Wildcard [ÉLITE]

―viii.

The front door closed behind her with a bang, and Daniela stood in the foyer of her house in silence. She was supposed to feel accomplished, triumphant, one step closer to avenging Marina. Instead she just felt numb.

Dani pulled out her phone and dialed the only person she could bear to talk to. The response on the other end was a half-asleep groan. "Dani? It's like six a.m. What's wrong?"

"I found it, V."

He sighed. "Shit. Are you okay?"

Dani was quiet for a moment. "Not really." She took a few aimless steps into the living room. "It kind of hit me all at once. Marina's gone." She let out a short breath. "I mean, I knew that. But now it's real."

"Dani, I-"

"Will you come over?" she asked, cutting him off. "Please."

There was a pause. "Yeah, of course."

♤ ♤ ♤ ♤

Valerio found Dani in her bed, blankets pulled so high only her eyes were visible. She was watching something on her phone, but he couldn't make out what the voices were saying. Dani glanced up at him. "Hi," she whispered.

"It's, uh, videos of Marina," she explained, putting her phone on the table. "After she told me about the baby, I started recording all our calls. I thought I could put some of them together, all the things she said about them. I was going to give it to her and Nano as a present or whatever. I guess that sounds stupid now."

"It doesn't," Valerio told her. Dani pushed back the covers and Valerio joined her. She slid toward him, letting him fold her up in his arms.

Dani lay there for a while, her head on Valerio's chest and her fingers messing with the band at the top of his t-shirt. "Why'd you call me?" He asked after a while. "Guzmán would have known what to say. He'd understand."

"I don't need you to know what to say," she told him. "I just need you to be here. You were always good at that." Valerio kissed the top of her head, and Dani closed her eyes for a moment.

"Thank you, for always being here," Dani said softly. "You've always been a good friend, a great one actually. And you never asked for more than I could give you." A slight smirk touched her lips as she added, "Even if you wanted to."

"You were in love with Guzmán," he reminded her. "I didn't want to be your second choice."

"Yeah," she whispered. "But I'm not in love with him anymore. Even if things had been different, I don't think I ever could have forgiven him for choosing his parents over me. I couldn't be with someone who had second thoughts."

"I don't have second thoughts," Valerio murmured. Dani lifted her head to meet his eyes. He closed the gap between them, pressing his lips to hers.

Dani rolled onto her back, pulling Valerio with her so he hovered over her, still holding her in his arms. She broke away and looked at him for a moment, a soft smile on her lips. "It's always been you."

♤ ♤ ♤ ♤

When Daniela woke up again, the sun was high in the sky, cutting persistently through the blinds. She groaned a little, and beside her Valerio stirred. Dani pushed herself up on her elbows and watched him as he opened his eyes. "Good morning," she whispered. "Again." Valerio gave a sleepy smirk, and Dani leaned over to kiss him again.

They looked at each other for a moment, both propping their heads up on their hands. With her free hand, Dani ran her fingers through his hair. It was familiar; she'd done this before. Only this time she was looking into his eyes, instead of at his forehead. "Why didn't you call?" She asked suddenly. "After I left, I mean." Her hand fell back to her side. "Marina called all the time, and she was on the other side of the world. You were only a few time zones away."