Whoever it was that had come, I was sure my brother would have been among them if it had been my family. He would have figured out by this point that Ramirez had taken Cali and come to find her. But no. There had been no sign of him or anyone else in search of either of us. For all I knew, whoever had shown up at the gate to demand Manuel was one of his many other enemies.
I was starting to think Cali was right. Out of sight, out of mind. No one had come to save us, even though we technically no longer needed saving. And as much as I didn’t want to be the damsel in distress, I wouldn’t have minded having someone play the white knight and try to rescue me from the monster who had snatched me away.
“Why aren’t you here yet, Ryan?” I muttered to myself as I walked into the library. A computer was on the desk where the landline extension was set up, and I carefully sat in the chair. I thought my muscle pain would have at least started to fade by now, but I still felt like I’d been run over by a truck. My arm was the biggest problem of all, but I wasn’t going to worry about it until after I figured out what was going on back home and why Ryan hadn’t come to get me yet.
Turning on the computer, I waited for it to boot. At least we had good internet access, but typing one-handed wasn’t easy for me. Sighing, I found the app Ryan had installed on my phone for the CCTV feed to the cameras he’d put up for me to watch him from. I hadn’t even gotten to enjoy them for a full day before everything happened.
I logged in to the app and pulled up the feed for all the cameras that would give me twenty-four seven access to Ryan. His office and the apartment were both completely empty from what I could tell, but when I switched to the feed of the back of his SUV, I was finally able to see him.
He was dressed in a suit, his hair styled and pushed back from his forehead. Beside him, Garret was dressed similarly. Both their faces were grave, their gazes trained straight ahead, neither of them speaking. Not that I would have been able to hear them even if they had spoken since there was no audio with the footage, but I might have been able to read their lips if they did talk.
My brother pulled his phone from his suit jacket pocket and glared at the screen before placing it facedown on his thigh.
Keeping the cameras open in one window, I opened another and signed in to my social media. As soon as I did, I saw that I had over a hundred notifications. Ignoring them, I opened up the messenger and clicked on Garret’s profile. We were friends on social media, but we’d never messaged each other on it. It had seemed ridiculous in the past to send him a message there when I could just text him. But since I didn’t have his number memorized like I did Mom’s and Ryan’s, I had no other choice.
Me: Hey, stupid! Why the fuck haven’t you come to get me yet? How could you just leave me down here? Tell Ryan that whatever he’s doing can wait because I. Want. To. Come. Home!
I hit send and switched my gaze back to the window with the camera feed from the back of the SUV. I kept my eyes glued to Garret, waiting for him to notice the notification and read my message. He picked up his phone and turned it over. My heart lifted as I watched his fingers swipe over the screen, his eyes shifting back and forth as he read my message.
Then his mouth twisted with disgust. He slammed his other hand down on the button to power down the car window, and he threw his phone out the window while it was still moving.
“No!” I cried, tears instantly spilling down my face. “Why, Garret? Why couldn’t you just message me back?”
The whole time, Ryan just sat there, his lashes not so much as flickering in reaction to my brother throwing his phone away.
Minutes passed as I remained in the chair, crying while I watched the two of them sitting in the back of that stupid vehicle, going who the fuck knew where. Neither of them speaking—hell, I wasn’t even sure they were breathing they were so motionless. But the longer I sat there, my tears dried on my cheeks and my hurt turned to anger.
If they weren’t going to come get me, then fuck it. I could leave on my own whenever I wanted.
But did I want to leave?
Cali was all alone here. Sure, she had staff who could take care of her, but she needed a family. And since it appeared that my own had abandoned me, it seemed I needed one as well.
I wasn’t going to abandon her like everyone else had the both of us. I would take care of her and that precious baby struggling to grow inside her. To hell with Ryan and Garret and everyone else. We didn’t need them.
Angrily, I turned off the computer and stood. But even as I stomped out of the library, I couldn’t help looking back longingly, mentally begging Ryan to call me. To show up. To message me. Something. Anything, to let me know he loved me.
He never did.
Day after day, week after week, I went into the library once a day and pulled up the camera feed. Each time, I found Ryan. Either in the office or at home or in the back of the SUV on his way to wherever. No matter what he was doing, his face remained the same. Emotionless, as if he were dead inside.
And it only made me angrier.
Wasn’t he hurting or going crazy without me? I couldn’t tell. All I could see was that blankness, as if he’d turned everything off.
“Asshole,” I muttered and switched the computer off yet again. I didn’t have time to think about Ryan and his mental health. If he would just call any of those numbers he’d blocked from Colombia, he would know that I was still stupidly waiting for him to come get me. I’d even gotten a new phone of my own, but like every other number I’d called him from, Ryan had blocked it as well.
Leaving the library that had turned into my office over the last two months, I walked through the house and up to the second floor. The doctor was already in Cali’s room with Maria and Guzman. The head of security stood by the window, and Maria sat on one side of the bed, holding Cali’s hand while the doctor examined her.
Even in the dimly lit room, Cali looked small in her queen-sized bed, fragile. Since she’d started bleeding and had been put on bed rest, she didn’t get out of bed except to use the bathroom, and even then, either Maria or I were there to assist her. Sometimes, Guzman would carry her for us because she was so scared to move for fear of causing the bleeding to get worse. Since she was unable to run the business or the house, she’d asked me to do it for her. I’d been reluctant at first, still foolishly holding out hope that Ryan and Garret would show up. Then I could go home, and Garret could take over running the Ramirez business.
Then I saw how much added stress working from bed was causing Cali, and I’d given in. The next day, a lawyer had shown up, and Cali signed over half of everything to me, making us equal partners. Now, everyone answered to me, including Guzman and his men.
Dr. Ortega continued to run the portable ultrasound wand over Cali’s slightly distended belly. She was sixteen weeks now according to all the other ultrasounds she’d had, and the old doctor had said we might be able to see the sex of the baby today.
From that first appointment, he’d been coming at least once a week, doing regular ultrasounds to make sure the baby was still growing, still healthy. Cali’s bleeding had gone on, only just now slowing down to spotting, but it was something we’d all been concerned over. The ultrasounds showed that the baby was thriving. The amniotic fluid levels were on point, and the growth rate was even a little ahead of schedule.