"Just a little farther. I"m almost there."My throat is burning and sweat trickles down my neck, back, and chest.
"I"ve missed this feeling."
"Hey Kaz, have you seen my-"
Ricky looks me up and down,
"d.a.m.n."
"What?"
"You just look...s.e.xy."
"Are you serious? I"m literally sweating like a pig."
"Well maybe we should hit the showers."
He shows a familiar smirk,
"I haven"t finished yet."
"Kaz, you"ve been here for hours now and I have no idea why you even workout this hard! You"re body"s gorgeous!"
"It helps clear my mind, did you need something?"
His playful expression quickly shifts into a serious one, one I know too well.
"Just be in the bar in 20."
He turns and leaves before I can ask him anything.
"I guess i"m done here."
I pull myself together and head up the stairs. When I walk in, I notice a small slip of paper sitting on my nightstand,
"I"ve laid out an outfit for you. It"s in the walk-in, feel free to wear something else if you don"t like it."
"Hmm, just what are you planning Ricardo Hernandez?"
I take a shower and look at what he"s left for me.
"Oh wow."
A pair of fitted jeans and a long sleeved crop top with and a thigh holster.
"A gun? With this cute a.s.s outfit? Should I be worried or intrigued?"
I hurry and change into the clothes and put my hair up into a quick bun.
Downstairs in the bar Ricky is waiting for me with a scotch in his hand and anger plastered all across his face. The room is heavily guarded and a man sits across from him.
He"s about the same age as Ricky but his skin is as brown as mine. His shirt is fitted perfectly showing off his toned chest. Who the h.e.l.l is this handsome stranger?
"Hey...who"s this?"
He looks up,
"We have much to discuss. Come,"
He pats the seat next to him,
"I wanna introduce you."
I take my seat next to him.
"Kaz, this is Yoyo, Yoyo this is Kaz."
The man holds out his hand for me to shake. As I grab it I notice a brand on his arm that takes up his whole forearm.
"Looks gnarly don"t it?"
"Oh! I"m sorry, I didn"t mean to stare."
He flashes his perfect white teeth at me, exposing his deep dimples.
"Well you met her. Now let"s go."
Ricky pulls me up from the bar and heads towards the door,
"Hey wait a minute! Who is that?!"
"n.o.body important, now will you come on?!"
I s.n.a.t.c.h my hand away,
"Hey, it"s cool lil lady. If he wants me gone i"ll leave."
Yoyo gets up and walks to the exits and looks back at me, then at Ricky.
"f.u.c.k!"
Ricky flares his nose and folds his arms,
"You have a minute to tell her what you told me, then you get the f.u.c.k outta here. Got it?"
Yoyo puts his arms up,
"One minute. I got it."
We all return back to our seats.
"Todos ustedes pueden irse. Tengo esto manejado."
(You all can go. I have this handled.)
All of the scary looking men guarding the doors leave the room.
"Called off your goons?"
"Don"t f.u.c.king play with me."
There"s an awkward silence between us. Ricky is shooting daggers at Yoyo. There"s an uncomfortable amount of tension in the room.
"You have 48 seconds."
"Right,"
Yoyo puts his hand on the back of his neck and stares at me,
"The reason why I did all this s.h.i.t was to find you."
Ricky slams his gla.s.s on the counter and paces around the room,
"To find me?"
He nods.
"30 seconds."
"You see Kaz..."
He looks at me with those big shiny brown eyes.
"You"re my twin sister."
"..."
I can"t muster up the courage to say anything to him...i"m in complete shock.
"You"re...my brother?"
He smiles and nods.
"This must be a joke...there"s no way I have family."
I giggle, that giggle turns into a laughing and that laugh turns into full on gut busting laughter.
"Whew,"
I wipe a tear from my eye,
"You two are f.u.c.king hilarious, but seriously. Why am I here?"
Ricky glares at me as if I had just said something incredibly insulting.
"Esto no es una jodida broma, Kaz."
(This is not a f.u.c.king joke, Kaz.)
His once hazel eyes are now black and filled with anger. A storm swirling inside of them, ready to strike at any given moment.
"Wha? Th-that can"t be true. I have no family."
"Nah kid. You have a whole lot of kin, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, all that good stuff."
"Wait...this is real...I have a family, a real one!"
"Yup, and I want you to meet them. They"ve been waiting for you kid,"
He looks up at me with gla.s.sy eyes,
"I"ve been waiting for my little sister to come home...and now i"ve finally found you."
He tucks a loose piece of hair behind my ear,
"When? When can I meet them."
"I-"
"That"s enough. We"re done here; Kaz, let"s go."
Ricky cuts off his sentence and yanks me up from my seat, pulling me towards the door,
"Yoyo, I think you know your way out."
"..."
Yoyo doesn"t respond.
"Ricky what the h.e.l.l?! Let me go!"
I slap his hand off of me,
"¿Qué demonios te pasa? ¿Por qué estás actuando así?"
(What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?)
"De Verdad? Él es el enemigo Kaz. ¡Este es el mismo hombre que me hizo deshacerme de uno de mis hombres!"
(Really? He is the enemy Kaz. This is the same man who made me get rid of one of my men!)
His booming voice makes me do a double take,
"Dijiste que no lo matarías."
(You said you wouldn"t kill him.)
"Uh guys,"
Yoyo awkwardly interrupts,
"I have no idea what"s going on with you two but I think I should get going."
"What?! No! Don"t leave now, I have so many questions."
"And I will happily answer them the next time we cross paths. Whenever you guys sort out your s.h.i.t, give me a ring."
He hands me his business card,
"I"ll see ya around kiddo."
He gives me a light squeeze then leaves.
"Me and you need to talk."
I turn my attention back towards Ricky,
"We have nothing to discuss."
I leave the room in a hurry while he follows behind me,
"Blood or not Kaz, he"s the reason for all of this!"
I twist my head around and give him my coldest look,
"Yet you"re the one I blame, Ricardo."