Chapter 44

Dolores and I anxiously waited for Alejandro to come back. I wore the most comfortable clothes I could find—a pair of light-blue jeans, comfortable lace-less sneakers, a white t-shirt, and a gray sweater. I washed and dried my hair without too much care and put no makeup on. I didn't want to raise suspicions by looking too put-together. I needed to play the victim part.

I put the ring in my pocket. I stored the paper on which I had written Alejandro's, Mathias's, Elena's, and Dolores's phone numbers.

I reminisced on the last conversation between Alejandro and Elena that I overheard. I hadn't meant for Elena to pay for the consequences of my plan, but I couldn't help the hint of a smile drawing on the right side of my lips when I recalled Alejandro telling her they were not together, followed by a pinch of guilt, thinking of Elena's pain.

When Alejandro finally got back home, he didn't come in. He waited in the car for me to come out. It was all feeling like a dream—no, a nightmare—from which I desperately wanted to wake up.

I wanted to go back to the time before I decided to be so clever and put an end to things. But there was no going back. Dolores walked me to the door slowly. She wanted me to take some clothes with me, but of course, that wouldn't make a lot of sense. I was supposed to have been in that terrible room in the first house, being treated miserably this whole time. Generally, kidnapped people didn't get a whole closet of clothes given to them that they got to keep. I wanted to tell Dolores that it was okay, that she would give me the luggage she had prepared when we saw each other again, but I didn't think that would happen.

"Cuidate mucho," sobbed Dolores as she hugged me in front of the door. I did my best to not let tears roll out of my very wet eyes.

"Thank you for everything," I whispered before letting go. I silently got in the front seat. He looked concerned and very focused, and he avoided my gaze.

"We will meet with some of my men when we get closer to the meeting point. You will then have to get in the back with two of them next to you. We are going to an abandoned area with barely any structures left standing. Richard wanted to make sure there was nowhere to hide. He will ask to see you from a distance before he leaves the money. Then you will be allowed to walk to him as we take the bag."

"I assume he will bring some people with him as well?"

"Yes, the rule is that four people show up on each side, but I will have more of my men close if things take a turn."

We continued the rest of the drive in silence. I couldn't bear to see Alejandro's face so distorted with concern and anger, but every time I tried to talk, he gave me a cold answer, clearly not in the mood. If that was how he wanted to spend our last time together, then so be it, I thought, ignoring the hot pain I felt searing in my stomach.

After driving for an hour, Alejandro suddenly pulled the car to the right side of the street, his hands strongly wrapped around the steering wheel, his profile looking sexy and menacing at the same time. He pulled something from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Is that…is that my bracelet?"

"Yes, I had it fixed."

"Thank you."

I put it back around my wrist, hiding it under my sweater. My throat closed a little bit. That was very thoughtful of him.

Alejandro and I sat in silence for a few minutes. He shook his head, seemingly wanting to say something. Instead, he started the car back up and drove at the speed of light.

As Alejandro had explained, after a couple hours, we met with his team. I sat in the back, and two of his men sat on either side of me, with their masks on, and one more in the front seat. Finally, as we got closer to the exchange location, Alejandro stopped.

He looked at me through his rearview mirror. I felt like he was saying goodbye.

Without a word, he put his mask on as one of them put a bag over my head.

I let the tears that were haunting me roll down my face in the darkness.

After another thirty minutes, the car came to a stop. My heart started to beat faster as a hand landed on my arm, prompting me to get out of the car. Another person grabbed my other arm, and we started walking.

"Aqui la ve!" screamed the person to my right. "Ahora traiganos el dinero!"

I knew that Alejandro was the man on my left. I could smell him, feel his proximity to me. I desperately wanted to lean on him, tell him that I had changed my mind, beg him to end this and take me back to his home. We could just live there. I could change my name, get a job there, whatever it took so I could stay with him.

I was starting to reach for his hand when I felt the bag on my head suddenly being lifted off. It took me a few seconds to understand what was going on as my eyes were trying to adjust to the dark. I could see a couple black cars in front of me with four human shapes standing there, one holding a bag.

I thought I saw Richard, but it wasn't very easy to see facial features with barely any light in this dark location. I could see that we were in the middle of nowhere, with some remnants of what used to be a house on my left. I looked up to Alejandro. He was avoiding my gaze, staring at my stepfather instead, as one of his men was slowly walking to a pillar in between us to put the money down.

"Don't be afraid," whispered Alejandro as he turned to look at me.

I could only see his eyes—those eyes that I now would never wake up next to.

"I don't want to go," I whispered back.

Alejandro shook his head.

"I don't want you to, but it's too late. I can't risk your life by backtracking with his men here. I promise, I will see you again, even if it's the last thing I do." His words sent shivers down my spine.

The man on my right pulled me away, a gun pointed at my head, as Alejandro suddenly let go of his grasp on me. I continued to look back as I saw Alejandro also grab his gun and point it straight at my stepfather. I was forced to look forward so I didn't fall. The exchange was being made. The man stopped halfway as the money was put down.

"Walk to them very slowly," he ordered, "or I will shoot."

I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. My emotions were on pause, far away, and I was just automatically going through the motions.

I started slowly walking toward Richard and his men as the gun was still pointed at me, while another of Alejandro's or Mathias's men headed for the money.

After what felt like an eternal walk, I finally got to Richard, who was looking at me with tears in his eyes. He grabbed me as I turned around to see if Alejandro was okay.

From what I could see, all three men were already standing by their car, with Alejandro still standing outside, looking my way, his gun still in his hand. Richard rushed me inside the back of the car and got in next to me as two of his men got in the front. Before I could digest what was going on, the car started speeding away.

I screamed as I heard three gunshots go off.

I quickly turned to look through the back window, but it was hard to tell what had happened, who had shot. I could see the other two men Richard had brought with him shooting at Alejandro's car. Someone on Alejandro's team was on the ground, clearly hurt, but the car was already too far for me to be able to tell if it was Alejandro.

Richard pulled me and forced me to sit low as I heard more shots.

I screamed again and started crying, praying for Alejandro to be alive and unharmed.

The drive home was silent. I pretended to sleep the whole way. I did not have the strength to pretend to be happy to be reunited with Richard. He had hugged me and told me how relieved he was that I was safe and finally free. I had thanked him and returned his hug, but then I had claimed to be tired and avoided any other conversation.

I had no idea how long we had driven until we got across the border, then eventually through the main gate of Richard's house. We had finally made it back to California.

"You are finally home," said Richard, grabbing my hand.

"I am so happy to be here," I mustered, forcing my most innocent smile. "Thank you, Richard. Thank you for rescuing me."

"Of course! I know we have not always been on the best of terms, but you are my daughter."

I resisted the urge to slap him. His hypocrisy was remarkable. The man deserved an Oscar. I smiled when I saw my nanny, in her maid uniform, run down the stairs to the car.

I hugged her with the little strength I felt, and we started crying.

"I am so happy to see you, my baby!" said Martha as she wiped the tears from my face.

"Me too, Nana. I missed you so much!"

Martha took me into her arms, completely ignoring Richard, and guided me to my bedroom as she ordered another one of the maids to bring food to the room. I was relieved to get away from Richard. I was overwhelmed with pain and resentment, and I could snap at him anytime and blow the plan.

All I could think about was whether Alejandro was okay, fear threatening to make me lose my mind and start screaming. But I couldn't crack—not yet. Both of our safety depended on how I handled the next couple days.

Martha was a tall, full woman with kind, golden-brown eyes and a determined, sharp nose, who was always neat and clean and never worked without her light-blue maid uniform. She almost always wore her brown wavy hair in a bun—to keep her hair from slowing her down, as she had explained when I had inquired.

"Do you want to take a bath?" she asked as we sat on the corner of the bed.

"Yes," I said, anxious to avoid any sort of conversation about the abduction.

It was always very hard for me to lie to Martha, but for her own sake, I had to try. Martha quickly got up to go run me a bath. I eventually followed her in and waited for her to leave before going back to the room and finding my cell phone. Martha had taken it out of the bag I left behind the night of the party and had kept it charged for me. I almost cried with happiness.

Hands shaking, I emptied my pockets. I put the ring on my dresser and opened the piece of paper with all the phone numbers that I had carefully folded and put in my jeans pocket. I called Alejandro. When I heard his voice, my knees got weak, and I had to sit back on the bed.

"Alejandro? Are you okay?"

"Amelia, I was worried sick. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm in the house, in my bedroom. You didn't get shot?"

"No, one of my men did, but he is okay. Richard didn't do anything to you?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm good. I just…I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I thought you got shot…I thought…"

"I'm okay, I promise." We stayed silent for a couple of seconds. "Listen," started Alejandro, "we need to talk." He paused. "When I saw you walk away from me, I…"

I was startled when I heard a knock on the door. George walked in before I could say anything.

"I'm so happy to see you," he said as he walked to me.

"George!" I said, more startled than happy. "I have to go," I whispered as I quickly hung up the phone.

George grabbed me and kissed me like never before. I should have felt joy, peace, but I felt nothing.

"I"ve missed you so much. I am so happy you are okay!"

"I am." Ashamed, I didn't know where to look.

"Did they do anything to you?"

"No, no, they didn't. I'm fine. I am, but I"d rather not talk about it."

"Of course. I understand."

I got saved from what promised to be an awkward conversation when Martha walked in the room. She insisted that George let me rest. Martha never really cared for George. She always saw him as a reminder that Richard ruled over my existence. She said I was settling rather than living my life. And I always knew she was right. I was just more comfortable admitting it to myself now. I was eternally grateful. I wasn't ready to deal with George or the guilt I felt.

"Now you go take that bath I prepared for you. You can talk to George later," she ordered as she closed the door behind him.

I obeyed, and when Martha left, I started undressing myself. I welcomed the smell of Eucalyptus and mint that was filling up the air and the hot water that was slowly relaxing my muscles in the bath. I took a few slow and deep breaths, hoping that the relaxing smell would slow down my heartbeat. It felt weird to be back.

My mind was spinning, taking me back to just last night. To a time when I felt safe, felt cared for, felt whole. And how over the course of a few months, I came to find comfort in my new life. This place no longer felt like home to me.

I also thought about Alejandro. How much I missed him and wanted to be in his arms. And with those thoughts, George came to mind. What would I tell him? I had technically cheated on him, and I felt awful.

But I now knew, even if I couldn't be with the man I loved, I could not marry a man I didn't want to be with and fake a happy marriage for the rest of my life. It would be impossible now, after Alejandro had created a thirst for more in me, both physically and emotionally.

It was already very late in the night when I finally got to bed, imagining Alejandro holding me as I fell asleep.