STOLEN SMILE

CATERINA

"There is no great genius without some touch of madness."

-Aristotle

†*********†

~CATERINA~

I WASN'T SURE HOW I knew, but I did.

An intuition played in the back of my mind, sending a wave of uncertainty through me. The inkling itched, demanding to be made fact, and before I could stop myself I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and sent Trevor a text.

Me: Did you know Oscar Perez loved to cut women up?

He responded a minute later.

Trevor: WTF, Caterina. No.

Since he knew it was me, I assumed Jenn must have passed my new number on to him. I didn't know what to think about them being all buddy-buddy now. Truthfully, I wasn't sure I liked it.

Me: You sure? I guess it's common knowledge.

Trevor: Why would I lie about something like that?

Time to bait the hook...

Me: Maybe because you knew Papà promised me to him.

My phone rang in my hand, and I answered it with a simple "Hello."

"What the fuck's the matter with you?" Trevor's voice seeped with annoyance and concern. "Do you really think Papà would've agreed to the engagement if he knew Oscar was into that kind of shit?"

Engagement.

The word settled over my head with an unsurprising awareness, and I said, "Thank you, Trevor. That's all I needed to know," before hanging up.

My phone chimed a second later.

Trevor: Don't be weird.

My response was juvenile, but impossible for any sibling to suppress.

Me: You're the weird one.

My stomach dipped as a familiar magnetism walked into the office behind my back. Hypnotic and volatile, her presence brushed my skin, sinking into my pores like it owned me. However, it evoked something deep and uncertain as well, like being fascinated by the green sky of a coming storm but knowing that as soon as it hit you, there would be nothing left.

He had something I wanted.

Oscar had me... and then he was dead.

I wanted to dismiss the idea that Jenn had done what I was beginning to think she did, or rather, why she'd done it, because just the thought started a kindling in my chest that felt suspiciously like hope.

Without hope, there's nothing to lose.

With it, we're nothing but dominos waiting to fall.

Still, as her presence filled this office, that kindling fed on the warm bravado of it, and grew and grew.

"You get a good look at the club?"

My grip tightened on my phone as though it could ground me to earth.

"Quite." I turned around to see her leaning against the corner of her desk, a piercing gaze glued to me.

"I don't think I'm a fan of finding you talking to some Escobar alone."

By her tone that was a gross understatement.

"But I can talk to you?" I raised a brow, hinting at how she wasn't a much different woman in the regard to ethics.