Sweet Collateral

Rafael moves closer and closer, as though lured by the music. “Avecita,” he says. I don’t look up from the keys. The Master smiles wickedly.

“She’s mine. She’ll always be mine,” he says. Rafael looks at me, this version of me, his expression torn. “I made sure of it when I broke her.” He grabs the hair of the damaged little girl sitting at the piano and twists her to face him, kissing her. She doesn’t fight him. She simply…complies.

Rafael takes a step back and then another and another until he’s slipping into the shadows. I scream at him to come back, but he can’t hear me.

I jolt awake, dragging air into my lungs rapidly. Sweat coats my body and my pulse pounds against my eardrums. Closing my eyes, I pull a hand through my damp hair. It’s just a nightmare, and nowhere near as bad as some of the others, but much harder hitting because it’s the first time Rafael has ever featured in my hellish dream world. The same dream, twice in one night. That’s shitty, even for me.

I slide out of bed, exhaustion weighing heavily on me. I’d never tell Rafael, but the truth is, my nightmares are far better when he sleeps with me. Maybe my subconscious knows I’m safe with him. Lately, he doesn’t seem to sleep much though.

The dream plagues me long after I’ve showered and changed. I need to be around people and get out of my head.

I go downstairs and walk into the kitchen. This has become my favorite part of the day because it feels normal. It feels like family. It feels like home. Maria hums to herself as she fries bacon in a pan. Carlos and Lucas are sitting at a farmhouse-style dining table in the middle of the room, bickering over something.

I take a seat across from the two brothers and they both glance at me. “Anna,” Lucas says, smiling as he pours a mug of coffee for me.

“Hey.”

“So…” Carlos starts.

Here we go. “So?”

“Are we allowed to talk about your sister yet or is Rafe going to hand me my balls?” He grins, tipping his head back slightly until his hood shifts, revealing just a little more of his face. My eyes instinctively lock onto the two small teardrops beneath his right eye.

I shrug one shoulder. “You probably know more about her than I do.”

Maria drops a plate of bacon in the middle of the table, and Carlos snatches a piece. “That she’s a badass?” he says.

“Something like that.” A sick feeling settles into the pit of my stomach when I think of Una coming for me. Will she kill all of them if she finds me with them? Will she listen to me if I ask her not to? Will she try and take me against my will? Why hasn’t she come yet? So many questions, and I have no answers because she’s not the little girl who used to steal food for me. They changed her, just as they changed me.

“You should be pleased. Having someone like that in your corner…”

I fidget uncomfortably until Lucas finally saves me. “Mum said you need to call her.”

Carlos rolls his eyes. “That woman is loco.”

Maria seemingly pops out of nowhere and clips him around the back of the head. “Don’t disrespect your Mama.”

I press my hand over my mouth, covering a laugh. Carlos glares at me, and Lucas snickers. “She said you haven’t visited in months and she wants to see the new baby.”

I lift a brow at this. “You have a child?”

Lucas snorts. “Try three.”

“Wow. Are you married?”

This time Lucas practically chokes on his laughter. “As if. He has three kids with three different women.”

Carlos elbows his brother in the ribs before smirking at me. “I’m virile.”

“Or incapable of bagging it up,” Lucas retorts.

“Whatever.” Carlos pushes to his feet. “I have to go train with Rafe.” He jerks his chin at Maria and me before he leaves the room.

Lucas grins, clearly pleased with himself. “So, Anna, what are we doing today?”

“What do you want to do?”

“Well, technically, I’m your bodyguard, so where you go, I follow.”

I glare at him. “You’re no fun.” He shrugs, and I think about it for a moment. I want to get out of the house, away from all of this…away from Rafael. I don’t think being around me is good for him. He’s wound so tight, I’m sure he’s going to snap at any moment, and it’s my fault. That whole thing with the shower…what was I thinking? That can only be making it worse. I don’t want to be this delicate thing that he has to tiptoe around.

“Let’s go and shoot.”

He frowns for a second. “Okay. I’ll go and get some bullets. Meet me outside?”

I nod and push up from my spot, making my way through the house. The rhythmical sound of muted thuds meets my ears, and my feet carry me towards the sound of their own volition. I lean against the doorway of the gym, watching Rafael as his bare fists pound over a punchbag so hard that I almost wince at the sheer force of each blow. The bag is wet with blood, but he doesn’t seem to care. Carlos strips out of his hoody and bounces around on a small matted area, fingerless gloves covering his hands. Rafael joins him, and they circle, their attention completely fixed on each other. They’re like two predators looking for weaknesses. And the second Rafael see’s one he takes it, punching Carlos in the jaw and then the stomach. Carlos doubles over, coughing violently.