Mikhail

26

I stood up from my seat and discreetly made my way out of the club. Mateo and Alacran's goon weren't anywhere close. He wouldn't beat him where the public could see.

I rounded the large pub to the other side. Mateo was being pinned against the wall, Alacran's goon gripping him by the collar.

"Where. The. Fuck. Is. The. Money?" The man demanded, punching him with every word.

By the time he was done, Mateo's nose was dripping blood.

"I told you some guy took it away." He said weakly.

"And you expert me to believe that?" He delivered another blow to Mateo's mouth.

"I'd let him go if I were you." That was me, finally stepping out of the shadows.

The man snapped his head my way, a scowl on his face. "And I'd walk away before the roles are swapped between you and this guy if I were you." He sneered.

"Let him go." I said calmly, stepping closer.

"Oh, you're trying to be a hero? You don't know who you're messing with."

Placing his hand on the side of Mateo's head, he slammed Mateo into the wall. Mateo fell to the ground groaning softly but not unconscious.

Alacran's minion manuevered his hand behind him. When he brought it forward and up, I was quick to kick away the gun he'd drawn out from his pants.

"What? You can't fight me without a gun?" I taunted.

His eyes blazed furiously at me just before he swung at me. I parried the blow, throwing him wildly to the side. He returned, swinging and swinging and yet none of them hit me.

When I had the opportunity, I delivered a kick to his leg, a punch to his stomach, then a head blow. He fell to the ground, knocked out.

I walked over to where Mateo was still on the ground and looking at me in awe. Grabbing him by the hand, I pulled him to his feet and tugged him behind me as I went back into the bar.

I deliberately looked towards where Alacran was seated and met his shocked eyes before I dragged Mateo into one of the stripper's dressing rooms down the corridor. I threw him into one of the chairs.

"Thank you." He was clutching his slinged arm. “You saved..."

"Shut up." I snapped.

"What? You saved me just so you could kill me yourself?"

"Basically, just not now."

"What have I done this time?"

"You dare try to fool me again. I know how you teamed up with those bastards and gave them my address so they could kidnap Montse and use that opportunity to kill me."

"What... What are you..."

"One more word out of your mouth and I'll put a bullet through your skull." I sneered. He shut up.

I'd left the door to the room open so that Alacran and his men would think twice before launching an attack just in case I was poised and ready to kill. It worked.

Soft footsteps ushered in Alacran with his remaining two men behind him. They drew out their gun immediately they realized I was unarmed.

Alacran signalled them to put their weapons away before looking at me curiously. "I must say I applaud you for daring to intervene in something I have ordered. But bravery does not go with stupidity."

His hand came up to stroke his bushy moustache. "Give him to me willingly and you can walk out of here unharmed. If I count to three and he is not by my side, I'm going to let my men beat the shit out of you until you can't even remember your own name."

I stayed rooted to my spot in front of Mateo. After counting to three, Alacran gave his men the signal. They tucked their guns back under their belts. Big mistake.

Both of them lunged at the same time. The bastards. They didn't even care that they were fighting a single opponent. I managed to dodge both of their blows just barely. For a minute all I did was parry their moves until I saw my chance.

I was close to the dressing mirror, and I made one of the men feel like I was cornered. As soon as he threw a punch, I ducked, causing his hand to smash into the mirror. Grabbing him by the neck, I smashed his head into the cracked mirror. When I let go, he fell down unconscious.

Remnants of the shattered mirror alerted me of an attack from behind. The last minion standing had pulled out his gun and was jumping to point it to my head.

Swerving to the side, I grabbed his arm, swept his feet from beneath him and sent him crashing to the floor. Lowering, I delivered a single head blow that knocked him out instantly.

Levering to my feet, I looked at Alacran who looked back at me in shock. “To think I thought these idiots were my best men." He chuckled nervously. "What do you want?"

"Get down." I dived and crashed into Alacran, knocking both of us to the ground.

A knife came slashing through the air and finally buried itself where the mirror should've been but not before grazing me lightly on the arm. I hissed.

Jumping to my feet, I surged out of the room, pretending I was going after whoever had thrown the knife. I wasted thirty seconds before going back into the room.

"Shit! The fucker is gone." I growled.

That was when I realized Alacran had his gun trained on me. I raised my hand to show him I wasn't planning to attack.

"What is it with you?" He demanded, waving his gun menacingly. "First you ruin my plans, then take down my men. Now you save me from an attack? What the fuck do you want?"

"I want you to make me one of your men." I said without hesitation.

His mouth actually dropped like this was the last thing he'd expected. Then he laughed. Hard.

"All the ruining my plans, you did all that to get my attention?" He said incredulously.

"I did all that to prove to you that I can serve you better than these idiots." I answered calmly.

Alacran began walking around me, gun still trained on me. He stopped behind me. "Tell me one thing. You don't even know this guy, do you?"

"No." I answered, issuing Mateo a warning look just in case he dared said otherwise.

"I must admit you're bold. Now I don't know if I should let you live." The muzzle of his Glock was right against the back of my head now.

"I can be more useful than you would think." I said evenly.

I wasn't going to delude myself into thinking Alacran couldn't pull the trigger. I just had to tackle this with a level head.

"How do I know you don't work for the Sierra Cartel?"

"Sierra Cartel?" I said, feigning ignorance.

"Are we playing the fool here?" He snickered. "The Sierra cartel is the only mafia gang who have dared declare a beef with The Godfather. How do I know you're not a spy?"

"I guess you only have my word to trust." I said.

"We'll see."

That was the last words Alacran said before the butt of his gun came hard on my head. I blacked out.

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