Like literally.
She’d sentTres J’sto stay with us in New Jersey before she got to work. She had a dozen men who worked for Ernesto kidnapped and beheaded. Back then, the intersection of Avenida Boyacá and Calle 80 up in the northwest part of Bogotá was the most dangerous spot in the city. She had the heads dropped into traffic, so cars swerved to avoid them, ran over them, or pushed them along the road.
That wasn’t enough.
She had the bodies hanged from the neck over the side of Puente Calle 92, one of the busiest bridges in all of Bogotá. She sent a hand or foot to every major street gang or minor cartel leader. She sent one of Ernesto’shuevosto his wife because she wouldn’t let Estrella have a real man ifTíaLuciana couldn’t have hers. She sent Ernesto’s second-in-command’s entrails to him wrapped up like a Christmas present. She included a handwritten note that said, “Watch over your shoulder while youcan. Come after my family again, and I will pluck out your eyes. Then you’ll never see me coming.”
I should letTíaLuciana handle Ernesto for good, but he’s still Flora’sabueloas much as I despised him before and as much as I want him dead now.
“Will you do the same thing as Luciana?”
I guess she knows more than I thought.
“No, he’s your family, Florencia.”
“Thank heaven for small mercies.”
She mutters her response. I don’t know iftíoheard her.
“Flora, do you want to go to Bogotá before going to New York? I’ll take you to see your mother and to get anything you want from your apartment. I won’t allow Ernesto near you.”
I made the offer earlier, but that’s before we learned everything we know now.
“I need to seeMamá, but I don’t want to risk your life or mine if there are people searching for me.”
“Florencia, my brother and nephew are still in Bogotá.I have a small army of men down there with little to do now.”
That Humberto’s dead.
“We can protect you.”
I feel her uncertainty as she tenses, relaxes, and tenses again. She leans away from me so she can see my face.
“What do you think, Pablo?”
She’s deferring to me even though mytíoisjefe de jefes.
“We have the house on San Andrés. She can say she wants to get out of the city for a while because of everything that’s happened. You can meet her on the island. You said nothing about your apartment. Does that mean you don’t want to go there?”
“I don’t care about anything in there. It’s not worth the risk.”
She’s unconvinced we can protect her. It makes me feel like a failure. I’m not giving her the reassurance she needs. I put thephone on the armrest of the sofa and guide her to straddle my lap. I push down the pajama pants, and her eyes widen as though they might fall out. I guide her onto my cock, then press her to lean chest to chest again. Both of my hands grasp her ass. She releases a shuddering breath before she picks up the phone.
“Tío, can we call you back when we decide?”
“Sí, sobrino.”
“Te quiero, Tío.Talk to you soon.”
“Te quiero también.Bye.”
Flora hangs up and puts the phone back on the armrest. She burrows against my chest as I feel tears drip onto it.
“Papí, I don’t know what to do. You decide, please.”
“Right now, you’re going to stay right where you are. You can cry. You can sleep. You can just let me hold you. You’re safe.”
“I don’t know what to do. Can I stay like this forever? I feel safest when we’re like this. You’re a part of me, and I feel like I have the strongest, most powerful shield around me.”
