I keep saying the same thing, and Dad begs them to stop, but they don’t.
Moments later, he stops pleading, and I’m crying so much I can barely see.
“Ramp it up, boys,” Thiago orders with a wicked laugh.
“No!” I shout, no longer caring I would be drawing attention to myself. All anyone would need to do is look outside and see the state I’m in to know shit is happening. And the baby is right beside me.
“Yes, I think yes. It’s time to prove this plan is still worth our time. You wanted a chance to save your father. You said you’d do anything, but you’ve done nothing.” His voice pierces through my soul. “Ramp it up!” he chants, sounding like he’s egging them on.
To my horror, one of them throws a knife into Dad’s shoulder. The shriek of anguish that rips from his throat almost makes me pass out. I cover my mouth to hold in the sob that threatens to escape.
Another knife is thrown into Dad, into his other shoulder this time, and he vomits.
One more knife is readied to be thrown, but Thiago stops them.
“That one is for his head, Lucia. Unlike you, your father has been a gem, but if I’m pushed, I will order them to kill his ass. If you want to stop me, tell me what you know.”
I try to hold in my tears and find the ounce of courage I had, but it doesn’t come. He has me backed into a corner, and I can’t get out.
“Tell. Me! Or he’s dead. Your brother is dead. Your mother is dead. You want your old man dead, too?”
I see their faces, all of them, and I wish I could have them back. All of them.
Tommy, Mama, and Dad.
I know what it feels like to break. His words snap me, and that love for my father makes me want to do anything. It weakens me, and my lips part.
“Alejandro gave his share of the company to Mia, under an irrevocable living trust. She gets it when she’s eighteen. He said it was to protect her.” I hear myself say the words, but I don’t believe they’re coming from me. They can’t be.
“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck. When did he do this?”
“I don’t know.”
“This changes our plans immensely, but it looks like you saved the baby. Or at least bought her another seventeen years. I want you to bring the baby to us.”
I gasp. “What? No!”
“Yes. You need to find a way to get her to us.”
“Alejandro doesn’t allow her off the premises without him.”
“Then you need to figure something out. Fast. Call me when you do. You have until sundown tomorrow. If you don’t deliver, we’ll be forced to evaluate how much your old man is worth to us.”
The phone line goes as dead as I feel inside, snapping off the connection to the image of Dad, too.
My heart is racing, my head is spinning, but I’m so disconnected from my body I feel nothing.
It’s like I’m having an out-of-body experience and watching myself.
What did I really just hear?
He wants me to steal the baby.
Steal her away from Alejandro?
And… if that’s what he considers saving her, it means he was going to kill her.
What do I think they’ll do to her when she turns eighteen?