2: Molly finds a solution

Chapter 2:

"Daughter, my little flower, could you please step out for a moment? Wait outside," her father kindly requested. Madson's expression darkened as if she suspected it had something to do with her. Without arguing, she left and headed to her mother's room, remaining indifferent to the topic of men.

"You're not giving her away; neither of us is married, and you can only do that when one of us gets married," Matheus reminded her confidently.

"You're doing this on purpose!" her father shouted, pounding on the door of the cramped room.

"Let's just stick to the plan; if we leave now, we won't have to confront anyone."

"You can go!" a female voice followed. Matilde opened the door, entered the room, and brought Madson in by the hand.

"Don't tell me you're still going to work as a pimp?" Matheus asked incredulously.

"Of course I am! My account was the only one not blocked. If you haven't noticed, I have to support three grown men and my princess, who, by the way, also hasn't had her account blocked," Matilde commented proudly.

"Are you going to keep taking her with you to that impure place?"

"The only thing that happens there is the assignment of girls. No man enters there except for security. And today, I have to arrange for five girls to go to different places. I need the money since we're leaving the country."

Matilde, a famous pimp in the mafia world, but with a strictly secret family life. Everyone only knows that she has a daughter, as her sons Matheus and Caio live under constant surveillance.

"Leave Madson at home!" Matheus ordered.

"Of course not! And I'm your mother, don't you dare to tell me what to do. Don't make me sell you to the A****n mafia."

"Those demons will never have my skin as a rug!"

"As if that's what they want from the stud ogre!" Matilde burst into laughter, irritating him even more.

"Theus!" Molly shouted. "I'm going with mom. I always have, and I've helped with finances and paying the girls. Most of them don't even know we're from this crazy family," she suggested firmly, puffing out her chest.

"If they knew, they would certainly fear. Leave before I change my mind," Matilde concluded, grabbing the cartridges again.

"Do you really think it's safe for them to go out in this situation?" Matheus asked.

"Well, if you have money under the mattress, I can call both of them," Caio suggested indifferently. His brother just fell silent.

"Let's go down to the underworld first; they know where it is, they can meet us there later," Lincoln warned.

The men headed to the garage, where a secret warehouse guarded the entrance to an underground world. Inside, a carefully planned house offered refuge and security, monitored by cameras in every corner.

Madson, Molly, and Matilde headed towards the brothel. The girls highly respected Matilde, although not part of the industry. She had decided to enter the business only to take care of them because the former owner subjected them to poor conditions.

"Hello, Mrs. Matilde," Lisaura, one of the oldest prostitutes in the business, greeted her.

"Hello, Madson will come down soon with the payments and the addresses of where you should go today," Matilde superficially and meticulously informed.

"Yes, ma'am," Lisaura confirmed, winking at Molly who silently returned it. She and Lisaura had become friends, even though her mother had forbidden it.

"I've told you before that you can't make friends with the girls here; a girl like you wouldn't be well-regarded," her mother scolded after they moved away from Lisaura.

"I don't care," Molly retorted. "Besides, if it were really important to you, you wouldn't be taking care of them, so I'm not worried."

"But you should be," her mother insisted. "One day you'll want to get married, and that won't happen if you have dozens of prostitute friends."

"But you're married to dad," Molly argued.

"And I was a mafia hitman like him; I confess I would never want that for you."

"As long as I stay away from marriage, I certainly don't mind staying in this environment."

"Stop talking nonsense; are you losing your mind?"

"Mom..." Madson grumbled, falling silent.

"Well, deliver these envelopes to the respective girls. There are five assigned, all up here. Don't you dare to go down to the brothel."

"Yes, ma'am!" Madson confirmed excitedly, running out and passing between the rooms. Two girls who shared the space occupied each room. Madson could hear the celebrations with the payments as soon as she closed the door.

"Lisaura..." Madson sang her name, excited to hand over the envelope and address to her and her friend Eloah, who was a roommate; each room housed a maximum of two women.

"Molly," Lisaura replied kindly.

"I missed talking to you!" Madson spoke, entering without asking permission. It was the first time she entered Lisaura's room, which was divided into two spaces: Lisaura's bed on one side and the friend's space on the other. "Wow!" Madson sighed with mischievous eyes and curious fingers, but Lisaura stopped her.

"Don't touch anything, your mother would kill me!"

"Where's your friend?" Madson asked, handing one of the envelope packages to Lisaura.

"She... Well... Give me her envelope, okay?" Lisaura replied nervously, trying to grab the envelope, but Molly took it out of her sight. "Ah!... You little rascal, just give it to me! Eloah and I are best friends!"

"What happened?" Molly asked, being direct.

"What are you talking about?"

"The other three times you took your friend's envelope, you've been taking her addresses and payments for some time now. What's going on?"

"Wow, you're very observant..." Lisaura gasped, scratching her head as she awkwardly smiled. "Will you give me the envelope and the address?" she tried to negotiate without explaining.

"Only if you tell me. Otherwise, I'll tell my mother that she's not coming anymore, and then the payments stop, and you also lose the orders."

"How come? Your mother receives her payments, each encounter is being fulfilled, so she's only getting what's fair for her work."

"I know! But... It's you who takes the assignments, and if they don't arrive, there's no work."

"What do you mean?"

"That you've been doing double duty here, where's your friend?" she asked, analyzing the reserved part of the room that belonged to Eloah, also noticing a hanger with some wigs and pairs of glasses.

"So... If I tell you, you promise you won't tell your mother?" Lisaura asked fearfully, sitting on Eloah's bed next to Molly.

"Okay! I want to know what's going on; I promise not to tell anyone."

"So... Actually, Eloah hasn't been coming to work for two months," she confessed nervously, unable to meet Molly's gaze.

"You didn't tell my mother?"

"I can't, she needs the money..."

"But she just needs to come to work."

"It's not that easy; the story is... Eloah was happy that she found a boyfriend. She thought he was good and kind, so she left the life of a high-class escort."

"So she has help from her boyfriend; you don't need to sacrifice yourself."

"We're best friends, and she needs it," Lisaura said, looking away with shame.

"How come, and what about her boyfriend?"

"He's HIV positive... You know what happened, right?"

"That's sad..."

"She got infected. She can't work like this, but the worst part is that the disease progresses faster in her, and she's hospitalized undergoing treatment. So I do her job and give you the money..." Lisaura said, holding back tears as Madson was astonished.

"So, she's dying?"

"Yes! Don't tell your mother, please..." Lisaura begged desperately. "I need this money."

"I won't tell. Here's the address where your friend would go," Molly warned, handing her the envelope and the paper. As soon as Lisaura read the address, it was evident that it was something she didn't like. Molly couldn't ignore it, trying to read curiously the handwritten notes at the same time.

"What's wrong?" she asked, snatching the paper without warning.

"I forgot that every three months this man... Wow, I still haven't gone to this meeting..." at that moment, it seemed like Lisaura's world collapsed, but she managed to complete what she wanted to say.

"This is..." Molly hesitated, trying to read the name.

"The Tracking Wolf, the most feared masked assassin, among other nicknames for each different situation," explained Lisaura, pensive, just like Molly.

"So... One of the prostitutes chosen by him is from here," Molly thought, remembering what her brothers were talking about.

"But why are you afraid?"

"Because only Eloah sleeps with this man," Lisaura said, petrified.

"Then you just have to disguise yourself as her," commented Molly, picking up the wig and putting it on her head. She pretended to be a model and twirled as if the situation were simple.

"It's not that easy; this man is a bit peculiar, as if being a dangerous mobster weren't enough," she grumbled.

"Wait! Is this the same man who has the ring... That..."

"Traffic Seal," Lisaura recounted indifferently. "Eloah talked a lot about this ring, as she had earned his seal, so she can enter and leave there and go to privileged places that most prostitutes can't enter."

"And where is it?" Molly asked eagerly.

"In her drawer, it's all here; she said I would need it if I ever went to meet this man."

"Can I see it?" Molly asked with curiosity, but Lisaura just pointed to the vanity, indicating the drawer. Molly ran to the drawer and took out a small wooden box, the only one there. Upon opening it, she saw a kind of package made with a very delicate fabric. When she unfolded it carefully, she saw the small metal object with the coat of arms mark engraved.

"Is it that precious?" Molly asked, dazzled.

"Yes, normally in the mafia world, this makes you untouchable, but only the Don can use this object that is ordered by the ring bearer, like... Here, only Eloah can use it."

"Why?"

"Because Eloah is the 'Owner's Favorite.' She has his trust and protection."

"Behind it is engraved the name of the person and the family, it's valid only for Eloah," Molly was disappointed, as it wouldn't serve her family.

"So I really would need the ring," thought Madson as her mind filled with dark thoughts.

"And the ring? Can anyone use the ring to come and go?"

"There are three of these rings; they're family jewels shared between the father and his two sons. Usually, if someone else has one, it's likely to be a family member. I'm not sure if this particular man is a family member, but I know the Don himself granted him this privilege as a reward for his services."

"So, even if a person is marked for death, if they have one of these rings, they'll be saved?"

"Yes, the East City mafia has formed an alliance with all other organizations. Being the most powerful, it doesn't get involved in conflicts between them. So, this man who has the ring is the future leader of the mafia and can grant the seal mark to any of the allied organizations."

"I see... But what's peculiar about this tracking wolf... or whatever they usually call him?"

"Eloah calls him that because he identifies people by smell. However, she makes a point of using a different perfume for each meeting, hoping he won't reject her. It seems that no perfume pleases him."

"Why are you so interested in this man?" Lisaura asked suspiciously.

"I'm just curious."

"Does this have to do with the ring? I know what's going on with your family."

"I'm thinking of sending someone to steal that ring," she said abruptly, without beating around the bush.

"Are you crazy? Whoever does that would die. Would you dare to do that?" Lisaura asserted skeptically, almost falling backward.

"No... I think I'm overthinking it," Molly corrected herself, biting her lip and looking away embarrassedly.

"Besides, I have a week to prepare for this man."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you..." Lisaura sighed, unable to resist Molly's curious gaze.

"Madson Molly!" Her mother shouted, almost knocking down the door, entering in a panic as if something serious were happening.