Kat Graham as Luzia Cardenas

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Stuck on You: Kapitel Sieben

"Uhhhh..."

I stumbled upon myself, trying to find words of what to say. I had to act with caution here. Being too obvious would let him know that I was hiding something, but being too frank would alert him. "Oh, I like to use toilets rather than urinals, Demi." I waved him away and he put a hand to his chin. "And you used toilet paper..." He narrowed his eyes and I stared at him, putting my acting skills to work. "Damn, you really were listening in on me. I don't know if I should be creeped out or flattered. And I used toilet paper because sometimes I drip when I don't shake it all off." I washed my hands under the sink, ignoring his questioning gaze.

He didn't believe me.

I needed him to believe me or else, things would go to shit.

"Is there something wrong with a guy using a toilet to pee?" I raised a brow, pretending to be offended by his judgment. "Are you saying that my masculinity will be affected by this?" I made a face mock hurt and he sighed, shaking his head. "No," Demetrios murmured before closing his eyes. "I'm sorry, please forgive me." He looked so apologetic and I pouted, nodding. "Just stop with the sad face, okay?" I dried my hands off quickly before making my way towards him. "Let's go lover boy." I turned him around and pushed him out of the fancy mahogany door as we sauntered our way back to our table.

"Hi assfaces, we're back." Our presences were known as soon as I opened my mouth and Micah grinned. "We missed you." He cheesed and Derek rolled his eyes. "We really didn't." I grinned, knowing that he was lying. I slid back into my seat next to Demetrios, hyperaware that every pore of my body was being exposed under a stare. My forehead started to tingle as if it was remembering the very lips that placed themselves on it. It was too bad because while a part of me wanted to forgive him, the remaining part of me wanted him to suffer and at least taste a bit of the pain I went through.

Sadistic right?

"Waiter!" I flagged down our waitress, card in hand. "How may I help you?" She smiled sweetly and I pointed to the black book in her hand. "Could we have our checks please?" I asked and she shook her head. I was about to be really upset until she opened her mouth and explained her reasoning. "Your meals are on the house tonight," The waiter told us and I gaped at her, mouth open because each of our meals rang up around 40 dollars. That was 200 dollars from this table, but if they could afford to lose this much money, I wasn't going to complain.

"Huh?" David furrowed his brow. "Why? How?" The girl smiled again, shaking her head as she walked away. "Excuse me, what the fuck?" I slid my card back into my wallet and stood up, preparing to go home. "Okay, that's weird as hell and it's time for us to go home to our families and forget this ever happened." I nodded affirmatively as everyone stood up. "Sounds about right, let's roll." Micah, David, and Derek were behind me as the five of us walked out of the fancy restaurant, pretending like we heard nothing.

"Okay, let me get you guys home," I calmly said as I slid behind the wheel of my escalade, my friends following in tow. The night sky was in full blast, stars twinkling as they danced across the light of the full moon. The ride was silent, too many thoughts running through our minds as we flew through the streets of Downtown Manhattan. I dropped Derek and Demetrios off first, seeing as their houses were in the same vicinity of each other. I bid them my farewell with promises to text them once I arrived home safely. Next, I dropped off Micah and his father because David mentioned that Isaiah would come by and scoop him up, which I didn't have any problem with.

Less gas for me.

Micah kissed me on the cheek as I drove off, not noticing the car that was tailing me from a distance.  I drove the fifteen minutes that it took to get to my penthouse apartment, thinking about everything that had happened in the last three days. My life went from a bit normal to downright chaotic in the matter of a few seconds. The same question kept throwing itself around. Why? Why was he back? Why did he leave? Why did he change so much? Why is he so dangerous?

I knew just about what Demetrios did because he had told me one drunken night. I had only a few ideas about what Isaiah, Ramone, and Raymundo do but I knew there was a lot more happening behind the scenes. I knew they were dangerous, extremely dangerous. They had connections, territories, drug trades and money smugglers. They were feared among the people in Manhattan and all over the world, and now Santiago was a new addition.

But one thing was clear.

They were untouchable.

Even if I had grown a heart and decided to forgive him, I didn't know if I wanted to be a part of that life. Especially now that I had Ivory. If he had asked me years ago, I would've sacrificed everything to be with him. Now, I couldn't and wouldn't jeopardize my daughter's life.

I silently slithered my way into the parking garage of Monterey Ponds, rolling to my designated parking spot. I was tired and for some reason, I felt defeated. I got onto the elevator and pressed the floor that I wanted to go, amazed that it took all of ten seconds for me to arrive at my door. "Oi, Luz!" I called out, throwing my keys on the table as I closed the door. "Daddy!" I heard the clicking of feet hitting the floor and arms wrapped around my waist. "Hey, beautiful." I caressed her hair as a small smile came to my face. "She was a good girl, she just missed you." I grinned as I looked up to see my longtime friend. Standing there with her hands on her hip, heels clacking with every step and long hair flowing down her back, Luzia Cardenas was a beautiful woman and I was glad to be her friend. "I'll let myself out. Call me if you need me." Luzia kissed me on the cheek as she made her way out of the house, waving to Ivory.

"Daddy, will you lay with me tonight?" I couldn't say no to her big and wondering eyes. She pulled me along, up the stairs and down the hall to where her mint green queen sized bed would be waiting for us. She cuddled me in her arms, sneaking a kiss on my forehead and I sighed, relishing in the moment. "I'm happy you're my daddy." She whispered as the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling twinkled. "Yeah?" I breathed, hugging her close to me. "I'm happy you're my daughter." That was nothing but the absolute truth.

Bottoms Up

hey hey asshats: I made it home shitfaces
cereal killer: cool
property_of_rays: cool. Stop texting before ray thinks I'm cheating
General!dickhead: sounds like a serious problem.
milkshake: love you losers.
hey hey asshats: <3

That night, I dreamed of a happily ever after.

The next morning came with a vengeance. I wasn't in the mood to play any games but I shuffled my daughter off to her private school, kissing her on the forehead and told her I would be back later to pick her up. I made sure my gun was intact in my holster as I fixed the buttons on my uniform, feeling like it was getting a bit snug. "I need to ask for a bigger size..." I muttered to myself as I made my way to my truck, ready to get my day started and cases closed. I wasn't in the mood to deal with Santiago's bullshit as my heart and my mind were already in shambles. I didn't need him reminding me of anything.

Especially now.

"What the hell?" I furrowed my brow, entering the parking lot of the NYPD. There were men in black scattered around the police department, guarding and watching every person that went in and out of the building, offering a layer of protection. The black trucks that they arrived in were blending in with the rest of the squad cars and I just ruined it by pulling up in my candy green vehicle. "If it's who I think is..." I mumbled lowly as I parked my vehicle in my designated spot. It was odd that he could walk into any establishment and not fear for his life so he must've had some strings to tie around here.

I got out and walked into the station, noticing that everyone was quiet and tending to their work. It was as if they stopped their bustling routine because this dicklicker decided to show his face in here. "Chavez, where is my guest?" I spat in disgust and the fellow officer looked at me, a frown on his lips. "He's in room 3, just down the hall." Chavez pointed and I grumbled, walking further down to my basket, reaching in and grabbing his case file. This told me the background on him, what he was involved in, and what we were looking for. I opened it, analyzing the contents so that I could ask questions about it. "Santiago Andre Luzardi, born in Berlin, Germany on December 25th, 1990 to one Emilia Karas. Father is not noted on certificate. Relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1992. Currently the CEO of Masters finance corporation," I furrowed my brows, noticing that this information was decent but lacking. It didn't say what I knew about him, what I knew he was involved in.

I closed the file and waltzed my ass down the hall to where I knew he would be waiting for me. Alex wasn't in yet, so it would just us two and I was not looking forward to it. "I'd say good morning to you, shiteater, but I dislike you with a passion." I busted up into the room, slamming the door and he lazily flicked his eyes over to me like he didn't have a single care in the world. I took a seat in front of him at the table, placing his file on top.

"You're too bold, you know that?" I folded my arms, sitting up straight as he trained his eyes on me, his brow raised as he smirked. "You're a wanted man, I would think, and you're sitting in a police station like we won't arrest you." His smirk got wider as his orbs gleamed over in mockery. He chuckled darkly, rubbing his hands together as he cracked his neck. "I know I'm a wanted man, Anthony," He leaned forward. "But what makes you so sure I'd let you?" He tilted his head as if he was challenging me. "Besides you could, but you'd find nothing on me." He winked, sitting back in his chair and I got the feeling that we all were in a trap.

"If I were you," Santiago drawled as he clicked his teeth, his stare darkening just a bit so I knew who the real man in charge was here. "I'd be a lot nicer to the man who's keeping you with a job." He snickered to himself in a sadistic way and it dawned on me. My mouth fell in horror as the door to the room opened. He doesn't mean what I think he means. "I'm here." Alex said in a casual tone as he walked in, sitting down next to me. I continued to look at Santiago, wondering what evil atrocities he had planned. Who he was. There was a lot simmering beneath the surface and I had a feeling his volcano was going to erupt; we were all going to be burned.

"Mr. Luzardi, can you please run us through?" Alex asked, becoming increasingly aware of the tension in the room. I gritted my teeth as I snapped my head away from him, facing Alex. I fucking knew it. "As you know," Santiago put a leg over his knee, sitting as if he belonged in some men's magazine, all posh in his black suit and tie. "I am the proud owner of many remarkable establishments here and all over," He began. "Here in Manhattan, I have a casino called The 404, a nightclub called the XS Cosmo, a restaurant called Lombardi's," He grinned as I tried to cover up my shock. Holy fucking fuck, someone had to be kidding me. "And a finance corporation stationed at 5th and Main." He finished and I was trying not to recoil back in disbelief. This man owned all of that?!

Something was shady here.

"I keep a tight circle in every place I own," He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "But it appears that someone has a personal vendetta against me," I wonder why. "I've lost 12 men and 5 women in the past 3 weeks. They were all employees and confidantes of mine." Santiago explained and I nodded, mentally recording his words. That's right. Here, he was my client and nothing else and I would see to it that it would remain that way. That kiss we shared last night was just a figment of the imagination. "We are going to need the names of those people. Just curious, though. Why didn't you report those crimes when they happened? It would've allowed us to be able to make our best judgments." I furrowed my brows, hoping to catch him slipping but he remained calm.

"What kind of head would I be if I didn't handle things as they came?" His voice was dark and sinister and I got chills. "Not to worry, though," He reached into the inside of his suit and pulled out a thick stack of pictures. "I'd made sure to get pictures." Alex leaned over to reach for the pictures and Santiago watched his every moment. "We will connect with you later on to get the necessary information about these people, their last whereabouts and their connections. We will also need a list of any potential perpetrators that you feel so we can narrow our list down." Alex said and Santiago stood with a nod. "If you by any chance come up with any idea as to who is behind this," He narrowed his eyes as an evil smile tiptoed its way onto his face. "Only notify me, no one else. I will take care of this person who thinks they can defy me." He cracked his neck, smoothing out his suit and as if Alex and I weren't always intimidated enough, he looked over his shoulder as he walked towards the door.

"Do well to keep this under wraps. I'm not going to jeopardize any of my people's safety, verstehen?" He began to gleam into my soul and I understood everything he was demanding that I do (understand).

"Yes."

The door closed with a slam and I looked at Alex, knowing that we were both petrified and taken aback by the wave of dominance that slapped us across the face with every word that Santiago spoke. I was a bit fearful. What kind of games was he dibbling and dabbling in now? This was not the same Santiago Luzardi that I knew eight years ago. Right. I forgot. Time changes a person.

"I'll be right back. Can you please start looking through the pictures and finding similarities between each murder? I got to go get my charger." Alex nodded in reply as I walked out of the room, noticing that the building was less quiet. I stepped out of the building, my truck chirping in reply as I unlocked. "Huh? What's that?" I noticed something sticking out of my wiper. It appeared to be a note. Who left this?

There was an actual ass note on my truck windshield and I picked it up, inspecting it. It seemed like it had just been recently dropped off, so I opened it, reading the contents. My heart lurched in my chest as I found it extremely difficult to breathe. "H-huh?!" I wheezed, looking around the parking frantically. I was scared, so scared. These words sounded so sweet and innocent, but there was a dark and malicious intent buried in between the lines. Why now? No! My hands started to tremble as unwanted memories of suffocating alive came to mind.

It's been too long, my sweet baby, and I'm tired of watching you from afar.

Would you do well as to make me feel comfortable?

-Mom