Chapter 24

Felipe sat in the dark room staring ahead. His stare focused on the empty wall. He gathered his remaining energy to finally get up, it has been a while since they had arrived at the safe house. His ears were still ringing from Layla’s screams. He unbuttoned his shirt slowly, one after another, then flunked the damn thing on the bed, the fabric rubbed against the back of his neck. His felt a slight burning were she had dug her fingernails into his skin, from when they were taking the fucking photos. He didn't like that she was going to be around for now. His stomach turned by the thought of her, she was nothing but trouble.

How would he sleep knowing she was there? How was he supposed to introduce her to his people when she could be a spy sent by his competitors? Even worst sent by Carlos.

He unbuckled his belt and dropped his pants down to the floor and walked up to the mirror in the corner next to the window. He glanced at himself, he had a few bruises but he was used to worst.

A few shadows of old wounds were visible even in the dark, specially the one right in the middle of his chest. Being shot or stabbed was nothing new to him, but he was convinced the worst thing that ever happened to him was that stupid girl. Even worst than him being who he was.

She didn't see reason, she couldn't hold her tongue, and worst of all she didn't seem to get scared easily. If only she’d been scared of him this would have became so much easier for everyone. But no.

He dropped his head to his chest closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to take a shower, maybe that would calm him down. He went back to the door behind him and double checked the lock. He knew there was no need to lock the door, he knew she was lock in her own room, but that didn't make him feel better. He took his phone out and checked the cameras, she in bed under the covers.

He froze for a moment. What if she was pretending to be there, but had broke free? He immediately took his gun from the bed and rewind the video. In a second her image appeared on the screen, banging on the door one last time and crawl into her bed. Oh…false alarm. He put back his gun.

Is this what it’s gonna be like from now on. Him on the edge, all the time?

He pushed the thought back, this was now his reality so he would get used to it. She would too, in time. Probably a long time but she had to deal with her new situation whether she liked it or not.

He walked to the bathroom and dropped his underwear on the floor, then stepped in the tub. He would have liked to take a bath but that would take too long so he turned on the shower. The warm water was comforting, even if it was burning his skin a little bit, he needed the pain. There was some kind of pleasure in it, it helped him feel more centered, in control.

After a minute the pain didn't feel good anymore, but he refused to give up. He felt like it was the pain that didn't let his thoughts inter his brain. He always found pain a bit comforting, he was always able to stopped thinking when he was in pain. He knew anyone else with a mind like his would look for ways to shut their thoughts too, and this was his way of doing so.

He lingered for a few more seconds, then turned the water freezing cold. Which at first felt good for a minute, but then the cold started to hurt in its’ own way, and he once again welcomed the pain.