Valentina

Sofia had been in our house for almost a month now. After Santo's attempt with a scare tactic, there hadn't been any more ruckus. Antonio was equivalently concerned as the rest of us. His silence meant only one thing, a war was brewing across the seas. We knew there was a mole in the house who was supplying information to him, but remained hidden for so long.

Antonio had at times expressed his doubts on Sofia being the mole. I had convinced him of othewise. I had seen her true nature most times and witnessed her under normal circumstance and during days when she was cornered by Al. She was for the lack of a better word, a weakling. She didn't have the guts to take a challenge of being an informant while staying in this house.

Sofia was one of those girls whom I had despised. Always running to men for help, she was what I considered to be an abomination. But with our close interactions and knowing her over time, I have realized that we all fit the container we were molded into. I was taught to be strong, she on the other hand, to await a savior.

Her room echoed with her laughter as I walked towards it. Seeing Agustin's growing liking her, I was sure it was him entertaining her.

As I opened the half closed door, my eyebrows danced up into my hairline. It wasn't Agustin who was taking to her, making her laugh. It was Alejandro, the man who on only a notable few occasions, had laughed or even smiled. He was holding onto his chest as he fell back on the bed, heaving for air. His flushed face and watery eyes told the story he tried to wipe away as soon as he saw me.

Alejandro liked Sofia's company to such an extent that she was able to break down barriers that made him what he was. A man made of stone.

Walking out, Al crossed me. I held his elbow to halt his steps. "Seems like someone likes her."

His eyes slapped onto my face and his lips taunted a hidden smile. "I never said I don't like her. She is.. okay." He scratched his head and patted my cheek before walked away.

In the hallway, I could hear him talk to someone with a nasal toned voice. My eyes rolled inwards and my teeth grinded themselves into powder.

Damiela Castro wasn't a girl I would have trusted but she seemed to be the one we owed our allegiance to for the time. She and her brother were the necessary evil we invited to stay at our place. And God, did she loved riling up me and Antonio. Every morning, since her arrival I had Antonio hold my hand at breakfast table to ensure I didn't poke her eyes out with a fork.

Since her stay, she had not only made Gabriel and Mateo her slaves by making them do all her mundane work, she hadn't shown an indication of completing her end of the bargain. Muscular Italian men promised to us were still awaiting arrival while she sat with us, breaking bread and screwing Alejandro for her pleasure.

With Al being the untamed horse who loved his woman wild, no amount of intervention could stop him from taking her in all room of the residence. Trust me, I tried.

"Val," Sofia's soft tone reached me. It overtook the demon woman's voice from outside. "Are you okay?"

I tilted my head to a side, sighing. "I guess."

She picked up her purse and walked over. Cooped up in the house, Sofia had stated her desire to attend the church choir and I was willing to take her. A part of me wanted to escape too.

With Antonio spending most of his time at the casino and Al and Agustin looking after the expansion plans, there were only a few people in the household I could speak to. I wasn't a girl who could sit on her ass whole day, enjoying her cocktail. I wanted action, I craved for it.

Also, I didn't want to be the reason Damiela met with an accident. Although I had constantly dream of times when I could slit her throat open, hear her gurgle air and blood before dying, it was merely a dream.

I had promised Antonio, no harm would come to her on my account and I intended to keep atleast one of my promises.

Walking out, Sof and I crossed a room from where moans escaped. I bit my lips, walking past. Sofia, the naïve little girl had her head tiled towards the door till we turned a corner.

"Who was that?" Her crimson face bought up the question.

"Nobody. A madwoman."

"Seems like they are going at it." She chuckled, leaning back to see if she could spot the man inside. "I have had this problem at our place too. Santos and his men would constantly bring woman who were..."

Suddenly she turned away, unwilling to divulge more. Her fingers covered her lips and she murmured to herself as her teeth dug into her cuticles.

"What?" I tuned her, halting her steps. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

She nodded, smiling. Her crimson tone was back. It matched her dress color. "I have heard Santos and his people talk about you too.."

I nodded, accepting her words. There was no doubt Santos wanted to me to be his by hook or crook. He wasn't a shy one to speak his mind or state it to the world. Sadly, his mind was stuck on me to notice I was the one who played him before the Moralez took away his favorite.

"I know. He has told me the last time I met him."

"No. Actually its more than.." Sofia straightened, ready to narrate her unguarded secret when we heard her name.

"Sofia.." Agustin launched himself off some room and landed in front of us. "Hey."

Heaving like a horse who finished the race, he looked back and forth among us. With his weight shifting on his legs and umm being the words that escaped his mouth, we giggled at his sorry state.

"Are you going somewhere?" he looked at Sofia, who nodded away, blushing.

I wasn't planning on playing the matchmaker but the way Agustin was smitten with Sofia, a part of me felt fuzzy. They both were struggling of words like a introvert when asked to introduce themselves. These two were what made the world feel right. Tender love.

Agustin turned, his helpless eyes wandering everywhere. I felt back for the puppy boy.

"You want to join us Agustin?" I asked knowing his answer already. With a smile brighter than a thousand suns, he beamed as his feet quickened, matching us. Only when another voice called his name did he groan onto his chest and snapped back.

"We can discuss now, Agustin." Damiela stood at the threshold of the door, taming her hair and straightening her clothes.

The same door from where voices emerged from. Her eyes focused on me, watching me do the same to her. There was no denying the fact that we both hated each other. Till her presence in this place, I would be sleeping with an open eye.

"Can't we do it later? I have somewhere to be." Agustin walked over to her. As Al emerged from the room, Agustin's face turned pale for a miniscule of a second before understanding what his brother was upto. "Can't we go over the plans by evening?"

Damiela placed her hand over his shoulders, leaning in. "I don't think Antonio would appreciate that you are delaying the plan and his words." She smirked at him then leaned over to watch me, displaying her crooked smile.

Blood boiled inside of me. I detested the way she was playing her games with the Moralez.

Resigning, Agustin turned to us. "You go ahead," he waved his hand. "I won't be able to join you both."

Damiela who gleamed at his words, showed her full set of pearly whites as I my eyes narrowed, trying to focus only on her. She wouldn't have the last say in my fucking house.

"About that, Damiela." I moved close to the gathering. Her smile disappeared as her body instincts revved up, registering an incoming threat. "Antonio wouldn't like the fact that there is delay from our end. But I think that's what Dante wouldn't like either."

With a step forward, she placed her curled fists onto her sides, shifting her weight to a side. Inside my head, I ran all possible hooks and punches scenarios, just to see her tumble. Atleast, I could beat her in my dreams.

"What are you implying, Valentina?" She tossed her brown locks onto a side as if preparing for a fight. Agustin and Al moved up. With each taking a side, they were already in position to diffuse the situation, had there erupted a catfight. When I raised my hand to be released, Al stopped from holding me back.

I knew well, hurting allies wouldn't serve us well. But I also knew, ass licking wasn't my forte.

"I am simply implying that there isn't much travel from Italy to Mexico." A step forward, I leaned over and whispered over her face. "Get your men here soon or this time it would be you who would be dumped in the trash room where Sofia resided."

Damiela gawked at me like a fish pooled out of water. Her frustrated growl of threatening to kill me in my sleep echoed from the place and seeped into the surroundings. I fetched Sofia's arm and walked away, smiling at my success.

If that bitch forgot where she stood, she would soon be reminded.

"OMG That was such a king move, Val." Sofia hopped in her steps, pacing up with me. "I am literally your number one fan from today. Not that I wasn't before but you..phew," she skipped stairs, two at a time like some spring was attached to her feet. "I love you, Val. I mean, if I ever wanted a sister, I wished she would be like you."

Genuineness flowed through her eyes and voice. She hopped in the car, bubbling with enthusiasm but as soon as Gabriel got in, her energy balloon deflated. Through the drive, she remained silent, intimidated by Gabriel's stare every time she talked.

"Stop scaring her, Gabe." I said. He nodded, turning back to delivered his introductions. After a whole month, the loyal guard of the place had never interacted with the prisoner of the house.

Sofia smiled and took his hand. She eased back to her true self, talking. "So were you always like this? Badass, or was it after you met Antonio?" She tuned from her seat on my side, watching me intently.

"She was always a badass." Gabriel took over, narrating his not so scary experiences with me. Thankfully, he let the first meet of ours in my bedroom, a secret only for us. "Val is the worst of the Moralez and Ramirez lot combined, Sofia."

"So when did you fall for Antonio? Was it when he proposed or when.." With a hand resting her chin, Sofia's doe eyes remained glued on me. I stuttered on my words, trying hard to avoid the question. Gabriel too watched me from the rear mirror. His green gaze never slid off me.

Love was a thing I never bothered with, growing up. After marriage I only had one thing to focus on. The Moralezs' destruction. That was what I had learnt, growing up. It ran in my blood. It was fed to me as food and rendered as a bedtime story. Only when I discovered the truth about that veracity of the tale, did I envisioned the truth about the Moralez and its heir, Antonio.

Sofia's question was a reminder that Antonio and I, although were married, still upheld a sham for the world.

"I keep falling for him every day." It was my answer for the girl who believed in fairytales and happily every afters.

She awed and I didn't have the heart to tell her, I might never love anyone. I was damaged in my own ways. I couldn't love myself, let alone anyone else. I was a pawn who was taught to kill. Love was an emotion which made us weak. I had no place for it. With the realization that my whole upbringing was a sham, I rarely tried thinking about future. Especially the one which involved Antonio.

"What about you, Sofia? Anyone you like?" Diversion would help her focus on herself than my saga. I hated getting the attention for things which made me uncomfortable. Things about unspoken feelings and unheard hums of the heart.

Sof bit her lips and giggled into my lap. "Don't make fun of me, okay?" Her muffled voice filled the silence in the car. Upon approaching the parking lot, she looked up. I knew the answer to that question but Sofia's words were the confirmation I needed.

"Al. I like Alejandro," she whispered as the car halted upon reaching its destination. Jumping out, she ran up the steps of the church like a lamb let out in an open pasture land. Her hopping steps reached the top of the stairs before she turned, gesturing us to follow.

Gabriel and I walked behind in silence, both of us contemplating her answer. "She must be confused. She was kidnapped by Al, so maybe.." Gabriel's voice trailed off.

He was assuming what I did too. Stockholm syndrome.

"I thought so too, Gab. But I don't think is the syndrome." A part of me ached, knowing the hurt it would cause Agustin. "She seems to like Al for a reason."

"What reason, Val?" Gabriel was as confused as anyone would have, had they been in our place.

A phone call interrupted my words. A female voice on the other side halted my steps. With Gabriel walking up following Sofia, I stayed back. "May I know who this is?" I asked the caller who seemed to place a hand on the speaker.

Muffled voice answered me. "You should meet me. I have dropped you the location."

"Why would I do that?" I rolled my eyes. The prank call which this one seemed to be, didn't know the wrong number they ended up dialing.

"Trust me, you would want to know what happened to Elena." The female voice said. I looked at the screen which bobbled with a new location notification. Upon pressing it, it danced over to an old cemetery in a nearby area.

"Who are you and how do you know about Elena?" I asked, readjusting the phone over my ears. She laughed, leaving the speaker. The bird calls and echoes in her background became clearer.

"You are so naïve, Valentina." I could hear the person smiling over the phone. Her breath hit the speakers. "Has nobody told you? Elena is alive."

~

And the walls crumble..

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