Deception

Chapter 3 - Bitter ball

Ice touches my skin for only a second before the door bursts open.

"Catalina." Leone's entrance makes the two of us look his way. His brows are furrowed, eyes focused on the blood that stains my dress.

"I'm fine." I mutter, and though I'm starting to forget my name, I notice how Silas's eyes turn to stone at my Fiancés entrance.

Silas steps aside. Leone stops in front of me, and darts his golden eyes between mine. He could at least try to act more concerned about the blood leaking from my head.

"Come on." Leone picks my purse from the couch. "We're leaving."

Mid-spin, he sees the hole in the wall and pauses. His jaw ticks, he looks at Silas, and then stares down at the rug like he's making up an assumption.

Ten seconds, that have been more tense than anything else in my life. I thought he said they were friends. Since when do friends-

My lips part a little. Leone works for the mob, which means his so called friend, is really his boss.

A boss who is suddenly staring at us without any emotion as Leone assumes the worst of this situation.

"No-" I don't know why I'm speaking. "He didn't try to hurt me-"

"Lets go." Leone yanks me up and helps me to the other side of the room where my heels lie neatly.

I slip them on, and before we leave, I consider asking Silas for my lilac scarf, but the man is suddenly so stone cold I wouldn't be surprised if he kicked us out of his house.

Besides, he kept quiet about the bullet in the wall. Asking for more would be stepping past the line.

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"Mama!!"

A blast of frost hits my cheeks as I leave the store. Mama's movements are incredibly hard for me - and my three bodyguards - to keep up with, especially when the sidewalks weren't gritted today.

Winter in New York is a total joke, and I learned that the easy way thanks to Home Alone.

Tío Juan once bought a cd and played it for all of the kids at his sons birthday. I sat with the crowd on the floor in front of the tv setup, telling them all to be quiet while they paid zero attention to the film.

Oh how I wished this was Colombia right now. I grimace at the mountains of slush on the sidewalks, lazily shuffled and grey from all of the dirt.

Now that the snow is melting the trees look like they've been burnt black and the temperature is so violently cold I can't imagine how the homeless feel.

I slow down, struggling with the ten shopping bags Mama is making me carry. She said she doesn't want to slip on the ice.

Sadly, the guards are useless. They refuse to carry anything considering they have to act quick if something happened. I stop for a second to catch my breath, and-

"CATALINA!!!"

"Coming!"

I rush alongside her on the pavement, close to dropping dead. All I want to do is go home, but Mama needs to do some more shopping. We're going to a ball today.