The Sum Total
I stood along a railing overlooking the dance floor in my black gown. Ivory was cavorting with abandon on the dance floor with a handsome young gentleman dressed in a stylish tux and colorful bowtie. If her pattern continued, she'd dance to one song, before grabbing him by the hand and leading him to a room for a round of uninhibited intercourse.
There were men, many men, who approached me. I'd apparently been given permission to fuck anyone I wanted for the rest of the evening. I wasn't in the mood. I wasn't jealous that Suárez had fucked other women. I knew he would long before we got here. I knew he had other mistresses stashed throughout the world. That didn't bother me.
Somehow, I was bothered by being allowed to screw other men directly in front of him. Sure, I'd had video sex that he reviewed and critiqued. That seemed different, like a form of business pornography for his use.
I watched as Ivory disappeared from the dance floor with yet another partner.
"Why the sad face, Pequeñita?"
I turned toward Suárez. "I was surprised you'd allow me to have intercourse in front of you. Doesn't it damage your pride to see me with people who work for you?"
"Yes. It does. However, no more that my pride is wounded each time I know that you carry on relations with you husband when I am away. More so. With my men, you are simply fucking. That is your purpose. However, with David, you are making love. That is a thing I can no longer live with."
My heart nearly stopped. I had never mentioned the name of my husband to him or anyone in his organization. "What? What do you mean by that?"
He looked resolute and harshly stared into my eyes. In a low uncompromising tone he said, "Fuck everyone here you want tonight. Tomorrow, you will implement divorce proceedings against your husband. I am unwilling to share your affections any longer."
Foolishly, I retorted, "And if I refuse?"
"The choice is yours." He ran a finger carefully along the side of my face. "You can become a divorced woman or a widow. Either way, you are mine."
Not uttering another word, Suárez turned and walked away. I stood there frozen and speechless until Ivory returned to the dance floor for another male.
~ ~ ~
"He really threatened to kill Dave?" asked Quinn when I finished my story.
"Not is so many words, but I've seen what he's done to other people. He's ruthless, capable and wouldn't hesitate to get what he wants. I told him I was working on it to buy time, but I can't put it off anymore."
"Is he still in town?"
"No, he flew to Managua to be on his yacht this weekend. I'm supposed to join him. I don't know what to do."
Quinn ran the information through her mind, the same as I'd been doing all week. Running away with Dave wasn't an option, it was too much to ask him to abandon everything for my stupidity, and I didn't want the chance of him being harmed either. My only option seemed to be to give into Suárez.
Quinn remained silent for several minutes with a hand over her mouth. At last, she moved her fingers from in front of her face. "Is there anyone from Suárez's staff that you can use an ally? Maybe someone who can reason with him?"
There was no one I could think of who I'd consider a friend. Most of his people ignored me or in the case of Colonel Díaz, begrudging tolerated my presence. Then it hit me, he was the one to talk with. Díaz was the most likely to have some form of influence.
Without saying the specifics of my plan, I thanked Quinn and left immediately. There was no good to come from her knowing more. I didn't want to endanger her life, if my gambit failed.
I drove to the Aventeen and searched out Colonel Díaz on the fifth floor. It was relatively quiet, since most of the rest of the staff had returned with Suárez to Nicaragua.
I explained my predicament to him, and he listened with dispassion, occasionally shaking his head in silence.
"Is there anything I can do? I never intended to be Suárez's mistress forever."
"Yet you were willing to accept all that he offered in exchange for your sexual favors. You saw no consequence to you immoral behavior?" His look of benign disapproval had transformed into one of pure contempt.
I felt humbled and ashamed that I'd allowed myself to go so far into Suárez's web of deceit and control. I'd become a willing coconspirator in the man's schemes. "No, I was foolish."
"And do you now know where he is at this moment?" His tone was not of a man asking a question, but of one of demanding information.
Trembling for my fear, shame and sense of hopelessness, I said, "I was told not to tell anyone."