Cara Camila Rodriguez

Cara POV

There was no time to waste.

Within an hour, all the men were packed, and we were ready to leave.

I sat at the back of the seat of the car as Luca drove with Cecelia by his side. She had woken up just as I was about to leave and insisted on coming along.

"Where's their base?" I asked as he started the car.

Luca shrugged.

"Two hours away from here, but I can make it within one if I step on it."

In less time, we were approaching the estate gate, and he spoke in a hard voice, "State tutti attention, il gioco inizia adesso (everyone be alert, the game starts now)."

I didn't need an interpretation to know that he was addressing the men behind us.

We were about to go into an unknown territory.

He slowed down as the gate was thrown open, switching gears as he regarded me and Cecelia this time, "Buckle up. This is going to be a rough drive."

And then, we were off.

****

As promised, we got to our destination early, and I couldn't stop the eerie and jittery feeling I felt as I stood in front of a tall building, unable to believe this was a mafia base.

It was in the upper part of town—the part where the rich lived and the biggest. The neighbourhood was quiet and clean.

If I didn't know the seriousness of the situation at hand, I'd have thought that Luca brought us for a visit.

Who keeps a base in a residential area? Wasn't that risky?

Looking behind me, our entourage of cars formed a line down the road, and as they got out, they all had the same look as I did on their faces.

Doubts.

"Is it just me, or is this weird?" Cecelia questioned, coming to stand by my side."Are we in the right place?"

"Yes," Luca replied, but he, too, sounded unsure.

He turned towards the men that had gathered behind us. "Do not sleep on yourself! We don't know what to expect, and our priority is getting your Capo out of there. We shall not use any force or violence unless necessary. Am I understood?"

"Yes, boss!" They echoed, and he nodded towards us.

"You both should make sure to stay out of main sight. I have assigned some men to protect you, but you have to be quick on your feet. Let's go in."

Half of the men stayed behind to keep watch, while the other half came along with us. Just as Luca signalled one of them to break the door open, it was pulled back.

A short bald man who looked to be in his late fifties looked at us with a welcoming smile.

What in the world is this place?

"You don't have to break down our door; the neighbours are sensitive." He muttered. "Why don't you come in? We've been expecting you."

Expecting us? Was this a trap?

He stepped aside to let us in. Apprehensive, I eyed him; he was too calm for my liking, and it made reading him difficult, but I saw it.

It was just for a millisecond, yet I saw the hard look that washed his gaze as he did a quick sweep of us all before the smile returned. Whoever the man might be, his laid-back attitude was just a facade, and Luca must have thought the same as he waved us all in with a grim look.

Cecelia let out a low whistle at the interior of the building. It was as lovely as the mansion, if not better, and that's coming from me, who couldn't stop gaping the first time I saw it.

"I would say you all should sit, but I know you wouldn't want to, so what do you want?"

Luca fixed him with an intent look.

For someone who didn't have an idea of what was going on, he did well to hide it.

"What is that supposed to mean? Didn't you just say you were expecting us? So you should know why we were here."

The man tipped his head at him in a condescending manner, and I had to clench my fist to stop myself from storming over to him and snatching the slight curl of his lip off his face.

"How am I to know the exact reason? Is it to return the shipments you stole or to pick up the bodies of the men?"

A ringing sound filled my ears.

The bodies? He was joking, right?

"Have you killed our men?" Luca barked as tension rose in the room; our men stood hypervigilant, waiting for the order to shoot.

The man released a dark chuckle, but I could see the threat in his gaze.

"Stand down, boys. I may look alone but do not think I am alone. I heard the small boys in the mafia are quick to throw around bullets these days. It wasn't that way in my time." His smile disappeared. "It wouldn't take me a second to have your men down. Including the ones scouting the environment," He glanced at each of us, his eyes resting on me longer than the rest. "I may have a backup, but I don't need one to finish you all off. Now, respectfully, which one are you here for?"

Luca was right. The Spanish mafia was on a whole other level. And judging from the way he spoke, they knew it too. How else can his overconfidence be explained?

It's fifteen against one yet he claims he can have us all wiped out within a blink of an eye. I reigned in my anger.

Before Luca could speak, the door was pulled open behind us again, and a tall man—I mean as tall as Adonis, strapped in a black coat—was ushered into the room. He took each step gracefully, his legs hardly balancing on the floor as though he was revolted by it.

I peered harder, hoping to catch a glimpse at his face but the hat he had on prevented that, and the glitter of the diamond stud that sat on his left ear was the feature that filled my gaze.

"Alvaro." He called in a thick baritone voice. One that made me shudder involuntarily.

Was he the leader?

Our sorry excuse of a host ran towards him with a smile on his face and a small bow.

"Master Miguel."

"I told you not to call me out for silly reasons." He pulled off his coat, dumping it on our host, which I now knew as Alvaro's outstretched arm, as he took a seat.

"Why am I here?"

"It turns out the Bernardis were the ones stealing the shipment, as suspected. They're here."

Mr. Miguel glanced at us, but I still couldn't see his expression.

"Bernardis? Isn't that the Italian mafia?"

Alvaro sniggered. "Yes, Master Miguel."

Miguel kissed his teeth.

"I heard Dimitri's boy is in charge now. Just a while after his grandfather dies, he turns rogue? Wasn't he advised not to mess with us?"

My fist clenched tightly and I gritted my teeth together, training to tame my temper at his belittling words.

We weren't sure how dangerous these people were and it wouldn't be ideal to cause a scene.

But fate decided to test my self-control, and he added in a low voice. "The position of a Capo shouldn't given to a child."

That did it for me.

Pushing away the man in front of me, I marched up to him with a glare, ignoring Luca's warning call.

"I don't know who you are, but all you and your men have done since we got here was to humiliate us. You might be a big gun in the mafia world and be well respected, but shouldn't respect be reciprocal?" I spat angrily, "Your men are just a bunch of weasels—kidnapping a man whilst he was unconscious? Adonis is just a leader like you are, and you'd give him the respect due." I rushed out in one breath, still feeling piqued.

Who do they think they were?

Everyone silently waited for his reply, but he didn't give one immediately. Instead, he pulled off his hat, giving me a perfect up-close view of his face.

My eyes widened an inch.

He was an elderly man, but I never would've guessed if it wasn't for the few lines of wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. He was unusually fit for his age and not to forget, handsome.

Done with my assessment, my gaze returned to his, and the dark look I saw in them almost made me lose my resolve. His narrowed eyes studied me like he was trying to see through my soul, but I refused to back down, meeting him head-on.

Suddenly, the dark look in them was replaced with one of disbelief. He abruptly jerked his head back with a frown.

"Impossible."

I blinked at him.

"Excuse me?"

Yet his next statement did nothing to clear my puzzlement.

"Camila, is that you?"