The door abruptly opened. The light spilling in was blinding. It nearly kept her from seeing her father’s hand reaching toward her. He dragged Kami into the hallway by her hair. His hand was twisted in her bun and she felt her eyes watering at the pain in her scalp. Her father was going to kill her for what she said. Kami could tell. It was bad and she had made him even angrier.
Kami batted him away, but it wasn’t much of an attempt. Her eyes were still burning and watering from the abrupt change in the light. She blinked furiously and tried to push her father away from her.
“Stop struggling!” Orlando said in Spanish. “Where do you get these ideas? Your place is here to earn money. You came to America in order to work to support our family back in Mexico City! They could not come. They were not allowed.”
“No! They weren’t in good enough health to try and sneak over here!” Kami shot back. “Don’t you dare act all noble! You are a liar. And I didn’t come over here, Papa. I was born here! My brother and I are the reason that you and Mama were allowed to get Visas and stay. You had children over here. Mama was pregnant when you came. That’s how you got here. That’s how you got your work Visa and your job. And now you think you can take all our money and keep sending it back so you look like some kind of hero!” Kami was so mad. So angry at him that she did not care anymore what he thought or what he could do to her. “I’m tired of suffering so that they can live the good lazy life in Mexico!”
Her father’s anger was horrible to see. His face grew red and puffy and his eyes were bulging so fiercely that for a moment Kami was actually afraid that he might explode. Probability or even reality did not matter right now. She had defied him. That was it. That was what he cared about. He pointed at the floor, stabbing his finger in a downward motion so emphatically that it would not have been a shock to see the carpet rip wide open. “You will marry Roberto!” Papa shouted.
For goodness sake, did he really not get it? “I can’t! I’m already married! That would make me a polygamist and I feel like that’s worse than a disobedient daughter, don’t you?”
It happened so suddenly. One second Kami was belligerent with her hands on her hips and the next she was flying across the room. Her cheek throbbed. Her eye felt bruised. And before she could even process that first blow, Papa began to kick her. The toe of his boots caught her in the gut. She felt ribs crack. No. Kami heard them. It was a horrible noise. Somewhere in the background her mother started screaming and she heard her sisters cry.
Then all at once it stopped. The blows ended and Kami rolled into a fetal position just to try and gain some relief, a moment to breathe, anything. Her father grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back to the closet. He threw Kami inside and leaned in through the doorway to loom over her like some angry demon.
“You will marry Roberto. This marriage you have. It doesn’t count. You did not gain my permission.”
There was no point in telling him that didn’t matter. She was a free woman here in the United States. She wasn’t his property. And as soon as Devon found out where she was, he would tear this place apart to find her.
“Orlando,” Mama whispered to her father. Through one swollen eyelid Kami could see her mother tugging at her father’s arm. “The priest will never marry them if he knows she’s married to another man.”
“We will call the lawyer,” her father decided. “He will make this false marriage go away.”
Kami knew that her father was talking about the immigration lawyers that were generally prevalent and valued contacts within the community. There were dozens upon dozens of them who handled Visas, renewals, and all of the horrendous paperwork that went with them. There was no doubt in Kami’s mind that the lawyer would do just about anything if there was enough money involved, but at what point would her father realize that this was all pointless?
“Orlando, come away,” Mama tugged at his arm. “Leave her be. Juana will get her some water and then you can come and have your meal. I broiled some pork for you. It’s nearly ready.”
There was a long pause and for a moment Kami thought that her father might argue. Then he turned on his heel and stomped into the kitchen. Kami’s whole body was aching. Her eye was beginning to swell closed and she was gasping each time she tried to breathe in. It was a horrible feeling. This sensation of fear and pain and then the irrational worry that somehow her father was going to manage to get his way. She did not want to be married to a man like Roberto who would treat her in just the same way that her father treated her mother and her siblings.
“Psst! Kami!”
Kami rolled toward the door. At least she thought it was the door. That was the only sliver of light coming into the tiny room. Her sister Juana’s young face was framed in the strip of light. She was holding a bottle of water that had likely come from the stash that their father’s kept for work. Not good. But it wasn’t like Kami could get blamed for stealing now, could she?
“Kami, did you really get married?” Juana was wide eyed with all of the excitement that a sixteen year old could feel.
“Yes.” Kami really didn’t want to talk about this. “Juana, I want you to take a message to my husband.”
“What?” Juana rolled the water bottle through the door. Of course, the momentum and Kami’s soreness meant the thing practically smashed her nose. “I can’t do that. I don’t even have a phone.” Juana’s face brightened. “Do you have a phone? Can I have it? Does it have games?”
There was no being angry with her sibling for not realizing the importance of this moment. This was Juana’s normal. She didn’t understand that it needed to change or that this wasn’t really normal at all. It was just one more moment in a long line of others where their Papa had been a bully.
Kami rolled a little in order to free up one arm. The movement jostled her ribs and made her groan with pain. Moving was agony. Definitely cracked ribs. Maybe more. But she could not feel her phone in the pocket of her coveralls and that meant that her father had taken it out before he shut her in this room.
“My phone is in the apartment somewhere,” Kami told her sister. “Find it. Bring it to me. If you bring it to me and let me send a text, I will buy you an mp3 player all your own.”
Juana’s eyes grew huge. Even in the poor lighting she could see the amazement on her sister’s face. “You will? Really?”
A sudden jolt of guilt made Kami cringe. It was almost Christmas. The only people who were going to suffer for Kami’s decisions were her brothers and sisters. They were going to get a very seriously reduced holiday. And for kids who didn’t get much during the year anyway, that was a big deal.
“I’ll go look right away!” Juana scooted back out of the doorway and Kami wondered if she hadn’t just sent her sister on a very dangerous errand. But Kami needed Devon. She needed him to find her.
I sure hope he wasn’t kidding about that wolf stuff because right now I could really use a scent hound.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Swollen ribs were gross. At least that was Kami’s assessment of the situation. The nasty sensation of an abdomen that felt puffy and yet horribly stiff and too painful to move was more than she cared to deal with. Not that Kami had a choice. There was little concept of time in this tiny tomb-like room. It was a bit of a reminder as to why she had decided so long ago that this was not the life she wanted.
Squeezing her eyes closed, Kami thought about the wonderful airy apartment she now shared with Devon King. Her husband. She could say that too. It was nice. No. Nice was not the right word. Amazing. Soul satisfying. Yes. Those terms were better.
A sudden noise somewhere near the front of the apartment cause Kami to hold her breath. She heard feet. Lots of them. The kids would run to the door if the bell rang. Not that the doorbell really worked. It was more of a dull buzzing thud than a ring.
There was a shift in the drafts in the apartment. A puff of air pushed its way beneath the doorway of Kami’s tiny closet. It brought with it just a taste of fresh air. N
ot much. Just a taste. The front door had opened. She was so disoriented that she could not even begin to think what time it was.
“Orlando! I’ll admit I was really surprised to get your phone call. How can I help you?”
The lawyer. That’s who had come to the apartment. Kami struggled to her knees. She had to get up. Her head was swimming. It was a good thing that there was no light in here because it probably would have made her throw up. The room was spinning and she could not even see it. The horrible feeling in her gut finally began to subside and for just a moment Kami managed to get one foot on the ground.
No sooner had she managed to lurch to her feet than the door swung wide open. Once again the sudden influx of light was so sharp as to be excruciating to her eyes. Kami whimpered and threw up her hands. The movement shook her balance and she went down.
The fall to the floor was less than a few feet and yet it felt as though she had fallen from the rooftop. She bit her lip to hold back the grunt of pain that wanted to escape. She could not be weak. Not in front of her father. Not now. He needed to know that she wasn’t afraid of him. And she wasn’t. If the coward wanted to try and beat her again, Kami was ready. She wasn’t going to take this lying down. Not again.
“Get up.” He reached for her.
Kami shoved his hands away. “Get away from me!” She shouted the words at the top of her lungs. She wanted to make damn sure this attorney knew that she was not here of her own free will.
There was a slight pause in the casual conversation going on in the next room. Good. Orlando Delgado snarled something in Spanish and reached once again for Kami.
“Get away from me!” Kami screamed the words at the top of her lungs. “Don’t touch me, you abusive son of a whore!”
This was her papa. The man who had bounced her on his knee when she was little. What had happened to him? Had he been soured by all these years of taking care of relations that didn’t care one bit about him? Was this what had happened to the man she had thought loved her more than anything else?
“You dare!” This time Kami saw the blow coming.
Desperately lurching backwards, she smashed into the wall just in time to let it take her weight as her father’s arm slid harmlessly past her face. There were millimeters of space between them. So little. It had been close. Kami had to be careful. One more blow would render her unconscious. She knew it.
The surprise was evident on Orlando Delgado’s face even in the near absolute darkness of the “Get out here! Mr. Abernathy is here to see you. To help you with your problem.”
Her problem? Kami didn’t even have the energy for a sarcastic snort. She dragged herself out the tiny closet door and into the living room. Her siblings were all gaping at her. In the corner she could see Juana playing games on her smartphone. That was no good.
It was likely that Juana was just waiting for an opportunity to slip the phone to Kami. But it wouldn’t do a bit of good if there was no battery left. Kami sent her sister a pointed look. Juana lifted her gaze just enough to return the look from beneath her thick dark lashes.
The lawyer was in the kitchen sitting at the table. He had some papers strewn about the tabletop in front of him. When he spotted Kami he nearly fell off his chair. “My God! Did her husband do that to her?”
“Yes.” Papa said the word quickly. “He’s abusive. We want to divorce that husband and marry her to Roberto so he can protect her.”
Kami gaped at her father. Then she swung around to look at her mother. Was Mama just going to stand there and not say a word? Really? Kami hauled herself over to the table and managed to pull out a chair. She loved how they were all just staring at her. No offer of help. Not even from her mother. It was like some code of silence. Kami had broken the code. She had dared to make a decision that was not approved by Orlando Delgado and this was the cost. Ostracization.
Finally Kami lowered herself into the old metal chair. She gazed at the lawyer over the tabletop. Her lips were split. It was painful to talk. She actually thought one of her teeth might be loose. Unfair. The car wreck had left her in better shape than this.
“I’m so sorry for your troubles.” Mr. Abernathy the lawyer reached across the table and touched Kami’s hand. He at least seemed like a sympathetic person. That was good. “I don’t normally handle these kinds of cases, but the paperwork is quite simple so we can go ahead and file that and the restraining order.”
“Can it be done by the weekend?” Orlando leaned forward eagerly. “We want to go ahead and marry Roberto. Er—she does.”
Abernathy looked taken aback. “By the weekend? Um. No.” He shuffled papers around. Kami realized that he was starting to think that he did not have the whole story. “There is a minimum of thirty days to wait for a judge to sign off. And of course that’s providing that there is no contest.”
“No contest?” Orlando cursed in Spanish. “What does that mean?”
Kami glared at her father. “It means that my husband can’t protest. And he will.” She looked at Abernathy. “My husband didn’t do this to me. My father did. He’s pissed at me. Can’t you tell?”
Abernathy drew back. He put both hands flat on the tabletop. “Excuse me?”
“My husband is Devon King.”
It did not take Mr. Abernathy very long to realize that he did not want anything to do with this case. The man actually stood up. He tripped a bit on the table and then struggled to get out of the chair. He was backpedaling so quickly that Kami was surprised he didn’t fall on his bottom.
“What’s wrong?” Orlando made a move to help the lawyer, but Abernathy pulled his arm out of her father’s reach.
“You must be joking!” Mr. Abernathy was actually panting. How interesting. “Do you have any idea who Devon King is? I’m not a divorce attorney. You need a real divorce attorney if you think you’re going to try and divorce a King.” Abernathy glanced at Kami. “I’m assuming there’s no prenuptial agreement.”
“Nope. None. And it will be messy because I don’t want a divorce!” Kami tried to convey her desperation to the attorney. Surely he had a responsibility to tell some kind of authority that she was being held here against her will.
Suddenly Orlando grabbed hold of Kami’s arm and yanked her from the chair. “Get back in the room!”
The harsh movement wrenched her midsection and caused her ribs to sting and burn. She almost passed out. Her vision curled and blackened at the edges as she started to pass out. Then she heard Abernathy yelling. Mama was yelling. Juana was yelling. They were all yelling. Kami stumbled toward her old bedroom. She was going to be sick. That was pretty much all she could think about.
Lurching away from her father and barely making it to the kitchen sink, Kami leaned over and was sick in the narrow old porcelain basin. She held tight to the edges and rested her forehead against the lip of the sink. She felt so ill and so very tired. She just wanted to sleep. Except she probably had a concussion. She should be staying awake. Right?
“What is wrong with her?” Abernathy sounded concerned. “Did you bother to take her to a hospital?”
“She’s fine,” Orlando said dismissively. “She’s playing a game trying to make us take her to hospital.”
“Devon King.” Abernathy’s tone changed and Kami’s brain began bleating as she realized that he was considering making a call. One phone call was all it would take and Abernathy apparently knew it. “Your husband is Devon King.”
“Yes!” Kami managed to moan. “Devon.”
Abernathy was already scooping up his papers and heading for the doorway. About that time Orlando Delgado seemed to realize his danger. “Where do you think you’re going?” Orlando called angrily. “You didn’t file the papers!”
“Don’t come any closer!” Abernathy was backing toward the doorway groping behind him to find the knob. “If you touch me, then my associates will have you deported from this country so quickly that you won’t even have time to run.”
Orlando drew back. From undernea
th her swollen eyelids Kami realized that her father truly feared the lawyer. He knew the man could do damage that far surpassed the physical realm. The lawyer had ways to take Orlando’s cushy American lifestyle and bring the whole house of cards crashing down. Maybe that was where Kami needed to start pushing buttons. It was time to hit her father where it hurt so she could make a better life for her brothers and sisters and even her mother.
The front door slammed. Orlando was muttering to himself. Kami was barely hanging onto the lip of the kitchen sink to keep herself upright. The mess she had left in the basin was shameful and yet she could not begin to clean it up. She couldn’t even be sure that she could have made it to the bathroom to wash her face and rinse out her mouth. She was ill.
“I’ll help her back to her room,” Juana offered. She grabbed hold of Kami’s arm and began slowly dragging her toward the little closet like bedroom.
Did Juana have her phone? Was this the time for Kami to make a move? She could not help but think that she just needed a few minutes with her phone and this whole nightmare would be over. All of a sudden the wolf shifter thing didn’t seem so serious. Devon’s crazy family didn’r seem bad either. His mother could be the biggest bitch on the planet and she still wouldn’t manage to be worse than Orlando Delgado.
Kami collapsed onto the threadbare carpet. It smelled musty. Had it always been like that? Kami didn’t remember it smelling so bad before. Maybe just being away from it for only a few nights was enough to change her whole perception.
“Kami, are you going to be all right?” Juana knelt on the floor beside Kami. She lightly pressed the phone into Kami’s hand. “I got your phone. I had to tell Papa that I wanted it just to play games. I don’t think he realizes that you can contact your husband with it. I don’t think he actually understands technology all that well.”
No doubt that was true. Kami struggled to lay on her back and hold the phone above her face. The brilliance of the display was underscored by the huge number of unanswered texts on the little machine. Her battery was pathetically low, but that didn’t matter. Kami could answer Devon’s texts. She could get help.
Billion Dollar Wolves: Boxset Bks 1-5 Page 91