The Queen in Check

The gun trembled in her hands. Not from lack of strength, but from the weight of the decision. It was a massive burden on her. Not only was she in danger, but so were her children, whose perfect world had just been shattered.

Isabela felt her chest rise and fall, the air barely reaching her lungs. Her small, terrified children clung to her, unable to comprehend the hell surrounding them.

Alejandro was still there, standing firm, his gaze locked onto hers. Her husband. Her love. Her curse.

In her mind, Isabela couldn’t understand how she had ended up there, how she had never noticed anything suspicious despite all the clues. She had never wanted to see anything other than the love Alejandro had sworn to her.

—Come on, Isabela —Dino’s voice had a sharp, mocking edge—. I know you have the guts to do it. After all, he trained you well, didn’t he?

Isabela remembered seeing Dino walk by as Alejandro taught her how to use a gun. She had never imagined she would actually need it, much less against her husband.

Her finger tensed over the trigger.

Alejandro’s eyes on her, those eyes that had so often looked at her with love, were now impassive, waiting. His breathing was quick, yet he remained in control of his emotions.

Isabela locked eyes with her husband. His gaze was like an oasis in the desert. For a moment, there was no fear in her. No desperation. Just absolute knowledge of who he was… and who she was.

Flashback

The first time Alejandro had taught her to shoot, she had hesitated.

— I don’t like this, Alejandro.

He had smiled, amused.

— It’s not about liking it, my Queen. It’s about the fact that one day, you might need it.

She had scoffed.

— For what, Alejandro? To protect you? From whom?

Alejandro hugged her from behind, kissed her neck, letting his lips trail to her ear. Then, he firmly guided her hand, ensuring she held the gun securely, and whispered:

— To protect us, love.

The echo of those words hit her in the present like a silent gunshot.

Dino’s gaze on her was now laced with urgency, cold and calculating. He was enjoying the spectacle. If she pulled the trigger, everything would be sealed: Alejandro would fall, and Dino would take care of accusing her of betrayal.

Dino didn’t just want Alejandro dead. He wanted to humiliate him. He wanted to break him. Dino knew perfectly well what Isabela and their children meant to Alejandro, and for him, that kind of revenge would taste the sweetest.

Isabela narrowed her eyes, gripping the gun. Dino had no idea who he was playing with.

Seeing her hesitation, he pressed further:

— Are you scared, Isabela? Or deep down, do you know that Alejandro never saw you as anything more than a piece on his chessboard? — He lied to you, remember? You don’t matter to him… His love for you is fake.

He was playing with her emotions, using what she had just discovered against Alejandro. A shiver ran down her spine.

— Shut up! — Alejandro ordered.

Dino didn’t listen. He felt all the power was in his hands at that moment.

— Don’t listen to him, my Queen. — Alejandro said.

— Oh, really? — Dino smirked—. If you were truly his queen, you’d stand by him in everything. But no. You were just another one in his collection.

Alejandro kept looking at her. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t try to defend himself. He just waited.

She knew him well enough to understand what he was thinking. Alejandro trusted her completely.

Dino had to be lying. Alejandro wouldn’t betray her… would he?

With other women… How many?

She couldn’t believe what Dino was saying.

— Do it, Isabela. Prove you’re stronger than him. — Dino insisted.

She took a deep breath. Her mind flooded with memories.

Alejandro proposing to her over a romantic dinner.

Him holding her in his arms after their first child was born, when she thought she wouldn’t be able to handle motherhood. He had been her tender, protective support.

Alejandro pushing her to study, to learn, to be more than just his wife. His words always telling her: You can do anything.

Alejandro whispering to her in the darkness, his voice filled with raw truth after making love passionately:

— If you ever doubt, remember this: you’re not mine, Isabela. I am yours. You are my Queen.

Dino wanted to use that title as an insult, as a mockery. But what he didn’t understand was that Isabela truly was the Queen.

And a queen does not betray her kingdom.

Isabela’s finger slid off the trigger as she locked eyes with Dino.

Dino frowned.

— What are you doing, Isabela? Did you get cold feet?

She didn’t answer. Instead, she lifted her chin and slowly turned toward Alejandro.

Their eyes met, and in that instant, everything became clear.

It didn’t matter what he had done in the past. The shadows didn’t matter.

He had never treated her as just a wife. He had been preparing her for this moment.

He had prepared her to reign.

Isabela smiled slightly.

And at that moment, footsteps echoed.

Dino took a step back, his smugness vanishing.

The shadows at the entrance of the tunnel shifted.

It wasn’t just one person.

There were several.

— Looks like I arrived just in time.

The voice thundered through the tunnel. Deep. Dominant.

Isabela felt a momentary relief when she recognized the man emerging from the darkness.

He wasn’t alone. He had brought reinforcements.

Dino swallowed hard.

Alejandro smirked.

— I warned you not to play with fire, Dino.

And in that second, the balance of power shifted.

Boom! A sudden, heavy blow struck Dino’s neck, forcing him to his knees. A chill ran down his spine.

Dino saw himself dead right then and there. He had dared to threaten the life of the capo’s family. That meant a death sentence.

Alejandro was known for being ruthless with his enemies, and Dino had become the worst of them by threatening his Queen and discovering his well-guarded secret.

— Take my wife and the kids. — Alejandro ordered.

Isabela looked at him. She only wanted to get out of that dark tunnel and take her children somewhere safe.

She had too many questions to ask, but this was not the place.

Alejandro stepped closer and kissed her lips.

She didn’t kiss him back.

She was too scared to think, too overwhelmed to feel.

She had lived too much in just a few minutes, and all she wanted was to get away from there.