Page 27 of His Gilded Cage

He pulled me close into an embrace and I hugged the man who had murdered my mother.

I have chosen this life, this game of cat and mouse. Every day I move closer to the evidence I need to prove Amador Industries is funded by the cartel, but time is not my ally. Luis grows more suspicious of me with each passing hour.

He shares pieces of his business with me but he holds back details. He continues to test me. He struggles with trust.

I will bide my time until the wrath of the US government can reign down upon my father and destroy his house of cards.

Carmella is dead to me and if I am honest about the years I spent pining for her touch, I loved a girl who wasn’t real. She sold her soul to the devil long ago.

I no longer blame myself for my mother’s death. She did her best to protect and shield me from the pain of my origin. I do hold myself accountable for the lost years in my life.

Grief can destroy a man. I allowed it to do worse. I allowed my pain to blind me to the truth. I ignored my instincts and stopped asking questions in favor of cashing checks. My father bought and paid for my soul a thousand times in the years that followed my mother’s death. He locked me in a golden cage without my objection.

I knew in my bones that something was wrong, but I did nothing and chose to slam tequila to numb my pain. I fucked myself into a state of bliss. I may not have been considered an addict in the traditional sense, but make no mistake I was no better than the junkies who sleep in their own vomit in the slums of Guadalajara.

But now I sleep like a king in my four-poster bed just waiting for my moment to strike. I take lovers but no woman can distract me from my mission. I must do this alone. It would be too risky to give my heart to someone when I’m playing with the fire of my father’s crimes.

Mark my words, I will destroy him.

This is my destiny.

This is my path to redemption.

In the ashes of my father’s destruction, only then will I be born again.