Read The Other Son for Free Online Page A

with a waterfall, a helipad with a helicopter on it. Armed guards everywhere.
    She watched him from the corner of her eye as he proudly steered the electric cart through his pale imitation of Disneyland. It was soulless and empty. Full of a negative energy that was so strong she could almost smell it. And in that energy was something that reminded her again that she shouldn’t be there, to get away, run. This place was dangerous, it could make you sick, it was infectious.
    —
    They were sitting in a large living room. Stone walls, pale-gray granite, large thick windows, all held together by solid pale wood. The sofas were wide, deep, expensive. The room was reminiscent of a North American hunting lodge; they could have been in an exclusive ski resort. Sophie was sitting on the edge of one of the deep sofas, Don Ignacio on an armchair.
    A waiter in a white jacket and black trousers came in with drinks and nibbles, put them down on the table, and discreetly left the room.
    Don Ignacio reached for the glass bowl of nuts.
    “We’ll wait for a while,” he said, and began eating the nuts.
    A door opened at the far end of the room. Sophie saw Alfonse Ramirez walking slowly across the floor toward her. His smile was radiant white, his skin light brown, his hair black. He threw most of the world into shade, he was that sort of person:
all lights on me!
    “We know each other,” he said to her, keeping his huge smile intact.
    No, they didn’t, they didn’t know each other at all, apart from the fact that she had been present at Trasten when he beat one of the Russians to death in a state of genuine joy.
    She stood up and Alfonse gave her the customary double kiss on both cheeks, then sat down in the corner of the sofa and threw his hands out.
    The men in front of her were neither friends nor enemies. They were longtime business partners of Hector’s organization, and they paid more to Don Ignacio than they earned from selling his drugs. That was the way it was for everyone who did business with him. If you wanted out, you died.
    “Stockholm,” Alfonse said. “That’s where things happen!” Then he chuckled and let his laughter fade away before switching his expression from delight to empathy.
    “How is Hector?”
    “He’s fine.”
    Alfonse nodded. “Good to hear. I’ve been worried. My uncle, too.”
    Alfonse gestured toward Don Ignacio, who didn’t look particularly worried. His blank look suggested that he considered everything apart from himself to be of a definitely secondary nature, and entirely unnecessary.
    “And now you’re here, Sophie,” Alfonse said.
    She took his words to mean that she should explain why she had come, but Alfonse held up his hand to her.
    “Now you’re here,” he repeated. “To reassure us, to tell us that everything is as it should be. Perhaps you’re going to ask for more time, perhaps tell us a tale of how you’re up and running again, that our dealings will soon be back in action.”
    She turned cold and had an immediate sense that this was heading in a direction that she couldn’t control, and with which she wasn’t at all comfortable.
    His attitude was different now.
    “But we know everything,” he went on. “We know you’ve approached a lot of Hector’s business contacts, have reassured them that it is business as usual, under control, that Hector is in hiding but is working at full capacity. That’s what you’ve been saying. You’ve asked for time and understanding, you’ve promised even greater successes once things have calmed down and returned to normal. That’s been your task, and you have done it well.”
    She smiled in an attempt to play it cool and tried to object, but Alfonse Ramirez raised his forefinger.
    “But perhaps Hector Guzman is dead? Or so badly wounded that he can’t speak for himself? Perhaps Aron is struggling to keep your little enterprise afloat? Am I on the right track?”
    Alfonse fell silent. Don Ignacio went on eating the nuts,