The Devil's Love For The Heiress

Chapter 9

Chapter 9: You Did Not See Me

“Who is my girlfriend?‘ Carlos pretended to ignore her question and asked, “I haven‘t seen Kaleb. Where is he?”

“Are you avoiding the matter here?” Kate suspected. “Why aren‘t you answering my question?

“Why are you interested in finding out who is my girlfriend?” Carlos asked back, and he could see Kate‘s stunned expression. He swore; he saw her clench her jaws as a reaction.

“I – I just figured I want to know who I am working for,” Kate reasoned. “What‘s wrong with that?”

“Really?” Carlos pursued. He folded his arms across his chest, looking intensely at Kate. “You don‘t have any other reason for asking that?”

Carlos caught how Kate struggled to reply. She wound up snorting, letting out a laugh before answering, “No. That‘s it. What other reasons would I have?” “I don‘t have a girlfriend,” Carlos finally cleared the misunderstanding. “I don‘t know why Catrina thought I had one, but no, I don‘t, and you will eventually meet the company‘s third owner.”

Before Kate could ask more, Carlos‘ phone rang. He excused himself from Kate, seeing it was Oliver, his assistant, calling. “Sir, Hugo Bonnet would like to have lunch with you tomorrow. He wants to talk about the matches,” Oliver reported.

Carlos hissed. He raked his fingers through his hair before answering, “Tell him I have plans tomorrow. Try to push it the next day. The flight alone going to Paris will take up to seven hours –”

“But sir, detective Bernard had asked me about Hugo Bonnet. He wanted to know what Mister Bonnet needed,” the assistant revealed. “Do I tell him the truth that you are in Braeton?”

Hearing that, Carlos groaned. Flying to see Kate was never part of the plan, and thus, they never informed the detective in charge in Paris. He wanted more time with Kate, but that would not happen if he was needed in Paris. After ending the call, Carlos contacted Alexander. He updated his friend about the lunch request by one leader of the Bonnet Gang in France. After speaking to Alexander, Carlos turned to Kate and described, “Kate, I don‘t have much time. I need to go back to Paris.” This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .

“Already?” Kate asked. “Why – why did you even come here if you were just going to spend a few hours in Braeton?”

“It was a rash decision,” Carlos admitted. “And we wanted to meet all the directors.”

“Kate,” Carlos warned. “Don‘t go seeing me in France, okay?”

Immediately, Kate frowned. With a hint of dismay in her tone, she asked, “Why?” She rolled her eyes and reacted, “Well, it‘s not like I have the time.”

Carlos walked closer to Kate. He kept her steady with his hands on her arms. He revealed,” Kate, what I am about to tell you is only between us. Well, your father already knows, but I supposed you need to know, so you‘ll stay put. Do you remember when you came to see my game years back, and I asked you to return to Kaleb?”

“I could not speak to you then because I did not want you to get involved in my situation. I am helping the authorities track down the gangs that are match fixing the tennis games.”

“This started five years ago. Someone approached me to purposely lose my game for a hefty amount of money,” Carlos cautiously explained.

“Why – why you do that, and why would they want you to lose?” Kate asked curiously.

“It‘s the world of gambling, Kate. There are many gambling sites out there that are betting on tennis matches. Syndicates are trying to manipulate the outcome,” Carlos revealed. “Anyway, I refused the offer. Instead, I reported the incident to the tennis association, but rather than apprehending the person who approached me, the authorities came to me for help. The tennis association wanted to end the corruption in tennis match–fixing.”

“I did not want to have any part of it at all. I just wanted to play tennis and not complicate my life, but then.” Carlos gulped and explained, “The detective who approached me revealed that he was familiar with my father‘s case.”

“What are you saying, Carlos?” Kate sought. She looked at him intently and demanded, “Tell me.”

“They believed my father‘s death was not an accident and that it had something to do with the gang that had attempted to manipulate my father‘s tennis matches,” Carlos informed.

“We did not know the extent of the gang‘s connections. So playing it safe, I was not allowed to be in contact with close friends and relatives, you know, in case our deals go sour, or we make a mistake along the way – Kate, we are this close. We have narrowed it down to the gang‘s leaders based in Paris.”

“Alexander is also part of this.” Holding Kate tighter, Carlos reminded, “So, Kate. I don‘t want you to be involved in this, and I don‘t want the gang to know who are those that I truly consider family.” “Alexander and I are going to screw up their biggest bet. It involves millions of dollars, and when they see their money going down the drain,” Carlos paused and confessed. “They are going to come after me. And when they do, I don‘t want you there.” Carlos‘ phone rang again, and he took the call a few steps away from Kate. He was confirming the charter flight to Paris with Alexander. When he looked back at Kate, he noticed her pale face.

He was about to say goodbye when she burst out in anger, “You know, Carlos. Just because you left us with so many unanswered questions doesn‘t mean I‘m going to let you get killed! I may be upset with how you left, but you are the same person I used to consider my best friend!”

She jumped at him and wrapped him in her arms and legs, her body pressed tightly against his frame. She declared, “You are not going anywhere! Stay here!”

“Kate, what are you doing?” Carlos circled his arms around her, protecting her from falling to the ground. He essentially carried her weight at that point. “I‘m not going to let you leave!” Kate asserted. “If you are going to leave, you will bring an entire battalion of US soldiers!”

“Dad! Dad!” Kate called. “Call the military! Call them now!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Shhhhh! Quiet, Kate. This is supposed to be confidential,” Carlos complained.

“Ooops. Sorry.” While continuing to snake her limbs around Carlos‘ body, Kate reached into her back pocket and took out her phone. She called her father, and when Ethan picked up, she repeated her demands in a whisper, “Dad, call the military. Carlos is leaving. Don‘t let Carlos go to Paris without–”

“Kate? That would draw attention, and how will the set–up work if they see me with a thousand US soldiers?” Carlos was convinced that Kate wasn‘t kidding. After all, her family was well connected to the military.

Kate continued to insist that Carlos not leave, which made the man chuckle at her actions. Instead of resisting, he embraced her tightly and took a big whiff of her scent. He voiced out his inner thoughts, “I missed this. I miss the Kate I knew.”

Somehow, that got Kate to land her feet on the ground. She stilled in his arms and relished in his hold. Timidly, she replied, “I – I miss this too. I missed you, Carlos.”

Unfortunately, their embrace was cut short when Ethan walked in on them. Ethan ordered,” Kate, let Carlos go.”

“But Dad,” Kate groaned. While loosening her hold on Carlos‘ body, she still held tightly onto his sleeve.

“Carlos knows what he is doing, Kate. He is no longer a teenage boy,” Ethan reminded. He turned to Carlos and asked, “Do you need to go soon?”

With a nod, Carlos answered, “Yes, unfortunately. Plans are moving forward.”

Ethan and Carlos spoke privately, out from Kate‘s range, all while they walked back to the front of the mansion.

“Well, this time around, you keep in touch,” Ethan suggested. Then, he and Carlos exchanged numbers.

Soon enough, Kate caught up with the two. She heard Carlos predict, “The driver is about ten minutes away. So, I’ll just wait here in the driveway, Uncle.”

“What? Already?” Kate complained. While Ethan stepped away, she stood before Carlos and expressed, “I have so many questions. You can‘t go. This can‘t be just it–” “If everything falls into place, I‘ll be back after the French Open, Kate,” Carlos revealed. “We can talk then.” “If?” Kate asked. “I‘m not comfortable with that.”

“But I need to go,” Carlos reasoned. “Okay,” Kate gulped. She looked down, back up to his grey eyes. She requested, “At least… At least answer me this. Why did you leave without a word? You could have at least told me about your plans?”

Silence stretched between them. Carlos turned in every direction. He sucked in a deep breath before he reluctantly replied, “I… I was hurt, Kate. You did not see me. You were my world, but I was not

enough for vou.”

“I left without informing you because I did not have the courage to tell you this back then. The only way I could leave was with the thought of you, in the arms of Tyler.” “I asked you back then… I asked you if you would ever see me more than just a friend,” Carlos reminded. “You did not give me the answer.” “Back then, I knew… I knew I had to be away from you.”

“Carlos, I‘m sorry –” “It‘s okay. I would have never forced you to reciprocate my feelings,” Carlos added. He opened his mouth, ready to say more, when they heard the beep of a black car coming their way. Taking a deep breath, and said in regret, “I need to go, Kate…. I’ll see you after the French Open.”