the hall until I’m outside of my sister’s door.
“Tati!” I call as I knock on the door.
She doesn’t answer, but I can hear the bed creak, so I know she’s inside. More than likely, she’s going to pretend she’s asleep like she always does when she takes something from me, but this time I won’t give in so easily.
“Tatiana!” I bark as my knocking turns into pounding. I count to ten, my arms crossed over my chest, and my foot tapping against the floor. When she still doesn’t open it, I grab the doorknob and use my strength to slam my body against the door, forcing it to open.
And when I stumble into her room, I find myself looking at a familiar sight—one of Tati’s dark secrets.
She’s on her bed, moaning as quietly as she can, Mateo’s head pressed to her cunt. Even bursting into her room doesn’t curb her fucking compulsion, but he deserves better than this.
I walk over, smack her in the face, and attempt to snatch him from where he’s suffering in the middle of her whorish thighs.
Tati puts up a fight, gripping a fistful of his hair, trying to yank him away from me. And for a moment, she almost succeeds. Until I kick her in the thigh, and she yelps in pain. When she finally let's go, I tumble back but regain my bearings before falling onto the floor.
“Fucking animal,” I growl at her as I reach for her nightgown on the floor and give his face a quick wipe.
Impressive.
Somehow, she’s managed to slow the decay, so he’s not as bad as I thought he would be, but at the very least, he should be spared of this.
With the exception of the patch of hair she managed to rip out of his fucking skull along with part of his scalp in our little tug of war, he looks damn near human still.
“I’m sorry!” she gasps out as she sits up in her bed, pulling her blanket up to cover her sweaty, naked body.
I don’t look at her, though. I’m much too busy wrapping Mateo’s head in a nightgown so I can quickly leave her room.
She’ll beg me not to tell Papa and let me know when the next man will die.
And the cycle will repeat itself because she can’t help her compulsions any more than I can.
Chapter Seven
I’m sitting on the back patio with a beer in my hand. I’ve decided to bury Mateo’s head tomorrow with the rest of his body. I’ll explain to Papa that I didn’t have the heart to display him like the others.
He’ll understand and forgive me.
He always does.
I let out a sigh as I raise the bottle to my lips and take another sip, tucking my legs beneath myself on the opulent wicker chair.
When a strong hand rests on my shoulder, I gasp and almost drop my bottle. I look up and see Papa smiling down at me with tired eyes, and I wonder why he hasn’t gone to bed yet.
“I’ll sit with you until you’re ready to go to sleep,” he says as he takes the seat across from me.
It’s not an offer, it’s just how it is, and honestly, I love being in his company when it’s just the two of us.
He seems more human then.
“It’s good to see you smiling again, mija,” he says tiredly. I glance over at him long enough to see him rub his eyes, then look back into the yard again. I don’t like seeing him so damn sad.
“I smiled before, Papa. You just didn’t see it,” I tell him with a bright smile. Granted, I’m not looking at him when I say it because I don’t want him to see the blatant lie in my eyes.
He chuckles as I watch him lean back in his chair out of the corner of my eye. I can tell there’s so much more he wants to say but doesn’t know how to, and that’s okay with me.
Not everything can be healed by words, not even those of El Señor.
“So, how was your day?” I ask, taking another sip and turning my eyes toward him. I’m hoping that he’ll mercifully follow my lead and change the subject.
“Good,” he states with a nod. But I watch his eyes harden for a moment, and I can see him grinding his teeth.
“It’s okay,” I promise him with a dismissive wave.
He clasps his hands behind his neck and turns his face away for a moment before they settle on