Sold to Diaz Cartel.Chapter 45: oh don’t cry Janine .Kitty runs straight into Althea’s arms. The blonde is quick to bring him close, enjoying the licks and purrs of the cat. The whole reunion makes for a beautiful scene, except, Jana can’t focus on anything other than the appearance of the blonde. Skinny. Tired. Sick. Lifeless.“Thanks, Jana,” says Althea with a small smile. “For taking care of him while I couldn’t.”The mere words make Jana want to cry because Althea shouldn’t feel thankful, she should feel disgusted of her. Her inability to help her is outstanding. First Harley and now, Althea.I can’t help anyone.“It was nothing, my little chick,” answers Janina, her voice shaking.Lately, with everything that she is going through, Althea can’t walk or stand for too long without feeling faint. It is, of course, no surprise to her since she barely eats anything. She is also sure that being injured more often than not, is not helping her body strength. Even just carrying the lig
Sold to Diaz Cartel.Chapter 46: what happens next .“Let’s just sleep, you and me. Clyde will sleep on the coach, yeah?”Althea nods, still uncertain if she should trust the man sitting next to the bed, but somehow, her eyes begin closing before she can remind herself again why she needs to be vigilant. In the end, the fatigue betrays her. Snuggled on Jana’s chest, protected against the world once more, Althea sleeps.“Is she asleep?”Clyde whispers as low as he can. His wife turns around to face him, a sad smile covering her face as she looks down on Althea who is desperately hugging her in her sleep.“She is. I don’t think she is able to stay awake for too long anymore,” answers Jana. “Oh, Clyde, she is so skinny. I can hug her whole body with one arm, and—”“I know, my Love. But there’s nothing you can do.”“I could—”“Save her? You’re smarter than that, Jana.”“Don't call me that,”“It’s your name…”“It makes me feel like you are angry at me,” She says with a pout. Clyde coos a
Sold to Diaz Cartel.Chapter 47: what is happening? .Althea knows Jana hates being called feminine names and being treated like the mother of the gang. She despises the role some people try to make her play. And Lucius knows about it better than anyone.The raven stands from the table, anger already building inside his throat. He throws the fork away else he will stab someone with it.“Stay here, Thea. I can’t play babysitter today, so please, just be good and play with the cat or whatever baby birds do in their free time,” says Lucius. His mind is already full of Jana, enough to forget about the blonde’s very real eating disorder or her knack for self destruction.“Oh, Lucius?” Althea calls him with a low voice. The tone is solemn, sending a shiver through the raven’s spine. “You are right. Clyde forbade her from seeing you.”With that Lucius leaves. Althea forgets about the food, already nauseous. She goes to lie down on the bed but is forced to run to the toilet by a clump of oa
Sold to Diaz Cartel.Chapter 48: leaving Harley behind .“Everything ok?” Jana approaches the blonde who has been scrubbing her hands for almost ten minutes now. “I’m not sure what you are trying to wash off but I’m sure it is gone by now.”“I'm sorry, Jana,” says Althea. She finally lets the water touch her hands. The white bubbles disappear one by one, quickly leaving dry skin behind.The thoughts of cut strings leaving her limp, and her smallest finger being twisted by forgotten promises float around Althea, specks of dust mocking her as they dance in the air. Jana holds the smaller by the waist and the arm, keeping her balanced over her weak legs. Both of them reach the bed with great difficulty, one Althea begins to despise.She has become exactly what Diaz has been training her to become. A doll.“Actually,” says Althea, hesitance clear in her voice. “Can I…eat something?”The way the blonde speaks, fearful of the answer, shakes Jana to the core because it means Althea thinks
Sold to Diaz Cartel.Chapter 49: good girl.“Althea?” Lucius strolls through the empty kitchen, frustration and annoyance building inside him. He sees the drops of blood resting on the kitchen bench, along with the abandoned food. The stains act as an effervescent of his fast decaying mood. The lack of the baby chick sitting in the middle of the room where he left her makes everything worse. “Althea! I swear I will cut your—”“Lucius,” says Althea. The blonde’s face peeks out of the walk-in pantry. Her cheeks are flushed and she is covered in sweat. “I was….hungry.”Althea shows the raven the piece of plain bread in her hand. She makes sure to keep her voice stable and sweet, ignoring her racing heart. She hides one of her shaking hands in her pocket, praying for the raven not to notice the sweat beads covering her forehead. Althea knows she smells like fear, all the telltales of a child getting caught while being naughty displayed in her demeanour but there isn’t much she can do ab
Sold to Diaz Cartel.Chapter 50: a ruptured child .The loud noise of multiple people pacing through the hallway grows louder as a mass of people pass the kitchen, unaware of the worried eyes that follow them. In front of the group, Clyde walks with long strides, leaving the other men waddling behind him. On his back, Jana rests with her arms around his shoulders and legs crossed across his waist. The brunette has her head hidden on the other side of her husband, but the blood on her hair is unmistakable.“What the fuck,” whispers Lucius with strained voice. The words trapped in his throat. “Stand up,” He orders with urgency. When the blonde just looks at him like a deer in front of headlight, the raven yanks her out of her seat. “Now!”Desperately clutching to her bag of bread, Althea gets dragged out of the kitchen. Lucius is almost carrying the smaller, her body too weak to walk at the same pace. It doesn’t take them long to reach the room, and it takes Lucius less time to thr
Sold to Diaz Cartel.Chapter 51: who is the unfortunate being then ? .Days pass in a blink. The mansion is pure chaos. Everyone runs from one place to the other, rushing to complete the preparations for the fast approaching war. All the men know something big is about to happen. They can feel it in the air, travelling into their anxious bodies and coursing through their veins. Everything is such a haze, nobody notices the sneaky blonde hiding in plain sight, stealthily scurrying in and out of the room behind the kitchen. No one pays attention as she tiptoes delicately nor when she fills her pocket with a bunch of colourful pills.With every trip to the kitchen, the hoodie in the corner of the wardrobe fills up with more pills. Althea thanks her past self for being smart enough to keep secret stashes around Harley’s room. Just in case.With the last of her secret drugs in her underwear, Althea waits until she hears Lucius limp out of the room and lock the door behind him. After loc
Sold to Diaz Cartel.Chapter 52: Call me Sunshine? .The memory of the first meeting when they decided the details for the attack comes to his mind, accompanied with an awful thought. He looks at Ronan with pity, almost begging for forgiveness for the words that he is about to say. “Harley knew.”The air turns heavy with those two words. Ronan feels his heart stop beating and his blood start rushing to his ears. Everyone is looking at him, and Diaz has hate in his eyes.“That is nonsense,” whispers Ronan, but he can’t bring himself to sound certain.“He was in the kitchen when we met,” says Diaz through gritted teeth. “He is the only other person who was there.”“Even if he wanted to, he has no way of contacting Fernandez! Come on, guys! He is just a cook.”“Don’t treat me like an idiot.” Diaz’s voice is low and threatening, making even the hitman tremble. “You don’t think I know about that old computer you gave him for Christmas last year?! Huh?!”“Wait, what the fuck! How dare you