"I don't know what's missing in me. If I knew, everything would be infinitely easier "I spoke in a sigh. "But I think I would like a more complicated profession with less contact with people. There was a time when I wanted to be a criminal expert.”“Really? And why didn't you keep persisting in this?”"Because I don't like chemistry, nor engineering, nor medicine, nor biomedicine, "I eminted, receiving one more laugh from the unknown. "I'm terrible at dealing with exact, so I wouldn't do well in this field. I just wanted to be in the middle of the investigations. I wanted to make a difference for people, you know?”"You already do this when working in the sector that recruits employees for a company," he said, showing a knowledge beyond the account about the professions that hardly anyone in that region would be able to afford. "It's a way to help those who need it. Sometimes people don't realize they're making a difference, but they are. You don't have to be a police officer to help
And I knew it should be my cue to leave the place. I knew I could have made up an excuse and disappeared through the front door, just so I wouldn't have to get involved in another game that I wasn't able to play. But the man was still smiling, and for a brief moment, I noticed that he wasn't trying hard to be nice. He really wanted to please me, all that was left was to know why."What's your name? "I asked in a solemn tone, tilting my head slightly. "We talk about personal matters, but I still don't even know who you are.”"I'm Dante Laurentino," he said in a hoarse voice, again taking my hand in greeting. "But you can call me the number one enemy of your damn brother, and the one that the police in general consider to be the second public enemy in the world.”So my record fell.I felt cold, but I tried my best not to show any concerns. It was nothing new that my brother was a hated figure. It was nothing new that I myself was increasingly resentful of his return from the dead. He ha
"It's because everyone has this illusion that my brother kept me protected for years," I explained, holding my beer bottle. I needed a cold contact, because my body was warming up for the shame of admitting all that. "He did absolutely nothing to protect me. What he did was put people around me to tell what was happening in my life, and only if something very terrible was happening, he would send others to solve the problem. I've never even seen my brother act as the founder of this Brotherhood. I've never witnessed anything that people report having suffered. What I suffer is something present. It's mine now.”"I must confess that I have already considered killing you," Dante said, looking away to the back of the bar. He observed the fight of two men, and made an expression of anger when he realized that a table had broken when one of the strongmen fell on the spot. Of course, he was identified their faces to collect the damage later. So he watched me again. "Not today. I knew who yo
"Not always," said Dante, drinking another sip of beer. "It is very easy to persuade the police to ignore certain visits. You can check it out my own bar. I shouldn't even be with him in operation, if there was any inspection in this place.”"Even so, nothing has happened since then "I spoke in a firm tone.Dante watched me for another moment, just for the time it would take to finish his beer. I believed that he was trying to find flaws in my gestures, to find something that would make him realize my lie. If he noticed, I'd be in bad shape. But the conversation with him clarified a point for me. If that gift had been left at my house, the police knew who had taken it. And the conversation with Caleb Johnson made even more sense, because the police would be corrupted, and perhaps the members of the Brotherhood were part of a much larger slice of the cake of investigations."At some point they can do," said Dante in a contemplative tone. "It's good that you get ready. The Brotherhood d
"I thank you for being such a good psychologist, Dante. You should be the profession "I spoke in a cordial tone. Dante cursed a bad word and laughed. "I'm serious... People are losing patience to talk to me and you acted so naturally that it seems like you were paid to do this.”"And I'm going to be," he said firmly. “Please pay ten percent more of your bill for the damage your grumblings have caused to my ears, please.”"Oh, spare me," I said, laughing. “But, really, thank you. You saved me from a chaotic night when I would either stop at the bed of one of these smelly and rude customers, or I would cry until dawn. And neither of the two things would leave me in a good mood to deal with real life. Thank you, Dante.”"Don't thank, bourgeois," he said, but stretched out his arm to rest his calloused hand on top of mine. It was not a sensual touch, although I must admit that with so much drink in my head and after venting about all my worst sentimental issues, I would have very well sat
Colton should have come home much earlier than me. He sent me messages asking where I was, so I could consider that the Brotherhood had not been there while he was awake. Or who knows, they could have just left when I arrived. Or even worse, they would be there while I took a shower and acted as if nothing wrong happened. I sweated cold, and cursed when the cell phone vibrated again and startled me. That was enough. The gift had to be the last. They wouldn't be able to get in anymore. And that would be the last order I would receive. The rest would be known to the police.With the box in hand, I untie the ties of the gift and a notebook appeared in the box. I should have been a little more careful when opening. I didn't know if it could be another weapon. Even a bomb. It could be something chemical that would hurt me or poison me to the point of going to the hospital. But it was just a black leather notebook, with nothing on its cover or spine. It was very thin, with maybe no more tha
It didn't take long for another sneezing crisis to start. But I wouldn't leave there until I was sure that the next meeting would have already ended. Suzane already knew of all my placements for the project "I would demand a lot of money and labor, we would need hiring urgently, both for the company and for the other factories that it extended throughout the country", and I did not need to be there to relocate everything on the agenda. The people who followed the first meeting could do that for me. I didn't want to think about work that day. And if it was my choice, I wouldn't even have left home to attend.Probably, if Suzane hadn't insisted so much for me to attend her, I wouldn't even have remembered any meeting. And I would certainly have ignored that blessed letter she stuck in my door in the five days off I took. I was missing more than working. At some very distant time "basically in my first years of work" I would have worried about losing my position on the board, and I would
Colton shook his head, and very slowly put himself down to lower it towards me, one of his hands rose to my face, and he slid his fingers along the contour of my mouth. He opened my lips, and I thanked him mentally for not vomiting before. His breath was fresh, but hot, an almost wild mixture of pepper and mint. I wanted to try it. I wondered why the hell I had never tasted it, if he seemed so willing to give me a dose of it so easily. I got up on my toes, getting so close to his face that our noses touched. I closed my eyes."So, how is this going to work, Lope? "He asked, his breath touching my mouth and ringing my senses. "What do you want from me?”"Nothing," I replied mechanically, but I wanted to say everything."Are you sure? "He questioned, sliding that hand on my waist to the base of my spine, just to pull me to meet him. The roughest touch woke me up. It was as if opening the gates of a very old and secret desire. It was as if the whole hell trembled when we realized the dam