Sinner

Chapter 27

Ryan and I walk into the huge foyer. A giant crystal chandelier hangs from above us. Spiral staircases lead upstairs from the left and right, creating a symmetrical look to the giant home. Inside, the mansion is nearly void of people, but a faint buzz of voices can be heard.

Ryan and I follow the sound of voices through the mansion, eventually ending up in the backyard. There, hundreds of men dressed in similar tuxedos and women dressed fabulous gowns roam the bright green lawn.

Ryan leans down and whispers in my ear, "You're the best dressed here."

I blush and feel Ryan place his warm hand on my bare back, sending a comfortable feeling throughout my body.

The lawn extends about 50 yards out before it is cut off by the Intercostal Waterway. Yachts sail slowly up and down, most at least 2 stories tall and worth millions of dollars.

A server comes to us balancing multiple chutes of champagne on a tray. Ryan and I each grab one and say thanks.

"Let's go 'mingle'" Ryan says using my original plan.

"Yeah. Put these spray tans to good use. Come on Mr. Chavez" I tell Ryan, using his cover name.

"Alright Mrs. Chavez" Ryan says, loving the fact that our covers include our marriage.

Ryan guides me to a table with two open seats. It's a round table that seats twelve people. We set our champagne down and Ryan pulls out my chair like a gentleman. "Thanks Carlos" I say to Ryan, letting my tongue roll a little between the 'r' and 'l'. My voice grabs the attention of an older couple sitting next to us. The man looks over and gives us a friendly smile.

"Hello, this is my wife Gloria Miller, I'm Wilson Miller" the man says and extends his hand.

I take his hand and introduce myself. "I'm Carmen Chavez, this is my husband Carlos Chavez" I say nodding to Ryan.

"Pleasure to meet you" Ryan says.

"Ah, the pleasure is all mine. What charities are you working with?" Mr. Miller asks.

"I'm a donator to Make a Wish, my wife the Salvation Army" Ryan answers.

"Splendid. Why Salvation Army?" Mr. Miller asks me.

"Both Carlos' and my's parents grew up working on plantations in the South. I know how fortunate they would have been to get clothing or maybe even toys" I lie.

"Well that's nice" Mr. Miller comments.

"What charity do you work with?" Ryan asks Mr. Miller, his wife not seeming to talk much.

"We both donate to-" Mr. Miller is cut off by a round of applause.

My head cranes to see Dominic Sandoval walking out the back doors of the mansion. My stomach immediately sinks as he takes in the crowd. His eyes seem to dance right over us, letting me know our disguises are working so far.

A server hands Dominic a microphone. He takes it in his right hand and smiles. "Hello everybody! I'm Ross Palino, although you knew that already, and welcome to my home!" Another round of applause.

D-Trix continues, "I want to take a moment to thank you all for coming. Everyone I invited to this event is a wonderful person who has donated a notable amount of money to a certain charity. Give yourselves a round of applause!"

Ryan and I clap with everyone else.

When the applause dies down he speaks again, "The money raised tonight will be going to build wells in Africa, giving water to thousands of people. We'll start dancing after dinner. During that time feel free to find me to make your donation. Please, enjoy the night!"

I've never seen him act so mature and polite. He seems like a totally different person than when I was with the S.I.N.S.

"I'm sorry, what were you asking Mr. Chavez?" Mr. Miller says, interrupting my thoughts.

"What charity do you work with?" Ryan repeats.

As Mr. Miller goes on about a charity he and his wife donate to, I notice waiters and waitresses start to set plates of appetizers on every table.

A plate gets passed in front of me. Shrimp. Yuck. I pass the plate to Mr. Miller and Ryan hands me the next plate with an appetizer. There are a couple of crackers and some shiny black caviar. I take only two crackers and spoon out a tiny bit of caviar onto the plate that's set on the table in front of me, then pass the appetizer plate along.

When I unwrap the cloth napkin and see all the utensils to choose from, which includes multiple sets of spoons, knives, and forks, I steal a quick glance at Mr. Miller to see which utensil he uses to spread the caviar on the crackers. He chooses a small and flat knife.

I quickly spread the napkin on my lap and copy his actions. I look at Ryan as he takes a bite out of a caviar-covered cracker and he tries his best to hold his grimace at the flavor. No one at the table notices, I could only tell because I was looking for it.

I take a small bite and let the caviar sit on my tongue. It tastes like a salty butter with a gooey ball texture. I swallow it and then reach for my champagne glass.

As the glass reaches my lips I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder. I almost drop the glass from my frightened state, but thankfully I don't. Judging from the angle the hand is facing I can tell it's someone standing behind me.

"How are you guys enjoying your dinner?" I hear from the person behind me. Sandoval.

My head snaps towards his face to be greeted with his brown eyes. He has a friendly smile pointed right towards me.

I need to think of something to say. "No asustarme de esa manera!" I spit the first Spanish I can think of. Thankfully I had to learn the language when he ordered me to help one of his own Mexican colleagues.

He frowns, obviously not understanding me. I almost smirk at the fact that he should know fluent Spanish with his cover, but I don't for the sake of keeping mine.

"She said 'Don't scare me that way!'" a lady with a thick Spanish accent says from across the table.

"Oh. I'm sorry Ms..." Dominic trails off.

"Chavez" I finish.

"Well, you look stunning tonight" he says.

"Yes, my wife does. I am so lucky to have her" Ryan says. He stands up and puts a hand on my open shoulder. He's only an inch taller than Sandoval, but the furious look in his eyes makes Ryan a lot more intimidating. "I believe we haven't met personally. I'm Mr. Chavez. I'm a donator to Make a Wish" Ryan continues.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. (D-Trix makes a noticeable attempt at correcting himself on the 'Mrs.') Chavez, it is very nice to meet you. Thank you so much for attending my event. I'll see you later tonight" he says and finally walks away.

Ryan sits back down and we turn back to the rest of our table. Every pair of eyes are on us. We were going to have to do a better job of blending in.