"Rosie, I'm no fucken angel. People like me are the ones I'm trying to protect you from."-Mateo De Leon
"What if I don't need protection? I'm old enough to handle myself now Teo."-Rosie
Rosie is visited by her godfather Angel Del Leon and his son Ma...
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I ran back to my room and locked the door behind me. Placing the jewelry box on my bed while I mentally prepared myself for what might be inside. I took a deep breath in, and opened the vintage jewelry box and found a stack of polaroid pictures of Elly on the beach. I went through the photos one by one, and nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Elly seemed happy and all these photos made me miss her even more.
I continued going through her photos which contained some of her riding a bike down a road, some of her hiking, and some her and her wild jet-black hair floating in a pool with flowers surrounding her like you see on Instagram. I flipped the photos backwards and saw each one had a time and date. The final photo made my heart skip a beat. Showing Elly and Rafael on the beach clinking bottles with a bunch of other friends, the back of the photo was dated the same day she ran away and was murdered.
Rafael was the last one to see her alive. Elly never once appeared miserable in these photos. She seemed genuinely happy and in good company. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a knock at my door. I quickly hid the photos and guns underneath my pillow and made my way towards the door. Rafa was at the door with a nasty grin on his face, "What were you doing in Elena's room Rosie?" "I don't think that's any of your concern Rafa". I replied looking at him suspiciously. I studied his features up close and confirmed my suspicions, he without a doubt was the man in the photos. Rafa continued staring at my face and lifted a brow and said something that made every alarm go off in my head, "Did you know I'm next in line to take over everything if something happens to Uncle Angel or Mateo?"
"I'm not stupid, but if I'm correct that space isn't your birthright" I responded coldly " If Mateo was to have children you would never touch that throne. "I could tell that struck a nerve with him because his face was no longer cocky and proud, his face burned red as he a clenched his fists. "You are something alright" he stared at me with his ugly grin. "Did Mateo get you knocked up or what?"
"Even if he did, why do you care, it's none of your fucking business" I retorted.
He unclenched his hands and gave me a fake smile, "No, not at all, just wondering if Mateo finally found love." he stepped away from my door and began walking back towards the security room again.
As soon as he left my door and I quickly locked it behind me. I called Teo hoping he'd answer but no luck. It was almost 9PM and I felr like I was caged in the house with the devil himself. I didn't feel safe in the house alone with Rafa here, so I went back my bed and pulled the guns and pictures from under the pillows. My godfather and Teo had to know about this, Elly was on a plane to stay with Rafa's mother when she was murdered but seeing her in that photo on a beach with the same date didn't make sense. I began flipping through the crime scene photos and autopsy reports and trying to see if there was anything else that could be gathered from it all. After all, if a criminal organization was big enough to payroll police, I'm pretty sure they could do something like fake a death. Seeing it all like this was too depressing though. Elly's body lying sideways on the plane and then again on a metal slab. Even in death she was angelic compared to Teo and his darker features. I continued reviewing the report and notice that nothing was listed under birth marks. I flipped through the photos of her body and notice the same thing, no birth mark. Ever since we were little, I specifically remembered Elly had a special red birth mark on her top right shoulder that was in the shape of a heart. I stuck the photos in my face to make sure I wasn't missing anything and realized that Elly didn't have the mark anywhere in the photos. My thoughts were interrupted again when my phone began to vibrate with an incoming call from Teo.
