Chapter 2

• She's there when I park the Tesla in front of the newspaper. Overlooking a man who's lying flat on the pavement, is she. The only way I can see her is from behind, and what a fantastic view it is.
• Her hair falls halfway down her back and is long and straight as a pin. She emphasizes her little waist by placing her hands on her hips. She still has an apple for an ass. Her long legs are not concealed at all by the tight black skirt.
• She is my forever love. And, well, everything else about her as well. As soon as I laid eyes on Victoria in that University of Miami class, I knew I was in love. I felt overwhelmed, crazy, and tender when I gazed at her.
• She betrayed me, and it hurt so much because it was something I'd never felt with anyone else and the reason I no longer adore her.
• Nevertheless, my gaze roves over her body in a possessive manner, for I see her as mine. My emotions are improper, sexist, and wrong by today's standards. I would never acknowledge this to anyone, even if I am positive about it. However, I would have told Victoria about it once, a long time ago. Most likely, she would have laughed and reprimanded me.
• Not that I view her as my property. No, she's more like my primitive extension, even after all these years. She belongs to me just as much as my arm or leg. I watch her tap her foot and smile, even though I'm not here for pleasure. She must still be impatient. She'd always wanted more when she was younger. More adventures, more sex, more accomplishments in her work.
• Hold on. Is she... slapping that man with her feet? No, it looks like she's nudging him with the toe of her shoe. I scowl and depress the brake to switch off the Tesla, which is an electric vehicle that requires no ignition key. Now that I have the car turned off, I'm prepared to beat the man silly. I reach across to undo a cuff link so I can tuck my shirt sleeve up.
• I never imagined that my first fantasy of seeing Victoria after all these years would look anything like this.
• She takes a step back from the still-motionless person and raises her hands in a frustrated gesture. I give up uncuffing myself. Is this guy dead, Jesus? I grudgingly shift my focus away from her and narrow my eyes on the man on the floor. No, his breath is visible to me. He's most likely a jerk.
• My gaze returns to her. I may now view her profile. Seated in my Tesla's driver's seat, I examine her little nose, her recognizable jawline, and her pouty mouth. She has matured into an even more stunning woman than she was in school. A part of me wished she had let go, that in the years since I'd last seen her, she had somehow become horrible.
• I hate to say it, but I still want to kiss her.
• After running the air conditioning for five hours throughout my five-hour drive from Miami, the air inside my car is freezing. Still, I'm nervous, which is why I'm perspiring. Miguel Perez Gomez, the richest man in Miami, is what Victoria does to him. Reminds me of a college student.
• Before I met Victoria, I was not even sure whether I had talked to any girls. Had I remembered them all, that is. Before Victoria, there was nothing, and after her, well, there have been years of the same. The same woman, mimicked the same emotions while feigning laughter. All to marry me, or at the very least, get a steady hookup with benefits.
• I've never moved on from Victoria, either because of this or despite it.
• I'm not sure how I had the guts to approach her when I saw her in class at UM that day. With her naked legs, full lips, and large eyes, she was the most stunning girl I had ever laid eyes on. A little portion of my recollections pass across my memory quickly one after the other. the superior ones.
• The first time I hugged her, she shook in my arms. "I was scared at first because you're so much taller than me because you rode a motorcycle, and because you looked like you wanted to devour me," Miki would add in a southern drawl.
• The way the sinking Miami light caught her eyes, turning them the perfect shade of sea glass.
• How her contented, quiet sighs in her sleep would fill me with wholeness, and how I would wake up with her in my arms.
• I watch her walk quickly down the sidewalk, and she looks really angry. She's biting her bottom lip, her eyes are squinted, and I'm guessing her lovely little nose's nostrils are flaring as well. She starts at her forehead and works her hand through her hair, letting the strands fall between her fingers in a mostly chestnut cascade of colors. I almost let out a loud moan. She looks amazing with her hair loose. I remember taking it in one hand in college, putting it around my fist, and pulling. It wasn't this long.
• I nibble her neck, cup her breast, and give her a passionate kiss.
• Because getting even is the reason I'm here.
• and then to let her go.
• Lastly.
• Yes, I am here to make money as well. If there's no profit, I don't do anything.
• Victoria turns to face me, and I automatically fix my shirt collar. I smile, realizing that the car's tinted windows keep her from seeing me. I drove up and she didn't hear me, mostly because my electric car is as quiet as a cat. Compared to her younger years, her face has a little more fullness. With eyes as big and innocent as a doe and a mouth fit for sin, it's still the most gorgeous face I've ever seen. Both angelic and demonic at once.
• Victoria used to be both my whore and my Madonna.
• She frowns. Upon noticing a strand of hair covering her eyes, my first thought is to remove it and kiss her. One final taste...
• The newspaper door opens, and she whips around to see a pregnant woman running at Victoria. The expectant mother appears quite recognizable. Yes, it is Victoria's best friend, Amelia. She also works for the paper. Before I arrived, I had read everything I could about the paper.
• I glance up at the newspaper building, a massive old building that will eventually require an insane amount of work to transform into an amazing condominium. When I turn the building into a residence, I'll profit handsomely from this acquisition because the downtown St. Augustine real estate market is booming.
• I consider my role as being to atone for her racist, deceased father's karmic debt. I plan to purchase the Dubois family newspaper, manage it with efficiency, and eventually sell it for a profit. The company is a complete failure, and I'll buy it for a song.
• Victoria will sing this song as I do everything I want with her. It won't be long before I get her in bed now that I've seen her. I look at my wristwatch. Now that it's nine o'clock, I would wager that we would both be nude in twelve hours if I were a betting man.
• If we didn't have to pretend to be talking business, sooner. I cast a glance at the structure, and a bitter recollection of her father comes to me. I give out a disgusted look.
• In life, Kelvin Dubois had loved two things. The St. Augustine Times was one. Victoria was the other.
• I'll win over both.