Chapter 27

This was it. I needed to tell her everything. I had tried my best to shelter her from the truth this whole time. I held out as long as I could. I could feel her slipping through my fingers by the second, and that wasn't an option. It was obvious she had been drinking. I couldn't blame her after the news I had dropped on her earlier, so I ignored the signs and continued to explain.

"Richard, your stepfather…he killed my brother."

"What?"

Her beautiful face was contorted and pale, the new information sobering her up.

I took a deep breath. She walked to me, looking at me like she was seeing me for the first time. I wasn't sure what she would see. But I needed to tell her everything.

"About a year ago, your stepfather got involved with some men of questionable character here in Mexico. They did a few shady business transactions together, to say the least. Richard decided to double-cross them and attacked one of their stores with some men. He wanted to steal a bag of diamonds from their safe, and he succeeded. My brother…he was an architect, and those people had reached out to him just a few days before Richard decided to attack the store, to hire him for some projects. David knew who they were. After all, our father used to be involved in some of those gang activities before he got killed, but he agreed anyway. He wanted their business, figured he could get paid well and use the money for good. He went to the meeting as scheduled. That evening was the evening Richard chose to attack."

I stopped talking for a minute, tightening my jaw to control the pain those memories brought.

"Why? Why did he kill him?" She looked horrified, her eyes wide, her mouth open. My heart sank, knowing I couldn't spare her the pain she was feeling.

"It wasn't personal. He was…in the way. Collateral damage."

"So, you took me as revenge?"

"Not exactly." I paused. "I tried everything I could to find out who had killed my brother. When I found out it was this man, who lived in California and was rich, with no reason to steal, let alone take anyone's life for money, I wanted to kill him even more, watch the blood slowly drain out of his miserable body. I was going to do that, Amelia. I'm not going to lie. I fantasized about the day I'd get to put a bullet in his head, take away his miserable life the way he had taken so many, the way he took David's."

I started to pace again.

"Are you going to kill him?"

"No, that would be too good of a punishment for him. My mother suffered a lot with my father's involvement in those illicit activities. It took everything for her to keep David's and my hands clean, including sending me to the US. I wanted to kill him. Fuck, after what he did to you, I want to still. But she made me swear I wouldn't become a criminal like my father, even if it was the least that bastard deserved. But when he killed my brother, I went to the police, opened an investigation, and hired a private detective. Nothing came out of it. The police claimed they had done their best and said that there was nothing tying him to the robbery. He even had an alibi: dinner with you, apparently. Eventually, I investigated the store owners. When I found out who they were, one of the most dangerous and sophisticated gangs in Mexico, I realized that perhaps this was more than a simple murder. Turned out I was right. They had a video of everything that happened. The store cameras, that the police claimed were not working at the time of the crime, had caught everything. They showed me the tape. I saw Richard, killing my brother in cold blood, like he was a fucking dog. He didn't even bother covering his face. He wanted them to know it was him."

My voice slightly trembled as I spoke, and my jaw clenched. I felt anger boiling my blood, my muscles tense. My throat was dry, Amelia's expression making me feel like I was watching a car crash that I couldn't stop.

"Why didn't you bring the video to the cops?"

"The gang refused to give me the footage," I explained, "unless I helped them get their diamonds back. I agreed because the cops are all corrupt. They know they can't go against this man."

"And that's why you took me?"

We got interrupted when we heard a knock at the door.

"Are you expecting anyone?" she asked, a suspicious look on her face.

I rushed out of the room to go to mine, with Amelia right behind me. I grabbed my iPad from the desk.

"There are cameras everywhere," I explained. I opened the iPad to look at the live footage. "It's Elena."

"At the gate?"

"No, the door, there is no separation between her property next door and mine from the beach," I clarified.

She rolled her eyes, like she always did when she was frustrated. I wanted to explain. God, I had so much to explain to her, but I was out of time. I pressed a few buttons on the iPad to open the house door and let Elena in.

"We can finish this conversation later."

"Can't she wait?" she asked, doing her best to hide her annoyance with me.

"I asked her to come here," I clarified.

I could hear Elena coming up the stairs. She knocked and opened the door without waiting, walking to me directly.

"Alejandro, mi amor!" she squealed, grabbing my face and touching her lips to mine.

I gently pushed her away, annoyed that she kept doing this even after I told her last week that there could be nothing between us—and many times before that. We had known each other since we were kids. And while we dated a while back, since then, we had our fun, always with very clear terms—or so I thought.

"You're still here," she said, turning to Amelia, visibly displeased.

Amelia shot both of us a death stare and walked out of the room before I could stop her. I knew this didn't look very good for me. But Elena had been helping me since I had put the plan together to befriend Richard, and there was much left to do now that I knew Amelia was in more danger than I thought.