Melina gets down from the kitchen stool, swallowing a lump in her throat. She takes a look at James and notices he’s dressed in the Givenchy suit she bought for him before they split. That can’t be a good sign.
“James, w-wh-h-a-at are you doing here?”
“I heard you were in town, so I thought I’d stop by and say hi,” James says, walking closer to Melina, his scent drifting through her nose. Melina’s brain immediately recalls how she would smell like him for days, despite doing everything she could to scrub his scent off her body. Tears well up in her eyes, remembering why she even had his scent on her body in the first place.
“Really? That’s so nice of you,” Melina says, blinking away tears. Her nose stings, telling Melina she’s not doing a good job of suppressing her emotions. It’s hard for Melina because she recalls all the times she cried silently, staring at the ceiling as James took her against her will. Melina didn’t believe James was just checking in to see how she’s doing, but Melina is too scared to ask him the true reason why he’s here.
“How’re you doing, darling?” James says, moving to touch Melina’s face, and she closes her eyes, flinching. “Don’t worry, darling, I’m not here to hurt you.” James takes a strand of Melina’s hair and places it behind her ear. A tear rolls down Melina’s cheek. James has said those words to her more times than she can count, and each time his actions have proven his words to be false.
“Why are you here?” Melina asks as she opens her eyes and wipes away a tear.
“As I said, I’m here to see how you’re doing, but I’m also here to take you somewhere.”
“I don’t understand,” Melina’s brows furrows, perplexed by what he just said.
“You don’t have to, darling.” James reaches for Melina’s arm, but she moves it away before he can. Melina might be afraid of James because of the past abuse, but things have changed. She isn’t going to let James have his way with her. Slapping Kimberly the other day taught her that fighting back is better than letting people walk all over her. Kimberly may have won the fight, but Melina remembers how good it felt to stand up for herself, and that’s all she remembers about that day.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Melina backs away from him, but the kitchen aisle stops her.
“The choice isn’t yours, honey.”
“What exactly does that mean?” Melina asks, a little worried.
“Bring her in.”
“Franky!” Melina screams as someone enters the kitchen with a gun to Franky’s head. Fear grips her like a vice as she watches the gun rest on Franky’s temple. Her heartbeat quickens.
“James, what’s with the gun to Franky’s head?” Melina is baffled right now.
“Hmm, where should I begin?” says James.
“James, I’ll go wherever you need me to, but please don’t hurt Franky.” Melina’s eyes well up with tears. She doesn’t want James to hurt Franky because of her.
“If I’d known it would be this easy to make you come with me, I’d have kidnapped your sister a long time ago. But on second thought, I don’t think you’d have been able to escape without her help, so it’s actually better this way.”
“Please move the gun away from her head.” James motions to the man, who removes the gun from Franky’s head. Franky rushes towards Melina the second the gun is removed from her head.
“Are you okay?” Franky asks, inspecting Melina’s body for any injuries.
Tears flow down Melina’s cheeks; she couldn’t believe her sister. Franky was the one who was held at gunpoint, yet she is more concerned about her.
“Oh, Franky,” Melina says as she pats Franky on the cheek. “Sometimes I wish you were a bad big sister.”
“Unfortunately, that’s impossible,” Franky says, giving Melina a small smile.
“Enough with the reunion; if we want to make it back to the states on time, we need to get moving,” James says, prompting both sisters to turn to face him.
“Where are you taking me?” Melina asks.
“To the Mexicans.”
“The Mexicans? I don’t understand.”
“Forgive me for not explaining in detail why I need you to come with me.” “I need you in exchange for protection.”
“Excuse me, what?” Melina looks at James, baffled by what he just said.
“I got wind that the Mexican cartel is out to get Thomas, so I struck a deal with them to protect me from him.”
“What do I have to do with this?”
“I need you as an offering.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” Melina laughs drily. “Did you just say you want to offer me to them?”
“Yes.”
“For God’s sake, I’m a human being, James, not some piece of thing you can offer.” Melina is sick of James taking advantage of her.
“I know you’re human, which makes you the perfect bargaining chip.”
“Really, a bargaining chip?” Melina exclaims in disbelief.
“Yes, the best one to use to gain the protection of the Mexican cartel.”
“How?”
“You are the one person Thomas values the most.”
“I’m not,” Melina responds, taken aback by James’ statement.
“Do you honestly believe that because he hurt you, he no longer loves you?”
“Yes, and how do you know he hurt me?”
“You stole his money, Mel. He may not have killed you, but he must have made you pay in some other way.”
“Oh, but Thomas doesn’t love me anymore. I’m not worth anything to the Mexican cartel, so I’m not coming with you.” Melina now understands why James is here, but she believes he’s making a big mistake.
“That’s what you might think, but that’s not true, honey, so you’re coming with me. Boys, grab them.”
Two burly men appear from the living room and seize Franky and Melina.
“James, I swear to you, Thomas doesn’t love me anymore. I’m useless to them,” Melina says, struggling to free herself from the man who is dragging her out the back door. Franky tries to resist the man pulling her, too, but receives a hot slap from James as a result.
“Franky,” Melina screams, astonished by what James has just done.
“I don’t fucking need you, so behave yourself while I’m nice enough to spare your life.”
“Please don’t harm her; in fact, don’t bring her with us. It’s me you want. Please let her go.” Melina says.
“I wish I could do that, but I’m afraid I can’t.”
“You don’t need Franky.” She isn’t worth anything to the Mexican Cartel.”
“Yes, she isn’t, but she’s worth something to you.”
“You bastard!” Franky moves forward to attack James, but one of James’s men pulls her back.
“It’s good you know your worth,” James says with a smirk.
“You don’t have to use Franky to threaten me. I’ll go with you. Please let Franky go.”
“It doesn’t matter; she’s coming with us,” James says as he walks out of the house.
The man drags Melina out the door and into a van. Melina almost lands on her stomach, but Franky catches her before she hits the ground.
“Be careful; she’s pregnant, for God’s sake,” Franky yells at the man.
“She’s what?” James grabs Franky’s wrist.
“She’s pregnant.” James lets go of Franky’s hand and approaches Melina.
“Tell me she’s lying,” James says as he grasps Melina’s shoulders and looks her in the eyes.
“No, she isn’t; I am pregnant.” Melina looks at him, perplexed by his reaction to the news of her pregnancy. Is James jealous I’m pregnant for Thomas? But why would he be? He doesn’t love me.
“Tell me you’re lying; tell me you’re fucking lying,” he exclaims, startling Melina. What the hell is wrong with James?
“No, I am not,” Melina says as James smacks her across the face.
“I just told you she’s pregnant. Why are you hitting her?” Franky pushes James away from Melina. James says nothing and just glares at Melina. He looks at her belly, his hands clenched in tight fists, throwing daggers.
“Mark my words, you’ll be sorry. You will fucking regret this,” James says, slamming the van door shut and walking away.
Melina looks at Franky with the same puzzled expression on her face. Melina doesn’t understand why James is upset that she’s pregnant for Thomas. He doesn’t love her, so why is he acting like a jealous boyfriend. She couldn’t understand, but Melina quickly forgets about it as the car starts to move.
Her mind is preoccupied with what will happen when James offers her to the Mexican cartel. She didn’t know how bad Thomas’ feud with them was, so she couldn’t predict her fate. Melina wonders if she made a big mistake by fleeing, putting her baby in harm’s way. Melina wraps her arms around her belly and hopes she hasn’t.