My Enemy’s Daughter

HENRICO ZATTANI

“I did not do it!” I say, looking at the computer screen in disbelief.

” He is sure?” Guilhermino questions, shooting me one of his older brother looks.

I snort, rolling my eyes at the damn asshole.

” I have. I didn’t give orders to anyone…” I trail off, remembering the call I got earlier and how excited my private investigator was about his discovery.

Damn!

“You really have no connection to this?” Guilhermino speaks again with my silence, nodding at the computer screen, referring to the article about Amelia’s mother. I lower my head, averting my gaze from his, keeping my mouth shut, and throw myself into the chair beside me, sitting down awkwardly, struck by an intense pain above my temple.

Damn! This couldn’t have happened. Could not.

Not now, when we’re getting alone.

He touches my shoulder, but I refuse to meet his eyes, because if I do, he’ll know the truth and I’m not willing to deal with his lectures right now. Because yes, I have a hand in publicizing the photos, even if indirectly, after all I was the one who hired the person to take them, but I didn’t want to hurt my girl with that. When my detective said last week that he had something for me, something really big I was in anticipation, but when he called me earlier today I had Amelia just a few feet away, in my bathroom to be exact and nothing else mattered. The information he had for me no longer aroused much interest and I ended the call quickly, as I didn’t want to risk being caught by her plotting against his family, so I gave him carte blanche to do what he thought best. In any case,

Only…

Fuck!

I had no idea that the photos were about Amelia’s mother, if I had known I would have had them deleted.

“Henrico …” Guilhermino starts to speak, but is interrupted when I stand up abruptly and face him.

“You’re not my father, Guilhermino.” Stop acting like it is. I snarl, impatient with your treatment since I got out of prison.

He holds my gaze, clenching his jaw. We were both silent, waiting for the other to give in first, but I’m stubborn as fuck and even wrong I don’t usually back down, so he gave in, even contradicted.

“You do, don’t you?” Question, looking at me disappointed.

I don’t need to speak, my silence is the confession he needs, but I speak anyway.

“I didn’t know the pictures were about her mother.” I defend myself, but he huffs, shaking his head from side to side.

“Jesus… Henrico . I’m starting to get worried about you, do you have any idea what you just confessed?” he says, removing his cowboy hat from his head and running his hands through his hair.

“I need to see her.” I say, grabbing her truck keys off the table. Her hand grips my shoulder, preventing me from leaving.

“You haven’t driven since that night. ” Punctuates, referring to the night of my arrest, bringing up bad memories.

I growl, hating the memories now crowding my head.

“Screw this.” I say, letting go of his grip, even though I know he’s right.

I haven’t been renewing my driver’s license since I got out of jail, nearly sixty days ago. The last time I was driving a car was also the worst night of my life.

“You need to clear your head.” He says, taking the front of me and passing the key in the office door.

I growl.

“Open the fucking door! I don’t have a patient to play with, Guilhermino.” Scream, furious.

” I’m not kidding, Henrico .” I cannot allow you to leave in this state. he says, tucking the key into the front pocket of his pants.

I growl again, kicking the chair to vent my anger and I turn to face him.

” Get out.” I order.

“You’ll have to step over me.”He says, crossing his arms and giving me one of his serious and restrained expressions.

My lips pull back into a smirk, and I look him up and down.

“No problem, brother.” I speak cynically, practically spitting out the last word, ready to advance on him.

“You really like her, don’t you?” She squints at me, trying to see something in me that isn’t clear.

snort.

” What you mean?”

He smile.

Smiling like you’ve just discovered something no one else knows.

” Yes you like. That’s why you’re so out of your mind, you’re afraid she’ll find out it was you and dump you.” I growl again, advancing towards her, curling my hands into fists and coming face to face with him.

“You’re not going to say anything to her, understand?” I scream the words, feeling my heartbeat accelerate with the effect of his words, a feeling of fear and possession taking over my body and thought at the memory of her.

He laughs low, not bowing to me.

“I won’t say anything, bro. You are my heart brother, your happiness is my happiness.” Says, smiling with a softer and more playful tone.

I pull away, not liking his reaction to my order.

“Stop laughing and get out of my way, bastard” I say, also using a softer tone.

“If you like her, you’ll need to give up your revenge.” He says, leaving the front of the door and coming towards me, squeezing my shoulder with his hand. I pull away from his touch, averting my gaze back to the computer screen.

I didn’t want to expose her mother’s clandestine romance, on the contrary, for me the woman who put a lot of horn on that unfortunate Augusto’s head, but I saw how much Amélia was shaken by her mother’s relationship with the other man and it wouldn’t cause the she more pain. But would I be able to drop my revenge for her? Would I choose her if I had to make a choice?

I sigh, turning my attention back to my longtime friend and sigh, knowing the answer.

No, I couldn’t give up on something I’ve been planning for years for a girl I’ve become more intimate with recently.

My revenge is more important to me.

” I can’t.” I finish, looking deep into his eyes.

His face becomes serious, losing the fun of seconds ago.

“Then let her go.”

I frown at his words.

“Then let her go.”

So easy.

However, I can’t let her go either.

Amélia Leal is mine and I will not give her up.

“Not.” Is all I answer him.

He sighs, a look of concern that hasn’t been on his face before.

“You can’t have both, Henrico . In the end, you’ll have to give up one, you know.” I don’t answer him, I just keep my attention back to the computer screen, feeling my chest tighten without any explanation.

The noise of the doorknob being turned makes me turn my eye to the door and find it open, unlocked.

I squeeze the truck key in the palm of my hand and it doesn’t take me more than a second to make my decision, before anything I need to see her and talk to her, I need to assure her that I’m not guilty.

I’m a great driver, always have been, but it’s been years since I’ve been behind the wheel, so I’m dreading driving again, but the fear melts away as soon as I’m in the car. I put the key in the ignition and hear the engine roar, the nostalgic feeling of independence from when I was first in a car overwhelms me and I want to speed up.

Okay, I’m going to do this.

My personal cell phone rings before I start the engine and the number on my screen is strange, it is unknown and I consider it before answering it, deciding to slide the button to accept the call.

“Hello?” I say, curious about the other end of the line.

” Henrico Zattani?” The male voice pronounces my name in a questioning tone, making me even more intrigued.

He wasn’t sure that was my number when he called me?

” Who are you?” I ask directly.

” You know me, I’m your ex”wife’s husband. We need to talk.” I clench my jaw, deciding whether to hang up now or tell him to go fuck himself first.

“We have nothing to talk about.” Growl.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

“It’s about Amelia.” He says, surprising me by mentioning my girl’s name and not Aurora, his wife. Since I thought the reason for your call was to talk about the visit I made to my ex-wifeon the same day she fell ill.

I squeeze my eyes shut, pressing my fingers against the steering wheel.

“Don’t speak her name.” I snarl, hating him even more now.

I remember the way he looked at her in the hospital, it wasn’t the look of a brother-in-law, much less brotherly or pure. He looked at her with possession, desire and anger.

I didn’t like it, I wanted to punch his face and tell him to stay away and take care of his pregnant wife.

“She wants you to stay away. he says, making me press the phone against my face.

“I’ll hear it from her.” I growl at him.

“You’ve caused us enough trouble, Amelia knows you’re responsible for leaking her mother’s photos and doesn’t want to see you again. Get out of our lives, stay away from my family or you’ll have to deal with me. ” Threat.

snort.

“Do you think I’m afraid of you?” Stay out of my way, I won’t mind running over you. Growl.

He is silent.

” This is my first and last warning, HENRIC. Stay away from my family, that includes Amelia. She doesn’t want you, but don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her.” She says, hanging up soon after.

I slam against the steering wheel, feeling my blood boil in my veins and arteries.

“Fucking hell!”