He watched the woman in front of him with very slight interest after he read the note in his hand for the fifth time.

His eyes traveled around the room as well, anger seeping into his bones as Alvaro was still not present.

"What makes you think I have any interest in protecting you, Detective Foster?" He asked. "The last time I checked, we were not really on the best terms."

Eniola seemed to be the only person worried by the woman's words. He feared she would fall for it.

He was doing some target practice with his blades when Franco had nervously informed him via the small earpiece he was given that the detective had come to see him. The rest of the men stayed back at the gym while Mateo and Olegario escorted him. Well, Olegario was already in the living room after assisting Miguel in nursing Luca's wound.

Varo was nowhere to be found.

"I did not come here for your protection, Mr Ferna. I came here to warn you and to show you the letter-"

"As far as I am concerned, what is written here does not involve me or any member of this house. Do what it says and forget about Maria." He answered, carelessly interrupting her.

His eyes met with Olegario's wise ones and he adjusted his legs, alternating their position. The man motioned at him to keep calm. The only thing that kept him calm was Eniola's fingers leisurely running through the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Mr Ferna—"

"Do you not understand Amalie? I do not trust you and I am sure the members of this house would feel better if you leave." He said quietly, passing the note to Mateo who barely glanced at it before giving it to Olegario.

"Tobi, let her stay for a while." Eniola started quietly. "She's scared and she's trying to cover it up."

"But I don't like her."

Her eyes showed her worry and concern.

"No more deaths. Maria is enough, please." Well you see... Her hands cupped his face for a moment and he relished in the pleasure he got from her touch.

He wished he could stay there with her but he couldn't. Not with three pairs of eyes on them.

Tobias had not expected her to talk to him at all. She had been upset after asking him why Alvaro had shot Luca and why he was so upset and he did not answer.

"Fuego-" Her hopeful eyes left him with no other options. "Fine, she'll stay. Until the whole situation is over. But if I have a reason to doubt her..." He did not need to finish the sentence. They all knew how dangerous his threats were.

Eniola's smile was worth it. It was worth having a damned cop in his house.

"I'm not sure Alvaro would like this, Don Ferna." Mateo voiced and Tobias's face darkened.

"He has no permission to touch or interrogate her." He answered, rising from his seat and leaving with Eniola right behind him.

He knew what it meant. More questioning.

"Where did you know the Clara look alike from?" Eniola called as he finally left the house. The woman was tall and had a boring blonde hair but she looked nothing like Clara. Clara was more human with facial expressions and emotions and Amalie Foster was a robot.

"It's a long story, Princess." He paused for a moment. Noticing her left shoelace was not tied properly, he bent down to help her out. "Stay."

"Oh, thank you." She smiled as he got back up. "Now, tell me the story. We have until the cold gets to us."

She was right. Thin layers of snow covered the lawn and a lone hideous Corolla in the parking lot. He guessed it was Foster's.

He regretted not grabbing a coat as he wore just a plain yellow long sleeve shirt he had worn to conceal the bruising he had got from tackling Alvaro and some black cargo pants. Enny on the other hand was still wearing his hoodie and he worried she too would get cold. Her only addition was a pair of black sweatpants and a beanie because she was to lazy to do her hair.

"Tell me!" She poked at his face. They were already a good distance from the house so he didn't need to fuss over anyone hearing.

"I may have ran into her in Minnesota. I had some legal issues." He tried to cut off the important parts.

"Legal issues?" She probed and he sighed. Should he tell her?

He reached for her cold hand and intertwined their fingers. It could be the last time she would ever willingly touch him if he told her.

"I was accused of killing my father." He said, looking at her face for any reaction.

"Oh?" She asked rather calmly and he nodded. "Well... How did that go?"

There was no escaping it.

Cold air escaped her mouth as she exhaled. "Well, you must have a good reason, right?" She queried and he nodded. It was the best reason.

Even Rebecca understood.

"Okay. You won't tell me the reason or will you?" He almost shook his head at the question but stopped.

Maybe he could. It was just an incredibly long story.

"I'll need to start from the beginning then." Her beautiful eyes glimmered with anticipation.

"Why does Jacinto's certificate say 1979?" Tobias asked as he glanced at Alvaro whose back had frozen hunched over a couple of his mum's belongings.

"What?" Alvaro asked a bit too calmly, walking over to Tobias who sat on the bed.

Tobias read over the document again. It read;

NAME: Jacinto Kerion Montezuma, BORN: 9th of June 1979. MOTHER AND FATHER: Don and Donne Montezuma.

The information could not be right. Jacinto was Alvaro's younger brother and Alvaro was the same age with Tobias. If Alvaro was older, it would mean-

"Alvaro should have been the head?" Eniola interrupted and Tobias nodded.

"Yes. As I was saying..."

"Something's not adding up." He voiced, digging further into the bag he had found the birth certificate in.

There was nothing else.

"Are you... Older than me?" Tobias asked and Alvaro froze again. "Have you known all this while?" The lawyer was quick to shake his head.

He confessed he had found out a day after his mother's funeral.

"You've known for a year now and you didn't bother to tell me?" Tobias barely spoke above a whisper.

He was still in complete shock.

"Does my father know?"

"No, I did not tell anyone." He replied.

"Not even Felicio?" He expected the man to tell his boyfriend. They had no secrets between them anyway.

"Not even Felicio."

"Oh." His answer surprised him. "And I wouldn't know if I hadn't found out myself?" Tobias asked and Alvaro nodded.

"I won't lie, Gato. I did not plan on telling you." Hurt would be an understatement of how he felt.

"Thought you trusted me more."

"I do. But you'll tell Don Fernandez. I am not sure I can deal with what would happen then." Varo replied and Tobias sighed. Of course he had to tell his father.

He could be self centered at times but if being the head of El Tigre Herido was Alvaro's birthright, he had no right to hold it from him.

"Did your parents know?" The punishment for keeping such from the family was grave but Varo had recently lost both parents... It wouldn't be a problem.

"You ask the most stupid questions sometimes. They literally gave birth to me." Alvaro said, plucking the birth certificate from Tobias's grasp.

"What are you—" His question died in his throat when he watched Varo easily rip the paper in half.

"You never found this. We never had this conversation."

"I gave him my word that my father would never know about it." Tobias said, Eniola still watching him with keen interest. Does she think it's a movie or something?

"Did he find out?" She asked and he laughed. He remembered how stupid he felt all those years ago.

"Find out? My father knew everything. He saw it as betrayal."

"Tell me, Izan. What do you want that I have not already given to you?" He kept his head lowered as his father spoke to him. The man's voice boomed around the room as he sat with regalia on the family throne.

He had many things he would mention; his mother, his sister, his freedom but he kept shut. Answering would only bring more problems for his lived ones.

"Tell me why you will not accept the title." He sensed anger and frustration in the man's tone yet refused to look him in the eyes.

"Is it because of that faggot?" His head snapped to his father's direction in shock and the man laughed. "So my suspicions were correct? You do know?"

His laughter was quickly turned into a violent fit of coughs and Tobias grimaced. The man was sick. Both mentally and physically.

"Don't call him that... Sir." Tobias mumbled and Don Ferna forced out a laugh.

"I'll call him whatever I deem fit!" His father exclaimed. "Do you really think I would let him take up the title?"

Another rhetorical question. Of course he wouldn't. The man was too power hungry to do so.

"I have spent the last fifty years building El Tigre Herido up from when my own father left it and I would be damned if I let another family take it from me."

He expected all that his father had said. It was no surprise.

"That's why I've come up with a delightful plan." All traces of anger disappeared from the man's face as an off-putting smile stretched his lips.

At least he knew where he got his psychopathic traits from.

"What's the plan?" He asked cautiously. The man gleefully clapped his hands as he told him his master plan.

"Do away with Alvaro."

"Wait a minute. Your dad wanted to kill Alvaro?" Eniola asked in surprise as they sat on a bench, not minding the light snow that fell around them.

It had been a while since he felt the outdoors. He would like to stay there for a while.

"Yes, Eniola. May I continue? We don't have all day."

"Okay, okay."

Tobias told his father he would think about it even though he already knew his answer. There was no way in hell he would hurt his best friend. He rather did something expected of him.

"So your dad wants me dead?" Alvaro asked calmly.

What would seem like an unperturbed Alvaro to most people was an anxious man to him. He knew the lawyer that much.

He had told the lawyer all his father had said and concluded within himself that maybe his dad had killed Varo's parents to prevent them from rising against him when it was time for Tobias to take over leadership.

He decided he would discuss that with Alvaro later.

"Now, the fuck do we do? You know how your dad is, he won't stop until he gets what he wants." Another trait Tobias had inherited from his father.

Don Fernandez would get the job done himself if Tobias was incapable of doing it anyway. The man had also threatened to hurt Rebecca if he went against him.

The odds were too high to gamble carelessly. He had to come up with something.

"Is that when you killed him?" Eniola asked.

During the course of the incredibly long story, she had snuggled up against him, sharing the small warmth that emitted from him. They had to go inside soon.

"Well, as luck would have it, the almighty Don Fernandez suffered a heart attack." He rose a hand in defense when Eniola raised an eyebrow at him.

"I swear, I didn't cause the heart attack... Directly."

"Just two of these should be enough." Alvaro said nervously as he dropped the medicine in Tobias's open palm. "Are you sure you want to go ahead with this?" He asked and Tobias nodded.

"Definitely. It's the only way I can get my sister, save you and get the bastard off my back." Tobias said firmly. He had told himself the same thing and repeated it like a mantra all through the night.

He was ready.

"Don't bail on me now, Varo. We've been planning this for long enough." Varo's eyes sharpened at the mention of 'bail'.

"I'd rather die, jefe." Tobias was taken aback by the name.

He hadn't fully realized what it meant if he ended his father's life. It meant he would have to take over. The thought made his anxiety spike. He may be 31 but he was unsure he was ready to lead a mafia. He steeled himself for Alvaro.

"You're sure you don't want the title?" He said and Alvaro nodded surely. "We'll talk about this when the bastard is no longer breathing?" Alvaro nodded again.

After his father's last breath, the series of events were a blur. He did not remember calling 911 and then Alvaro to tell him the news. He could not remember Clara's face as well when he told her. He did not recall taking a plane back to America.

His life only rebooted when his sister was returning to Minnesota and got entangled with Eisenfaust.

When he finished the story, he felt that breathing was a little bit easier for him. He didn't feel so heavy anymore.

"You've done a lot for Alvaro." Eniola commented, completely ignoring the parts about him killing his father.

"He had done a lot for me as well." He said truthfully.

"Oh? Do—" She was interrupted by her phone ringing. He peeked over her shoulder to see the caller ID; it was Steven.

Tobias vaguely remembered him as a substitute for Anthony. Well, damn.

"Hey, Steven. What's up?" She greeted, not bothering to excuse herself or leave his side. His hands leisurely wrapped around her stomach as he fought back a sneeze.

He was definitely going to catch a cold.

Whatever Steven had said made her frown as she listened closely to what he said.

"Have you tried contacting Anthony? He could easily sought this out." Tobias tried to hide the hitch in his breath as she mentioned the dead man's name.

"Okay, I'll go to the bank tomorrow. Tell them the documents are not with you at the moment." She said coolly and hung up.

"Is there a problem?" He asked with genuine concern.

"Well, the financial auditors visited today to ask about our financial records and some things did not add up. They want to see some old records and I thought I already had some photocopies at my office. It's a yearly thing." He nodded in understanding.

"And now you want to go to the bank to get the originals?" He asked unsurprisingly. He understood the difficulty of compiling financial records having pursued a career in accounting prior joining his father's company.

"Yeah. I just thought Anthony would have handled everything before he left." He tried to brush off the guilt weighing on his shoulders. "I'll go to the bank to get them myself tomorrow. I don't trust anyone else."

"Alright. You can take Mateo and Alvaro with you. In case you need a lawyer and an accountant." He told her and she shook her head.

"I already have a lawyer and an accountant." He almost laughed at her naivety.

"Of course, you do."

They fell into a comfortable silence... Well she did. He was freezing cold.

"So about Foster?" She asked and he shook his head in silliness. He had forgotten all about that part.

"Well, that's another part of the story. She was the head detective on my father's case. Honestly made life annoying for me and I'll admit, she almost caught me." He said with a laugh, remembering when her bosses had suddenly called her up and ordered her to drop the investigations and his possible connection because there was proof that his father had suffered a stroke and the a heart attack. "I'm sure you understand why the hate is mutual."

~~~

"I paid off the doc. I've got that part covered." Alvaro said over the phone. "I'm coming to the firm soon."

"Alright. That detective is just a little bit too stubborn for my liking." He confessed, opening a bottle of whiskey.

Fortunately, she let him go again and over the weekend, the results would be declared. He was not allowed to leave the state until then.

"I would probably get rid of her, but that would be a horrible idea. The last thing I want is media involvement." He continued and Alvaro hummed in agreement.

"Keep me posted, Jefe. I have a couple of things to do but I'll be with you soon." Alvaro said and a loud bang followed, killing the line. He had destroyed another burner phone.

"That's pretty badass." Eniola commented thoughtfully and he agreed.

He still marveled at Alvaro's ability to just make things work.

"Very. I think that would be all for now." He said, letting go off her. "It would be a miracle if I don't get sick." Without looking, he already knew his nose was a red as a tomato.

"But I want to stay here, with you." She cooed, burying her face in his chest. "You're cold though." She said quietly. Obviously.

"Hey, boss. There's a bit of an issue." Franco's voice suddenly sounded in his ear, the small device startling him.

He tapped the earpiece, his eyes meeting Eniola who seemed extremely curious.

"What's the problem?" He asked, hearing Franco kiss his teeth.

"I think we found Anthony."

Fuck.