AWAKENING (22 page)

Nico
rubbed the stubble on his chin, stroking it while thinking about Ariana. Man, she
hadn’t wasted any time finding a replacement, had she? Nico bet she didn’t tell her new beau about
her ex’s
occupation, why else would he still be around? Darren told him all about the nerdy guy.

“He’s not even funny dad. He makes corny jokes and tries too hard. I don’t know why he just can’t like mom and stop trying to be our friend?”

He wanted to tell his son, “Because he’s trying to get some ass from your mom on a regular
basis
and if you boys
start giving him flack it might hinder his objective,” but of course he didn’t say this aloud. Uh-uh, Ariana would flip.
Then
,
his thoughts wandered to Selange and the deep breath he took was to calm the sudden boom…boom…boom of his chest. How the hell could he
not think about her, huh? She was now the mother of his children, as well.
He watched her give birth and it was the most glorious thing ever,
holding the tiny creations a precious gift to a hardened man
.
All of his children were.
H
e missed out the first time, Ariana’s family was there but he was away doing what he’s ordered to do…kill. When he made
it
to New York, the babies were two months old. She hadn’t been pissed,
no,
instead
she wrapped her arms around him, made him feel at home with her special tea and filled him in on everything he missed.

Selange asked
why he hadn’t fought for Ariana and the truth is he wanted to but
somewhere in his bones
he’d given up. The boys were teenagers and she’d done most of the raising without him. She never
needed
him,
at least she never said she did. Selange said it, told him with her kisses and those soft innocent eyes. She made him feel
wanted
and
needed
.
Ariana didn’t
treat him that way
anymore. Maybe,
it’s why he let her leave; she was
already out the door.
He
saw Ariana’s face, bold and fierce. The anger was hurt disguised. She’d witnessed his love for another woman and faced him like a General. She put up her chin, stared him down without fear and marched with her troops out the door. Goddammit, Selange was right, he should have fought
and blocked
her retreat.
What he realized now as he mulled it over was she wanted to leave with her dignity. Man, he should’ve a
pologized, made love to her with every goddamn thing he had to change her mind, but he hadn’t.
W
hy the hell
did it take so long for him to recognize Ariana was the warrior and it’s her type of love
he
needed.
Selange
was for a different type of man, one who
w
ould pamper
her
and stay put. He wasn’t right for the young woman, she’d get angry at his disappearances, she’d want what he couldn’t give and that’s stability.
Ariana
didn’t require those
things
,
she
simply wanted
him
and took the broken pieces that came with it. Ah, you dumb sonovabitch, why’d you let your warrior go?

Honor
Vincent’s
memory
and
honor
yourself
, finish this job and
find out if there’s anything to salvage with Ariana before she ends up marrying a dumb nerd. She knows that isn’t her type
!

His eyelids squeezed tightly together then suddenly
spr
a
ng apart. He rolled over and snatched the mini-laptop from the beat-up wood stand. He sat cross-legged with
the
device between his thighs and started punching keys. Hack, the shit, he told himself, access the hotel cameras and take a peek.

The focus returned, he should’ve thought of
this hours
ago. Once he got in to the mainframe
, he
searched for weaknesses. The computer program language was in C++. This gave him a smug satisfaction because this language was rife with security hazards.
H
e cracked the source code
and from there
it was smooth sailing. Firewalls
and
spy deterrent software was a waste of money
if companies failed to regularly test for security vulnerabilities
.

He peered at the screen,
then
made a circular motion with his finger,
sc
rolling around for a close-up of the lobby
.

“Um
,
” he mumbled then
typed in some numbers and zeroed in on the hallway.

O
utside
the hotel
room
where Gregorio hid, were
two
men in dark suits
. He
zoomed in
and
one of the faces brought an expletive.
“
Fucking Hell, Agent Christopher Hernandez, my boy Franky the undercover
asshole
!”

The undercover agent
had
infiltrated
Alfonzo’s
organization
a few years ago.
This became
interesting
since the agent was now in the mix
. He always wanted a shot at the poser, now he’d get his chance.
Anyway, turns out the two-faced sonovabitch help
ed
save Alfonzo and
Selange
from a hit squad and Alfonzo put the word out to let
the bastard
live. The
re were
problem
s with that
order
,
firstly, to get at
Gregorio, Nico had to take-out the agent.
S
econdly, he
itched to kill the sonovabitch
for putting Selange in danger
. Ye
p
, this was payback
.
Alfonzo
gave the agent a pass, Nico planned to veto the shit!

He checked the time
;
the day
ran
fast
and
soon he
had to act.
Gregorio was scheduled to give a deposition in two days. Nico figured he
’d
sit tight one more day, then tomorrow night
after
the kinks
got worked
out of his plan, he’d complete the job. The hotel was right next door
to
the apartment Nico
o
ccupied
,
courtesy of
the
heroin
addicted tenant lying dead in the gutter.

Nico took a break
to
chow down on a hero sandwich
and
drank
his beer. He
propped
his feet
on the sofa
to watch
a morning talk
show. He chuckled at the insanity on TV. Man leaves his job in finance to pursue a dream to become a porn star, really? Suddenly, at the bottom of the dirty screen
a BREAKING NEWS banner scrolled across
it. The show changed to an active crime scene image.
There were swarms of reporters talking excitedly in the background along with police activity.

“…Ladies and gentleman, it appears Senator Liebowitz suffered a fatal gunshot wound as we’re told. Once again, Senator Liebowitz was assassinated this morning during a press conference here in Washington, D.C. at ten-twenty three a.m.”

The beer waited near Nico’s mouth. Holy shit, the timing couldn’t get any worse. Based on this, the feds were going to move Gregorio as fast as they could. Nico cursed, now he had to move up his plan. He had to
whack Gregorio,
tonight!

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Maria arrived ready to take over. She didn’t waste much time commandeering Allie from Anita or scolding Selange for cradling the babies
when
they cried and wagged a
finger for emphasis, “No, you will be exhausted doing this. Check their diaper and if it’s good and they
’ve eaten
then you let them cry sometimes. If you don’t they
’ll
become demanding. You forget
these things
?”

“No,
Nana
Maria.
I haven’t forgotten.”

“Good.” She sat on the window bench and folded her hands
watching her former daughter-in-law sadly. The young woman made a terrible mistake. Ay
e
, Alfonzo’s neglect caused her to seek comfort outside the marriage. If only, she had come to her, she would have given Selange spiritual advice. But, it was too late for that now. Her son was an unforgiving and proud man. Divorcing Selange was his retribution and he was probably
up
to his old philandering ways. Aye!

“Does my son come and help with Allie and Sal?”

Selange was changing little Vincent’s pamper, “Of course he does.”

“Good.”

S
elange smiled at the quiet infant
. S
he swore
the boy
looked straight at her and smiled a bubble of spit right back. She touched his small toes, marveling at how soft and tiny they were, wishing
his dad could
see how much he’d grown in a matter of weeks.
The last conversation she had with Nico was eight days ago. He checked in on them, said he got the e-mail pictures and thanked her. He promised to visit and that’s the last she heard from him. She guessed he was on assignment
.
She’d known from the start he was like the wind and it wouldn’t last.
Nico
wasn’t meant to stay in one place, the wind never does.

Maria appeared silently at Selange’s side,
she
peer
ed at the
little boy.
He had such an adorable face
. She squint, this baby had a
face just like her
son
at
th
e same
age
.
Maria seized her rosary beads in shock. The action caused her former daughter-in-law to turn with a worried expression. “Are you okay?”

Maria
swallowed;
her mind racing with possibilit
ies
. Was Selange certain…absolutely…one hundred percent correct these babies were
not
Alfonzo’s
? This boy was the splitting image of Alfonzo.

Afraid to insult the young woman she said nothing. Instead, she lifted the child and held him to her breast. She rubbed his back, remembering how happy she was holding her son like this and finally commented. “I’m fine…it’s just I
’m
glad to be here. I really missed
los
ninos
y
tú
.”

‘We missed you too…” Selange
replied then hugged Maria from the side
, “I’m glad you’re here. I really am.”

Maria smiled, “Go,
finish
your work. I’ll watch the babies
.
”

“Are you sure, you just came, you don’t want to rest or eat anything?”

“I’m fine.” She pointed to the comfortable daybed in the corner of the spacious nursery. “I think I’ll
bunk
in
here with the babies
during my visit
.
This way you get a break at night.
”

“Oh,
that’ll make
Allie upset
. She wants you to herself.
”

“
She can sleep here
,
there’s enough room.
Don’t worry, I can handle
Aldonz
.”

Selange didn’t argue with the woman, although she found it odd she preferred s
taying
in the nursery instead of the guest room. She’d changed Alfonzo’s former office into a spare bedroom
and it was right next door
.

They needed the space and since she hadn’t expected him to return she went ahead and made
some renovations
. Shanda’s the one who suggested it and she actually put her friend in charge of the
furnishings
. At the time Selange wasn’t interested in doing much of anything except moping, sleeping and eating. The best thing about friends are they sometimes surprise you when you least expect it. Shanda, bless her heart, did an amazing job with the
decorations
. Thinking on it brought a
smile;
her friend did have good taste.