Just a Kiss (17 page)

“I don't know if I get what you're telling me.” She frowned. A rush of adrenaline coursed through her veins in that very moment.

She placed her hands on Celina's arms, “Honey, if he asks you to be his woman, just take the deal, because if you give him a hard time, he will make you suffer and put you through shit so you would rather be dead. If you thought what you saw today was inhumane, you have no clue about what can be done to you.”

“But his cousin is going to do a job, to get me out of here,” she insisted.

She shook her head and pressed her lips together. “That doesn’t mean anything. He's killed his own blood before. Please consider what I've told you. Okay? I was told to show you around earlier, so you would be afraid; we do the things we do for a reason.”

Celina nodded her head in sadness and then rubbed the back of her neck.

“Celina… word is out, that he wants to have a baby. Maybe… he will pick you. If you become the mother of his child, you will be safe always. Remember and consider what I've told you. You must do all that you can in order to survive, and avoid being tortured. There's no need for that.” 

Chapter 2
6

The boss, El
jefe

Carmela took Celina to the boss's office
, to show him her new hairstyle. She walked in with a huge smile. “Boss, do you like my new haircut?”  The woman who looked older than she was, from her abusive, hard life,
turned around slowly for him to see.

He looked up from his desk, sat back in his fancy executive chair, and smiled. “Yes, Carmela, it looks good.
You
look good. Do you like it?” He widened his eyes as he waited for a response.

“Of course.” Her dark brown eyes sparkled with warmth, shaking her head in a sexy way. She then walked to his desk, and placed the scissors he had lent her on his desk.

“So, I was told that you own a beauty salon in Laredo.” He looked directly at Celina with a flash of teeth, like a shark with a twinkle in his eyes.

Carmela elbowed Celina to respond.

She narrowed her eyes. “Yes, I do. Actually, I'm partners with my best friend,” Celina spoke up, and then glanced at Carmela.

“So, I take it that you are very successful.” He moved his eyebrows up, a few times. “I went online to your website and saw pictures of your beauty shop. You amaze me. Nice shop, and how clever to have a bar in there, too.”

“I guess you can say that,” she replied, her eyes cold and hard with no emotion in her expression.

“Carmela, thank you very much. You can leave now.” He nodded.

Carmela lowered her head and smiled at the boss. She then turned to Celina, gave her a hug, and whispered, “Thank you.”

Rafael got up from his chair, and walked towards Celina, making her feel a bit uncomfortable. Carmela had left the room and now she was all alone with the boss. Her heart began to race with the thought that he would take her to his back bedroom, like he had taken the other girl earlier.

Celina felt the flush that suffused her features when he came near her. She swallowed tightly, knowing that his eyes were devouring every curve of her body.

He wore a pair of faded jeans with a beige cotton shirt and a navy blue sports coat. He stood in front of her and glared. “I would like for you to trim my hair.  Would you do me that favor?” His brows arched and a smile curved his lips with humor in his tone.

What could she say? She was at his mercy. She took a deep breath and nodded her head.

“Well then, follow me,” he commanded, leading the way to a back door in his office. His walk was fast paced in a pair of black dress shoes that he wore, which appeared to be of excellent quality.

Celina was having a hard time keeping up with him in her high heels, and she could only think of what Carmela had told her earlier.

They came to a stairway and went down the steps where a golf cart was waiting. “Hop in,” he said, in a friendly tone.

Her eyes wandered with much curiosity as she got into the golf cart. She could have sworn otherwise, that if she hadn’t known about whom he really was, that she would have thought he was a respectable gentleman.  The way he carried himself and his demeanor said, ‘nice guy.’ They drove about a hundred yards or more, until they came to another set of steps.

“Please, follow me,” he gestured, getting out of the golf cart.

They went up another flight of steps, and when they reached the top, Celina's mouth hung agape when she saw nothing but elegance. Before her eyes was an enormous mansion.

“Welcome to my home, Celina,” he said with excitement, as he opened his arms.

She was surprised to hear him call her by her name. She followed him, walking along the polished marble floors and into a glass-walled elevator that took them to the third story of the home.

When the elevator doors opened, they walked out into a living room area surrounded by oversized stylish furniture. Nothing but grandeur encompassed the room. It was like night and day compared to where she had just come from.

“Please take a seat. Would you like something to drink?” He walked with confidence over to a table and picked up a handset to a phone.

“Yes, lemonade or water would be fine,” she replied, taking a seat on a brown leather chaise. Celina glanced down to see the exquisite woodcarving details on the large ball claw legs of the chaise.

“Here's water for now. I have called for a pitcher of lemonade, and it will be here shortly,” he said, handing her a water
bottle.

She nodded, twisting off the plastic cap to the spring water.

He sat across from her in an oversized chair and placed his feet on the matching ottoman. He smiled at her. His elbow was on the armchair, with his chin resting on his hand.
He watched her intently.

Celina avoided looking in his direction, because she knew he was looking at her and she was feeling uncomfortable. She could feel his eyes on her, intense and blazing.

Seconds passed, and he cleared his throat and asked, “That night at the club. Why did you walk over to kiss Pancho? What was that all about?” He motioned with his hand up in air. Silence reigned, when she didn’t answer him right away.  His expression was predatory; it was hungry as he eyed her up and down, ears to ankles.

One part of her argued not to answer him, but the other part said to be polite, like Carmela said. She swallowed, then replied, “Because, I am doing things that I'd like to do, before the year 2012 comes around.”

“Oh, so you believe the world is going to end in December of this year?” He rubbed at his lower lip and stared at her.

“I'm not saying it is,” she took a deep breath, “I only believe that something is going to happen, because science tells us that the planets are going to be realigning themselves. I just
want to make sure… I did as much as I could... you know, in the event that everything does come to an end.”

“So…” he stammered, “kissing Pancho was… what?” He rotated his hand in air. “What do you call that? A dare?”

“No, not a dare.”
She wrinkled her forehead.
“
On my
list, I had a wish to kiss a handsome stranger.” She looked right back at him.

“
Hahaha
,” he then clapped his hands loudly. “So you thought that Pancho was handsome that night.”

The elevator doors opened, and in came an older woman, wearing a black housekeeper's uniform, holding a tray of lemonade. She set the tray on the coffee table and handed her a glass with a sliced lemon on the rim.

Celina smiled at the woman and said, “
Gracias
.”

The woman smiled back at her with warmness, then turned and handed the boss a glass too.

“So, do you still think he's handsome?” He took a sip of his lemonade while maintaining eye contact.

She smiled and nodded.

“What if… I would have been sitting there instead of Pancho or maybe next to him… would I have gotten that kiss?” He looked deep into her eyes.

Celina didn't answer. She only looked back at him. She didn’t want to answer. He himself was a very good-looking man, a few years older than Pancho, so it seemed. However, again under the circumstances, if she didn't know he was a drug lord, she would have dated him, if he had asked her out. Both Pancho and he had a few similarities, but after being kidnapped by him, you could say that she detested him.

“So, I guess… no comment, huh?” He then took a big sip of the lemonade and set the glass down. He got comfortable in his chair and stared at her for long while.

His stare was making her uncomfortable. She wondered what he was thinking of, especially after the comments that Carmela had made earlier to her.

He took a deep breath and shook his head, as if shaking something away. “So do you have a boyfriend back home?” The questions continued.

“No,” she replied dryly.

He tilted his head and gazed at her, eyes bright. “
Do
you have any kids?”

“No.” She rolled her hazel green eyes at his tone. “Do you like kids?” She asked, turned the table on him, figuratively speaking.

“Yes, I'm not an evil person.” He chuckled. Then he rose to his feet. “Okay, let's see how you cut hair.”

He waited for her to rise and then led the way
;
through a long hallway
,
walking over hand knotted oriental rugs. Celina’s eyes admired the forged wrought iron chandeliers that hung from the ceiling and the many decorative mirrors and pieces of art that hung along the
hallway
walls
.

A minute later, they walked into his bedroom, where she caught a glimpse of the king-sized platform bed that was the focal point in the room. The bed was low to the floor, with a large
padded headboard, upholstered in rich black fabric, with tufted buttons; it was draped with a dark brown satin comforter. A tall vase with fresh calla lilies was set on top of a dresser that was indirectly across a fireplace with beautiful, handcrafted, wooden molding.

She followed him to his
spacious
bathroom, where the elegance of the finer side continued.
Double sinks, a large double shower enclosed with thick glass
, and
a huge sunken tub
encompassed the room
. The theme
of
fresh calla lilies in tall vases also continued
on the granite counters
.
Far to the right, in a corner, was
a
styling chair and hair sink.

He sat down and leaned his head back into the sink. “Okay, Celina, do your thing.”

She looked around to see what hair products he had and immediately began to wash his
hair. In that moment, she forgot where she was and felt in her own surroundings with the salon furnishings. She forgot that he was the evil villain and that he had kidnapped her.  Without thinking, she began to do her specialty scalp massage after she lathered the shampoo in his hair.  She placed her fingers on the sides of his temples and began to apply pressure, making small circles clockwise, moving slowly to the back of his head. She continued making and moving her fingers in small circles down to the nape of his neck.

He then released a soft moan and in that, instant Celina realized what she was doing, so she took the sprayer, and rinsed his hair with cold water.

Rafael smiled and opened his eyes when he felt the cold-water rinse. “That felt good, and if you would have kept it up, you would have put me to sleep. Warm water would have felt better, too.” He teased with a chuckle.

Celina knew he was enjoying himself and toying with her. She released a sigh in frustration. She put a towel on his hair, drying it roughly, moving his head every which way. “Please get up, so we can begin to cut your hair,” she said, in a dry tone.

“You’re going to give me whiplash.” He chuckled because he knew that he had upset her. He did as told, and sat down on the styling chair, holding on to the wet towel on his head. She grabbed the towel and tossed it in a corner, placed a black cape on him and began to trim his hair.

Rafael couldn't keep his eyes off her as he watched her every move from the mirror.

When she finished, he asked her, “Very nice. Can you please trim my beard?” he rubbed his hands over his cheeks.

She answered sarcastically, “
Please
!
 
Please.
I didn't think you knew that word. Who would have thought
please
was in your vocabulary.”

He shook his head, rolled his eyes, and didn't say anything. He sat there and looked like he was thinking hard. “I see you like to play with fire,” he stated.

She ignored his remark and came eye level to him with the beard trimmer. She could feel him studying her face and could feel his breath on her cheeks. This was the closest she had ever been to him. When she finished, she turned the trimmer off, looked at his jaw line and glanced from one side to the other for symmetry.