CHAPTER 24
The blare of the alarm met me while I was already awake. Its ringing informed me that it was six o'clock. I had not slept a wink for the past couple of days. I silenced the alarm and went on smoking my tobacco pipe.
I sat shirtless in my bed. During the night, I had become restless from watching Alice's empty room, waiting for her return. It seemed she had chosen her ex-roommate Ashley's room to sleep in again.
I puffed out the smoke from the tobacco pipe. She had always spent less time in her allotted room. Could it be that she was not comfortable there? Or had she already guessed that she was being watched?
The few times she had slept in her room were on the occasions when she was too exhausted from work or when I had talked Lucy into sleeping in the room with her. The fact that Alice was evading her room was a small point added to my list of reasons to believe she came into my space with a mission in mind.
I looked around my room. The coloring was as monotonous as that of all my offices, study rooms, and personal spaces: black and grey. It suited my personality well.
When Brenda had lived here, she had added dashes of various bright colors. That was when we were both younger and very much madly in love with each other. As I analyzed my past relationship with Brenda, I slowly came to a conclusion: maybe it wasn't love after all. Lust? Obsession? It could bloody well have been infatuation.
We had met during our college days. Brenda had been loud, funny, outgoing, daring, and impulsive—very similar traits to my older brother, Sebastian. She was my complete opposite, and I loved it. I loved her. All of her. I thought she had felt the same way too.
Now she was just snobbish, pessimistic, and annoying.
A couple of years before our separation, she had acted funny. Long story short, she left me for one of my annoying rivals. Her reasons were that I was too busy, I didn't have time for her anymore, and I wasn't spending on her like I used to. All of which sounded lame.
She was yet to tender a divorce letter, though; after all, she was the one who called it off.
My phone beeped with an incoming email, and I dropped my tobacco pipe in its specially designed ashtray on the drawer by the bed. I picked up my phone and opened the email. At first, I didn't believe my eyes. I rubbed my eyes and read through the email again.
I was being summoned by The Lex Talionis. I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I hadn't done anything to warrant a summons. It must have been a mistake.
I got off my bed and did a little stretch routine. Then I dropped to the floor to do my routine push-ups. When I was done, I picked up a towel and walked into the bathroom.
The Lex Talionis didn't make mistakes. It was headed by the Curia, which consisted of six families, among which the Montoya family's entire household was a part. My dad had retired a few years back, and my brother and I had stepped into his space.
According to The Lex Talionis' tradition, the first and second sons were to take over the seat whenever the head of the household retired or died.
The Lex Talionis was an ancient group led by the Pontifex.
I allowed the water to wash off the lather of soap from my body. When I was done, I dried myself, brushed my teeth, applied creams and gels, and put on my cologne.
My phone rang immediately after I stepped out of the bathroom. Shit. I threw it on the bed and allowed it to continue ringing. I looked at the phone and caller ID.
"Oh well, better now than later," I spoke aloud into the empty room. I picked up the phone and answered it on the third ring.
"Took you long enough. I hope this call finds you well," the voice from the other side said.
"Why won't it find me well?" I asked, the voice belonging to my father.
"I don't know, son. I have lived with uncertainty concerning anything pertaining to you and have assumed you were dead. You can't fault me for that. Unlike your brother, you aren't on the news from time to time," he remarked.
"Hmm," I hummed and put the call on speaker mode, then dropped it on the bed so I could get dressed. "So why'd you call?" I asked him while I walked to my wardrobe to pick an outfit.
"Did you get it? The mail from The Lex Talionis?" he asked.
"Yes," I answered. "Got it a few minutes ago."
"I got a summons myself. And Sebastian too," he said.
"Any brief explanation for the gesture?" I asked him.
"No, I have no idea for such a kind gesture," he answered sarcastically. "I do hope you'll be there?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I replied, and he was quiet.
It had always been like this between my father and me ever since I was thirteen or fourteen: a strained relationship. The silence stretched on a bit more.
"How's Mom?" I asked. It had been a while since I'd seen them both.
"She's good. She sends her hellos. Got to go," he said, and the call was cut.
I put on a simple white T-shirt, a black pair of shorts, and sneakers, and went for a quick routine run. By nine o'clock, I had freshened up from my run, and I was in my study with a cup of hot black coffee. There was a knock on my study door, and Lucy came in.
"Good morning to you, Big Gun," she greeted. She was holding a mug in her hand.
"Good morning, Lucy. How was your night?" I asked.
"Spent the night out," she replied and took a sip from her cup. I could only imagine how she had spent her night, probably picking fights with men in bars. It was a wonder she wasn't in a police cell at this time. I wasn't going to ask, though.
"I've been summoned by The Lex Talionis," I announced.
Lucy choked on her hot drink and coughed for a while.
"No shit. What could they possibly want?" she asked when she found her voice. I shrugged in response.
"I got the mail this morning. My dad and Sebastian were also called in. I'll need you to book me a flight. I'll be leaving soon," I instructed her as I opened Alice's room feed. Still empty.
"When's the meeting scheduled?" Lucy asked and placed her drink on my desk before she took one of the seats opposite me.
"In a week's time, but I plan on leaving early," I instructed vaguely, but I was confident she knew how to go about it.
"No," she replied.
My eyes snapped up from my laptop, and I couldn't hold back the shocked expression that spread across my features.
"What did you say?" I asked calmly.
"I said I won't be able to do it, not because I can't. Remember, I'm just Lucy. My only job is to be your sicaria. I'm yet to receive your approval on my request to be your right hand. Among other things, a right hand schedules unusual meetings and books scared flights, and you're short of one. I just might eventually go with Sebastian and be rendered completely useless while you suffer looking for a competent candidate to be your right hand," she said and sipped from her mug.
She looked at me so innocently; I saw the child in her.
"Lucy," I called her.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but you have the power of choice," she answered sweetly. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.
"What am I going to do with you?" I asked.
"Actually, it's better to say, 'What am I going to do without you, Lucy?'" she corrected and grinned.
I debated with myself quietly for a few minutes before I answered, "Yes, I wouldn't mind you being my right hand. But you'll be on trial for now."
The look on her face was priceless. She even chuckled.
"Thanks, Big Gun. I really appreciate it. I won't disappoint you," she beamed. I believed her.
Just then, movement from my laptop caught my eye. Alice had returned to her room, but she wasn't alone. A plus-sized, dark-haired lady followed her. The skin of the stranger was reddened due to sun exposure.
"Oh wow, she's pretty," Lucy commented.
The plus-sized cutie wasn't the only visitor Alice brought in; a well-built young man also tagged along.
"Thanks for bringing Leo. You really surprised me," Alice addressed the plus-sized cutie with a smile.
"Hey, anything for you, Alice," the young man said with an accent.
"Cynthia and Leo?" Lucy guessed out loud.
"My thoughts exactly," I replied.