Reina de la Muerte

chapter twenty nine

vanessa

"You need to eat something, Vanessa."

It's the same plea I've heard whenever I have company, always from the same voice. He'll show up every few hours with a new plate of food, each one looking a tad more digestible than the last. He'll sit by my bedside, and I'll turn my back to him every time. It's hard to look him in the eyes knowing what he's done to bring us to this point. Who he's had to kill.

My second-in-command, the betrayer, my brother.

Valentino Morales.

Nausea grips my gut in a deathly grip and I roll onto my side with a low moan, clutching it. When I open my eyes, I'm face to face with a bowl of bland, yellow soup.

Valentino's voice breaks through the ringing in my ear. "It's bad enough you're already ill. It will only get worse."

What's the point? A dark voice whispers, l once more the unwelcome company I never asked for.

It's the same simple question that has floated through my mind since the news hit me. After the shock had subsided and my tears had dried, reality was quick to set in. I thought that escaping Lucía Morales' torture chambers would be enough because at least I'd be with the man I love; we had the rest of our lives to make more memories and build the foundation for our future. But she has taken everything from me—again. She took the man I love, the only person who saw me as more than a lost cause, and embraced every shadow I considered a flaw.

Gabriel Díaz saw me as more than what I showed on the surface. He loved me for the vulnerability I refused to show even myself...

Now he's dead. And my only company are the very people who took him away from me.

"Vanessa, please..." Valentino sighs and drags a hand down the side of his face. "If not for either of us, then at least do it for your child—"

One second my bowl of soup is in my hand, the next it's being launched at Valentino's head. He swerves out of the way before it can make contact...so I throw my spoon at him. It hits him in the chest and he throws me an impatient glare, which I gladly return before facing the wall again.

"You need to say something."

The hell, I don't, I think and snort. There isn't a word the man could say to get me to talk.

I hear a defeated sigh, followed by my thin mattress moving. "I'm still who you knew, Vanessa."

"You're dead to me."

He ignores my disgruntled sounds as he moves closer. "Do you have the key I gave you?"

I peek over my shoulder.

The key...I had completely forgotten about it.

After she broke the news of Gabriel's death, I just...gave up. I don't know how long it has been since I last saw Lucía. Five hours. Five days. Besides the occasional meal, I haven't made a move to escape, so much so that I forgot about the only plan I have. But even if I were to escape, would there be a point? There truly is no escaping her. I learned that. Lucía has taken everything and everyone I love, my reputation and identity, and made it seem like nothing more than a few pawns off her chessboard. There's no telling how many people in the building she's fallen victim to similar stories.

"The key, Vanessa," Valentino demands. I release a muffled grunt as my response, and he curses under his breath. "For someone claiming to hate me, you're good at acting like family right now."

"That's because we were family!" I snap, jerking out of my position into a sitting one. I shove Valentino off the mattress and he catches himself with ease, rising to a stand. "Besides Gabriel, you were the only other person I had and then you—"