The music in this chapter does not belong to me & in no way am I implying that famous singers Larry Hernandez and Gerardo Ortiz are part of the drug cartel life. THIS IS ALL FICTION, A WORK OF MY IMAGINATION. Enjoy.





What the Bustamante's called a "little get together with friends and family" was actually full out party that was a celebration as big as a quinceañera. Yes, there were a total of around 65 people gathered at the ranch but from what I've heard from some of the guests I've talked to, they've had parties where the whole state of Sinaloa showed up. I'm not surprised.

The famous ranch San Bernardino is located in the outskirts of Culiacan, Sinaloa where it is hidden from the rest of the state since most of the people live in the "Pueblos" which is what we call towns in the U.S.

Mom decided to have the party outside and round tables were placed in front of a little stage that was built from scratch for the musicians that were invited to perform tonight.

"Your mom is the best party planner" Sofi gushed, staring at all the details and decorations around us. "I want her to plan my wedding when I get married."

The place really did look amazing. My mother outdid herself with this one.

I couldn't help myself from teasing my friend. "And who will be the groom Daniel or Alex?"

"Ha ha very funny"

"Good one!" Nessa laughed high-fiving me.

The tension around the little love triangle between my brother and the two lovebirds was still as strong as ever, Alex had made it very clear that if Daniel were to mess up with Sofia he would be waiting to swoop in for another shot with her.

"This coming from the girl who has two brothers fighting over her..." Sofi shot back at me.

"I have never given Joel any reason to think that I'm interested in him. I don't know what's wrong with the guy. He pisses me off"

And he still hasn't brought up the conversation he had with me about 'history repeating itself', but even though it's killing me to know what went down with him and Santiago, I will have to find out the truth on my own.

I won't give him the satisfaction of having something like this over me, there's no way I'll owe him anything.

"Santiago on the other hand is the man of your dreams...." Nessa wiggled her eyebrows.

Oh, yes he is. Santiago. Dark and mysterious Santiago. With those deep blue eyes that drive me crazy...

"En donde esta mi sobrina favorita?!" (Where is my favorite niece?)

I turned around in my chair to see two guys dressed like Mexican cowboys, both of them with gun holsters around their shoulders and they were walking towards me. Two men that I hadn't seen since I was 15.

Tio Felix and Tio Carlos, my father's younger brothers who had been by his side all these years trying to keep the Gulf Cartel as one of the best.

"Your only niece, Tio Felix. I'm not that gullible little girl anymore who you tried to bribe with candy and gifts so that I could say you were her favorite uncle."

He picked me up in a hug and spun in a circle. There was a huge smile in his face when he finally put me down in front of him. "Look at you all grown up! And such a beautiful woman."

"Gracias Tio" I walked to my Tio Carlos and gave him a hug too. Unlike Felix my Tio Carlos was the calm and reasonable one out of the Romano brothers but I could still see how happy he was to see me again.

"We really did miss you a lot mija" Tio Carlos said pulling my hand up to his lips and giving it a quick kiss.

"And your father already told me you're dating Santiago" Tio Felix said looking very unhappy. "Isn't that boy a little too old for you?"

I rolled my eyes. Over protective as always, Tio Felix hasn't changed. "He's only 23, that's four years older than me."

"Four years is a lot!"

"No it's not! And he's three years younger than Martin, wasn't that one of your rules?"

Tio Felix had always told me that I couldn't date a guy that was older than my oldest brother and Santi is three years younger than Martin.

"Well there isn't much I can do about it now" he grumbled. "Your father already told me he approved."

"Exactly!" I hugged him. "If dad approves then there's nothing to worry about."

"I guess you're--- oh and who are these beautiful ladies sitting with you?" His tone took a change when he noticed my two best friends sitting in my table.

I chuckled at my uncle Carlos who only shook his head at his older brother's behavior.

"These are my best friends Sofia and Vanessa Lazcano." I introduced them. "Girls, these are my uncles Felix and Carlos."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both" Tio Felix, very charmingly leaned down and gave them a kiss on the cheek.

"Sofi is Daniel's girlfriend and Vanessa is Leo's" I informed my uncle.

Knowing my uncle he was already thinking of ways to get one of them into bed with him. Yes, Felix Romano is well known for being the womanizer of the Romano family. Though my brother Martin could steal the title away from him any day now...it's no wonder they get along so well.

"And my heart just shattered into a million pieces" he clutched his chest dramatically, turning to Tio Carlos "Why are the good ones always taken bro?" He said.

"I think it's time to join Ernesto and Salvador. We can catch up with you later Gabby." He gave a slight bow to Sofi and Ness. "It's nice to meet you girls"

"You too!" they chorused as Tio Carlos dragged my uncle away to the table where my parents were sitting with Don Ernesto.

"I like your uncle" Nessa laughed at the grossed out look I gave her. "Not like that! He just seems like the type that tells you stuff straight up, he doesn't beat around the bush."

"That's uncle Felix for you."

"Ladies" Chamuco walked up to our table. "The guys are requesting your presence. They want to introduce you to some people."

"Quit bullshitting around with the act Chamuco. You know we hate it when you talk to us like that." Nessa glared at him.

That made him crack up. "I know! I just love the annoyed face Gabby makes."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

Asshole.

"Seriously though, the guys do want you to join them."

I glanced over to where our boyfriends were standing, they were under a little tent drinking tequila and laughing loudly at something one of the two men that were with them had said.

The other two men looked to be in their early thirties. One of them was dressed very weirdly, he had on some khaki shorts with one of those Hawaiian shirts and the other guy was short and dressed in a fancy suit. A very odd pair indeed.

We stood up and followed Chamuco and greeted some of the people we were introduced to earlier along the way.

"Ah, here they are" Santi spoke out loud, I went to stand next to him and he pulled me towards him, snaking his arm around my waist.

He seemed to be doing that a lot today. And as much as it annoyed me that he was probably doing it to show the others that I belonged to him I couldn't help feeling butterflies in my stomach every time he touched me. I swear every time his skin touched mine I felt little tingles all over my body.

"This is my girlfriend Gabriela" he said to the two guys.

"La hija de Salvador?" the short guy in the suit raised an eyebrow. "Vos no perdeis el tiempo Santi! Mucho gusto Gabriela, yo soy Rolando Sánchez y este es mi amigo El Muñeco" (Salvador's daughter? You don't waste your time Santi. Nice to meet you Gabriela, I'm Rolando Sanchez and this is my friend Ken the doll)

I smiled and shook his hand. "Gabriela Romano. But you can call me Gabby"

"Well in that case you can call me Rol, that's what everyone else calls me."

I nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, doesn't " I turned to Hawaiian shirt guy. "Why do they call you El Muñeco?"

"That's what my family in Colombia called me when I was little" he shook his head. "The name stuck ever since"

Colombians. Explains the accent.

Leo and Daniel introduced Sofi and Nessa. Everyone who they met seemed amused by the fact that the two sisters were dating the two brothers.

"Rol and El Muñeco are our business partners from Colombia. They came all the way from Bogota to join us for the party and have a few business meetings with us." Santi explained to me once everyone was involved in their own little conversations

And even though he didn't right out tell me the truth about his two peculiar business partners. I understood the meaning behind his words.

The Colombians produce the drugs in their country and send it over to the Sinaloa Cartel, so that Santi and his people can cross it over to the U.S.

He pulled me closer and kissed the side of my head. "Ahora si estas entendiendo en lo que te estas metiendo al estar conmigo morra?" (Now do you understand what you're getting yourself into by being with me?)

"I've always known,babe and I know I'm risking a lot. But it's a risk I'm willing to take."

He smiled down at me. "You don't know how happy it makes me to hear that."

********

We had all joined four tables in the center of the garden facing front and center of the stage. And by all of us I mean: my parents, Don Ernesto and his brother, my uncles, my two brothers, Joel, Leo and Ness, Dany and Sofi and finally my boyfriend and me.

Chamuco came over to Don Ernesto to hand him something and then walked away where the rest of the guards were standing next to the stage. There was security in every corner of ther ranch, they were all spread out and hidden but everytime I walked around I ran into many of them while I made my way around the land.

Guards are a big priority to the cartels since they protect their families and friends, on this day in particular they were extra careful with protecting all the criminals gathered at the ranch. Every single person in the party has to be protected and feel secure, Leo hired extra people to help keep any civilian or enemy from entering the ranch.

"Good evening ladies and gentleman" Don Ernesto stood up addressing everyone at the party with a microphone in his hand. " I want to thank you all for joining us today. It really means a lot." He smiled down at me with a twinkle in his eye.

"But there is a very important reason for this celebration." he paused. "My dear friend Salvador and I are pleased to announce... that his daughter Gabriela, and my son Santiago are officially dating."

Everyone around us started cheering and clapping. Our group of friends being the loudest of them all.

My parents of course looked as proud and ecstatic as Don Ernesto. The displeased look on Joel's face was very obvious but everyone else seemed focused on us or just chose to ignore him.

He had a bottle of tequila in front of him, pouring shot after shot instead of listening to his father.

"We also want to introduce Vanessa and Sofia Lazcano, Gabriela's friends who are dating my two nephews Leo and Daniel." Don Ernesto continued. "But we all know the true reason for this introduction... so I'll say it once and I won't say it again. In this business we have one rule: Never mess with family, now that Gabriela, Vanessa and Sofia are with us they are part of our family. Our women and children are sacred. So let's keep honoring the rule and prevent any problems from happening between us." He raised his shot of tequila. "Salud!" (Cheers!)

Everyone raised their drinks. Salud!

"With that being said" Don Ernesto walked over to Santi. "I'll now hand over the microphone to my son who would like to say a few words."

My eyes widened as I watched my boyfriend take the microphone.

"Hello everyone" he stood up. "I hope everyone is having a good time! It's about to get a whole lot better with the person I'm about to introduce."

Oh my God.

"But before I can introduce him I told my girlfriend I had a surprise for her" he came over to me and helped me up and over to the front of the stage.

Holy shit is he going to propose?

I turned to look at the faces of my family and friends who mirrored the shocked look on my face except for Don Ernesto.

"Gabby" he spoke into the microphone "Everyone, I want you all to give a round of applause for my friend Larry Hernandez."

Phew. No proposal yet.

I clapped along with everyone and looked over to see Ness and Sofi bouncing in their seats as they stared wide eyed at the man walking towards me dressed in a black suit and with a grin on his face.

Larry Hernandez.

Larry walked over to Santi and hugged him.

"Un gustazo estar aqui en su fiesta mi compa!" Larry said to Santiago. (It's a pleasure to be here my friend!)

"Gracias por haber venido Larry." Santiago grinned. "Esta es mi novia de la que te hable, Gabby" (Thanks for coming Larry. This is my girlfriend, the one I told you about, Gabby)

"Mucho gusto Gabby" Larry gave me a hug and kissed my cheek. (It's a pleasure to meet you Gabby)

"El gusto es mio" I choked out. "Soy fan de tu musica." (The pleasure is all mine. I'm a fan of your music.)

"The reason I had you come up here is because I asked Larry to write a song for you." Santi said into the mike for everyone to hear but he was looking straight at me.

"Well I didn't write it on my own" Larry said into his own microphone. "Santiago helped me out a little... so you could say this song is from him to you."

Everyone started cheering again.

"Quieres escuchar la cancion?" Santi asked me. (Do you want to hear the song)

"Of course!"

"Orale pues! Fierro mis compas!" Larry gave a signal to the musicians standing on the stage. (Alright! Let's do this!)

The beat started and Santiago pulled me close, swaying along to the music.

"No curveo ando derecho

No desisto me gusta lo bueno,

no le aflojo y me gusta chiquilla

Pero esa plebita, bonita chiquita la traigo en la mira.

"No mas salgo a verla y a buscarla,

Si no la hallo me entran mas ganas,

De robarmela el fin de semana

Cuando ande con amigas, hermanas o primas su mama y su tia."

[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/arrastrando-las-patas-lyrics-larry-hernandez.html ]

"Hay que alistar la hielera

Que traigan la banda que hay guerra,

Esta noche te doy serenata pa que sepas me gustas, me encantas me trais arrastrando las patas."

"Porque me vez con pechera

Los rifles los traigo por fuera,

Es porque tengo enemigos pero te voy a dar cariño escucha mamacita lo que te digo."

Santiago sang along with Larry's voice on the following verse, by far my favorite part of the song: "Si tu ma' te dice lo contrario, al contrario dile que te amo, que a lo que nos dedicamos no es nada malo echame la mano si no, no respondo y mañana te andaran buscando"

"Hay que alistar la hielera

Que traigan la banda que hay guerra,

Esta noche te doy serenata pa que sepas me gustas, me encantas me trais arrastrando las patas."

The song finished and I smiled up at my boyfriend.

"It's beautiful." I whispered to him. "There's no question that it's about us.... and the way you feel about me."

"Did you like it?"

"Loved it" I gave him a quick peck on the lips. "You sure like me a lot Santi"

" I don't like you Gabby...Yo te amo" (I love you)

Love. Love. Love.

Do I love him too?

I haven't turned him into the police. I'm with him despite the fact that I know he's a criminal and he kills people. I get jealous at the thought of him with another girl. And he's always on my mind. I couldn't imagine my life without him.

If that isn't love, I don't know what is.

"I love you too Santiago"

****

The party picked up from then on once the music started playing. There were colorful light flashing on and off while we danced.

My friends and I were dancing along with our boyfriends on the dance floor. The guests were either dancing or drinking. Everyone was having a good time.

Except for Joel who had disappeared to God knows where.

"Para todos ustedes soy de Durango!" Gerardo Ortiz finished the last line of the song.

Santiago led me over to one of the tables and took a seat with me on his lap.

"Want a shot of tequila?" He asked raising up the bottle of Jose Cuervo.

"Pour it up baby." I laughed.

"Can I join in for a drink too?" Gerardo asked standing in front of us. He was already sweating from all the singing he had done and Larry was now on stage again taking his turn at another song.

"Of course man, take a seat" Santi said and poured a drink for each of us.

Gerardo Ortiz had arrived a little late because he had a concert in Culiacan so he had to finish his performance in the city before coming over to the ranch.

Santiago had properly introduced Gerardo to Sofia, Ness and me- and we were star struck by the good looking singer.

I smiled remembering how nervous we had all been when we saw him walking towards us with Santi by his side.

"We've been to every single concert you've had in Chicago, and we have all of your CD's in our apartment back home." Vanessa blabbered with wide eyes.

"You girls are from Illinois?"

"We live there but we were born in Mexico. I was born in Tamaulipas and they're from Guanajuato."

"Nice! Next time I go to Illinois we should hang out there. Maybe you girls can show me around?"

"Of course!" Sofi nodded excitedly. "Well actually... we don't know if we'll ever be back."

An awkward silence settled among all of us.

"As you can see we have very important people that keep us here." Nessa said, raising up her intertwined hand with Leo.

"Damn right I'm important!" Leo joked.

"We'll definitely go back and visit." Santiago said to Gerardo. "The girls still have to show us around the place where they grew up. I'll hit you up and maybe we can all take a little vacation over there."

I squeezed his hand gratefully. He knew how much talking about our home depressed us so it meant a lot to me that he tried to make us feel a little better.

Now my two besties were off on the dance floor enjoying the night and gushing to their boyfriends about how good looking Gerardo is.

"Let's make a toast!" Gerardo raised up his glass.

"A toast for what?" I asked

"For you Gabby" he smiled. "The woman who changed Santiago Bustamante. I have never seen my friend so whipped and in love.... you made the impossible possible."

"I can't disagree with you G" Santi raised his glass. "Salud por el amor de mi vida, la dueña de mi corazon, mi futura esposa, la futura madre de mis hijos y mi devilidad ante los ojos de mis enemigos. Mi Gabriela!" (Cheers to the love of my life, the owner of my heart, my future wife, the future mother of my kids and my weakness in the eyes of my enemies. My Gabriela!)

"Oh God, the drinks are finally getting to you." I laughed.

And in truth. His eyes were a little dilated and he had never showed his feelings around anyone but me...or maybe he has with Gerardo because they've been friends for so long?

"It's true Santi" he laughed. "You should stop drinking before you go around the party taking off your clothes like the last time you got drunk at that club in California."

"What the hell? You took off all your clothes at a club?" I gaped at Santiago.

And to my amusement he looked embarrassed as he glared at his famous friend.

"Dude you promised to never speak about that!"

Gerardo was the one to answer my question. "We stopped him before he could take off his boxers in front of everyone"

"This is grand" I clapped my hands. "If you have any more embarrassing stories, please tell!"

"Lots. There was that one time--"

But before we could go on making fun of my boyfriend, Chamuco walked over to us with a very grim look on his face. "Boss I just received some bad news from our connections in the border."

Santiago sobered up immediately. "What is it?"

Chamuco looked uncomfortably between us, unsure if he should talk about business stuff in front of us.

"Go on Chamuco, they can hear anything you have to say to me."

Chamuco nodded before going on. "Simon just called to let me know that the order of coke that was destined to go to Texas was robbed from our hiding spot in Laredo, I have no idea how anyone found out about the location of our warehouse."

"How many pounds did they take?"

"All of it, boss" Chamuco informed him. "And some of the men over there suspect that it was Hector who stole it. You know, since he's the only one who has it out against us."

Santi nodded. "I'm sure it was him."

"But if nobody else but you and your cartel knew about this warehouse... how did Hector find out about it?" Gerardo asked the same question that was on my mind.

"Un soplon." Chamuco whispered. (A snitch)

"What?!"

"There's a traitor in my cartel." Santi growled. "And I'm going to find out who it is."

A traitor? No way.

*****

The Video to the side is the song used in this chapter!

It's been forever. I know and I apologize for taking so damn long but a lot has haapened in the last few months. Give up on this baby? Never!

I've got my writing muse back and I plan on taking advantage.

Do you guys think there really is a traitor in Santi's cartel?

What do you think of the story so far?

For all you Spanish speakers have y'all been watching that novela on telemundo about the famous drug dealer? It's called El Senor de Los Cielos and I'm addicted to it! I think this novela is what helped me get rid of my writers block, since it's abut a Mexican drug dealer. If you like this story so much then you will deff like the soap opera. Check it out!

Fun Fact: The song Arrastrando Las Patas by Larry Hernandez is the song that inspired me to write about this story. If you understand Spanish then the lyrics of the song kind of go with Gabby & Santi's relationship, RIGHT?!

As I pointed out at the top. This chapter is dedicated to my dear friend, Todd Aaron Phelan who passed away a few months ago.

God has a new angel in heaven, rest in peace boo. -Wendy