I'd been sold out, plain and simple, although it was my own damn fault. After seeing the positive pregnancy test, I'd gone into a sort of daze, leaving it behind in my bathroom along with the box on my dresser while I went back out to oversee the cleanup and repairs from the storm. Of course, someone found it and put two and two together. As soon as they could, they'd reported back to my dad what had been found in his daughter's bathroom, and two hours later, I'd been surprised when he pulled up in a four-wheel drive TAC, red-faced and already starting to rant.
I could’ve denied it, but knowing my father, he would’ve simply ordered me to take another test. Besides, I’d never been able to flat out lie to him in my entire life. The most I'd been able to do was hide information from him. It was that deception I used to hide my feelings for Tomasso, and even that wouldn't work any longer.
So now, nearing midnight, I was exhausted and worn out emotionally and physically.
"How could you do it, Luisa?" my father finally yelled, turning and addressing me for the first time. "Why?"
"I love him, father," I whispered, hugging my knees. "With all my heart, I love him."
"No,” he said, shaking his head. "You're confused. It's what happened last time, remember? I know it, it must be. But that's all right, I will have vengeance."
He stormed off, leaving me with a chill in my heart. I'd listened in as he had ranted and screamed at Carlo Bertoli over the video call link before hanging up on him, only to start in on me. He'd called in all of the Mendosa men he could, including both Vincente and Eduardo, telling them to make plans for trips to America. He was preparing to take the fight to the Bertolis and start a blood bath in Seattle.
I stayed in the chair, not knowing what else to do. When I had to go to the bathroom, I found one of my father's men standing outside the door, escorting me to the toilet and then to my room, which had been stripped down to just the bed, a mostly empty set of drawers, and some books that I'd last read in high school. I fell into bed, exhausted and afraid but unable to fall asleep. Instead, I closed my eyes and decided if there was any time for this sinner to pray, it was now.
I said a little prayer that no blood would be spilled and that a peaceful resolution could be found. I didn't know if my words had any supernatural effect, but I found enough inner peace to fall into a deep sleep, where Tomasso found me. We were back in Seattle, but much older, maybe in our mid-thirties or early forties, sitting by the ocean. We weren't doing anything special, just watching two children play by the water, but I had a sneaking suspicion that those children were ours, a girl and a boy. We sat there, sipping coffee, and I was wearing an Angora sweater while Tomasso had his arm around my shoulders. It was restful, it was relaxing, and I awoke in the morning to feel a hint of hope.
It was that hope that sustained me throughout the day as I felt like a pariah around the house. Vincente, in particular, was the worst, looking on me with disdain any time he and I were in the same room. Finally, after about the third time he'd given me a look, I snapped the book I was reading closed and stared at him. "Do you have something you want to say?"
"I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that you whored yourself out," Vincente said. "Fucking a Bertoli and getting pregnant by him? What, were you looking for a green card or something?"
I was too settled into my chair to be able to jump up at him in time to get him, but my throwing arm is pretty good for a woman who never played sports, and I was able to whip the hardback book well enough to hit him in the chest. He stumbled back, probably more in shock than in pain, and I was able to get up and grab him by the hair, spinning him around and jamming him against the door frame. He struggled, but his extra strength and mass meant nothing with my positioning. Besides, I'd been working hard, both in Seattle and here, and I was in good shape. When he started to push off, I stepped on the back of his right knee, collapsing him down. "If you ever, and I mean ever, talk to me like that again, our father will find that he only has two sons."
Vincente struggled for a bit, until I heard a quiet, commanding voice in the hallway. "I'd apologize if I were you."
“S . . . sorry," Vincente gritted out through clenched teeth, and I let him up, stepping away but not lowering my guard one bit. He rubbed at his cheek, which was turning red from where I'd jammed his face against the door frame, and walked out without saying another word.
Eduardo came into the doorway, watching as Vincente made his escape before turning to me. "I'm sorry he was rude to you. I'll talk to him later."
I chuckled darkly, knowing how Eduardo had discussions with people. The eldest of us, he was composed and serious, much more so than the hot-headed Vincente, at least, even if he was still arrogant. "Make sure you don't break his arm," I said, going back around to my chair and sitting down. "I just left a place where I was helping a man rehabilitate. There is no way I'm going to be stuck helping Vincente take a piss for the next two months."