Nico’s Wife

   After Rafael stormed out of the room to get some fresh air and clear his head the phone in his pocket rang. Her ringtone... As he headed down the stairs he hesitated then answered. A woman’s soft voice sounded in his ear, “Rafe, I’m scared.”

  He opened the front door of his villa and tightened the grip on his phone, “Little Sister, what frightened you?”

  “Nico didn’t come home all night. I tried calling him and it went straight to voicemail. I was so worried I couldn’t sleep…not a wink.”

   He could hear her quietly sniffling and his brain short circuited. The three of them grew up together and Nico’s wife occupied a special place in his heart. She lost her mother when she was an infant and when her father was killed in a plane crash she came to  live with them. Cassandra Diamond was a frail six year old girl at the time and he and Nico were ten.

   “Don’t cry.” 

  Rafael loved Cassandra deeply and if he wasn’t deceived and sent abroad he would have been the one to marry the girl. When she came into her inheritance at eighteen his greedy father wanted to continue to control her assets and insisted Nico marry her.

   Her voice was trembling, “I’m not.”

   “Listen Cassie, it might be father called him about the problems at the factory in Berlin and he left hurriedly. You don’t need to worry. I will find out his whereabouts.”

   “Brother, I need you. Please come to the mansion. I really am afraid to be alone.”

  Rafael walked down to the beach, staring out at the ocean he responded. “I will be there as soon as I can. Call Dr. Lawry to give you a sedative. You will get sick if you don’t get your rest.”

  “I will listen to you. Find Nico…Rafe..If anything happened to him I can’t bear it. I really can’t.”

  “Nothing happened to him. You know when Nico is wrapped up in business matters he sometimes turns off his phone.”

   “But after the fire Nico promised he wouldn’t.”

   “Don’t let your imagination run wild. I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation. I’m hanging up now. I am on the Island and need to prepare the helicopter. I will be there as soon as I can.”

   “Hurry Brother, I need you.”

 Listening to her aggrieved tone he wanted to hold her in his embrace to comfort her. Cassie’s delicate body can’t withstand any emotional stress. Damn that brother of mine! If he isn’t dead, where the hell is he?! FUCK!  I need more information from that damn woman who was with him on the yacht!

  Rafael was very worried about Cassandra’s state of mind and called her friend Nina. 

  Nina was having breakfast with her latest boyfriend when he called. She was laughing at something he said when she answered, “Why is the elusive Rafael Kastros calling me so early in the morning. You miss me?” She kicked her boyfriend under the table as he tried to grab the phone. She winked at him, “Oh wait..it must be about Cassie, your one true love.”

  Her boyfriend’s jealousy was extinguished when he heard the last sentence.

  Rafael’s eyebrows twitched, “Shut up! You know she is my brother’s wife and my little sister.”

 “You still can’t take a joke.” Nina had a crush on Rafael in High School but he never paid any attention to her. She became friends with Cassandra Diamond in order to get close to him. That was when she realized he only had eyes for the girl who grew up in his house.

  “Go over to the mansion. Nico didn’t come home and Cassandra is beside herself with worry.”

   Nina took a bite of jelly toast, “Nico didn’t come home?”

   “He went on a sudden business trip for the company and his phone probably ran out of battery. But you know how Cassandra can overreact.”

   “Rafael, you know she needs therapy. I have a meeting this morning. I really can’t drop everything everytime she has a meltdown.”

   “Unless you want your company to go bankrupt…you can and you will. I didn’t invest in your shitty clothing line for nothing. Get over there now. I am flying into the city from the island and will be there in two hours.”

   Nina angrily stabbed the piece of ham on her plate, “That man is insufferable!”

   Rafael stopped by the heliport on the way to his villa, “Get it ready we are leaving in an hour.” I need to interrogate that woman one more time. Maya Hart, you better not be lying or I will skin you alive and feed the sharks! 

Advertisement