3.

REIGN

“One more finger.” I ordered while lighting my cigarette. One of my men placed the trembling man’s left hand on the table and another quickly chopped off his pinky finger, equalizing the two hands. The unfortunate man let out a loud scream as he clutched his hand close to his chest.

“So,” I blew out the smoke, “where's my truck?” I asked and the man shook in fear, sweat drenched his body and his lips trembled. 

“I don’t..”

“You really don’t like fingers, do you?” I signaled the man in charge of holding the unfortunate man’s hand and he grabbed the right hand.

“Wait wait.. I was ambushed, boss. It was stolen.” I chuckled at his excuse. A truck load of imported guns was just stolen? Who was he kidding?

“Not what your account balance said as of two hours ago.” I took a long drag of the cigarette and knocked the ash out. 

The man’s eyes widened in surprise and I felt a bit hurt that he didn’t think I would catch him. He underestimated me. 

“I have information that will interest you boss.” He quickly said. He must’ve noticed my hand lingering on the gun beside me. 

“What makes you think I want to listen to you?” I raised my eyebrow.

“Everyone in the underground is talking about it. A book.” He takes a deep breath, “There’s a book that has all the secrets of all the gangs in the city. Even that of El Alma.” The mere mention of the top mafia group in Chicago grabs my attention. Even though it was mostly non-existent and hidden, El Alma remained the biggest mafia group to ever exist. It’s been around since my father was still a boy.

“I heard Theo Avila was going to release it to the press but he died shortly after the news came out. Some say his old ally has the book and others say he has a surviving daughter that has the book.” The man explained enthusiastically when he realized he had my attention.

“How true is this?” I asked Levi, my second in command. 

“It’s just a rumor but some gangs are already in search of the said daughter. Some others went back to the Avila mansion to search for it.” Levi explained. A fuse went off in my head. How could everyone already be aware of this book and I knew nothing about it.

“And you’re just telling me.” I snapped and Levi looked down. 

“I’m sorry sir.” His phone rang and he excused himself. When he returned, I was already stepping on my cigarette.

“We better find the girl first, don’t we?” I said and he nodded.

“I contacted some friends. We have a picture and a possible house address.” I grinned. That was the Levi I knew, ten steps ahead of every other person. “And our truck is back.”

“Oh is it?” I asked before smiling mischievously at the man who had already lost two of his fingers. “I better show you mercy because your clients will tear you apart soon.” He nodded his head like a hungry lizard and I laughed. In a flash, I shot a hole through his head.

“Let’s go pay this little girl a visit, shall we?” 

“Sir, you have a party to attend in an hour.” Levi said as we walk out of the basement of the group house.

“We’re skipping it.”

“That’s where our next client is meeting us.” I groaned when I realized the party he was talking about. A room filled with the most stuck up people in Chicago and I wasn’t ready to endure hours in the same space as them.

***

Levi handed the car keys to the Valet who looked at us with fear in his eyes. Even if he didn’t know who we were, the permanent scowl on my face and Levi’s ice cold expression was enough to make any one cower. I marched into the room, past the security who bowed his head to me in respect.

That’s more like it.

I followed Levi upstairs ignoring the looks we got . We ended up in a corner where my client was seated sipping champagne. He sighted me and his cool smile immediately dropped to a frown.

“You could have at least tried to dress for the occasion.” He said looking at my black t-shirt, jean pants and the leather jacket that was in my grip. Levi on the other hand was clad in a simple shirt and pants.

“Mr. Hattori, you and I both know the main reason you flew all the way here to sign this deal.” My eyes moved to the Mayor’s mistress who has been stealing glances at us. Mr Hattori cleared his throat. “I don’t mind my client’s personal business. I think you should do the same.” I took a seat opposite him and Levi sat beside me.

“Right,” he adjusted his necktie, “can I see the contract again?”

In less than 20 minutes, we were done sealing the deal. We all knew we didn’t need to meet up to get it over with. In fact if not for his boss, I would’ve given him a perfect goodbye scar for wasting my time. 

I walked to the banister and looked at the party below. It was barely a party, not my scene. Just as I was about to leave, two people walked hand in hand but my eyes were fixed on one person. Shamefully, I admitted to myself that I usually looked at women from their body first up to their face but this one, my eyes couldn’t leave her face. She looked around confidently like every other person was trash before her eyes. My eyes went down from her long dirty blonde hair, I could already imagine how soft they would be entangled in my grip, to her piercing eyes down to her cute button nose and finally her lips, those pouty lips. My eyes then dropped to her body and I had to take a full swing of the champagne in my hand. God did take his time in creating her. Her black dress hugged every curve of her body. In as much as the dress was long, the slit ran up to her mid thigh letting my mind run wild.

My throat suddenly went dry. I felt my body reacting. No woman had ever had such power over me. She seemed so close yet so far. Her ethereal looks reminded me of the sky. She was mi cíelo. The man she walked in with bent to whisper something in her ears and I almost flung my glass at him. As long as she wasn’t wearing a ring, whoever he was should back off.

I looked around for Levi. He would have an idea of who she was. Of course he would, Levi knew everyone in this city. My right hand man was nowhere to be seen just when I needed him. I quickly dialed his number as I watched Mi Cíelo walk away with the douchebag she was with.

“Sir, I’m..”

“Be here in ten seconds.” I snarled and hung up the phone. By the time he got to my side, I couldn’t spot Mi Cíelo anywhere. “You better have a good reason.” I snapped at Levi.

“I have a report on Theo Avila’s daughter.” Levi explained. He looked unbothered by my anger and I blamed it on knowing him since we were in our diapers. 

“Talk to me.”

“I have her current address. The building is under her name, well she changed her last name to Mateo. I checked the market price of the house and all I can say is that her father left a lot of money for her if she could afford it.” Levi said, showing me a picture of the house. It was impressive. I didn’t expect any less from Theo Avila.

“Any pictures?” I asked while still looking around in case I found my girl. 

“One from her first year in college.” Levi showed me a picture of a girl dressed in plain jeans, white tee and a grey woolen sweater. Her brown hair was tied to a messy bun and she looked empty. “There’s a more recent one but we had to run a facial recognition scan to be sure she’s the same person.”

“Surgery?” I asked. Girls her age probably did a lot of that and I rolled my eyes. I could imagine I was going to search for a brat.

Levi laughed nervously. “Not at all. I checked her medical records. She grew up I guess.” It sounded more like a question. SeeingKevi a little nervous made me curious so I snatched the tablet from his hands to look at the girl. 

I paused for a second before grinning widely. “You are sure she’s the one?” I asked Levi and he confirmed. Like a puzzle fitting into place, my eyes spotted Mi Cíelo sitting alone at a table on the other end of the room downstairs. Even in the picture in my hands, she looked beautiful. She was dressed in a tight fitting white shirt and black pants in a bar. Her lips were bent in a familiar frown from the first picture I saw.

“For some reason, she bartends at La Noche. I have her shifts and the route she takes to work.” Levi concluded.

“Perfect.” 

My gaze doesn't move from the girl downstairs. She turned around probably feeling the heat of my gaze but she looked at a dumb man instead. The man in question winked at her and I could feel my blood slowly boil. A waitress took his business card to my cíelo and I saw her roll her eyes at the card. 

I smirked.

She kept on looking around and I couldn’t help but feel excited. She knew it was someone else looking at her. A man sat down beside her and I sighed in frustration. She equally looked uninterested. I had to stop myself from marching downstairs because I had a better plan. A few minutes later, she got up with her purse and walked out.

“Let’s go.”

When we got to the house, Levi casually typed in the password and unlocked the door. It made me wonder just how much the man knew about a lot of things. 

I walked into the living room and saw my Cíelo watching a random show on her television. 

“Don’t tell me her husband caught you.”

Her voice, I felt myself jump in excitement at its softness. On my way here, I imagined how it would sound but nothing prepared me for this. 

“He didn’t beat you up, did he?” She finally turned around and her eyes widened in shock.

“Mi cíelo.”