Chapter 65: Chapter 65

Andre’s POV

Wait!

Before you assume the worst of me and attack me, I have a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything that happened. I know you have been itching to know what I was hiding all this while and your guards were up against me when Siobhan asked the important question; “He loved you but he went for me. Why?”

There is a perfect explanation for that. But first, let’s go to the beginning. Let’s go back to the events that happened days before I met Bianca at the beach…

**

“Mainland’s Attraction here. Let me show you what Mainland has to offer,” I said to the passersby at the airport. Mainland is known as the biggest tourist site not just for its beaches or warm weather but it’s also for the home to some of the most exotic people, music, dancers, and foods. And I am proud to say that Mainland is my home. It’s where my father made his fortune, building a business known for the best tour guides in all of the state. We offer services ranging from showing our customers the best clubs, the best restaurants, hotels, the markets…everything you can ever think of, and once upon a time we were well sort after.

That is, until the tragic incident. I was in my last year of senior school when my father Ignacio Rios was duped by his best friend. I knew my father was running some losses after my mother’s cancer treatments which eventually took her life but we were still striving. Dad could afford my fees for the private school I attended so I didn’t think it was much of a worry until he came home one night reeking of alcohol, tears streaming down his cheeks – I never saw my father cry in all my life until the day my mother succumbed to her illness so this was the second time and so I guessed already that whatever would reduce the great and proud Ignacio Rios to tears must be bad.

But Dad wouldn’t say anything until my older brother, Alex, arrived.

Then Dad told us the horrible truth. He lost all his money in a gamble. Dad wouldn’t say any more about it or whom he lost his money to but my brother Alex came up with the theory that it must be some rich dude who convinced Dad to give up all his money or the best friend who once duped him.

See, Alex is not the sharpest tool in the shed but he is dangerous. He dropped out of school and against Dad’s discipline, found himself affiliated with a gang – a small subordinate of the much bigger Mafioso. Since they were a local gang they took pleasure in picking on the local businesses.

In a way, their illegal activities profited Dad’s business because whenever there was a new tourist management competing with Mainland’s Attraction, Alex and his gang took care of it and you don’t even want to know the details.

Also, it was through his gang I met my girlfriend, Carol. Yes, Carla is really Carol and no I never had a sister who died – neither is Carla my sister. A little bit of makeup, lenses, and a wig did the job of making her look like my twin. I’ll get to that in a second.

She caught my eye when I returned from my basketball practice one day. She was just leaving the kitchen with a glass of juice when I ran into her on my way in, spilling her juice in the process.

“Oh, my God, sorry! I’m so sorry,” I apologized as I dropped my ball to pick up the pieces of broken glass. She did the same. I went to get something to clean the juice off the floor and as I was doing that I noticed she was smiling at me. There wasn’t anything classically beautiful about her but she was mesmerizing. The way she stared into your eyes with her coffee-brown ones made you feel like you were the only one in the room. She knew how to smile at you and drop her voice to a seductive whisper.

“You are Alex’s baby brother, aren’t you?” she asked.

I nodded unable to look away from her eyes.

“Nice to meet you,” she grinned. When she held out her hand I noticed the tattoo on her wrist and then the one on her lower belly because she was wearing a crop top.

I didn’t want to embarrass myself. This was a pretty girl talking to me and though I have my mom’s good looks I am not always lucky when it comes to dating partly because I prefer to either study or play basketball and when I am not doing those I am helping Dad with the business. But I wanted to impress this girl because she stared right into my eyes making me feel things – I wanted to kiss her.

So I held out my hand and said, “Nice to meet you too Carla…I mean – Carol!”

She laughed and I blushed a bright red because I was so embarrassed by my foolishness.

“Nice try,” she laughed. “I have never had anyone call me Carla before.” Then her eyes drifted to the ball I had dropped earlier. “You play basketball?”

“Yes, I do. And you are a member of Alex’s gang?”

She cocked her head to the side as if to access me and figure out why I asked.

“Are you his girlfriend?” I heard myself say.

“No,” she chuckled her eyes turning flirtatious. “Alex is not my type of guy. I’m more into – the good boys,” she winked and I almost peeped my pants right there.

I stood still like a statue wanting to say something smart but unable to do so. I could only watch as she picked up my ball and push it into my hands with one more flirtatious look before she sashayed away.

My first real interaction with a girl and I could only stare like an idiot.

But it was a month later before Carol and I started dating even though she was 5 years older than me – I am 18.

I worshipped the floor she walked on and it didn’t matter that she hung out with Alex’s gang – and there were rumors that she did in fact have a boyfriend in the gang, though it wasn't Alex– as long as she was always there when I returned from school I was happy.

So the day Dad told us about the bad news and wouldn’t say anything else, I went to my room knowing that doom awaited me. Without the business my education would suffer, Dad wouldn’t have enough to pay for my fees again, and then the inevitable would happen – I would have to drop out.

I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling thinking about what to do – should I get a job? Should I join Alex’s gang? – when my door opened and Carol walked in.

It has been a routine now that whenever she’s in the neighborhood she would come around for some intense make-out sess. We had sex two days into our relationship and Carol was like a wild cat. She was good and I felt lucky.

She began to undress and straddled me and though I was turned on just by the sight of her body, I also was a little distracted and she noticed.

“Anything the matter?” she asked dropping her arms to the side.

I sighed and told her all that Dad told Alex and me and my worries for my education and our well-being. But she laughed when I finished speaking.

“Aw, my good boy. This is one of the reasons I adore you, you are so responsible but you shouldn’t worry about it, Alex is already taking care of it.”

That didn’t sound good. “He is?”

“Yes. He is going to take a loan.”

“From the loan sharks?” I shrieked. “We can’t pay back if we do not have the money and I don’t trust Alex. He wouldn’t know what to do with the money. He’s probably just going to fund your gang's activities and where does that leave us? We will be in more debt!”

“So what do you suggest we do?”

I thought about it and came up with the only good solution. It hurt but there was no way around it.

“I will drop out of school. I’ll build Dad’s business and make it flourish again.”

Carol was watching me, a look of pity in her eyes. “No, love, you should join the gang. Alex has bigger plans for us that are going to make us richer than you can ever imagine. You wouldn’t have to worry about school or basketball or the business again.”

But I loved school. I was a star basketball player in my school and I loved it. I loved the business. I hated the gang.

I tried to protest. “I can’t…”

Carol silenced me with a kiss and pushed me down so she was straddling me again. Her lips didn’t leave mine until I succumbed to the desires of my body and gave in to the temptation she offered. But I couldn’t change my mind. I had to do something to save the business.