Call Me By My Name

Ch.7

Mateo

I can’t tell you why I got upset when I heard her telling some guy that she loved him and making promises to bring them whatever they wanted. Hearing all of that was one thing, but seeing the look of pure love and adoration for whoever she was talking to had me off a rail, I wasn’t even aware I was standing on. I’m good at reading people and she didn’t take much, so I can analyze the moments when she should be annoyed. Those moments held nothing but smiles and patience.

It wasn’t my business to ask who she was speaking with, and I was out of line to say what I did. Yet, I couldn’t keep from speaking on it. Five years ago I knew she was to marry another and still took her. I took what was to be given by her husband and never thought twice about it. Last night, just by touching her alone, I knew it’d been a while since she'd been with another and if she didn’t run from me, I’d willingly take her without a doubt.

I wasn’t judging her, and never would. I just found myself annoyed with her and I couldn’t honestly say why. Her response to my invasive prying didn’t help. When she asked if I was upset, the truth was that I was, but I couldn’t make myself say it out loud. It was stupid because I didn’t even know why I was upset. I was trying to figure all that out when she took off, obviously annoyed with my response.

Luckily, when I called for her not to leave, she hesitated, probably not even acknowledging it. If not, she would have experienced more than she did.

Too focused on her, I could only see the ones inside through the glass mirrors in my peripheral. It was enough to see the building filling with smoke but I was too late to get to her before the blast. It all happened so fast. It couldn’t have been a mere second when I saw the smoke when the bomb went off. I was already behind her, but the after-impact of the bomb had her out cold.

Unprepared for what was happening, even as I heard the screams of those within, I knew I had to get her out of the way. I didn’t do so unscathed. A second bomb went off as I gathered her in my arms, both of us getting hit by debris. By the time I got us both in the clear, two more bombs had gone off and what was known as the Imperial Hall was nothing but rubble.

In an unfortunate time like this, it wasn’t a higher being I was thanking. It was my dysfunctional and mentally messed-up parents. To be able to zone out everything around and solely focus on one objective in a time of chaos was a theme of their training. Panic was not something that was ever allowed and even though this was the first real live bombs I had to maneuver around, I kept my cool and got us out safely.

Can’t say it was easy. The screams halted but the whimpers and smell of burnt flesh were at a new height. After placing her down in a far and hidden area between a flower bed, I called for backup. I knew that the emergency signal had gone out but I needed to confirm before they fully moved in. Once confirmed, I made my way to case the scene.

It took a total of six hours to rescue those that were still breathing and clean up the ones that were no longer alive. By that time, only twelve survived and four of them were out of the seven that were of Dario’s crew and that’s not counting me. Neither Dario nor his new wife Maria could be found. None of their immediate family members survived outside of Blue.

The whole thing was a shxt show. I should be happy that my targets were taken out, but this was far messier than I’m used to or prepared for. A hundred- and forty people died, including guests and staff. From the late-night report, there was no denying that this was planned. I have a suspicion of the who, but what I don’t get is why.

______

“Your son, your rule. You deal with this shxt.” Gunnar spat out through the video call.

“Kane is on it. How is she?” Mom asked as if asking for the morning weather. I knew she was concerned but with Gunnar acting like that, she had to keep it neutral.

“She’s still out of it. The doctor said to give it another day or two.”

“Hmm, I see. Get some rest, I’ll call you later tonight. Love you.”

“Ok. Love you too, Mom.” She took a few seconds before hanging up. From the tired look on her face throughout the video call, I knew there was a lot she wanted to say but couldn’t with the dads around.

Mom is always five steps ahead, if not more. There was more to this assignment she didn’t relay to the rest of us. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if she already knew what exactly went on. Knowing it was better to wait for her to tell me herself and focus on the little I had control of, I closed the laptop and went to check on the one reason I was still in this hell hole.

Walking down the hall of the house, I thought of the last two days. The bombing of the Imperial Hall happened two days ago. Dario and his wife were still nowhere to be found but, as of right now, only my parents and I were aware. Out of the twelve that were saved, only eight made it and two unidentified dead bodies were discovered yesterday, but that’s a whole other story.

My job was far from damage control, but I did the best I could. So far, the story has been that whoever bombed the place died in the bombing or was nowhere to be found. The first narrative was the one being pushed to the public. Can't say it's been working out. The government was in an uproar and the so-called quiet island was in chaos. The whole situation was a shxt show, but right now all I could focus on was the woman who had been unconscious for the past two days.

She hit her head pretty hard when she fell and moving her the way I did, didn’t help. Thanks to her locs that absorbed most of the impact and blood, the damage wasn’t fatal but still concerning. If I had known how badly she was hurt, I would never have left her alone. I was careless about many things that day, but being careless with her was one I truly regretted.

Sending a silent prayer, I dismissed the guards and went into her room. I found the doctor checking her vitals when I entered. She was still out of it but the doctor had high hopes. I listened to his report while checking on her. I was glad to hear that the swelling on her head went down and she was able to get off the machines.

If all goes well, she should wake up soon. What happens after is another concern. The doctor tried to ease my mind, telling me there were no signs of impairments. I’ll have to see for myself when she wakes up.

After the doctor left, I made myself comfortable on the couch next to her bed. I still had a lot of work to do before Uncle Kane and the rest of the crew arrived. In between watching her, I worked on the reports and filtered through statements of the survivors. Maybe it was because I was too close to this case, but I was having a hard time wrapping this up. In due time, I won't have a choice.

My targets were dead, and my mission was completed. I should have been able to walk away and leave the rest to the cleaners, but I couldn’t. Someone fxcked up my plans, but more than that, she was almost a casualty and that pissed me off more than anything else. I don’t know how long I was working and overthinking about this mess, but it was long enough for Shane to come to find me.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes? When was the last time you ate, let alone slept?” I didn’t bother answering my cousin and second in command as I hushed him while looking at her. He plopped down on the couch next to me, studying me as his father does to Mom.

“Did you find anything?”

“A few but until you eat, it’s going to have to wait, and I don’t think here is a good place to have this conversation.”

“I’m not hungry.” He was right about the latter, but food wasn’t something I was in the mood for, but my cousin and second-in-command never cared much about my moods.

“Food will be here soon, along with Dad, and you know how the latter will work out.”

“Fine, get a nurse in here and I’ll meet you in the next room.”

He didn’t hesitate to hop off the couch. Seeing how quickly he got to it, I have a feeling what he found out wasn’t scraps like we’ve been getting. But knowing my cousin, I won’t get anything out of him unless he’s satisfied with my state of being. As much as he hates to admit it, the older we get, the more he becomes like Uncle Kane.

Smiling at the thought, I checked on her one last time before leaving. I met the nurse before entering the next room. Seeing she was one of ours, I left her be and waited for Shane. It didn’t take long for him to enter with both hands full of bags of food from a local restaurant with a somber look on his face.

I forced myself to eat. I was swallowing more than chewing. The food tasted bland, but I'm sure a lot of it was because all I wanted was to get this over with and get back to her. The whole process couldn’t have lasted ten minutes, but it felt like hours. Shane remained quiet the whole time, pretending not to pay me any mind. I’ll hear the jokes once this is all over. Whenever that is.

“So, do you want the good news or bad news first?”

“Just start talking.” I answered without much care, trying to move things along. When he started, I wished he would stop. Nothing he said surprised me. More than half, I had already prepared for. I would have preferred it all to be simple, but when has that ever been my life?

“Bad news it is. As of right now, your assumption was correct. The four left from your crew confessed that they saw you in the areas where the bombs were planted with details of you being a hitman and how you planned this m******e. Notes and layouts were found in your room. All the cameras were busted weeks before.

It looks like the police were also bought and the two mysterious dead bodies found have been claimed as Dario and Maria. Since the last living relative of the Denise family is in a coma and Maria’s parents had already left for the States prior, they used the guys to confirm the bodies. With that, all of the dead have been cremated.”

There was more; there was always more, but I listened and kept on listening. As Shane continued with his report, I sat back and took it all in trying not to think of the woman lying in the next room. First, there was no way Gunnar was going to let me live this down. Second, I'd have to leave her thinking I was the killer of her parents and brother.

Shockingly, it was the latter that had me hesitating. I didn’t get much time to process nor hear Shane’s version of good news when the nurse came barging in.

“She’s up. Do any of you know where her phone is at?”

“No” Shane answered.

“It’s in the second draw next to her bed.” I corrected. It stung a little that the first thing she asked for was her phone and I’m sure it was to call whoever she made those endless promises to. Yet, I forced myself to allow it. In a few hours or days, it won’t matter. My delusion of her would only be that, just a delusion of what I wished could be but already knew would never.