“He’s never been a caring man. He only used Carlos, you know this,” Ignacio reminded me. “Nothing is on you.”
I raised my gaze to his. He had warm brown eyes with light hazel flecks and dark hair with light waves. Being a part of the same family many of us shared certain features. We were all linked, but it felt like we were all so far apart at the same time.
“I don’t care what he thinks. I just want this to be over with.” I adjusted the sleeves of my dress. My rivalry with my father had lasted for years now, but I just wanted to take at least one step forward.
“It will be,” Ignacio assured me as he placed his hand on my shoulder. He gave me a small smile before glancing behind him. “I have to go. I’ll see you in there.” He hurried away.
I took a moment to catch my breath. At least I was in a public place. If I felt like my life was in danger, I could always call for help and hope my father wasn’t crazy enough to kill me with so many people around. I wouldn’t hold my breath, though.
After readying myself, I rounded the corner, smoothing my hands down my long-sleeved black dress. A tiny part of me wasn’t prepared for this. I wanted to throw up and cry at the same time. The other part of me wanted this to happen.
No, Ineededthis to happen.
When I saw Room 316 ahead of me, I slowed my walk, hearing voices pouring out of my brother’s room. It sounded like all of my family was crowded in there. Everyone loved Carlos with his devilish smirk and attitude. He reminded me of the villain everyone couldn’t help but love because he had such charisma and charm.
Carlos adored me, treating me like any good brother would treat their little sister. He messed with me and played pranks on me when we were younger. We were an inseparable pair, but as we grew older and became more involved in our family’s business, our father drove a wedge between us. Meanwhile, the rest of my family turned their nose up at me.
We spent less time together because my father wanted Carlos around him all the time to learn how he did things. Gradually, I was pushed away, becoming an outcast in my own family. I never felt like I belonged. This had prompted me tofind love far away from the circles of people in my life. I wished Carlos had found something special far away too.
I truly believed Carlos was a good man, despite our father’s influence. Maybe I was the only one who saw him that way because he could be tough. When he set his sights on something, he executed it with grace, unless some beautiful woman came along and caught his attention.
They were his weakness. As a gorgeous man, he loved gorgeous women, and if he’d spent less time pleasing my father, he could settle down with one of those women to live a long, happy, and safe life. However, this ending seemed like a long shot now since he was suspended in the dark, unpredictable depths of a coma.
I stopped outside of my brother’s room, I had been here before and the guards hadn’t refused me entrance then. I supposed my father hadn’t blacklisted me yet, but he might do that after today. With a confidence I did not really feel, I walked into the room, drawing every pair of eyes to me.
Some of my family members looked shocked. Some of them looked disgusted. Only a few seemed fine with my presence, one of those being Ignacio, who stood in the corner of the room.
The crushing, claustrophobic feeling grew even more intense as I peered at my family, who should’ve been by my side during my darkest moments. Honestly, it felt like I now stood in a room full of strangers.
I swallowed hard and kept my head up, refusing to look weak or scared in front of any of them. They didn’t deserve the satisfaction. I had suffered too damn much to back down now. I soon located my father, who sat in a chair next to Carlos’ right side.
I paused for a moment and gazed down at Carlos with a frown on my face. He looked so still and broken. Tubes and wires were hooked all over him. His head wasn’t bandaged anymore, but he seemed so limp. He looked thinner than the last time I had visited him and this worried me. He had always been in great shape.
He had a good heart at one time. In my mind, Carlos was still the man who was mesmerized by a simple farm life and he always smiled the most.
Would he revive to continue being that person?
The thought of Carlos never being that way again made my throat grow tight, but I forced myself to swallow and turned to face my father. The man that had done his part to erase all that was good about Carlos. But that was what Santiago did to people. He used them and abused them until they were dead inside. All the better for him as they obeyed him in all things.
Now the sight of him shocked me. Instead of his firm, tough front he put on, Santiago looked frail and years older than he should’ve looked. There were dark bags under his brown eyes and his shoulders sagged as he hunched over in the chair.
“Papá,” I said evenly to get his attention.
My father lifted his head to stare up at me. He looked miserable and exhausted. However, his eyes still harbored the same anger they always had. He couldn’t shake his hatred for me no matter what. Instead of even speaking to me directly, he grunted and looked away from me, staring down at Carlos.
Then suddenly, he shot up to his feet, pushing past me to face the family. “I can’t stand just sitting here waiting for him to wake up!” he snapped. His angry voice filled the entire room and spilled out into the hallway. If he was able to handle his anger better, he wouldn’t be such a terrible person, but he had hatredfor the entire world. He felt wronged and betrayed every time something went south.
Now, his heir was trapped in a coma that he might never be freed from. It was clearly killing him to see Carlos so still and broken. Carlos was young, brave, and handsome, but none of that could save him. The damage had been done. Now, we had to wait for a miracle and those didn’t come around all that often.
“I want the Mancinis to suffer for this!” my father shouted as he stalked around the room like a rabid animal looking for something poor and defenseless to attack.
“They should all be targeted,” Miguel commented as he stood between Luis and Juan.
While Juan looked enthusiastic to agree, Luis merely lowered his eyes to the floor, seeming tense.
One of the things that bothered me the most about my family was the fact that they were too scared to even fight for themselves. They bowed down to my father, even if they were forced to do things they didn’t want to do. They were afraid of being hunted down like Alex was, but were they really willing to live their lives as my father’s puppets forever?
“Yes! I want every single one of them dead,” my father yelled. “We’ll declare open war and pick them off one by one!”
