“Wait a minute. That name sounds familiar. Isn’t he some mob boss?”
She nodded, her eyes downcast. “We didn’t know what he was about at the time. He offered me a job so that I could help make ends meet for my family. But then he started…making passes at me. And well,” she breathed hard.
Carl bowed his head. He didn’t think he wanted to hear more. Anger seethed inside him mixed with sorrow. He’d kill anyone who laid a finger on her. “What happened?” his voice was dark, void of emotion. “Did he…?”
“No. But, my father got so upset. And Eduardo threatened to do something if we intervened in whatever he wanted to do.”
“What happened next?”
“Well, Eduardo came to the house one night. After I had quit working for him. My father and he argued and then…well, shots were fired …” Her voice trailed off and she covered her face with her hands. Carl reached over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
Venus regained her composure and looked up, straight ahead, her jaw clenched. “Eduardo was a powerful man in the town, everyone knew that. He has connections everywhere. People feared him.”
“Enough to get witnesses to say he was somewhere else,” Carl said, figuring out the rest.
Venus nodded, slowly.
“So let me guess. You were the only one who could positively, without a shadow of a doubt, identify him as the one who murdered your parents and so you entered into some kind of witness protection program.”
“Yes,” she said, bitterness spilling over in her voice. “But now he has escaped from prison. He escaped! I feel so responsible for…my parents’…deaths.” Her voice was heavy with remorse. “I…I don’t deserve to have a family. If only…”
“Whoa, wait a minute. If only what? You’d allowed Eduardo to sexually harass you? Hey, don’t ever let the evil actions of others make you feel in any part responsible. You did nothing wrong.”
Carl felt his gut clench. Damn! If he could just get his hands on that low-life bastard, Eduardo. All this time, he thought Venus was playing him and she was fleeing for her life. Anger knotted inside his gut as he tried to grasp the gravity of this dreadful situation.
“I’m sorry I lashed out at you like that,” Carl said darkly. “I’m gonna see to it that asshole is caught,” he vowed as fury surged through his blood.
“I’m glad it’s all out now,” she said with a cool reserve, her eyes vacant.
“So that’s why we couldn’t locate anything more about you even though we hired you. You have all your documents legal because your government arranged it, including a new birth certificate and passport.”
She nodded. “Yes. That’s right. But unlike the witness protection program in this country, in my country they give you very little to start your new life. You’re on your own. The plan was that I leave the country with no one knowing and take Tristan with me and legally adopt him under secrecy. I was so thankful to be hired by your family. You guys have been more than hospitable, kind, supportive.”
“Of course.”
“Luckily, Tristan is too young to…know the truth.” Venus swallowed hard. “I was told it would be best to come to Canada since no one would ever suspect me coming here. I dyed my hair and changed the texture.”
Carl was too stunned to speak at first. He was shocked, trying to process all this information. He drew in a deep breath. “I’ll call everything off so you don’t need to worry,” he said in a deep, low voice.
“What? Your bid for mayor? No, Carl. You must go forth!” she exclaimed.
“Go forth? Are you kidding me?” Carl didn’t know what had gotten into him all of a sudden. “You just told me that you’re in the witness protection program. Do you really want us to go public about our marriage?” He tried damn hard to keep his feelings from spiralling out of control, but it was too late. He was going crazy out of his mind at the thought of possibly losing Venus, for good.
Their marriage?
Wasn’t this supposed to be a fake relationship solely for show-and-tell purposes?
So then why was Carl feeling fiercely protective over her suddenly? The woman just lied the hell out of who she was—even for a good cause but still he had been deceived. He should be thinking about divorcing her and calling it a day—finding another woman to take her place.
But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t leave sweet Venus on her own to deal with all of this.
“Carl, this woman named Amber at the consulate assured me that everything is okay. Eduardo is still in Murumba. There is no way he’d be able to obtain a fake passport and there is no way he could know that I’m here. “
“So somebody knows you’re here?”
“Yes, but it’s okay. Amber helped me to get myself settled. She’s one of the few trusted people at the consulate who knows my real identity.”
“So that’s why you were terrified of telling me about your past?”
“Yes. I was told to not tell a single soul. And also, Eduardo vowed in the courtroom that I was going to be sorry. He threatened me!”
“What? After what the monster did? He had the gall to threaten you—in court?”
“Yes. Eduardo told me that he would make sure that no one else could have me. He’d kill me and anyone close to me.”
“Oh, God! I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Venus. I guess the idiot wanted to kill his chance of ever getting parole with that courtroom fiasco,” he said bitterly. His voice was laced with venomous sarcasm.
“Yeah, so that’s why even though I agreed to our arrangement. I thought it wasn’t important that you be involved with my past. It could have put you in danger.”
“But jeez, Venus! We’re married! Don’t you think I should have least known something? I can take care of myself! And take care of you!”
“Yes, you’re right. Thinking back in hindsight I see you’re right. It was foolish to think that I could get away with not ever revealing my past. That’s why I never thought I could ever get married. Of course, I knew this marriage that we have is only for a year, so I thought it would be different, you know?”
“Venus, I’m not going to announce anything yet, until I know for sure that murderous bastard and his entourage of thugs can’t get to you.”
Carl got up, looked at the time and grabbed his cell phone. He dialled a number. “Listen, we need to talk. Urgent. And get a D.P.”
“D.P?” Venus echoed. “Who is that?”
“It’s a code we use for disposable phone.”
“We use?”
“Never mind, for now anyway. I need to have some things checked on right away, before we leave Vegas. But not from this phone.”
“Why not?”
“My darling, Venus, you must know by now that all phones can be easily traced. Except disposable phones—at least not right away.”
“You mean, you’re not going to d-divorce me?” Venus could not believe this! After the ugly truth and her scandalous past finally came out, Carl still wanted to be with her? He wanted to protect her? Still, she felt psychologically naked, exposed, vulnerable. Carl knew her true identity. He knew who she really was and what she’d been involved in her past. Something she never knew she could handle, if he found out. What must he think of her? Nothing could rip away the guilt, the torment, the pain and anguish of her parents’ deaths. All because her crooked ex-boss wanted to harass her by forcing himself on her.
After she’d posed the question, Carl seemed to hesitate at first before answering. “No,” he said quietly. “I’m not going to divorce you—yet,” he added.
Yet?
Venus’s stomach sank to her knees again. Of course not, yet. But eventually they would end their marriage. Still, she was grateful that he didn’t just decide to end their nuptials right there and then. He certainly would be within his right to do so. And who could blame him? Part of her was deeply relieved now that it was all out in the open with Carl, but another part of her was deeply terrified. Her pulse pounded in her throat.
&n
bsp; “So what are you—I mean, what are we going to do now?” she asked. Her mind was still reeling over the heated discussion of the past few moments. Her emotions were spiralling out of control. Over Carl. She’d had the most passionate night, her very first time, and now this? It was marred by the skeletons of her past.
She’d never seen Carl so worked up before, so infuriated. But he had good reason to be. His anger was now directed at Eduardo. Venus actually feared for Carl. She knew the Romeros were a tough family dynasty, but Eduardo Meritos—the infamous mob boss? Eduardo played dirty. That man could obviously never be trusted.
She still flinched from Eduardo’s agonizing words at the trial. “I’ll kill you and anyone close to you!” he vowed with a vengeance.
Venus shivered just thinking about it. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, trying to settle her thrashing heartbeat.
Carl was way too caring, too kind. Too noble of a man to be put in harm’s way—and all because of her. Just as her family had paid the price because of—her. She didn’t want to put Carl at any risk. But then she’d already done so thinking that she could get away with pretending to be his wife—even just for one year.
What if any of Eduardo’s people recognized her beneath her disguise—her new look? Assuming she would be public beside her politician husband.
“That’s what happens when you come from a poor family,” she chuckled, humorlessly.
“What do you mean?” he asked. His gaze still blazed into hers.
“I would have never taken the job to help out with the bills and buying food if we didn’t need the money, Carl. But my mom and dad encouraged me at first to work at the store, even knowing it was owned by the Meritos family. It was our only chance. The store was looking for a young cashier. We…we desperately needed the money. Things were so rough. Mom was so sick after she’d given birth to Niko…to Tristan. She had developed cardiomyopathy right after Tristan’s birth. Dad wasn’t doing too well with his eyesight. I was the only one who could work at the time.”
“What about assistance from your local authority?”
“Pff. That’s no good. Useless. No city funds, Carl. It’s not like here in the western world. There are no agencies to help poor families.”
Carl cursed under his breath. That was exactly the reason he wanted to fight in local government and represent the people. It may be a world of difference between her country and his, but it all boiled to the same sickness. Poverty. No family deserved to live that way.
More than ever, he wanted to fight for people like Venus, Tristan, like his own parents who’d lost everything because of a stroke of bad luck, illness and job loss. Damn! It just wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. And the sad irony was that Venus had a similar experience that he had growing up, only difference was, she was left to fend for herself without any help from her government.
“Carl, please don’t,” Venus finally uttered, interrupting his thoughts. “I don’t want you to proceed with me. I can’t put you at risk. I just can’t!”
“What? Are you kidding me? You think I’m afraid of that bastard Meritos?” Carl raged. He stood by the windowpane. An air of command exuded him. He had an innately captivating presence—even half dressed, his muscular chest exposed, wearing nothing but silk pajama bottoms. “You clearly don’t know me that well, Venus.” His voice was low, deadly. Anger flashed in his dark eyes.
“I know I don’t know you that well, Carl. But…I know of Eduardo. He’s lethal. He’s crazy. I couldn’t bear it if he-”
“Stop that,” he said, more gently, his fingers stroked her arm sensuously and she felt his warmth zap into her, calming her. “No one is going to harm you or anyone close to you. Ever again. I promise. Okay?”
Venus nodded slowly.
Carl touched her trembling lips with his soft finger and she tingled with delight. Her fear and anxiety seemed to melt slightly with one tender stroke of his warm flesh. She inched closer to him, needing this intimacy more than ever.
He lowered his head to hers and captured her lips with his and heat exploded between them.
“Oh,” she moaned breathlessly, enrapt by his sweet, soft kiss. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream—if only she could turn back the hands of time and none of this happened. If only she could have erased her past with one strike of a delete button. If only…
He parted from her lips and gazed intently into her eyes. What was he thinking? Funny, but she didn’t need to know. She felt it. She felt so connected to what he was feeling in her heart in a way that she could not explain.
In some situations, words were not necessary. Body language, vibes said it all. Reactions spoke volumes. The eyes told plenty in their soulful depths. This was one such situation where words were not adequate for a message to be communicated. For the first time in her life—in a long while, she didn’t feel so…alone.
Venus could see raw hurt smoldering in Carl’s dark eyes. He was hurt because of her, because of what had been done to her and her family. No one in her life had ever felt her pain the way Carl seemed to.
She reached her arms across his shoulders and hugged him tightly. She did not want to let him go. Her heartbeat pounded furiously inside her, blood roared through her veins. She would die if anything ever happened to Carl.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“My God, this is serious!” Pamela exclaimed. She looked as if the blood had been siphoned from her face. Her jaw fell open when Carl and Venus explained the situation.
It was seven o’clock in the morning and Carl, Venus, Jules and Pamela had all convened in Pamela’s hotel suite down the main corridor.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Carl said, running his fingers through his hair. It was a mindless habit he’d given up years ago whenever he felt jittery. He hadn’t felt that way in years, until last night.
“I dug up some info from an online search under Nadya Kosorokwii, sometimes spelled Nadja,” Jules reported, a phone held to his ear.
Jules had followed Carl’s early morning instruction and ran to a retailer that was open to get a disposable cell phone so that they could make a few calls to their contacts overseas.
“It’s a good thing we’re in Vegas,” Carl said, “At least when you sent those texts earlier, it could only be traced to the U.S. If anyone of his thugs found out, we’d be long gone to Canada by then.”
“Yeah, good thing.”
“What are you doing?” Venus interjected.
“We’re just making sure we can locate him. We know your country’s authorities are searching for him but we just want to make sure he doesn’t have any contacts with the local police, if you know what I mean,” Carl added.
“Right, I see,” Venus said, her voice sounding lifeless.
“Yeah, ever wonder how he was able to escape from maximum security in Murumba?” Jules posed, leaning by the counter.
“I can guess,” Venus said bitterly.
“We’ve heard a lot about corrupt officials in your country being paid huge sums of money to do favors for inmates. We’re not going to take any chances. We’ll make sure he’s caught,” Carl vowed.
“Hey,” Carl turned his attention to Jules. “Did you get the text image of him?” His lips were curled in disgust.
“Oh, yeah. He’s as ugly as he sounds,” Jules commented. “Here’s his most recent mug shot. Our men are on it now. Even if he tries to use a disguise, we can nail him. He’s over six-foot-five and apparently has a huge scar on the side of his face. Can’t miss it.”
“And a limp,” Venus added, anxiety eating her alive inside. “He also limps. He had an injury as a child, so we’ve learned.”
“Okay. That information will help a lot. It won’t be too long, trust me,” Jules continued. “And even if he’d paid authorities with what limited funds he has left. If it means we outbid them, so be it. Criminals belong behind bars. Period.”
“Good,” Carl said. Never in his life had he felt bitter anger directed at someone. Anyone who would even t
hink of doing the unspeakable acts that man had done deserved to pay the price in the legal system.
“In the meanwhile,” Pamela chimed in, “if you two still want to go ahead as planned for Carl’s nomination bid, there is a way around things where Venus is concerned.”
“As long as Venus is protected, I’m game,” Carl said with an air of authority.
“Well, she will be,” Pamela assured. “You have the option of not releasing the names of your wife and children in your run for mayor, Carl. The government does respect the right to privacy for the families of local politicians and candidates.”
“Good,” Carl said.
“So, what we’ll do is just note on your official bio that you are married with a step-son—which you are, so no deception there. No mentions of names at this point. It’s not necessary. And of course, if and when you win, we can have Venus dressed in such a way that media attention is not focused on her. Very few people care much for the immediate family members of local politicians—unless, of course, there is controversy … or scandal. But there are strict privacy laws in place. So it’s a go.”
Carl was relieved. He could see across the room that Venus was content with the arrangement, too. Now all he had to do when he returned to Canada was to announce his intent to run as a married man with a child. And pull out all the stops to make sure the thug that ruined his wife’s life was back behind bars—for good.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The following week, the headlines were buzzing: Carl Romero announces his run for mayor!
Carl was on his way to Channel 31 Studios for a brief interview. His cell phone was vibrating like crazy, nonstop. The phones at his office and at his official residence were just as hectic. He knew there would be some interest given the family he was a part of and recent press he and his brothers had received, but he could not have imagined the magnitude.
He glanced at the digital display clock on the dashboard of his new Ford Explorer. Okay, so it wasn’t his BMW or his Corvette, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to be flaunting his riches now that he was an official mayoral candidate. Besides, it wasn’t about the money, it was the good things that could be done to help others that counted, that mattered.
The Billionaire's Proposition (The Romero Brothers, Book 4) Page 10