Page 8 of Bound By A Promise
Out in their bedroom, Mama carried her cosmetics toward two large suitcases filled with clothes and shoes.
“You packed more than I did.”
Her smile was weary. “If you ask me what I’ve packed, I won’t be able to tell you. I only hope that it’s enough and what I’ll need.”
I lifted my cheeks, trying to ease a bit of the tension. “Yeah, I don’t know what I packed either. Whatever it was fit in one suitcase. I may have to raid Cat’s closet.”
“I’m sure she won’t mind.” Mama’s eyes sparkled. “She would probably like you to. After all, her regular clothes are no longer fitting.”
Yes, my sister was expecting her and Dario’s first child in less than three months. The crowning jewel to the Mafia/cartelalliance. We both turned toward a knock on the door. Miguel stepped into the door frame.
“SeñoraRuiz, may I help you with your luggage?”
Mama inhaled. “Thank you, Miguel.”
My chest tightened at the knowledge that it would usually be Luis who helped Mama. That realization brought back the dreadful memories of what we’d endured. That terror was nothing compared to what happened to Luis. He was gone, giving his life formi madre. “I’m ready to leave.”
“This is our home, Camila. Don’t let the Russians take that from you. If you do, you allow them to win.”
I swallowed. “You’re right. I’m…tired.”
Mama wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Of course you are. We can rest on the plane.”
We were mostly quiet as Sergio drove the reinforced large SUV. From the third row of seats, I could see the back of everyone’s heads. Dante rode in the front, next to Sergio. Mama and Miguel were in the middle row with me in the rear. Continually, my eyes went to Dante as if he had a magnetic force I couldn’t fight.
If that were the case, it was a one-way fight. He hadn’t said a word to me since making fun of my age. While almost twenty years old wasn’t exactly aged, I wasn’t a little girl either. I was an adult, one who had experienced a traumatic incident. The thought loosened a rogue tear to escape and slide down my cheek.
I turned and wiped the tear away with the back of my hand.
Crying wouldn’t prove my point about my maturity.
Sergio drove the SUV around the airport to the area that housed the private planes. He stopped in front of a white plane with ‘Learjet’ inscribed upon the tail. It wasn’t marked with a name advertising that the plane belonged to the Luciano famiglia.
Mama and I followed Dante up the stairs as Miguel and Sergio secured our suitcases in the luggage hold. Mama stopped at the entrance, staring down the hull of the six-passenger jet.
“Dario and Catalina took the larger plane,” Dante explained. “I wasn’t expecting passengers, but we’ll fit.”
Mama looked at me and walked to the back of the plane. She took the last seat to the right, and I took the last one to the left. From the configuration, we’d have more privacy. The other four seats faced one another.
Dante remained standing, talking to the pilot and co-pilot. The co-pilot came back to our seats. “Mrs. Ruiz, Miss Ruiz, my name is Jeremy. We have limited supplies onboard; however, if you’d like anything to eat or drink, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do what I can.”
“Thank you,” Mama replied. “Water?”
“I’ll have a bottle of water too,” I said.
Jeremy smiled. “I can do that.” He walked toward the front.
All the time Jeremy was talking and delivering our water, I couldn’t help but notice the way Dante stood silently staring. There was something visceral in his dark gaze that I’d never before experienced.
Mama reached across the aisle and laid her hand on mine. “I’m so happy to spend time with Catalina, with both of my girls.”
Nodding, I laid my head back against the soft leather. If it made my mother feel better to think of this as a vacation, I wouldn’t spoil her fantasy. Closing my eyes, I recalled the pool of blood—Luis’s blood.
The water Jeremy delivered would need to wait. If I drank any now, I could end up in the lavatory, throwing it back up.
Chapter
Three