Chapter 58
Gina knew she shouldn't be outside at that time of night. It was one of Alejandro's many rules. The women, especially family, were never to walk alone after dark. But damn it, she needed air. She was used to independence. After Sosa had helped her escape from America, ensuring she wasn't caught up in the senseless slaughter of her's and Casey's entire family, he'd placed her in his country home in Venezuela. But she'd mourned terribly for her family; her dead parents, her beloved older brother, missing and murdered. Beckett had been only a few years older than her, protective and loving, set to take over the family business, killed in his prime. When Gina couldn't find happiness in Venezuela, Sosa moved her to London where he had connections and she could easily disappear in the massive metropolitan centre. In Britain she'd grown up, grown independent and learned to relax and enjoy life.
Upon learning that her cousin was alive and thriving, Gina had returned to South America. She put on a happy face and was now doing her best to match her heart to her face. It wasn't always easy. She missed her London life and friends. She rarely talked to Casey about the life she'd left behind, but in the decade since she'd escaped the massacre she had gone to college, earned a degree in business and joined a consulting company. It wasn't her dream job. Gina actually had no idea what her dream job was, but earning a wage, making her own way had given her a sense of accomplishment. Especially after the life she'd left behind.
Now she was back. Returned to the beast. Mafia. She was part of la familia and there would be no escaping a second time. Thus, her need for a nighttime walk. Because sometimes being the quiet little mouse that never made a fuss became unbearable and she needed to leave her stifling room in the stifling mansion and just breathe. If she didn't, she might go mad and try to run away. Such an action would constitute a betrayal of the family, a thought that didn't bear considering. Besides, she truly did love Casey. She had no real desire to leave. Most of the time.
She made her way down the familiar unlit path toward an unmarked building. She didn't know what it was for, she just knew that there were no exterior lights to give away her nocturnal activities. She'd taken this walk many times in the past months when the need to get away from the house, out into the air, had overwhelmed her. When panic pressed down on her chest and she'd felt as though she couldn't breathe. When her empty bedroom pressed in on her, though it was as big as any in the mansion, beautifully furnished, with all the amenities a woman could ask for.
She trailed her fingers across a scrub bush, her lips quirking a little. She preferred this building. It was stark and honest. It felt like it belonged to the compound. Unlike the beautiful mansion surrounded by carefully manicured trees and bushes that weren't native to the region, this building was adorned with tiny, barely surviving bushes, all natural to the Altiplano. They were like Gina and Casey; surviving casualties of a war. Only this war was with mother nature instead of the Mexican cartel.
A door banged open around the corner of the building and light flooded the area next to Gina, chasing off the shadows. She pressed a hand against her mouth to stifle the cry that threatened to escape and pressed herself back against the cold concrete slabs of the wall. Her heart hammered in her chest. She heard the click and flare of a lighter and then moments later the familiar scent of a cigar.
Without warning a massive shadow swooped in front of her and a voice growled, "Ah, so it is you creeping around out here, little mouse."
A small scream erupted from her lips and she tried to jump sideways to escape him, but he grabbed her arm and hauled her back, pushing her against the building. She calmed slightly when she realized it was Alejandro. She should have known. The scent of his cigar was achingly familiar by now. He held her tight and lifted a hand to her face, the one with the cigar held loosely between his fingers. He touched her jaw, tilting her face up to his and studied her closely. She knew the light fell across her so he could see every fleeting emotion, while she could not clearly see his face in the darkness.
He held her that way for a long, uncomfortable moment. Her breathing was ragged, her chest lifting and dropping in jerky, uneven movements. She thought she saw the flash of his eyes dip down but couldn't be certain in the dark. Fear of his retaliation because she'd broken his rule about walking after dark extinguished any possible arousal she might have felt. Though she found Alejandro extremely attractive, he was far too overbearing and intimidating for her to contemplate him more than fleetingly. He was for nighttime fantasies, not for considering an actual relationship with.
Finally, he lifted the cigar to his mouth, clamped it between his teeth and jerked her away from the wall. Without a word he walked her rapidly back up to the house, through the side door where she'd come from and up the curving staircase to her room. When they arrived he dropped his hand from her arm. Though she was wearing a heavy sweater and a coat to protect her from the cold mountain air she still felt somehow bereft. Confused, she stepped quickly away and reached for the door.
He put a hand out, stopping her. She looked up at him, knowing exactly what he was going to say. "No more walks, Gina."
Though his voice was low, without inflection, she knew she was getting off easy. Alejandro was an enforcer. He didn't repeat himself. Ever. Yet he was repeating this rule to her even though she'd broken it repeatedly. And looking up into his blank, ruggedly handsome face, she suddenly realized that he probably knew each and every time she left the mansion. He'd allowed her nighttime walks for some reason. But now he was ending them.
Without waiting for a reply, he turned and strode away, leaving her to enter her room alone. She watched his long, muscular frame until it disappeared and then pushed her door open and escaped into the sanctuary of her room. She knew that this time he expected her compliance. This time there would be consequences if she defied him. She didn't know what they would be, and she suspected she didn't want to find out.
Gina turned the lamp on next to her bed and glanced in the standing mirror before moving away to remove her clothes and get ready for bed. She frowned and turned back to the mirror seeing a shadow on her chin. Approaching the mirror slowly she tilted her face up toward the glass and touched the shadowy marks. She looked down at her fingers with a frown when she realized they were wet. She whimpered as horror suffused her. She knew exactly what was on her face. Blood-soaked fingerprints.
Alejandro had left them there on purpose. A warning about little girls wandering around the dark by themselves. It hit Gina then what that unmarked plain building was used for. And she knew that she would follow Alejandro's rule, she would never willingly go back there again.