Anna approached and he squeezed her hand.
"But... You're a girl! I don't think I was given the right orders..."
Anna smiled and let go of his hand.
"I could say the same about you." She said good-naturedly.
He laughed and looked at the men who were carrying Sarah with her hands tied behind her back.
They got into a pick-up truck and Adonis drove discreetly to a secluded spot on the farm.
Anna admired the scenery, remembering that Allister had wanted her to be heir to that place and that, for a while, she had lived a life with Allister there. They had children and grandchildren, and they had grown old together. But it had only been a dream. A dream that would have become a nightmare if it had come true. She would never forgive herself if she gave love to the man who had her family exterminated.
And that, Sarah was behind, covered with a tarpaulin, along with some of the instruments of torture that Anna intended to use. In front of them, there was a black car full of Adam's men, and behind it came another truck with other instruments that Anna would need, and behind that truck, two more cars with the werewolves who had been assigned to watch over her, and also to help her with whatever she needed.
As Adonis drove, he told Anna about his life, after she showed interest and insisted on knowing.
"I was born in a favela in Brazil known as Favela da Rocinha. I love that place, but I was forced to leave because my mother got involved with one of the drug dealers, and after a while, when she suffered a lot of aggression from this man, she decided to end the relationship. He refused to accept it and started stalking her. Then, one day, an uncle of mine, on my father's side, died after being hit by a stray bullet. This uncle came to visit me, and Mom hugged him happily. I was only four years old, and I vaguely remember seeing my mother's ex-boyfriend come into our house, break down the door, along with some of his friends, and shoot my uncle with their rifles. I only remember that scene because that was the day I swore revenge. That uncle was my favorite relative, and I liked to pretend that he was my real father, because he treated me like a beloved son, taking me for walks and helping Mama feed me. Mom cried a lot that day, and after a long time those men left, the boss of the slum arrived and took care of my uncle's funeral, gave Mom money, and said he would punish the culprits, because they hadn't asked his permission to act like that. As soon as he left, Mom ran to pack her bags, and we ran away in the middle of the night, hiding in dark alleys so that no one would see us, and ended up in the favela that the ex-husband of one of Mom's friends ran. And I grew up among them, and ended up becoming one of them at the age of eight. I was very useful and reliable. I passed myself off as a resident of any favela I entered, and I discovered schemes that helped the boss secure command of those areas. When I turned thirteen, I was given a rifle and taught how to shoot, and then how to carry out orders to kill. The first few times, I confess, my heart bled when I heard the pleas for mercy, but I did what I was told anyway. And over time, I learned to be indifferent to these appeals. I became cold. Mom didn't care anymore. She started a romance with one of the men who disappeared after Adam took control of the mafia in Brazil and became our new boss. But I got some men together after Adam took over the favela, with his permission, and went after the men who killed my uncle. I've never forgotten their faces. There were five of them. And I found them, and killed them one by one, in one night, in front of their families, just like they did to my uncle. Mom's ex-boyfriend tried to argue that he was driven by jealousy. He thought it was some new boyfriend of Mom's. I tortured him before killing him. And after my revenge was complete, I returned home. But Mom had already put another man in her bed, and I didn't want to live with her anymore. So I talked to the new boss, and he offered me one of his houses here, on this ranch in Nevada. The prospect of moving from one country to another, to a place where I didn't know the language, was enough of a challenge for me to accept his invitation. Since then, I've been loyal to him and consider him a brother. He treats me well, he transformed me. A werewolf, because he doesn't want anyone working near him who isn't of his kind, and he tried to get me to start going to the mansion, like he does with everyone else, but I thought it best to keep my distance from other people, and I'm fine with that."
"So I guess I thought you were older than you really are." Anna said thoughtfully.
He took revenge on the people who killed his uncle, but he didn't pay any attention to his mother's guilt. Anna had the impression that she had called her brother-in-law there to make him jealous. But she preferred to keep quiet.
"How old do you think I am?"
"You're tall and muscular, I guessed about eighteen, but you must be younger, right?"
"No. I'm nineteen."
"When your uncle visited you, was he recognized by the faction that ran the favela?"
"I don't know. I don't think so. My mother always had to go to Baixada Fluminense so that he could see me. Sometimes we spent more than a week there."
"So, the boss may have accepted that they did what they did, since he found them unharmed years later. And you know that you don't go into places occupied by factions to visit someone without first identifying yourself."
"Yes, I thought of that. That's why I went after the boss. But he was no longer in charge. And the man in his place happened to be your father. He talked to me, mourned my loss, and invited me to come back and be his spokesman, because he couldn't stay."