Chapter 5 Carolina AlcâNtara

• Carolina Alcântara
• I sit in the office, extremely reluctant. I didn’t expect Hassan to remind me about Bruno within the first twenty words after we had sex.
• It’s frustrating that this happened. I hold my large cup of black coffee as I try to organize my mind, which is now filled with pending matters, especially with the Swiss. I turn on my laptop and try to focus while I wait for my mother to pick up.
• As I hear the persistent ringing on the other side, I begin looking over the movements of the cash register from last week, especially the people who visited the Swiss, hoping to close a partnership.
• My inbox is full of messages from both Juliana and my brother, I sit in the office, extremely reluctant. I didn’t expect Hassan to remind me about Bruno within the first twenty words after we had sex.
• It’s frustrating that this happened. I hold my large cup of black coffee as I try to organize my mind, which is now filled with pending matters, especially with the Swiss. I turn on my laptop and try to focus while I wait for my mother to pick up.
• As I hear the persistent ringing on the other side, I begin looking over the movements of the cash register from last week, especially the people who visited the Swiss, hoping to close a partnership.
• My inbox is full of messages from both Juliana and my brother Cláudio. They must definitely suspect something.
• It’s already the third call, and Mrs. Clarice still hasn’t answered, which is starting to worry me, especially since my brother and Juliana had already called me. I’m sure they’ve seen Bruno,
• and he must’ve said something.
• "What is it, Carolina? It’s still three in the morning here," I hear my mother’s voice scolding me. Damn, I forgot about the time zone.
• I hold back tears and stand up to ease the lump that lodged in my throat. I sniff a bit, then manage to get my mother’s attention.
• . They must definitely suspect something.
• It’s already the third call, and Mrs. Clarice still hasn’t answered, which is starting to worry me, especially since my brother and Juliana had already called me. I’m sure they’ve seen Bruno, and he must’ve said something.
• "What is it, Carolina? It’s still three in the morning here," I hear my mother’s voice scolding me. Damn, I forgot about the time zone.
• I hold back tears and stand up to ease the lump that lodged in my throat. I sniff a bit, then manage to get my mother’s attention.
• "Daughter, what happened?" I hear the rustling of sheets and Paulo speaking in Greek in the background.
• "Mom, I separated..." My voice falters.
• I don’t want to tell her what I discovered a few years ago or how I caught him in bed with another woman.
• "What do you mean, you separated? Tell the story properly… you can lie down, dear, it’s just Carol letting me know she’s sick…" I hear my mother lying for me, to the man she loves.
• I know I can’t separate because of the mafia’s rules, but we were practically living a fake marriage. Bruno had already cheated on me once when he drank more than he could handle and let his dick do the talking by sleeping with the secretary from the San Diego branch.
• He managed to hide the situation for months, but the guilt consumed him until one day he confessed what had happened. That day, I forgot he was the father of my children, and I took him to a secluded spot we have at the Swiss. It’s a small room I had built with the best materials, so the acoustics wouldn’t leak—meaning it’s soundproof.
• I still remember the beating I gave him, the cuts I scattered over his body, and how I wore him down after almost a week of torturing him. But I couldn’t kill him; he’s still the father of my children.
• From that day on, my soldiers who witnessed my torture started to really fear me. They saw what I was capable of since I didn’t forgive my own husband.
• With the dagger, I received as a gift from Alex and Demétrius, held to the traitor’s neck in front of me, I decided at the last second to let him live. But I told him we wouldn’t be a conventional couple anymore. From that moment on, he would be nothing more than my sexual object, and if he betrayed me again, there would be no turning back.
• Now I’m here, looking at my cold coffee, with my pussy swollen, satisfied by the way that damn Arab fucked me, and my mother worrying on the phone.
• "He cheated on me again, Mom. This time, I caught him in bed with another woman, but to make matters worse, I’m pregnant with his child." I reveal the situation.
• "My God…" I heard her question. "Carol, what do you plan to do? You know that if this situation becomes a topic for the council, it could complicate things. Cheating is not tolerated among those who have a seat at the council."
• I let out a heavy sigh. I know the damn rules because I searched for a loophole so we could divorce. But in every one I found, he would be killed in various ways, each worse than the last.
• Subtly, I even talked to Fritz about it, but he was so obsessed with keeping my mother-in-law safe that he didn’t even pay attention to me, so I didn’t get any answers to my questions.
• Not to mention that my father-in-law is an old fox. If he knew what his stepson had done, he could kill everyone to show each member why they should follow the rules.
• "I don’t know yet, but I’m in Miami, and he’s back in Rio," I tell my mother. I turn when I hear the door opening.
• I see Frank, and a feeling of disappointment settles in my chest. I had hoped it was the other guard.
• "Sorry, ma’am. Do you have a time to leave?" he asks, and I shake my head. He nods and starts to leave the office.
• "Frank?" He comes back into the office, and I move the phone away from my face.
• "Please ask Hassan to come to the office in twenty minutes." I ask the man, who nods and walks away, closing the door.
• I return the phone to my face and decide to tell the truth. I need advice, and above all, support, because my actions can’t be justified by what he did.
• "Mom, we’ve been living this way for almost two years. He cheated on me as soon as Matheus turned two…" I begin telling my mother the story, and she mutters a few curse words under her breath.
• "Daughter, listen to me. I know you’re very hurt right now, but I want you two to talk. Don’t turn him over to the council." I sigh in frustration because it’s obvious that I won’t, especially with three kids to raise.
• "I’ll be there in a week. I’ll find a reason to bring Ivone so we can find a solution."
• "Mom, I don’t want my mother-in-law to know, actually, I don’t want anyone to know, especially in Greece." I hear her laughter in the background.
• "What’s wrong? Are you afraid that Greek god will leave the redhead for you?" I start to laugh nervously.
• "Ma’am, you know there’s no chance of that happening. Alex is madly in love with Bonnie and would never get involved in their marriage." I tell the truth.
• I see him as my older brother, and I know that when he finds out that Bruno cheated on me twice, he’ll see red and won’t calm down until he’s taken blood from him.
• "Alright, but I’m going, and I’ll leave Paulo behind. It’ll just be the three of us." I have no choice but to accept. "One more thing, call me and let me know how the pregnancy is going. If you called me, it’s because you probably don’t know much yet." That’s why I love my mom—she knows things even when I say little.
• "Don’t worry, I’ll send a message later to let you know. Sorry for waking you up…" I look at the door, which opens to reveal an Arab man in a suit standing in the doorway. "Mom, I have to go. As soon as everything is settled, I’ll let you know."
• I hear a few more instructions and hang up the phone, leaving it on the table.
• I called my bodyguard to come in. He stops in the middle of the room, standing in his usual soldier position, while I sit on the sofa in front of the shelf, which has several family photos on it.
• "Sorry for distancing myself like that, Tajdid, but that wasn’t what I expected to hear from you after yesterday." I say, looking at my bodyguard.
• He maintains his soldier stance, eyes forward with his hands in front of his body, waiting for orders.
• "Sorry to ask, but tell me, what did my Sayidati expect to hear?" I look at him and see a smile form at the corner of his mouth.
• "Maybe you’re inviting me to your bed again," I say, with a bit of hope.
• This time, he breaks his stance, turns toward me, and in two long strides, Hassan stops in front of me and crouches down to look me in the eyes.
• "Maybe I was just waiting for nightfall to knock on your door," he says.
• A feeling I haven’t felt in a long time begins to stir, tightening the muscles of my intimacy, leaving me wet with excitement. Looking into his black eyes makes me want him to take me right here.
• I bring my hands to the lapels of his suit and pull him toward me, but the bastard holds on to the sofa, not letting me kiss him. He smiles smugly and sits beside me.
• "Tell me, Sayidati, what do you want?" he asks.
• I look at him as he unbuttons his suit, his hand slides around my waist, and my breath quickens when he touches me, encouraging me to move to his lap.
• "Come on, tell me what you want from this soldier, Sayidati…"
• His voice is velvet, full of desire, and my breathing starts to speed up. My breasts, which were heavy, almost spill out of the dress’s neckline, not to mention my panties, which were completely soaked.
• "I want to go back to bed, with you giving me pleasure…" I whisper, looking into his eyes.
• "Carolina, this is a dangerous path. I’m not what you think I am, and I know that when you do your research, you’ll discover many things." I moved a little away from the man who was sitting, making advances toward me.