Silas helped her into his truck. It was at least a foot off the ground so he guided her up with a hand along her hip. Her full, bare thighs teased him when she climbed in. The skin looked smooth to the touch and the sun gleamed off the oil she’d put on to keep her moisturized.
The woman from the club the night before had done nothing to curb his hunger. They fucked in the club’s private room twice and he even had her brought to the loft he had in Dallas. The sex they had was just an outlet to imagine being with the woman with all the mysteries he couldn’t stop thinking of. He wanted to see the art that had warranted a space in a museum, he wanted to hear what her silken voice sounded like singing her favorite songs and now, he wanted to know about whoever had her so concerned over the phone before he walked in.
They drove in silence for a while. Only the soft sounds of Colombian Cumbia played in the background. Ebony looked out the window at the open grasses while dry dirt kicked up around the truck below. The homes were low to the ground and almost all appeared worn. Willadeene’s was the only house they’d passed that looked renovated within the last ten years.
Soon the houses turned to businesses.
“I went to school here.” Silas pointed out to a high school ahead. It was on the driver’s side so she sat up to look over him. The building looked somewhat new. She tried to imagine a teenage Silas going to school, laughing in the halls. She wondered if he broke teenage hearts or chased after the most popular girl in school like a puppy. Ebony looked up into his handsome face before she leaned back into her seat.
He was definitively breaking hearts.
“I can only imagine what kind of kid you were.” She grumbled to herself with a smile. Silas snorted a bellied laugh. He looked over to her with a thick black brow arched.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean you were probably a handful.” Silas shook his head to himself.
High school were some of the loneliest years of his life. He hardly spoke to anyone. The only person who got him through was his best friend Gael.
“
Incorrecto—wrong.”
He wouldn’t put too much effort into changing her ideas about him. Silas didn’t want to get into the details so it was best to leave it where it was. “But I know you were nerdy as a kid.” He laughed while he made a turn. Ebony feigned offense but dropped the act just as fast.
“I was a nerdy kid.” She admitted. They both laughed.
“Did you like art then?” Ebony nodded with a smile that transcended their conversation. She returned to the hardest parts of her life and her escape through her art. Art had saved her sanity. She always joked she owed her life to it.
“I was obsessed.” The sentence was more to herself than it was an answer to his question. She had returned to staring out the window. The car fell silent again while they both relived glimpses of their childhoods.
“You’re from here?” She asked, breaking the silence again.
“No, my parents lived a half hour away.” The Ford revved up a small hill. The engine settled when they were level again.
“They passed.” She halfway asked and more so stated. When he didn’t respond, she knew they had. “I’m sorry.” She turned to him when she apologized, knowing the pain of losing a parent or two. He didn’t look her way initially. When she refused to look away from his side profile, he took his attention off the road for just a second to meet her eyes .
“
Gracias.”
They slowed in front of a large building on a plot of beautiful, somewhat lush grasslands with patches of desert. The property was massive but the building itself was moderately sized.
“This is Dos Molinos. It’s a resort ranch.” Silas undid his seatbelt and jumped out of the car to open Ebony’s car door. She glanced at the dirt paved driveway wearily; it was a big jump down. Silas tried to hide his smirk and bury his laughter. “Let me help you, Ebony.” He asserted with a stern voice. He knew that she’d rather try it on her own than to let him get too much contact.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and she could feel him shouldering the weight of the jump with his body. It was much easier with his help.
“Thank you.” She said simply, straightening her dress.
“
Quetzalcoatl
!” Someone exclaimed. They both looked toward the direction of the call and Ebony had to peer from behind Silas’ body. His frame and the open car door limited what she could see. An older man approached with an arm outstretched and a bright smile on his face. It visibly dimmed at the sight of Ebony
She expected the poor welcome from almost everyone she met during her three month stay. Less than 2% of the population in Harper, Texas were black and that always meant people would be surprised to see her. Especially with Silas.
“David,” Silas reached out and grabbed his hand with a curt nod. “This is Ebony.” David clearly had too much respect for Silas to be rude to his guest. He reached out for Ebony’s hand with a smile much phonier than the one he’d initially had. Ebony mimicked him.
“Nice to meet ya.” He said. His wrinkled face was folded around the mouth and caused the skin over his eyes to droop dramatically. Ebony gave a tight lipped smile. When he turned his attention back to Silas, her face fell instantly and she rolled her eyes to land on the rest of the property while they spoke.
“How are things goin’? How’s business?” David had an unnerving level of excitement. He stood close, smiled hard and spoke feverishly. He was kissing Silas’ ass.
“
Bueno—good.”
He was short and rudely concise. His gaze drifted around the land.
“I want to show Ebony the horses.”
“Sure!” David gestured toward the ATV parked alongside the building. “We’ll ride over.”
David sat on the back bench and Ebony was left to sit in the passenger seat. Silas waited on the passenger’s side for her to sit down and then he did the duty of strapping her seatbelt. She wanted to question the attention but decided to just take the gesture as it was. Silas sat in the driver’s seat and she suddenly realized why he was so particular about securing her in; he drove like a madman. The small hills matched with his speed would’ve thrown her out. She had half a mind to tell him to slow down but decided against it; the wind was welcomed compared to the stiff, humid summer air.
The property was massive. She could see by the small guest homes on the edges of the land that even as far as the eye could travel, the property was still theirs. She could see different trails for walking, riding and biking leading back into the tall, dense trees. There were stables of different sizes that she assumed were home to different animals. A beautiful blue lagoon had a few horses drinking from it.
“Mr. Moreno,” David started on a nervous breath. The whizzing of the wind made him hard to hear. Silas made no gesture to suggest he was listening but David continued on. “I wanted to talk about some of the finances for the last few months that—” Silas raised his free hand to silence David.
“I am here on leisure.” His tone was stern. “If you have issues with my business it would be in your best interest to reach out to Gerardo. Quickly.” Silas looked into the rearview mirror to catch David’s eye. His orbs were full of warning that turned David chalk white.
Silas found it offensive David would wait until his unexpected visit to bring up discussions of money. It made it seem as though David had something to hide but was only mentioning it now to save himself in the case that Silas asked about it first. It was even more offensive considering he had brought a guest with him. He wanted to shield Ebony from that side of his life and David’s questions compromise that.
It was all around disrespectful.
“Of course.”
Silas had many businesses in town and across the Americas that he owned. More of them served the purpose of having the respect of the people who lived around the dealings of his cartel than making profits. He loaned substantial amounts of money to mostly failing businesses and indefinitely collected repayments every two months. Almost similar to taxes. The appreciation of the loan and the fear of repayments garnered the type of connection Silas needed.
