ALVARO

"There, there. Hush." He shushed the man struggling in his arms and trying to push away the cloth from his face.

It took a few seconds for the man to stop struggling and to submit to the effect of the gas.

"Yep, all done." He let the now unconscious man drop harshly on the tiled floor before wiping his hands.

He smiled inwardly as he watched Bob sleep.

Yeah, I did that.

Robert was a big man yet he managed to subdue him so easily.

Sometimes, his strength surprised him. He was baffled by how he could easily snap a person's neck like a twig if he wanted to.

I would be fucking top rated if I was a hitman.

The thought of having a few million dollars to squander sounded pleasant to him. He already had the skills, what else would a hitman need? And being so highly ranked in the Herido family would make him in high demand.

He grimaced as a certain memory hit him. That bastard.

He was certain that they would still be together if the idiot had not followed his dreams and greed that eventually killed him.

That was what greed could do to a person and it was exactly why he hated entitled and greedy people.

They always wanted more.

And that was the one thing keeping him content with being a lawyer and a member of the family.

He already had more than enough. He could not be like him.

A cough distracted him.

Son of a—

"What the fuck do you want?" He snapped at Giovanni who sat on the floor against fixated table. His hands were bound around one of the legs of the table and his legs were tied in a cris cross position. It would be a bitch to stand up.

"Water..." Giovanni croaked and Alvaro rolled his eyes, his gaze resting on a sleeping Riccardo for a second. The man was meant to keep watch while he was away.

Lazy fucker.

"Oh? You want water?" Giovanni barely nodded, the dried oil that caked his face made it difficult to figure out his facial expression but Varo could sense a frown.

Not that he cared.

The idiot should be lucky he isn't dead yet.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and strolled to the pitcher on the table then poured some of the liquid into a tumbler. Until Tobias had the time to interview him, he was still allowed to live.

"Here you go, Judy." He tipped the glass right over the judge's face, grinning as the man gasped in shock and frustration.

"Oh, come on! You said you wanted water. What the fuck are you being dramatic for?" He asked mockingly and yawned when he got no response.

He was bored.

"Fuck. I'm bored." See?

Tobias had dismissed him because he had some work. Clara was with Rebecca, Mateo was fixing up the gym with Luca and Eniola was with Vittore— oh, fuck no.

"Have a good night, Judy!" He hastily took his jacket from the chair and slapped Riccardo on his way out. "Wake up, fat fuck."

Varo was sure as hell that the man would get back at him at their workout session the next day. I need to remind Gato. I cannot suffer alone.

He could not understand what Eniola saw in Vittore 'what's-his-face' Lothario. He was just an average black man.

Hell, he was street food compared to Idris Elba. Alvaro chuckled. Idris would be awesome as James Bond.

He scoffed.

He just could not see anything special in Vittore. There was nothing more to him other than being an annoying piece of shit.

He was so caught up with going to break up the two and buttoning his blazer that he almost knocked over Clara.

"Oh, hey!" He apologized clumsily holding her up. "You good, baby?"

"A little heads up would have been nice, Mr. Montez." She said, her big blue eyes darkening with concern.

He loved the colour and how the littlest things bothered her.

"Lo Siento, I did not see you there."

"Of course, you didn't. Wait a moment." She eventually steadied herself and faced him.

Surprising him, she reached into his hair and pulled out one of his many headbands.

"Your hair is a mess. Bend a little."

He obeyed as she expertly wrapped the hair in a ponytail, ensuring every hair strand was intact.

She was a perfectionist.

"Thank you." He winced lightly when she purposely yanked on his hair.

"Of course. When are you telling him?" She resumed their previous conversation while he only sighed and began to walk away while attempting to wrap the awkward-length ponytail into a bun. Not this again.

"Soon." Was all he said, hearing her hasty footsteps as she tried to keep up with his long strides.

The thought of telling Tobias exhausted him.

"Soon is not a time or a date, Mr. Montez. You promised you'll tell him today." She said harshly but he ignored her, still walking on and only stopping to check his appearance in the mirror.

He was missing an earring and there were very light bruises on the side of his jaw. It was a miracle that Clara did not notice.

"Fucking perfect." He clicked his tongue in irritation and continued his mission.

That idiot had put up quite the fight with him. He was extremely fortunate Varo had not pulled the trigger when he had the gun at the back of his neck.

He would let Tobias do it instead.

"Are you just going to ignore me, Mr. Montez?" She called exasperatedly and he rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time.

"Are you just going to torture me with your questions, Miss Ferguson?" He mocked her in a horrible English accent and watched as she adorably stomped over to the elevator, effectively halting his stroll.

"When are you going to tell him?" She frowned crossing her arms over her chest, his eyes wandering for a moment. Nice.

"I guess I'll take the stairs."

She caught him by his sleeve just as he was about to turn and his breath faltered.

His eyes widened in shock as he jerked away from her grip. Nobody touched him like that.

"Don't do that again." He said quietly and exhaled, deciding against his anger and panic. She was not an enemy.

She is only trying to help. It's not her fault she's stupid as hell. He tried to convince himself. It was not worth his worries.

"I apologize, Mr. Montez." Her cheeks flushed as his mood swings took her by surprise. He could not blame her. It surprised him as well.

Well, not really...

"Hmm." He began the long walk up the stairs. "Do you not have anything else to do other than pester me, little tigress?" Varo complained as she jogged up the stairs as well.

"Unfortunately."

"I thought you were with Rebecca?" Varo queried and she shook her head. "What about being with Sergei? You seemed to be infatuated by him." He huffed jealously.

It was true that Clara had become close to the man. She always made sure he had something to eat and often checked on him.

Alvaro thought he too deserved a bit of that attention.

Even when she spent most of the day with him, there was a reassuring emotion he only felt when she was by his side.

"I didn't think you were one to get jealous." She commented bashfully and he stopped walking.

He was the most jealous person he knew.

"I am not like Gato, Clara. I do not take teasing very well." He replied watching her brows furrow for a moment. "If you would rather be with a married man then go ahead but I doubt it would last." He ended lightly with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What do you mean by that?" She began following behind him again. "Do you really think I sleeping with him or something?"

"I do not know. I am just advising you not to invest your time in him. I could kill him, you know." He said, looking at her from over his shoulder. "I am starving. Can we order Chinese?"

~~~

He was glad she dropped the entire topic but her silence unnerved him.

From the corner of his eye, she seemed to be watching him and when he would actually look at her, her noodles became like a Van Gogh painting she just had to look at. He may have done the same -if he hadn't finished his food several minutes ago.

He poked at the chipped black paint on his nails in boredom. He had not been able to repaint them since he came to America and they had turned into a hideous hue.

He also had to change his rings. The silver bore him.

He needed something fresh; like gold and diamonds. Something that spelled out "I bought this with the money your spouse paid me to fuck them".

He mildly considered getting a tattoo that said such, even though he already had a similar one across his shoulder blades, right above Hanifa and Ocean Eyes.

He shook his head.

He would have to stop getting permanent tattoos of temporary things.

She might not be so temporary.

Clara's soft voice sounded as she muttered something.

"What?" He hadn't heard her as he was so deep in his thoughts.

She repeated her question, "Why do you threaten so much?"

"Do I really need a reason to threaten so much?" Alvaro asked with light amusement.

He never seemed to understand what was going on in her little English mind.

"You were threatening Sergei's safety." She said, her blue eyes meeting his pale brown ones. He had never seen eyes so blue since-

No.

"Was I?" He asked, ignoring the sinking feeling in his chest. He cursed himself for letting his thoughts wander again.

"Yes. Or were you bluffing?" She asked and he forced himself to smile.

It was a painful smile and he was glad she hadn't noticed.

"Of course not. I do not bluff." He replied and she nodded.

"So you would really hurt Sergei?" She asked again.

"If you keep throwing yourself at him, yes. I'll murder him." He said calmly, reaching into his pocket for his trusty pack of cigarettes. The slight tremor in his voice needed to be soothed.

"You know I do not throw myself at him. I am only being friendly." She said stubbornly, avoiding his fixated gaze on her as he lit his cigarette.

Dragging in a puff, he said, "Then I do not like you being friendly with him."

"I do not care about what you like or not." She snapped stubbornly, finding it difficult to keep her voice reasonable in the living room.

"But you should. I don't treat things and people I do not like very well and I do not like your closeness with him." Varo replied, feeling the nicotine calm his nerves. Much better.

"You would not hurt him, Mr. Tobias asked you not to." She said and he barked out a short laugh.

He found it amusing that Clara reasoned so shallowly.

"I never said anything funny."

Rather than replying to her, he chose to focus on his cigarette.

Tobias was an understanding person.

He always understood why Varo did the things he did. Surely harming Sergei would be a stretch as it meant going against his orders but he knew Tobias would still understand. And sometimes, I have to act out of bounds to get my way.

"Would you like to go out with me?" He asked randomly, gauging her reaction. The flush coating her pale cheeks did not disappoint him.

"What?" She was surprised at how easily he changed the topic and he on the other hand had only gotten bored.

Like Tobias, plain and repetitive discussions bored him.

They were similar in that way but rather than distracting himself with a shiny or spiny object, he dissuaded the person altogether.

It was a gift... Or well a coping mechanism as Olegario had said.

"Let's go out to dinner or go shopping o algo." Or something. He said while she just watched him in disbelief.

Asides from avoiding the previous topic, he could not deny that he needed a break from the house and the men and a drive around the strange state sounded pleasant.

"I'd rather not." She eventually replied and he scoffed.

"Why? Would you rather be with the married german again?" He couldn't help the nagging voice again.

What was so special about the German? He's not half as good-looking as I am... And he's a mole.

"Okay, that is it!" She exclaimed, her soft voice transforming into a shrill one and stinging his eardrums. "I will not have you insult my dignity! I have had it with your idiotic antics." Her voice was firm as she wagged her finger dangerously close to his eyes.

He barely flinched.

Her behavior was amusing and slightly arousing.

She had long risen from her seat and as she stood over Varo, he could almost see smoke flaring from her ears.

Hot.

A smirk appeared on his face.

"Hit me while you're at it." He teased as he removed the cigarette from between his lips. The look on her face was priceless as usual. "Make sure it's hard."

"You're an asshole." She had wanted to turn and leave him but he had other ideas.

He grabbed her wrist last minute and pulled her to him, with her landed on his lap.

"I prefer you do not raise your voice at me, little tigress. No matter how hard it makes me." Her heaving chest stiffed in shock as her back pressed into his shirt.

She was quiet. Now, this is more like it.

"You should not be holding me this way, Mr. Montez." She was back to being as soft as a feather, her breath hitched as his hand idly traced her sides.

Arousal was a funny thing.

"You shouldn't be sitting on my legs like this but here we are." He said quietly into her hair, feeling her shudder against him.

He swept her hair to the side to take a good look at her smooth neck like he had done many times before. The scent of —what he guessed was lavender— lured him in. He had never been so physically attracted to a white woman.

"Mr. Montez..." She called softly as his lips touched the curve of her neck. "W-we agreed not to do this." Of course, we did.

He kept his lips there for another hot second, regretting his faithfulness to keeping promises before withdrawing from her long blonde hair.

Right after stopping his tattoo addiction, he also had to stop making stupid promises.

"Fucking hell." His hands across her stomach said otherwise. He definitely did not want to let go.

She smelled familiar.

"Will you let go of me now?" She said, still unmoving.

"Will you stop raising your voice when you talk to me?" He too retorted with lust and childlike innocence lacing his voice. An oddly pleasant combination.

"Will you stop pinning me with Sergei?" She asked, craning her beautiful neck to watch as he shook his head. "You're unbelievable."

He held onto her as she tried to get up.

"Stay."

For a few seconds, all that could be heard was her faint breathing and his rings gently hitting the buttons on her shirt.

"We agreed we would not do this," Clara repeated.

"We're not doing anything, estamos?" Are we? He questioned.

For some reason, he was glad they weren't.

It had been a while since he enjoyed being in the company of another person without attempting to fuck them to death.

He was beyond comfortable.

"We are. This is inappropriate." She said and he chuckled.

"How so?"

"Anybody can see—" She was interrupted by Luis dragging himself into the dining with a hand cupping his forehead.

Alvaro could feel Clara's body tense against him.

"¿Cuál parece ser el problema, prima?" Is there a problem, cousin? Varo called out, startling his cousin.

He was sure Luis had not seen them as he was so caught up in his own misery. Relatable.

"Diego trajo esta droga loca. No puedo ver una mierda." Diego bought a crazy drug. I can't see shit. He complained as he blindly disappeared into the kitchen. He looked like he had been hit by a bus.

"What did he say?" Clara asked after a moment of what may be called awkward silence to her and not to him.

He had zero shame.

"I thought you understood Spanish?" He asked, mildly surprised.

When they had first met, she had conversed with him in the language and they also talked like that occasionally.

"Not when you talk so fast. I hardly heard a single syllable." He was a bit satisfied that she had relaxed into him. I have that effect on women... And men.

"That's unfortunate." He adjusted his left leg as it was beginning to numb. She was quite heavy for her size.

Not that he minded.

Anyway...

"He was saying that he tried a drug Diego bought." The midget was quite the crackhead.

"Oh—" Luis reappeared with a big pack of aspirins and a bottle of water.

Alvaro thought for a moment that the smurf had not seen Clara until he turned to wink at her.

He could not help but chuckle at her tomato face.

"What were you saying about being seen by people?" He asked in a light tone. As usual, her baseless worries amused him.

"Luis has already seen us."

"Does it make you nervous in any way?" He teased already knowing how red she was. Even her pretty hair could not hide the rosiness of her cheeks.

"Yes."

"Then stand up." He said, still holding onto her as she attempted to do so.

"Then leave me." She muttered mainly to herself.

"Are you still upset with me?" He asked, relating to the Sergei issue and she nodded.

"Yes."

"Why?" He asked in mock obliviousness.

"Because you've questioned me too many times." She answered and he frowned. Asides from doubting her relationship with Sergei, he didn't think he had done anything else.

"When?"

"You thought I was seeing Robert when we first met. You also thought I was sleeping with Mr. Tobias at one time." She sounded sad.

He did not like it.

He also did not like that she had taken his jokes so personally. No matter how vile his jokes were, they were still jokes.

"Clara..." He called quietly, cupping her delicate neck so she could look at him again. "I could be very self-centered at times, but I assure you, they were only jokes. I did not mean to upset you. And also, I do not care about your relations with other men."

His last sentence was a complete lie.

He still had not crossed off teaching Sergei a lesson from his list. He was sorry for upsetting her but still extremely jealous.

"So you will not hurt Sergei?" She asked, her big blue eyes instantly pulling him in. Her lips pouted in hope and his restraint from wanting to kiss them was almost painful.

"I will not." He lied through his teeth again but this time, she caught him.

"Are you lying?"

He smiled, missing the way her eyes lit up.

"Yes. I told you before, I am not Gato." Even he knew how careless his mood swings were.

How he had gone from being somewhat reasonable to outrightly selfish in ten seconds was beyond the both of them.

"And I am an extremely jealous person." His hands tightened around her for a moment before he willed himself to completely let go. He would get her some other time.

She was free to stand if she wanted to.

And yet, she didn't.

"Are you still up for that date? Later tonight?" He asked with a grin and Clara slowly nodded.

She probably saw him as a ticking time bomb. Welcome to the fucking club then.

"Where exactly are we going?" She asked cautiously and he shrugged.

"Do you have anywhere in particular that you want to visit?" He asked kindly, opting to tuck her hair behind her ear. This would have been easier if she was straddling me instead.

"Well, I would like to see a Twilight movie." Fuck no.

This time, he gave into the puppy dog eyes she did not even know she was giving.

"Fine."

~~~

"I do not understand why you're touring me around the house, Mr. Montez. I already know where everything is."

Varo already knew that. He was looking for Eniola and Vittore under the guise of touring Clara around the renovated house.

"I know but have you seen the new changes?"

"Yes, I have."

She rolled her eyes at his silliness but kept her hand locked on his elbow. He decided to say nothing of it as he guessed it was just to slow him down so they could walk at the same pace.

"And I know you're looking for Eniola and Vittore." She said and he just smirked.

Eniola and Clara seemed to be decent friends. Perhaps she knew more about the two.

"Do you know what's going on between the both of them?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yes, but I won't tell you." His lips curved in irritation. If you were not—

"Why?" He bit his tongue from cursing.

"Because it should not be your concern." She answered easily.

"What if I was just trying to look out for her? Vittore is not the best person."

Vittore is a dick head.

"You? Look out for her? You and I know the only persons you care about is yourself and Mr. Tobias." And you and Hanifa.

Clara was right and he could not argue.

Varo would not care less if Eniola was with a homeless person but if it made Tobias unhappy, it made him unhappy as well.

"True." He said adjusting her arm so it wouldn't slip from his suede sleeves. "I would not care if it did not concern me and Gato but it concerns Gato."

"How so?"

"Would you pretend that you do not know that he likes her?" He asked and she gave an obviously fake gasp.

"Oh does he?"

"No, they almost fucked on the dining for shits and titties—"

"Wait, what?"

"The thing is, Gato likes Eniola and everyone knows. Even Vittore. The bastard is just trying to get a taste like the whore he is." Vittore could not help the spite that leaked into his voice. "Which I find fucking weird."

Speaking so much of the man reignited the hate he always had for him.

"Why do you hate him so much? What did he do?"

"It's a fucking long story." He muttered on that his breath but went on to say, "I think they are in the gaming. It's the only place we haven't—" He let out the most annoying sound made to man.

He did it again.

"Why do you sneeze like you're about to die?"

His sudden difficulty in breathing was confusing him. The sneezing became incessant. It was like his allergies were coming-

"Is that a cat?" He could barely hear Clara's excited exclamation as she pointed at a fuzzy dark creature.

What fascinated her looked like a ball of dust to him. That was the cause of his reaction.

"Get that bloody thing away from me!" He tore his hands from her and immediately blocked his nostrils. He already had goosebumps on his flesh.

"Look you scared it away," Clara said sadly as the thing scurried away. "Don't tell me you're scared of a little kitten!" She teased and he just blew his nose with the handkerchief in his chest pocket.

"I'm not scared, I'm just allergic. Those stupid things leave hairball and fur everywhere."

"They're not stupid!"

"I'll argue with you when I can breathe well." He already felt a lot better walking away from where they had first met the cat.

"You seem better now. Argue with me." She teased much further but he ignored her.

Who brought a fucking cat to the house?!

"Is it not ironic that you like calling Mr. Tobias a cat when you hate cats?" She was definitely having fun with him.

"I cannot believe the Alvaro Montez is afraid of cats. Does Havana not have like a million of them?" He decided not to entertain her with his words and just kept shut.

He would get someone to throw the thing out.

"We're here."

"Yes. We are at somewhere I have not seen at least two times already. How marvelous!" Clara exclaimed sarcastically and he bit himself even harder to stop the string of colourful words that threaten to burst out. He rather opened the door for her, being the gentleman that he was.

"One of these days, I'm going to strangle you." He muttered. "Alright. I know you've seen the room before but Franco just—The fuck?!"

His eyes landed on Vittore almost straddling Eniola with a hand over her mouth.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Before he could realize what he was doing, he had already dragged Vittore off the woman and was holding him to the wall by the collar.

"The fuck, Alvaro?!" He shut Eniola up with the deadliest dare he could give.

"Varo just let them be..." Tobias's instruction annoying rang in his head and he reluctantly sighed. He was right. It was none of his business.

He gave Vittore a wide grin and let go of him.

Dusting his palms on the man's black shirt he said, "I'm sorry I overreacted. But be more discreet, si? Clara and I want to play some games here."

"We do?"

The bold look Vittore tried to feign was the funniest thing he had ever seen. He could vividly see the fear in his eyes.

And rightfully so.

Varo was ten seconds away from punching him to death.

"Oh, Mortal Kombat? It's been years! Tigress, can you play?"

~~~

"So tell me, Gillian, why are you doing this again?" He asked casually as he took a swig from the very cold beer Vittore had stashed somewhere.

They managed to work through the tension and play different rounds of the game without talking about Alvaro's outburst. He on the other hand waited for someone to bring it up.

"What are you talking about?" Eniola pretended to be focused on watching Clara and Vittore's game while he shared his focus on her and Vittore. If the idiot made any move toward Clara as they sat on the floor playing the game, he would not hesitate to shoot him in the leg.

He felt for his gun by his waistband.

"Oh, I'm not stupid. There's nothing about Vittore that interests you. You stare at Gato like he's a fucking angel and you're Virgin Mary. It's him you like and want to have baby Jesus with and not Vittore. Why are you with Vittore instead?" He asked and she glanced at him before sipping from her cup.

"Aren't you Catholic?"

"I am. What about you?"

"Yeah, I go to St Agnes. Morning mass when I'm free." She said, taking the bottle from him and taking a sip. "What about you?"

"St. Catherine of Ricci. It's in Guantanamo. I don't miss mass when I'm in the state. You have to see the cathedral. It's gorgeous—" Why were they even talking about churches? "Back to the charade between you and Lothario."

The red eyes she and the dark man sported showed they were hopelessly drunk.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

She was stubborn but he knew how to handle stubborn people.

"There's this chica, Esmeralda Chun Wang," He started, "Gato's ex and she's still madly in love with him. Her father owns the biggest underground ammunition farm in China and something tells me we'll get involved with her again pretty soon. You know they almost got married?" He leaned into the extremely soft fabric and watched her smugly.

She was bad at hiding her emotions. He could sense she was going to say something in...

3...

2...

1-

"How do you know she's still in love with Tobi?" He grinned as he had finally gotten her undivided attention.

"Who?"

"The girl. Chun Wang." She answered and he just shrugged.

"I do not know what you're talking about."

She did not reply after that. She seemed to be thinking very deeply and he was glad. Hopefully, the jealousy would end the ridiculous circus show she had going on with Vittore.

There was a soft knock on the door that caught all of their attention. The door slowly opened to reveal a little Luca.

"Oh hello, Luca!" Clara waved from her spot and he shyly waved back. "If you would want, come join us!" She offered but Luca shook his head. It seemed he had something else to do.

"I would like to but I want to speak to uncle. Please, out here." He pointed at Alvaro whose brows raised in surprise. This is new.

Varo sighed and got up from his seat. He would taunt Eniola later.

With one last look at Vittore who was still a good distance from either of the women, he shut the door behind him.

"Ah, Luca, how have you been? Want a bear? You're legal now, ay?" He asked, noticing the boy was pale.

Luca shook his head and said, "I'm eighteen but th-hank you for w-wanting to give me."

Alvaro noticed the boy was a bit shy and fidgety but only thought it was his nerves.

"Look, I know we haven't seen eye to eye in like what? 3 years? But you don't have to act all scared. I won't bite or kill you." He gently nudged the boy by the shoulder but was surprised as he staggered backward.

"Woah, careful boy. Lo Siento, I didn't mean to push you that hard." He said honestly, the boy looked like he was just about to shit himself.

Alvaro did not think he was that intimidating.

"Are you sure you don't need a beer? It's good stuff. From Lothario's breweries." He joked, only getting a forced laugh from Luca.

"Okay look, I understand that we haven't been the closest of buds because of what happened to, you know, Felicio."

He saw the boy visibly blanch at the mention of his brother and he couldn't blame him.

"But I see potential in you, kid and I apologise if I've been hard on you. I only want the best for you. You see how you turned up for Gato the night he called? You came quicker than everybody because he simply asked you to and you know I appreciate anyone that puts Tobias as a priority. I appreciate you." He let the words he had been planning to say for a while just flow easily.

Luca was nothing like his brother and Alvaro was proud of him.

"And if you need anything and I mean anything that you cannot ask Tobias for, don't hesitate to let me know, okay?" He finished and the boy nodded.

Alvaro thought he had given an extremely emotional speech and that was why the boy had tears in his eyes. "Now don't cry. I do not know how to console emotional people."

Luca only nodded and he suddenly remembered that he was called out for a reason.

"Now what did you want to tell me?"

"I-"

The custom notification tone on Varo's phone rang making him hold up a hand to Luca and hurriedly fish out his phone from his pocket.

It was a message from Tobias.

"Get rid of Bob. Now." He could not help the smirk that threatened his lips.

At fucking last.

"I'll call for you later, Luca. I have something to do." He hastily began to unbutton his blazer as he walked away from Luca who seemed more than relieved that he was leaving.

"And help me tell Clara to dress nice. I'll be back by 11!"

~~~