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“Luckily for us, your skill with demolitions and as a marksman meant that wasn’t necessary. However, if you use this information I’m about to share for gain, I will remove your eyes and tongue before I split you from groin to gullet.” Otero turns back to Knot, just as calm as can be after issuing such a graphic threat. “To answer your question, Marisol is my granddaughter.”
Marisol
The strangest sensations wake me from a deep sleep. One hand is warm, and the other is cold. The feelings don’t go away when I open my eyes, either. A beautiful sound reaches my ears. I’d almost swear it was Austin calling my name. I look for him, but my blurry vision fails me. So does my wakeful state.
The welcome buzz of familiar voices lures me to consciousness sometime later. When I open my eyes this time, I’m able to keep them open. A hush settles over the room as I take in the shocked and relieved faces of my father, El Gran, and Ruiz. When my gaze lands on Austin, it remains there.
Looking at him is as painful as it is blissful. As much as I imagined taking his name one day, I married another. Tears spill over my eyes, and Austin rushes toward me, softly touching my face. “Hey. None of that.”
He picks up my left hand and holds it to his chest. That’s when I notice the ring Dario put there is missing. Dario… he shot. “Piper!”
Austin stops me when I try to sit up. With his hands on my cheeks, he touches his forehead to mine. “Piper is fine. She’s been taken for a walk, so I wouldn’t have to leave your side.”
“She’s really okay?”
“You shouldn’t have done it, Marisol. I love that dog, but I would never get over losing you, not even to save her.”
I lean back against the pillow, worn out just from talking. My father rolls forward in a wheelchair, but the darkness once again creeps in, and my eyes drift closed.
The next time they open, El Gran sits in a chair beside my bed, holding a newspaper. “There you are, Cariña.”
Scanning the room, I don’t see the others. “Where is everyone?”
The Don of the Puerto Rican mob rises and walks to my bedside. “Your father is resting. Mr. Knot strong-armed Mr. Madden into leaving to clean up and eat.”
“Mr. Knot? As in Dillan Knot, CEO of the Knot Corporation? He’s here?”
“Yes. You are worth the special attention.”
I don’t know what to say to that. I can almost understand Mr. Knot being here, as he is one of Austin’s friends. What I don’t understand is why El Gran is watching over me. “May I ask what you are doing here?”
He nods, smiling with pride for some strange reason. “I asked to have a private moment with you. A lot happened yesterday that you should be informed of.”
“Yesterday? What time is it?”
“It’s three pm. After you sacrificed yourself for Piper, you were brought here for surgery and have been mostly asleep since then.”
“But Piper’s okay?”
Mr. Ortero’s brow furrows. “I do not understand how you could be more concerned for a dog than yourself. You nearly died.”
“Austin needs Piper.”
“I think he needs you more.”
I look down at my lap, remembering what he would have seen through the pool house windows. “Austin watched me marry another man.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Dario and Adolpho Cruz are dead.”
El Gran dips his hand into his suit pocket and retrieves a folded piece of paper, handing it to me. He doesn’t explain, so I open the document, unsure why he’s showing it to me. “I don’t understand.”
“The priest gave it to me. Another miscalculation on Cruz’s part. He used my priest, who received strict orders from me.”
Otero takes the paper from me again, setting it in a metal bowl on the open windowsill. Then he lights it on fire. “No executed license to file. No marriage. In the legal sense, you’re an unmarried woman. You are anyway since Cruz is dead.”
I still don’t comprehend why this man cares, but I won't question my good fortune since I’m free. “Thank you.”
“You are very welcome. I also have something to return to you.”