Six months later…Camila had been recovering quite miraculously. The smiles had returned and Hugo couldn't help but melt every time he saw her like that. The idea to have her family temporarily move into the mansion had worked better than they had expected. Sofia and Ell slept with their big sister every single night and Bruno had a chauffeur on standby for whenever he wanted to check in on his daughter. The wounds had long since healed and their physiotherapist had her on her feet within a week. The panic attacks rarely happened and they weren't as bad as they used to be. She had episodes where she cried for hours on end. The doctors decided that there wasn't much that they could do about it. If anything could heal it, it was time. Other than that, she was just as beautiful, playful and innocent as the day Hugo had seen her for the first time. The mansion was full of life and sometimes quite a mess. The little girls didn't sit at one place for more than a minute and Gabriel was their
The wedding had been scheduled to take place on the very next day. Gabriel proved himself to be the miracle worker like Hugo had always witnessed him to be. The old guy was pulling hats out of rabbits. The best florists of the country were at the doorstep within hours. The pastor was chauffeured from his home. The entire estate had been heavily decorated. The moment Hugo got out of his room in the morning, a bright smile captured his face. He was in awe of his own mansion. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined his mansion to look so beautiful. He stood on the balcony, watching Gabriel barking orders at the servants. Almost everything was ready to go. No one would believe that it had only been a few hours since the event had been planned. The interior decorators were constructing white rose arches all over the open garden area of the estate. Hugo couldn't help but smile. Gabriel looked like he hadn't slept a wink during the night. The old advisor was genuinely excited for Hugo. A
A gentle knock on the door woke the newly wed bride up. Camila opened her eyes and realized that she was enveloped in Hugo's warm embrace while he was still asleep. It was way past dawn and the sun shone brightly. She couldn't have asked for more. It was so surreal for her. It had all started with her showing up at the cartel boss's doorstep to confront him for hurting her father. She smiled and hugged his arms that were on her chest. Another knock reminded her why she was awake in the first place. This time around, even Hugo was pulled out of his dreams. He grunted and got off the bed. “Who is it!?” He yelled.“It’s Gabriel and the witches,” Gabriel said from the other side.“Hey! It's fairies!” Ell's angry voice emerged from the other side followed by Gabriel's chuckle. Hugo couldn't help but smile at it. He opened the door and found Gabriel and the girls ready for a trip. Sofia was dragging along a bag that was even bigger than her. Gabriel sent Sofia on her way.“I’m sending Jos
Present day…Hugo sat in the dark hotel room. Juan was at the window talking on the phone nonstop. He was answering all the calls received on Gabriels phone. Those calls mostly dealt with the cartel businesses and problems. Juan was equipped to deal with most of them. As long as Gabriel was in the hospital, Juan was responsible for everything that he managed and he was doing it well. Hugo had nothing but admiration for him. Juan Varga was young and not even of the same nationality. He had lost everything in Mexico and came to the US with nothing but dreams and the gigantic balls to achieve them. His father had the bright idea to run for mayor against the ruling party and it ended up costing him his life. The family scattered across the country trying to save their lives while Juan decided to escape the country entirely. He had killed and had almost been killed several times to get where he was. Hugo needed men like him in his inner circle. Juan was a dying breed and Gabriel was gettin
It had started to drizzle and silence dominated the neighborhood. The abundance of houses with turned off interior lights indicated that most of the neighborhood preferred to sleep in early. It had something to do with the next day being a working day as well. There were no cars on the road. It was almost midnight. A lone car entered the neighborhood and slowly approached the other end of the street. The car abruptly stopped at the corner of the street and Hugo Ortiz stepped out of the vehicle. He wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. The car drove away as instructed. Hugo walked towards the house where he had received the bullet. It almost made him smile. So much had happened in the past few days. He walked through the neighborhood without sparing a glance to the surrounding houses. He didn't like this kind of neighborhood. They seemed too artificial to him. Too square. There was no room for creativity or culture. Just queues of identical cubes of concrete that looked devoid of
Carl hastily started the vehicle and floored the accelerator. The car came to life and screeched out of the neighborhood. The road was like the surface of an ice cap and it was a miracle how they didn't crash into a tree. They were out of sight in no time. The car raced through the long empty road with open fields on either side. The drizzle had become heavier and the drops on the windshield weren't making Carl's job any easier. Hugo kept on yelling and shouting in the back of the vehicle but his expressions had shifted more towards sadness than fury. Wade had his eyes on the barely visible road and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He felt like a dog that had finally managed to catch up with the truck. He had never even thought of his plan of action afterwards. Now that it was finally done, he was stumped. The risk of repeating the same mistake loomed in front of him and the irony wasn't lost on Wade. The car had been on the move for a while and other than an odd groan or two, H
The black car sped through the deserted road, back into the city. It had been an eventful night for Hugo Ortiz. Wade had just become the first person in Hugo’s life who managed to walk away after threatening him. Gabriel sat beside him with a brace on his arm. His face was riddled with stitches and bandages. They all were silent. “I was at the house fire when you called. The gringo architect is in the hospital. He took a bullet to his shoulder. He’ll live if he wasn't on blood thinners. They found another man in the house burnt to a crisp. But there was no sign of any woman,” Juan said.“Volkov took my Camila!” Hugo said without taking his eyes off the window. Juan was in a deep thought.“That explains the dead mercenary,” Gabriel said. “How the hell did he get my number?” Hugo asked. The question had been pricking at him for a while. “The same way he found out about Camila. We’ve got a rat,” said Gabriel. “Vladimir?” “Not possible. We’ve been watching him. He didn't even call hi
In the darkness and eerie silence of the night, Crescent Motel stood like a beacon with all its neon lights and out of order billboards. The place was a haven for all sorts of criminals. Police had been so accustomed to the area being through hell that they had stopped trying to make it a better place. They had started using the place to scout for informants. A refuge for criminals secluded from the civilized demographics was not all bad news. At least they would let the innocent people be. Police had decided long ago that they were better off not messing with the hornet’s nest. Usually, the neon boards had one or two hookers smoking cheap cigarettes under them. But tonight, it was different but only a trained eye could catch it. There was no usual crowd outside. Hidden in plain sight were over a dozen trained mercenaries. Four on the roof, four in the building and the rest scattered around in obscured spots. An SUV stopped in front of the building and Ivan Volkov emerged from it wear