The Foiled Plan (War of Sins Book 2)

The rest of the day goes by in a flurry as I make the arrangements, getting a blueprint of the amusement park and assigning guards in position everywhere for maximum security.

But I don’t tell her this. It’s better if she thinks she’s not being watched for at least one day.

The following day, I dress casually for the occasion, putting on a white polo shirt and a pair of khakis. But as I check on Noelle, it’s to have my mouth drop open in shock.

She’s wearing a pair of black tights under a magenta-colored pleated skirt paired with a black blouse that’s so tight to her chest, her tits are the stars of the show.

I swallow. Hard.

When she spots me in the doorway, she gets a pink blazer and layers it on top before adding her bag.

‘I’m done,’ she quips, coming to my side and grabbing my arm.

‘You look gorgeous,’ I lean down to kiss the top of her head.

And she does. She looks so fucking beautiful and youthful in that outfit that my heart skips a beat. Sometimes circumstances make me forget our ages. The fact that despite everything we’ve been through, we are still young—too fucking young to have lived so much.

‘You too,’ she winks at me. ‘We make a dashing couple, don’t we?’ She asks, a warm expression on her face as she twirls in front of me.

‘We do,’ I chuckle, leading her to the car.

The entire drive to Coney Island is filled with fun chatter and light teasing.

‘If you were able to do anything you wanted,’ she starts, her gaze out the window. ‘What would you do?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘If you weren’t born in this life. If you had the freedom to choose anything…’

‘A quiet life. I imagine I’d be a university professor, spending my time studying rocks,’ I joke, since I’d told her I studied geology at university. She’d been very curious about what I’d meant and I promised her I would take her on a rock-searching hike at some point.

‘That sounds lovely,’ she sighs.

‘What about you?’

‘I don’t know,’ she raises a finger to the window, drawing on the foggy surface. ‘A pianist? Maybe,’ she shrugs. ‘I think I’d like the freedom to travel around the world for concerts and to…’

‘Be yourself,’ I complete her sentence.

She turns, a sad smile on her face.

‘And be myself.’

‘You can be yourself with me,’ I bring her hand to my mouth for a kiss. ‘I won’t judge you for anything, pretty girl. You know I love your music. It’s such a unique part of you, and when I listen to you play I feel like you’re giving me the key to your soul.’

She blinks, taken aback by my words.

‘You get it,’ she whispers. ‘You’re the first to truly get it.’

‘That’s because you play for my soul, too, Noelle. I haven’t told you before, but I have a condition called synesthesia. For me, sounds and colors have flavors. And your music is quite possibly the most addictive flavor I’ve ever tasted.’

Her eyes widen.

‘You… You can taste sounds?’ She asks in awe.

‘That’s one way of putting it,’ I chuckle.

‘What does my voice taste like then?’ She turns to me enthusiastically.

‘Hmm,’ I smile. ‘It’s like a mix of hazelnut and chocolate. It’s a rich gourmet flavor I’ll never tire of,’ I wink at her.

She laughs, the sound so intoxicating I can’t help the shudder that goes down my body.

‘Let me put it differently,’ I continue, ‘I could eat bland, tasteless food for the rest of my life as long as I had your voice in my ear.’

The words please her immensely, her mouth spreading into a wide smile as she gazes at me.

‘I haven’t liked the way my voice sounded since the fire,’ she confesses. ‘But you make me like it again,’ she nods satisfied as she resumes her seat in the car.

I maintain a pleasant smile on my face, though my mind takes me to that time—guilt, guilt, and more guilt accumulating in the pit of my stomach. If she only knew that the person responsible for the change in her voice is sitting right by her side… But she doesn’t remember. And for the first time, I thank whatever deities are out there for that mercy. I doubt she would look at me the same if she saw me through the eyes of that Noelle—the one I tried to kill with my own two hands.

‘I love your voice, Noelle,’ I assure her, for her benefit or mine, I don’t know.

But just as I utter the words, I get a flashback of another voice—a soft, silvery one that had given me comfort. And for the first time, I can’t help but compare the two.

Lucero’s had been light, a voice I’d often associate with vanilla custard and crème brûlée—the type of dessert you’d have on a rainy day in the comfort of your bed. Noelle’s voice, though equally as sweet, has a smokey quality to it, a rich timber that makes me think of decadence and long, passionate nights spent in each other’s embrace.

‘We’re here,’ she exclaims, startling me from my reverie.

The amusement park is busier than I would have thought given the late fall weather. Stepping out of the car, Noelle jumps up and down as she looks at the different activities, unable to make up her mind about which she wants to try out first.

I give some quick instructions to the driver to be on stand-by for any eventuality, before taking her hand and going into the crowd.

We hit the different rides, trying each one at least once.

‘Don’t get sick on me,’ I tell her when she insists on going on the scariest looking ride.

‘Don’t tell me you’re scared, Rafaelo Guerra,’ she taunts, winking at me as she runs towards the entrance.

Shaking my head, I redeem our tickets, and join her, strapping in just in time for it to start.

Joke’s on me, though, because I end up queasier than her by the end of the ride. Fact that Noelle can’t stop throwing in my face as she drags me to another stall.

A silly smile on my face, I can only oblige her, the sight of her enjoying herself so much worth everything.

Only when she’s a little tired of running around does she take a break to have a sip of water.

‘So, what’s next?’ I ask as I see her scanning the area for other fun activities.

‘Hmm,’ she raises her finger to her chin, tapping it lightly.

Fuck, but such a cute gesture shouldn’t be so arousing. Yet I find that with her, she only needs to lift her finger for me to react.

‘That,’ she points towards a shooting stall.

My lips tug up in anticipation, since that is something I can do for her.

‘Then come on. I’ll win you a toy,’ I tell her confidently.

So happy she is at the mention, that she skips all the way to the stall.

‘Wow,’ she breathes out as I shoot down target after target. The owner seems a little put out with me, no doubt hating the fact that he’ll have to hand over one of his biggest prizes.

But as I finish the round with all perfect shots, he reluctantly points us towards the biggest toys on display, telling us to choose one.

‘That,’ Noelle points towards a white, scaly and malefic looking serpent.

I gulp down.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yup,’ she nods, going straight for it, wrapping the giant plushie around her neck as if it had been made for her.

‘Then that’s it,’ I nod at the shop owner before we walk away.

‘You don’t like snakes,’ she finally says as she looks at my wary expression.

‘It’s not that I don’t like them…’ I trail off, threading my fingers through my hair. ‘They don’t bring particularly good memories,’ I add vaguely.

‘What do you mean?’ She frowns, biting her lips as she looks at me.

‘After I escaped the hacienda, I wandered in the desert of New Mexico for a while. And there wasn’t much food around,’ I shrug.

She stops.

‘You ate a snake?’

‘More than one,’ I chuckle. ‘They’re not the best,’ I admit.

‘I’m so sorry, Raf,’ she lays her tiny hand on top of mine. ‘I can change it for something else,’ she’s quick to say.

‘No. Absolutely not. You like it and that’s enough for me,’ I stop her when she tries to take it off her shoulders. ‘Maybe seeing it wrapped around you like this will make me like it too,’ I try to crack a joke.

She bites her lip as she looks at me worried, but eventually she just nods.

‘You know,’ she starts, giving my hand a quick squeeze. ‘I don’t want you to always make sacrifices for me,’ she says in a serious tone. ‘Isn’t a relationship all about compromise? I don’t want you to feel like you have to give up things just so I am comfortable.’

My eyes widen at her sudden outburst.

‘But that’s just the thing, Noelle. I am happy if you are happy. I’m not giving up anything. What brought this on, pretty girl?’ I ask her as I tug her closer to me.

She shrugs, but I can tell there must be a deeper issue. Otherwise she wouldn’t have brought it up.

‘If you keep putting me first, I don’t want you to end up resenting me,’ she says in a small voice and my heart breaks at the conviction I feel in her tone.

She’s still thinking that this is temporary. That at some point I’ll tire and get rid of her.

‘Hey,’ I tip her chin up. ‘That’s not going to happen. When someone is important to you, you do everything in your power to make them happy.’

She blinks, her eyes damp.

‘I guess I’ve never been important to anyone before.’ She laughs nervously, and that one sentence fucking kills me.

‘You are now,’ I murmur as I lean down to kiss her.

Her lips are so soft as they skim the surface of mine, and a groan escapes me when she reaches out with her tongue, lightly touching my lips.

There’s something different about this kiss. A residual sweetness that tugs at my heart like never before. And as I wrap my arms around her body, bringing her closer to me, it’s to feel her closer than ever.

She’s in my head, my heart, my fucking blood. Her presence surrounds me so thoroughly, permeating every atom of my body.

And I never want her to leave.

‘You make me feel important,’ she whispers against my lips. ‘Thank you for that,’ she strains a smile, though I see the unshed tears on her lashes.

‘Let me make this sweeter,’ I propose as I motion towards a cotton candy stand.

‘Hmm, I might be persuaded,’ she replies cheekily, but her expression is brighter.

‘Wait here,’ I instruct her as I move a few steps over to sit in line.

All the while, my eyes are on her, eating her up and thinking how she would be better than cotton candy.

‘Sir?’

‘Oh, yes. Two pieces, please,’ I say as I pull out my card to pay.

‘Cash only,’ the vendor gives me a tight smile.

‘Right,’ I mumble, pulling my wallet and rummaging through it. I hand him a few notes, while he tells me to wait for the cotton candy.

A smile pulls at my lips as I picture kissing her right after she eats the cotton candy, the sweetness of the sugar only intensifying her sweetness.

‘Here,’ he says after a while, handing me the cotton candy.

But as I turn around, my smile falls, replaced by a vicious scowl. My feet move of their own accord.

‘Come on, sweetheart, just give me your number,’ a man says as he invades Noelle’s personal space.

She’s visibly uncomfortable, taking a step back.

‘I’m married,’ she keeps mumbling, trying to put some distance between them. Still, the asshole won’t listen.

One more step and I slide between them.

‘She said she’s married,’ I raise an eyebrow at him. Turning to her, I place the cotton candy in her hands, my entire body tense from just seeing him in her proximity. ‘Let me handle this,’ I tell her gently.

‘Don’t tell me you’re the husband,’ he laughs derisively. ‘Why don’t you trade, sweetheart. Leave your rich boy for a ride in the hood…’

My fist connects with his face before he can finish his words. Stumbling back, he doesn’t seem deterred. If anything, he has an arrogant smirk on his face.

‘Damn, her pussy must be hella nice,’ he continues, and that one sentence just handed him his sentence.

‘What did you just say?’ I ask calmly, taking a step towards him.

He continues to provoke me by stringing together some obscene words, obviously trying to rile me up.

‘What’s wrong, posh boy? Worried she might like my dick better than yours?’ A few others chuckle at his words, all forming a circle around me.

Sounds dim in my ears as my eyes hone in on them—prey. A twitch in my cheek, and my entire mind goes blank.

My fists make contact with flesh, then with bone. Blood splatters all over my face, but I won’t stop—can’t stop.

Gasps resound from all around me, but it’s only when a pained shrill reverberates in the air that I still.

Slowly, consciousness trickles back in, and I find myself face to face with a barely recognizable mess of a human. Blood is everywhere, pouring out of him, splattered on the pavement and staining my entire body. He’s not the only one, all of the other chaps cheering him on are on the floor, moaning in pain while holding on to injured limbs.

It looks like a fucking blood bath, and I find it hard to believe I did it.

Getting up, I take a step back, intent on going back to Noelle and getting the hell out of here before the cops show up.

Already, people have formed a circle around us, watching and using their phones to record. Fuck… I’ll need to send the guards after everyone and ask Panchito to make sure no video makes it to the internet.

But just as my logic decides to reappear, I realize Noelle is nowhere to be seen.

I push through the crowd, shoving them aside as I look for her.

Seconds turn into an eternity as despair starts clawing at me, another fog descending over my mind.

Where is she?

‘Where is she?’ I yell.

I must look like an animal. All draped in blood, a desperate expression on my face as I move wildly about the area.

People are wise enough to get the hell out of my way. And it’s only then that I see her.

She’s crouched on the floor, her palms over her ears, her eyes wild with fear. She keeps rocking from side to side, moving her hands over her knees as she holds them to her chest.

‘Noelle?’ I call out, my voice coming out hoarse.

She flinches, her gaze meeting mine as she makes to move away.

Like a fucking knife to my chest, I feel a hole forming right in the middle of my heart as I see her fall on her ass, all in an attempt to get away from me.

‘Noelle,’ I try to soften my tone as I come near her.

‘Don’t touch me,’ she yells, her eyes squeezed shut, her hands still pressing over her ears. ‘Please don’t touch me,’ she continues to cry out, her entire body shaking.

‘Pretty girl, it’s me,’ I tell her gently, extending my hand towards her.

‘No!’ she yells, slapping it away as she tries to drag herself away from me.

‘Noelle, it’s me,’ I repeat, moving closer to her.

But just as my hand touches her shoulder, she loses it. Flailing limbs and sharp shrieks, she starts hitting me right and left in an attempt to get me off her.

Fuck…

More people surround us, and I realize we don’t have the time to sit around waiting for the cops to arrive.

I simply tug her to my chest, taking everything she has to give me as I take her to the car.

‘Let me go,’ she keeps crying out, her small fists landing blows on my shoulder blades.

‘Shh. It’s me,’ I repeat the same phrase all over.

It’s only when we’re in the car and on the way home that she quiets down. Worn down, she falls asleep on my chest.

And though I just beat the shit out of four men, my body is still wound tight with tension.

I failed her.

The horror in her eyes when she’d looked at me had ended me.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt less than human than when I’d seen her eyes, so fucking full of fear and disgust as she’d laid them on me…

‘Fuck,’ I bring my blood-stained hands to my face, wiping some of the sticky substance only to realize my eyes are damp.

I should have thought of her before flinging my fists around. I can’t even imagine how traumatic that must have been to see for someone with her past, and at this point I can only berate myself for my idiocy.

Because, somehow, I know things won’t be the same when she wakes up.

And I only have myself to blame.