2024-03-24 23:09:00“Ah, Mr. García, it's good to see you here. What was the commotion all about outside?” Mr. Lopez, the host, greeted them as they entered. He was an elderly man with matching beard and hair, dressed in a dragon-themed black and gold three-piece suit.
“Just someone looking for publicity, let's proceed,” Miguel answered for Alejandro.
Alejandro and Miguel were invited as special guests to one of the year's biggest parties, exclusive to the elite. The venue was lavishly decorated, and the room buzzed with chattering.
One of the reasons they had come was to discuss the establishment of their new casino.
Alejandro's head was filled with memories of Sophia, and bitterness crept into his heart. “You guys can continue without me.” He said and walked to take a seat near the poolside.
After about an hour, Miguel walked up to him and saw him in a bad mood.
“Cool down, Alejandro, here,” Miguel offered him a glass of sparkling white wine, leading him to a secluded garden area. “What's the matter? You have not been yourself since we got here.
“My thoughts are not something I want to put on sale,” Alejandro remarked bitterly.
“Is it Sophia? Relax, she’s gone, now. A thing of the past,” Miguel consoled him.
“I still dream about her,” Alejandro admitted bitterly.
“You are allowed to grieve, but do not let it turn you bitter,” Miguel reassured him, his hand on Alejandro's shoulder offering comfort.
“You always know the right things to say,” Alejandro smiled at his friend.
“Someone's gotta keep you out of trouble,” Miguel teased, lightening the mood.
“It's a party, Ale, you shouldn't be sad. Mix with the elite, let them get to know your crazy ass,” Miguel persuaded him.
Alejandro just shrugged.
“Anyway, I talked to Mr. Lopez about our Casino. He said he would love to partner with us,” Miguel revealed, earning a surprised reaction from Alejandro.
“I thought you weren't interested,” Miguel remarked.
“Your advice is the most important to me. I'm so proud to have you as a friend.” Alejandro confessed.
“Right now, I have to finalize everything, be right back.” Miguel said and walked away.
The night wore on and Alejandro indulged in more drinks, his hazel eyes dulled with alcohol's influence, and the chatter around him became incomprehensible.
From across the room, Alejandro spotted Miguel talking to Mr. Lopez. Miguel gave him a thumbs up, which Alejandro returned after a moment's delay.
Now his glass was empty and he needed a refill, he went to the nearest stand, with a polite nod, he caught the bartender's attention. "Another drink, if you would, please. Something sweeter this time," he requested.
"Here you go," the bartender said, sliding the drink across the counter.
"Thank you," Alejandro replied with a grateful smile.
He returned to his seat and he enjoyed the drink that was most likely going to make him pass out. Until his eyes caught sight of a damsel who was struggling to get free from a man's grip.
"What are you doing with her?" Alejandro growled fiercely. His tough stance made the man stutter, and Alejandro gestured as if he held the girl close. "Leave before you end up hurt," he warned.
The man left quickly. But as Alejandro hiccupped, he vomited. He didn't enjoy being drunk.
“Are you okay?” the lady asked, guiding him to a seat as Alejandro's head began to ache and his vision blurred.
“Yeah, no problem,” he slurred, “Are you alright? Did he do anything?”
“No, thanks to you. You didn't allow him to,” she replied warmly. “But you need to rest, follow me.” She offered her hand and he took it, he had no idea where she was leading him to but he felt safe. She felt right.
Hours passed and Alejandro gradually awoke in a luxurious hotel room.
His head throbbed, making it hard to piece together what had happened after he followed the mysterious lady. He found himself alone, partially undressed, adding to his confusion.
He picked up his phone and saw a message from Miguel reminding him that a car was on its way to pick him up.
As he got ready to leave, he discovered a shiny earring on the bed stand which triggered faint memories of rose perfume and sex sounds but nothing concrete.
His got downstairs and his ride was waiting outside for him. Without a word, he got in and headed home.
***
Meanwhile, in the Brown's house, Sophia was rampaging. She was destroying everything.
“How could you do this to me Alejandro? How could you?”
The events of last night haunted her like a nightmare, the way he pushed her in front of everyone and how he rejected her, it burned her, it made her mad.
She threw everything off course, destroying her once beautiful bedroom and turning it into a madhouse. She still had make-up on from last night, but her mascara had bled down her face, her hair was no longer neatly curled but now it stood everywhere like she had just been in a hurricane.
She looked unstable and that was because she was. Her reflection in the mirror angered her and she threw her phone at it, shattering the mirror and her self image.
“So you think you can just get rid of me Alejandro? Think again.” She hissed before grabbing the divorce papers on the bed. It was the first thing handed to her when she got home in boiling anger, “These papers mean nothing!” She screamed at them, her eyes frantically searching to prove her claim.
She grabbed a lighter from her drawer and stood in front of the mirror. The flame sparked as she hung the papers above it, the heat slowly turning it to ash, “You're still my husband and I'm still your wife. Everything you are is mine, everything you have is mine. You are mine! And you will always be mine. Till death do us part. You just wait till my plan works out.” She said and an evil smile appeared on her face.
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Chapter 54
Chapter 54Jackson stayed late again, the office quiet except for the hum of the servers somewhere behind the walls. He'd spent the day chasing three more names Theo had flagged, each one dissolving into a dead end the same way Dolan and Reyes had before them. Frustration had settled into something closer to exhaustion by the time he finally allowed himself to circle back to the theory he'd been avoiding all week.He pulled up Vincent's file again, studying the photo longer this time, forcing himself to look past the obvious differences and consider what months of resentment and reduced circumstances might have changed about a person.The build in the footage was leaner than Jackson remembered, but people lost weight under stress, especially the kind of stress that came from watching your career shrink in front of colleagues who used to answer to you. He pulled up older footage from Vincent's time as team leader, years back, comparing his posture then against the posture
Chapter 53
Chapter 53Diego's patience had worn thin by the time Javier arrived at the house that evening, summoned without explanation beyond a single terse message. He found Diego in the study again, a bottle of whiskey already half empty on the desk in front of him."Sit," Diego said, not looking up.Javier sat, choosing his words carefully. "Something happen?""The resort deal," Diego said. "It's not moving as fast as I was told it would.""Alejandro's partner wanted a background check," Javier said. "It's a minor delay. Marcus's paperwork will hold up under scrutiny. It always does.""A minor delay was supposed to be days, not weeks." Diego finally looked up, his eyes bloodshot with exhaustion or anger, Javier couldn't tell which. "I have people to answer to as well, Javier. This isn't only my patience being tested."Javier understood immediately who he meant. Diego rarely spoke about the men above him in the organization, the ones who'd fronted the resources f
Chapter 52
Chapter 52Amy arrived at the mansion the next morning as instructed, the sealed envelope from Sophia tucked carefully inside her handbag. She'd barely slept the night before, more out of excitement at being trusted with something than any real sense of importance attached to the errand itself.Sophia met her in the entryway, already dressed for the day, checking her phone as Amy approached."Good, you're here," Sophia said, barely glancing up. "The address is on the envelope. Just hand it directly to whoever answers, don't leave it with anyone else.""Got it," Amy said, patting her bag reassuringly. "I'll head there now.""Thank you," Sophia said, already turning away, her attention elsewhere before Amy had even reached the door.Judy arrived just as Amy was leaving, breezing past her with barely a glance. "Oh, you're still here. I thought you'd have run your little errand by now.""I'm heading there now," Amy said."Good." Judy didn't slow down, alr
Chapter 51
Chapter 51Jackson came in early the next morning, coffee in hand, still turning over the fragment of memory that had followed him home the night before. He couldn't place it fully, only that it felt tied to his early days as team leader, back when half the department had resented him for being handed a position some of them believed they deserved instead.He pulled up the old personnel roster from that period, scrolling through faces he hadn't thought about in months. Most of them had moved on naturally, promotions, transfers, a few resignations that had nothing to do with him personally. He paused on a handful of names that had left under less amicable circumstances, cross referencing each one against the timeline of the maintenance footage.None of them matched cleanly, though one name gave him pause longer than the others.Vincent.He stared at the name for a moment, an old, uncomfortable memory surfacing, the confrontation in the office when Vincent had humi
Chapter 50
Chapter 50Jake's stitches from the fence had healed enough that he barely noticed them anymore, but Miguel still watched him more closely during briefings than he used to, an unspoken acknowledgment of how close things had come to going much worse."You're cleared for regular duty," Miguel said, closing the folder on his desk. "But you're not going anywhere near Oscar or that warehouse again. That's final."Jake nodded. He'd expected the decision and didn't have the energy left to argue against it. "Understood.""Good." Miguel leaned back in his chair. "I've got two new guys picking up that thread. Slower, more careful. I'd rather lose time than lose people."Nathan, seated beside Jake, cleared his throat. "What about the rest of us? Are we changing how we operate now that they've shown they're willing to shoot?""Yes," Miguel said simply. "No one goes anywhere alone anymore, on duty or off. I want check ins every two hours during active surveillance. If any
Chapter 49
Chapter 49Oscar hadn't slept properly since the shooting. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the man's face at the warehouse, the cold, calculating way he'd looked at the chaos he'd caused like it meant nothing to him at all. Diego's people didn't care about consequences the way Oscar had assumed they would when Sophia first brought him into this.He'd thought it would be simple. Show up, play the part, keep Sophia close, wait for the money to move and disappear somewhere far away with her once it was over. Nobody had mentioned guns. Nobody had mentioned men who'd shoot at strangers in broad daylight over a little surveillance.He met the man from the warehouse again two days later, this time in a quieter location, a back booth in a diner on the edge of town where nobody would recognize either of them."You look tired," the man said, sliding into the seat across from him."I haven't slept," Oscar admitted. "That thing at the warehouse. It's got Alejandro's pe
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