Chapter 10:

Love, a bitter pill to swallow…

The doors to the community hall finally come to a close when the last person walks out. Everyone who volunteered is tired but still has the strength to give comare Chris a huge round of applause for the generous gestures she did for her community..

"Yay!" People screamed out loud and clapped their hands in approval.

Others emitted a clear high pitched whistle from their lips.

"Thank you for everything." The reverend said to Christina. His face had a smile grinning from ear to ear in happiness. All the white teeth in his mouth could show.

"You are most welcome. People who are blessed with enough need to give to people with less." Christina says. Her eyes sparkled with happiness and fulfilment.

This statement echoed in Micheal's mind…'I guess it's true what they say about never judging a book by its cover.' He quietly thought to himself.

Mario walks over to Christina and whispers in her ear that they need to move out of the community hall as her security has been compromised…

She nods her head in agreement to his request.

"Reverend!" She calls out to him. "We must take our leave now. I have other commitments to attend to."

"Ok my daughter. Thank you for coming and may God always protect you." He said while waving his hand from her head to her chest and shoulder to shoulder to form the holy cross.

"You are welcome and thank you reverend." She placed both her hands together in front of her chest to receive his blessings..

"Let's move out!" Mario commanded all the guards in the hall with a single hand signal.

Michael quickly rushes to walk Christina to the car…

********

Later that evening at comare Chris's mansion. Christina is having a cold beer with her second in command Mario as they joke and laugh about an old memory which could have been the end of their lives.

The night was pitch black with no stars or moon in sight. Fairy lights lit up the garden and it looked beautiful…

"Do you remember when you dropped the bullet cartridge instead of firing a shot at the Mexican leader?" Mario said while laughing out loud. "You were so young and inexperienced," he added. He took a long sip on his cold beer before putting the bottle back on the table.

"Well if you must know, it was either I got shot at or I try to scare him by pulling the trigger which did not want to cooperate with my gun." Christina talked rapidly…

"You were lucky I was there with you." Mario let's out a silly chuckle…

They both laughed out loud before settling down in their chairs.

"I need a body massage. The past few days have been stressful. Organise one for me tomorrow morning." She said while gently massaging the back of her neck with one hand.

"Yes comare… Can I ask you a question as a friend?" Mario said with a serious face.

Christina glances at Mario and sees his face change… "of course. You are a friend before my commander. Always remember that."

"Why do you treat Michael differently from all the soldiers we have here?"

Christina is caught off guard by Mario's question and immediately start coughing while choking on her beer.

"Are you ok?" Mario asked while handing her a glass of water to clear her throat.

"No thanks," she signals him with one of her hands waving to refuse his gesture.

"Where is that question coming from?" She asked while she cleared her throat..

"He is a new junior soldier who is not even supposed to look at you and talk less of spending a night with you.” Mario clenched his jaws in anger. He was becoming jealous of the personal time she was spending with Michael.

"I don't have an exact answer to that question but there is something special about Michael. It's like my soul is drawn to his."

Mario frowns his face and remains silent to her response. He is heartbroken and did not expect such a response to come from her. In his mind he was wishing she is just using him to pleasure her as she does to most of the men she showed interest in.

"I like him alot," she added. He could see a twinkle in her eyes that he has never seen before.

He suddenly feels his shoulders droop in sadness. Mario had the longest crush on Christina but has never summoned the courage to tell her the truth about how he felt.

Mario kept it a secret from her as it could ruin the friendship he shared with her.

They both sip on their beers at the same time to avoid the awkward silence between them.

Suddenly a guard walks over to them…

"The ladies have started arriving comare." He says while standing at attention.

"Thank you. Mario will go to them and I will be there shortly. Oh and send Michael to my room." Christina stands up and heads to her bedroom.

She quickly changes into a long navy blue sweetheart neckline dinner dress with a high slit on the side. She adds a stunning pink diamond necklace and nude heels.

Knock! knock! A gentle knock is heard on her door

"Come in." She quickly glaces up to the door and sees Michael enter.

"You called ma'am."

"Yes we have an auction sale about to start downstairs. Accompany me there right away. I want you to learn how I run my business." Christina dropped her blonde hair and applied some lipstick. Michael's jaw dropped as he was mesmerised by how stunning she looked that night. He quickly blinks his eyes and shakes his head back to reality.

"Yes ma'am." Michael says. This is the moment he was waiting for…. He needed to see and gather up the evidence they needed to bring her down.

Christina picks up a smaller gold crested hand pistol and lifts her leg to the chair while placing the thigh holster on her thigh and tucks the gun in it. The slit on the dress leaves so much to imagination.

"How do I look?" She asked Michael while slowly putting her leg down to strike a pose.

"Ok!" Michael said with a poker face. But deep down his heart he thinks she looks drop dead gorgeous… 'calm yourself." Michael thought to himself….

Christina gracefully sauntered down the stairs with her body poise oozing with dominance and power. The people downstairs looked up at her in awe.

"Ladies, I am sorry for keeping you waiting. May we please take our seats and begin." She said in a soft voice.

Christina heads over to her chair and sits in it with Michael confidently standing next to her.

Mario on the other hand looked at the both of them with envy and hate. He knew she was falling in love with Michael but did not want to say it in his face..

A guard drags the first sex slave on the rotating peddle stool and instructs him to drop his towel for the ladies to see the goods they were buying.

"Feast your eyes on this fine specimen of a man, ladies." The naked man rotated a full 360' on the stool he was standing on.

All the ladies clap their hands in excitement. Comare Chris never disappointed them when it came to selling sex slaves.

"Can I get a $300000 please." The auctioneer said with so much vigour in his voice.

"$320000.." a Lady in her late 50s offers.

"Come on ladies, I know you can do better than this." The auctioneer responds.

"$350000.." another woman in the back offers.

“Going once, twice! Sold to the lady in the back. Please go see the cashier and collect your purchase.”

Michael's eyes popped out in shock. 'So this is what they did to the first group of men they had removed from the dark room I was once held in..' he thought to himself.

Christina on the other hand made small talk to some of the ladies who approached her… When suddenly a lady who looked to be in her early 30s walks up to her. She wore a stunning silver dinner dress with a beautiful fur coat. Her body glittered with expensive jewellery.

"Lady A it's been a while since you attended one of my sales. What brought you here today?" Christina asked with a sarcastic look on her face.

Lady A had stopped attending Christina's auction sales for a few months now. But she was one of the richest women Christina did business with. And she was generous when it came to her spending.

"Well if you must know. I was mourning the death of my husband. He passed away a few months ago." She gets a white Hank from her purse and wipes off a tear from the corner of her eye.

She loved him but he never satisfied her in bed because he was 94 years old and so he gave her permission to find pleasure elsewhere.

Hence Lady A's wealth came from her billionaire husband. She was his Sugar baby before he married her and now she controls all his estate because he never left any kids to inherit his wealth.

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss. But have you seen anything you like so far?" Christina asked.

"Yes, him." Lady A says while pointing at Michael.

Christina furrows her brows.

"He is not for sale lady A, and you know that." She said with a serious face.

"I will give you 2 million dollars for him alone."

"I’m sorry lady A you know the rules about my soldiers. They are not sex slaves."

"Ok then, 5 million dollars for just a night with him and he will be all yours in the morning."

Christina is outraged with anger but maintains a stern poise on her face.

Michael on the other hand does not even flinch at their conversation. He keeps his serious face on. He knew he had to sacrifice a lot if he had to take down the Chris cartel.