Pinned Up (Pinned Up Trilogy) (29 page)

Mateo ignores his threat. “You’ve been busy keeping secrets, I see. I knew it was worth taking this trip. Something told me Nina was the key to trapping you. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine you were hiding a daughter from me. All these years of working together and not once did I think you had a family. What else have you been hiding?”

The stranger, Diego remains quiet with abhorrence radiating off him.

“If I die, I’ll blow her brains out. Simple as that.” Mateo lewdly licks the side of my face. My stomach turns and causes a vile sensation to rise up my throat.

“That’s enough!” Celeste yells and raises her head with tears in her eyes.

Mateo tightens his hold on me without realizing it. “It can’t be.” I hear him whisper to himself. “Get up!” He commands Celeste. She does as she’s directed. “Stand next to Diego.” He instructs her. Again, Celeste complies. Now she’s standing right in front of Mateo, just a few feet away from Diego.

“You conniving bitch! You stole from me and took away my child! What the fuck does this cunt mean to you?” He gestures towards me tightening his hold.

“She’s become like a daughter to me. Please, I beg you…let her go, spare her life.” Celeste weeps profusely.

“Get on your fucking knees and beg me like the dog you are!” Mateo orders with fury projecting from every cell in his body.

In her fragile state, Celeste lowers herself to her knees. “I beg you, let her go, Mateo.” Her eyes are filled with tears of panic.

“What did you do with our child, Kaitlyn? I can call you Kaitlyn, right? Considering I don’t know which name you’re living under anymore!” Mateo yells with an uncontrollable fury.

At that moment, Celeste makes the mistake of directing her gaze to Josh who is lying on the ground to the left of me unconscious. Immediately, she looks away. Unfortunately, that’s all Mateo needed to realize his son was by his feet.

“You!” Mateo addresses Kade. Get up and turn this man over so that I can see his face.” Kade gets up and slowly begins to walk towards Josh. “Now!” Mateo commands without the slightest bit of patience.

Kade turns the body over allowing Mateo to see Josh’s face. “Get down on the fucking ground and face down!” Mateo directs Kade. Slowly, Kade follows his order.

Mateo turns to Diego. “You piece of shit! You knew Kaitlyn had my son and knew where they lived all these years! You kept them from me!” Mateo’s rage is only escalating at this point.

“I haven’t seen Diego throughout all these years—” Celeste gets interrupted by Mateo.

“Shut the fuck up, you worthless bitch!” Mateo shoots her without hesitation. Celeste instantly falls forward with blood spilling out beneath her.

“Noooo!” I yell, crying hysterically.

“Now, your precious little girl is next, mother fucker!” I can feel his rapid pulse vibrating. “You kept my child from me. I won’t allow you to have yours.” Mateo says his last statement slowly and with such calmness, it brings me chills and puts me in a greater panic.

“I’m not gonna ask you again, let my daughter go!” Diego’s fury is pulsating through his skin. “Everyone working for me come to my side. Now!” Diego orders.

Three of Diego’s men join his side along with one of Mateo’s security. What catches me completely off guard is seeing Emme get up, walk towards Diego’s direction, and stand by him.

At this time while Mateo has his attention focused on Diego, I feel a metal object being thrust onto my hand, I get a better grip and discreetly transfer it to my right hand. Urgently, I stab Mateo’s thigh with all my force and twist the switch blade upwards. Mateo yells from agonizing pain as he loses his balance and begins to shoot without a specific target. As I’m ducking for cover, I see Josh stand and push me to the ground. As I’m collapsing, I feel a burning sensation by my shoulder and I feel Kade throw his body on me from a different direction. As Mateo’s falling to the ground, I notice Josh rush him. Within seconds, I witness Josh shoot his father in the back of the head. Mateo somehow lands on his back and Josh seizes the opportunity to shoot him two more times on the chest and another time on his head to ensure he eliminates the threat that is his father.

Within seconds, a S.W.A.T. team enters the building just as Josh is dropping his gun. Once I manage to push Kade’s heavy body off me, I realize he’s been shot in the chest. His body is limp. He’s unresponsive. And my heart is shattered.

“Noooo!” I scream while I’m frantically trying to wipe away his blood and nurse him back to life. “Someone, please help!” I beg in the middle of chaos.

I indistinctly hear more gunfire. Officers are in gun battle with one of Mateo’s security who is on the second story. I pay it no mind and don’t bother searching for cover. Kade’s lifeless state is my only thought. Absentmindedly, I realize the shooting has seized. Diego and his men choose a different outcome and drop their guns. They raise their arms in defeat. Everyone in the room is directed to place their hands behind their heads. I’m unable to remain focused; my upper body is in excruciating pain. I’m vaguely able to comprehend that Josh is being escorted by police with handcuffs behind his back. It all goes black.

Chapter 12 (Nina)

Friends

I wake up to the sound of my mother’s voice. She’s reading something to me. I feel sore and thirsty. She looks up and smiles at me with tear filled eyes. She gets up to kiss my cheek.
Why is she crying? What happened?
I want to ask, but feel too dazed and exhausted to do so. Just then, I recall seeing Josh in handcuffs and even worse, remember the blood shed of Kade and Celeste.

With a burning sensation in my throat, I ask my mom about everyone’s well-being.

“Celeste is in critical condition. She lost a lot of blood, but luckily no major organs were hit. Unfortunately, with her delicate state, it’s more difficult for her body to recover.” My mom says with deep sorrow. “I’ve been staying here since yesterday evening going back and forth from ICU to your room.

“How’s Kade?” I ask, afraid of her response.

“He was shot in his lower left chest within the rib cage, but away from his mid-line. The bullet was removed yesterday in surgery without complications. If he continues to do well, he should be released from the hospital by the end of the week.” My mom smiles warmly at me with tears in her eyes.

Oh, thank God.

“What about Josh?”I ask nervously.

“Dillon is with him. I don’t know anything else.” My mom states.

As curious as I am about Emme and the man who claims to be my father, I decide not to ask about them. I feel emotionally spent and allow my exhaustion to take over. I fall asleep once again. The next morning, I’m allowed to leave the hospital since I only had a flesh wound on the outside of my shoulder. My mom left to gather some clothes for me to wear upon my release. As I’m waiting to be discharged, I ask the nurse about Celeste. She’s doing slightly better, but is still in ICU. I question her about Kade.

“Why don’t you ask me how I’m doing?” I hear Kade’s voice nearby.

The nurse smiles and pushes both sets of curtains out of the way so that he and I can see each other. The nurse leaves allowing us some privacy.

Right away, I get up and rush to his bedside. I lightly plant a kiss on his forehead, afraid of hurting him if I give him a hug. “How many times will you go around saving me?” I ask jokingly.

“As many times as necessary, but let’s try not to get ourselves involved in more shit. It hurts like a bitch!” He chuckles.

“I love you.” At once, my waterworks start flowing from a mixture of feelings for my best friend and the thought of coming so close to losing him.

Kade’s eyes become glossy; he does his best to contain his tears. “I love you too, Cheesecake. Now, stop it. I can’t risk having my crocodile tears come out. There are too many cute nurses and a few fine interns to have me ugly crying. Don’t ruin my game.” He laughs and slightly flinches at the same time.

Since I see he’s feeling better, I ask his version of yesterday’s events.

Reluctantly, he begins to tell me his side. “I recognized him right away. Daniel Martin, I mean Mateo Blanco. His security also confirmed my suspicion. After I heard Celeste’s story, I looked him up. Hello? I’m in front of a computer all day; of course, my curiosity was gonna take over. I wanted to see what he looked like and wanted to know more about him.” Kade takes a sip of his water and continues. “I knew you didn’t feel comfortable. Why else would you want your loud and obnoxious friend who has no filter with you in a business meeting? So, I sent Josh a text telling him that I ‘thought’ his dad was in the meeting with us. And you already know the rest.”

“Who handed me the switch blade?” I’m nowhere near knowing all the rest.

“Oh, that would be me. After I turned Josh over, I ended up right next to the guard who was killed exiting the elevator; his leg was by my face. The guy had a gun holstered around his lower calf, but I knew if I attempted to grab it, I would draw attention to myself. Luckily, he had a switch blade inside his sock. I took it right when Celeste was shot. That’s when Josh finally became conscious again. We both knew this was our only chance to get you out of Mateo’s grasp. Unfortunately, we weren’t in a good position to do much damage to him. Luckily, once you stabbed him and he released his hold, Josh quickly got up, grabbed a nearby gun, and pushed you to the ground. As your body fell, Josh was able to shoot his father perfectly from behind.” Kade states lost in thought.

Just then, my mom enters our room. She’s ecstatic to see Kade fully awake and me standing. Minutes later, the nurse provides me with my discharge papers and care instructions. I promise Kade I’ll be here tomorrow after I stop by the police station first. My mom lets him know she’ll be back once she gets me settled in.

The ride home is silent. So much has happened; I can’t seem to wrap my mind around it all. We finally arrive at my house. After I shower, I’m anxious to question my mom now that we’re in private. My mom hands me a cup of tea along with my medication as we make ourselves comfortable in the living room. She’s prepared for the inquisition that’s being directed at her. “First, let’s start off with you being on the ground. What happened?” I ask.

My mom sighs heavily; clearly, she doesn’t want to relive the experience. “Well, Josh ran out of the restaurant while he was in the middle of having a drink. He left abruptly without saying anything. We waited a few minutes for him to return, but he didn’t. That’s when Celeste paid the tab and we left. When we arrived at the gallery, we were able to see people inside to the right of the entrance, so we entered. That’s when I saw him, your father. I knew he recognized me. I wasn’t allowed to say anything. Without hesitation, his men pointed guns to our heads and signaled us to be quiet. They led us away from the entrance. When we approached the elevator, we saw Josh unconscious on the floor. We weren’t allowed to get near him. Then, we were directed to lie on the ground face down. We had no choice but to comply with their instructions.”

“Have you been in contact with Diego?” I ask.

“No. The last time I saw him was when I told him of my pregnancy.” I see the hurt in my mom’s eyes as she recalls that day.

“Did you know he was the leader of a drug cartel?” My question is irrelevant, but curiosity gets the best of me.

“No. To be honest, it explains a lot though. His life was a mystery to me. I never met any of his family or friends; he always traveled and always had large sums of money. I was too in love with him to care or question him. I was naïve and refused to accept the truth when my family brought it to my attention. I felt their hatred towards his ethnicity would make them say anything to discredit him.” My mom answers truthfully.

My brain feels overwhelmed with revelations. I decide to call it a day and fall asleep early. Rest is imperative for tomorrow’s long day ahead. I need to find out about Josh.

The next morning, I head to the police station for questioning. I answer their inquiries to the best of my ability omitting the minor detail of Josh shooting his father to death. I’m informed that Josh was not arrested; he was interrogated and has now been released. My heart skips a beat with excitement. Once we leave the station, I ask my mom to take me to the hospital. I know Josh will be there with his mother.

When we arrive, we’re notified that Celeste is no longer in ICU. Relief washes over me. Before I search for Celeste and Josh, I check on Kade. He’s recovering well and his spirit is up.

“Hey, Cheesecake. I’m so glad you’re here. Did you hear about Celeste? She’s my next door neighbor. How do you feel?” Kade asks with concern.

“I should be asking you that. I feel better. Do you need anything? Are you thirsty? Have you had any visitors?” He and I both know whom I’m referring to. His sterile room is filled with flowers and balloons wishing him to get well soon.

“I’m fine. Actually, I think I found my flavor of the week. She’s a nurse here and has amazing tits with a voluptuous ass, she’s incredible. Clearly, she’s in the wrong profession. We’re having fun. Every hour I press the nurse’s button and she comes to my room. I tell her I need my pillows adjusted, so she fluffs them up for me. As she does that, she leans over me with her huge ‘breasteses’ practically smacking my face! And then, during the swing shift, there’s an intern who I shit you not, looks like a combination of William Levy and Henry Cavill. And to think, I only thought Seattle Grace Hospital had all the eye candy within its grounds. I give this joint an A+ for customer service.” Kade laughs as he holds on to his side. “I keep forgetting that I can’t laugh yet. It hurts too fuckin’ much.” Kade pauses and repositions himself to be more comfortable. He looks sleepy. “Thanks, Cheesecake, but I don’t need anything and yes, I have had visitors. A few friends stopped by earlier, apparently they heard about what happened to us on the news. Can you believe it? We’re like a big deal around here. I wonder how much ass that will get me?” Okay, Kade is definitely feeling better if he’s thinking of getting some. Since he is deliberately not mentioning Emme, I decide not to either.