The Monster I Married

3: What Goes Unsaid

"Santiago!" The shrilling screech cut through the silence of the vast, empty house. It echoed off the walls until the noise made its way into his office. James didn't flinch but instead continued to read his book, going on as if nothing had happened, without a care in the world. He hated that nickname and there was only one person person who called him that. He knew what, or rather who, was coming once he saw his phone vibrate that his front gate and door had been opened.

Since he didn't want anyone snooping or prodding him with questions about his 'engagement', he had allowed his two maids and cook to go home, so he'd known it wasn't them. That was, after all, his only staff. He was far too paranoid to have more than what he needed. That didn't exclude the 4 guards who had also been sent home. They were all on standby, ready for their phones to alert them if in case of an emergency. Most of them lived close by so they'd be able to get here in 5  minutes or less. Their phones should have alerted them that someone had entered the premises. They would check the feed and not worry about it since the person that was visiting stopped by frequently. Otherwise, no one he didn't know on a personal level would have the audacity to enter his home in that sort of manner. His guards would've been here so fast the person wouldn't know what had hit them. They probably wouldn't ever get to find out, that's how fast a bullet would've been in their head. If they were smart they'd stay away and contact him to go meet them instead. They'd only come in invited and that wasn't very likely, he hated visitors. Besides, not a lot of people happen to know the location of his home.

James had known that once he had called Shane to tell him the news about his engagement that people were going to start calling him every minute to ask about it. It would be a shock to everyone, he knew that a lot of his potential clients would call to try to kiss up. They'd offer their congratulations, but if they were desperate enough they'd offer gifts and honeymoon spots.

The downside is that he knew his enemies would try to come after his new so called 'wife'. He didn't care about her or her well being but if something happened to her before he got what he wanted out of their marriage there would be hell to pay. He'd strategized countless nights and he wasn't about to let some trigger happy idiot ruin that. When Malika moves in he'd have to increase security. It was top priority to keep her alive until they had been married for a year. Then he could care less what happened to her. To his surprise the girl hadn't done anything stupid yet, like try to run away. He grinned in satisfaction knowing that his threat had worked against her. He didn't really want to go scorch the earth just to find her. Not only that, he'd have to call back Shane to tell him that it was a hoax. Shane would never let him hear the end of it.

Shane didn't have a reputation for keeping quiet, whenever James felt that he wanted to get a secret out fast he'd just tell him. Shane's connections were endless and he loved to gloat, especially, when he knew something others didn't. His arrogance was going to his downfall someday. He was charismatic, he'd give him that. Shane was one of the closest things James had to what he would consider to be a 'friend'.

In James' profession friends didn't happen to exist, they were scarce to come around. People were either enemies, family, or allies. In the end everyone only looked out for themselves and their own self interests. It was a selfish world they lived in but it was survival of the fittest. Only those who had the most money, made the most shipments, avoided the government catching them, and had a large number of men were considered to be 'successful'. No one had time to worry about anyone else's needs, they were all so focused on their own. If the situation were to ever require it, James knew Shane would only look out for himself just as he would take care of hisself as well. There was no such thing as helping your fellow neighbor. Good Samaritans got betrayed or killed. Good deeds were only done if the favor could be returned.

His phone had rung constantly since the news got out but for the time being it was surprisingly calm. It didn't take him long to calculate who Shane called first, it would explain the ruckus that was being made downstairs. He knew who had entered his home the second he heard their voice, he didn't even have to check his footage to figure it out.