DANTE
Dante found Luke in his office after leaving Genesis in the kitchen. His best friend watched him silently as he took his seat. On a normal day, he would have been surprised because Luke's mouth was never shut. But now, that silence was very much needed, given the situation at hand.
They sat like that in silence until Luke finally broke it.
“I'm sorry I persuaded you to let yourself free with her.” Luke started. “I didn't know she would—”
“Don't.” Dante raised a hand. “Don't say that. She's not cheating… I trust her. She only has some things that she's not ready to tell me yet.”
Luke scoffed. “You actually believe she's not cheating?” He shook his head. “The way that man held her hand—”
“Luke, please.” Dante sighed. “I believe her. And considering the circumstances in which we got married, it's not far-fetched that there are some things she's not yet comfortable to talk about. I'm willing to wait until she wants to speak up.”
“Tell me, does she know everything she's supposed to know about you or not?” Luke raised a brow at him.
“She does, but—”
“But what, Dante?” Luke leaned forward. “What is so grave that she cannot speak to you about it?”
“I don't know.” Dante breathed. “But I will eventually, when she tells me.”
“And how long do you think it would take for her to do so?” Luke chuckled but it lacked humour. “You better have someone run a background check on her.”
“No.” Dante shook his head. “I'll respect her and wait for her to tell me.”
Luke looked at him in disbelief. “Are you really the one talking like this?”
“Do you see another person here?” Dante responded with a question of his.
“Wow.” Luke rested his back on the chair again. “She really has you wrapped tight around her finger, huh?”
“Just mind your business.” Dante pursed his lips.
“You ARE my business.” Luke replied. “So I will definitely see to the end of this.”
“Don't do anything stupid, please.” Dante pleaded. He knew how his friend could get sometimes and he did not want Luke to do anything that would take Genesis by surprise.
He was still very curious as to what it was that she was not telling him, but he was still very much obliged to keep his promise and let her speak up by herself.
“Oh, I won't do anything stupid.” Luke shrugged. “I'll just be playing my part as your best friend.”
Dante sighed and gave up. When Luke got like this, it was impossible to tell what he was up to so he did not even bother to try. He was sure that Luke would not do anything to hurt Genesis so he did not let that disturb him.
He insisted that they continued with work to get his mind off things. But even then, those things still burdened his mind. They bothered him like all through dinner too, and even when he went to bed.
Now, all he did was hope that Genesis would bring him out of the dark soon enough and end his misery.
******
GENESIS'S POV
Genesis has received a call from Sara informing her that she was going to be discharged the following day. And while Genesis was happy for her friend, a certain level of sadness and fear still weighed down her mind.
She was pretty relieved with the fact that Dante was respectful enough to not force any information out of her, but she was well aware that the doubt in his mind must have been growing with each passing second. The broken look in his eyes still haunted her memory and she wished she could just get the whole thing over with.
She was still listening to Sara ramble on about how she was both excited and scared to be moving in with Scar Face. And it took a while for her best friend to notice how weirdly quiet she had been on the phone.
“Jenny?” Sara said her name. “Is all well? You're kinda dull today.”
“I…” Genesis sighed. “I already let Dante know that there are certain things that I have been keeping from him. I did not go into details though.”
“And what did he say?” Sara sounded curious and concerned. “How did he react?”
“He promised to be patient until I am ready to talk.” Genesis replied. “But he looked shattered, Sara. I know he is definitely struggling to hold onto the trust that he has for me.”
“Well, at least he now knows.” Sara said. “I still think you should tell him as soon as possible though.”
“I just have not built up the courage to do so.” Genesis sighed. “Plus, he may want to take matters into his own hands. I don't want to put him and El in the way of danger.”
“What danger? Last I checked, your brother ran away from this country after he was overpowered by Matthew and his men.” Sara reminded Genesis. “I don't think you have anything to worry about.”
Genesis exhaled heavily. She needed that breath for the news she was about to break to her friend. “Sara, he's back.”
“What!? How!?”
“I don't know, but he is.” Genesis breathed. “He sent me an email saying he'll not leave me alone until I go home with him. So telling Dante would be putting him in the face of danger and I don't want that. I really did not want to tell you either, I'm just saying this so you'd understand exactly why I have not said anything about my past to Dante yet.”
“Oh my goodness. Genesis, what do we do now?” Sara sounded like she was panicking. “We need to think of something fast.”
“We?” Genesis questioned. “I'm not going to let you get involved this time, okay? Last time you did, you got shot in the chest and I almost lost you. So no, you will not be doing anything for me this time. And please, do not say anything about this to Matthew. I know he's thirsty for revenge for what Rodriguez did to you and he may just jump into action and act irrationally.”
“But Jenny—”
“Sara, please.” She cut off her friend. “I'm not going to be doing this alone, don't worry. I found someone who'd help me.” She thought about Aaron as she said that, even though she was not exactly sure how he planned to help her. “I really don't want to put any of your lives in danger. So please, just keep your mouth shut about this matter, okay?”
“Okay…” Sara responded reluctantly. “But who is it that's going to be helping you?”
“You also do not need to know that.” Genesis simply replied.
“Oh come on, Jenny!” Sara whined. “Just say who!”
“It's an old friend. You don't know him.”
“Him?” Sara asked immediately. Genesis could imagine her raising her brows as she asked that. “As in a man?”
“Who else would I refer to as a he if not a man, Sara?”
“And you trust him enough for him to tell him everything that's happening?” Sara was still asking questions.
“Like I said, he's an old friend. We grew up together so he knows about my family.” Genesis explained. “Don't worry, he's a good help.”
“If you say so.” Sara said. “But please, be very careful.”
“Of course.”
Then they went on to talk about when next they'd see and a few other irrelevant topics. Genesis was quite sure that Sara was just trying to get her mind off things by talking nonstop, and she appreciated that a lot. It actually worked, because when they ended the call, Genesis felt somewhat lighter than before.
Now, she was left with her thoughts. She thought about texting Aaron to find out if he had figured out a way to help her. But she paused mid text to think deeply and see if she could really trust him like that or not. Yes, they really liked each other in their teenage years; but so many years had passed and he could have changed a lot. His life experiences may have morphed him into a different person from the one that she remembered.
But, at the same time, he was her only hope. Even though she was not yet sure of what his plans were, she chose to have faith in him. If she was going to get out of this, she needed to have faith in something, anything, anyone. And Aaron was the only one that had presented her with that opportunity. So she was going to trust him.
And if, eventually, it turns out that she made the wrong choice by trusting him, then she was going to go down without any regrets.