you off in exchange for a debt. I had been through it myself, but the fact that she didn’t even believe me was too much for me to gulp down.

“You know what the Muerte Viviente are capable of, and he knows it too. At this point, he will probably do anything to get out of their debt. He used to be the one giving out the fucking orders. He knows exactly what their next step would be if he doesn’t pay off the debt somehow,” I barked at her and Valentina looked back at me, her eyes watery and burning as she stared.

“You’re saying that he tricked me into coming here?”

“He is sick, that much is true, but he might have exaggerated the extent of his illness,” I said, and she shook her head in anger.

“How could you even suggest such a thing?” she howled.

The answer was simple. I had been on the other side of Romero Luis’ wrath. I knew exactly what he was capable of. I wasn’t even surprised when my mother told me, and I was just upset that I hadn’t figured it out sooner.

“Valentina…you have to trust what I’m saying,” I said and took a step towards her.

“I don’t trust you, Jesus. I don’t trust you at all!” she snapped and our eyes met in a fury. She wasn’t lying. She didn’t trust me anymore. She had chosen her confidence in her father, over her trust in me. She had to leave town. She had to run away from home to get away from her father…how could she possibly be on his side now?

“It’s amazing…after everything that’s happened…that you don’t trust me anymore,” I said, making a last attempt even though I knew that the battle was already lost.

She jerked up, making sure that the covers stayed in place.

“I’m his daughter, Jesus. I’m his blood. He would never do something like this to me. And you…you’re just a man, like every other man in the world. You want nothing more than my body. I know how gangs work, how the MC world functions. When you tire of my body, you’ll leave me to wither away, just like all your friends do…” her voice was firm, and yet her eyes were w

atery as she spoke.