Chapter 16

            Justin growled angrily at the pounding of his head. Everyday for the past few months he had been having mind-numbingly painful headaches.

            He blamed it on his liquor intake. He had drank way too much liquor since things went downhill with…

            Even thinking of her name would reduce him into an angry, bitter, weeping shell of a man. Didn’t she know she was what made him strong enough to fight another day? Obviously not. But it was his fault, even though he didn’t know how it happened.

            It was like one second he was paying the baby sitter and the next he was cumming inside her. He picked up a glass that was half filled with bacardi and a hint of coke and chucked it at the wall.

            He stood up with his head spinning, he’d have her back. He was Justin fucking Timberlake after all, Mob Lord of the greatest Drug Empire.

            “Justin?”

            “Yes, Tommy?” He answered in a voice that did not at all sound like his. It was dark and cold, he blamed it on the fact that she wasn’t around.

            “I heard about your plans for this evening… do you think it’s wise to start a war with the Castillo family? They’ve been a great ally to us in our war against the Lopez’.”

            Justin glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

            “Who the fuck do you think you are to question MY orders?” Justin shakily walked up to Tommy’s face. “I’M IN CONTROL AROUND HERE!! I MAKE THE FUCKING DECISIONS!”

            Tommy shook his head wearily. “No wonder Natalia left you.”

            Pulling a gun out of its holder, Justin grabbed Tommy by the throat and held the gun up to his cheek.

            “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?!”

            “Mr. Timberlake calm down!” Ruben ran in from the hallway and pulled Justin back. Everyone knew that Justin was a ticking time bomb; it was only a matter of time before he’d explode.

            Ruben held Justin up and watched as he threatened to collapse.

            “I didn’t want her to leave me! I didn’t want to treat her so badly.” Bile rose up in his throat, but he forced it down. He was weary already and this outburst left him drained.

            A few seconds later, Justin passed out.

            “Call an ambulance!! Now!!” Tommy ordered. He didn’t know what was going on but he hoped he could save his friend.

**

            “Hi… Ricky? It’s Hope.”

            “Hey sweetie… how are you?”

            “I’m okay…” She sighed. “Things are just really hectic here… but I need you to take care of Natalia for me. I wish I could do it but there’s a lot of stuff going on with Savannah, and more recently, Justin is in the hospital.”

            “What?! What happened?!”

            “He was being drugged. We found traces of some drug in all his alcohol in his office.” Hope stated solemnly.

            “Is he going to be alright?”

            “We really don’t know.” She managed to choke back a sob. Hope and Justin had been close since she and Tommy first began dating. “I was just hoping you could maybe… get the message to Natalia.”

            “Of course I will.” Ricky exhaled deeply and rubbed his forehead. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry… we’re hoping for the best… but I don’t know…”

“I’ll try to get her to go down there… but you know how stubborn Natalia is.”

“Definitely.” Hope commented with slight annoyance in her voice. “I don’t mean to take Justin’s side, but I do think she’s taking this way too far.”

“I agree but there’s no reasoning with her. I tried to talk to her the other day and she freaked out at me.”

“Oh Ricky… he needs her so much right now.” The beautiful Hispanic girl said sadly. “But I should get going. Thanks for the help, Rick.”

“No problem. I hope everything gets better.”

Ricky hung up the phone and stared out the window. How he was going to break this news to Natalia, he had no idea. This was going to be tough.

**

“I’m here to see Andrew Fuentes. I’m his sister, Natalia.” I said to one of the prison guards.

I had been racking my nerves on the entire car ride to the prison. Would Andy forgive me for not believing him and helping him to get sent to this hell? I prayed he would.

David told me not to worry; he told me that blood was thicker than water. I took in a deep breath and followed the guard to a room with a table and a few chairs.  I sat down quietly and waited for my brother.

Everyone had tried to warn me about Justin. My Mother, my brother, even Dylan. What especially stuck out in my head was Dylan’s words to me so many years ago. “I'm just trying to warn you, he doesn't love you. He's just going to throw you to the side as soon as he gets bored of you."

Wasn’t that the truth?

Now… now I guessed I was in a relationship with David. I hadn’t told anyone, but it just felt right. There was no danger anymore; it was like we had a relationship like everyone else.

David urged me to take back control of my life, and he was right. The first step was making peace with my brother.

“Natalia… What are you doing here?” My brother walked into the room in handcuffs. I wanted to cry at the sight of him.

I had been so angry at him for so long and all he was trying to do was protect me. Sure, he went about it the wrong way, but Andy only wanted the best for me.

I couldn’t hold back my emotions; I ran to him and threw my arms around him.

“I’m so sorry Andrew.”

My brother hugged me the best he could while being handcuffed. Tears streamed down my face as I pulled away from our embrace and looked at him.

“Shh… its okay… sit down and talk to me. I missed you, Nat.”

I sat down and took a deep breath. I rubbed my red eyes and looked at my brother who was scruffy and suddenly muscular, a lot more than I remembered him to be.

“I missed you too, Andy. I’m sorry.” I said softly. “Justin and I are over…”

“What happened?” He asked, without even the slightest hint of emotion on his face.

“Well, everyone was right about him. He was no good. Justin cheated on me and didn’t treat me very well.” I bit my lip and looked down at the table.

“I’m sorry. I wish I could have gone about things differently. I wish I could have made you see the real him without using violence.”

“It’s over now, Andy and it all happened for a reason. You’re an Uncle you know, to two beautiful twins, a boy and a girl.” I opened my Dooney and Bourke pocketbook and pulled out my wallet, which was full of pictures of the twins. “Their names are Nikolas and Samantha.”

“God, Nat, they’re beautiful.” My brother smiled when looking at the pictures. “Take care of them, let them know they have an Uncle who loves them and doesn’t even know them.”

“I will.”

“Don’t let them grow up in a dangerous atmosphere. Do what you have to, to protect them.”

How right my brother was. His time spent in prison had changed him, it had made him almost a better person. People do change.