Café Rouge

Chapter 29: Adrenaline Rush, Hotel Crash

Chapter 29

Carlos blinks at the chaos surrounding him. The table splintered, the couch ruined, almost all the kitchen appliances destroyed and several bullet holes dotted around. Oh...and the bodies. 

They had entered through the door of course, battered it down and barged in armed. 

At that point training had kicked in. Muscle memory combined with a spell of cold anger meant Carlos could barely remember his actions. The first four that came in were straight head shots but they'd managed to get their fair share of blindly splattering bullets around his apartment. The next four were smarter. One of them managed to get in a shoulder shot. It had brazed him, nothing of significance but it had been enough to shock him into recoiling giving the men enough of an opportunity to step through the threshold to his sanctuary. They'd fanned out, two slowly advancing towards him with trained weapons on him while the other two sunk towards the hallway...towards Lola. The ones advancing to Lola had been his first priority and taking them out meant leaving himself vulnerable for the other two. Surprisingly they hadn't take the kill shots, instead they'd twisted the gun from his hand.

"Hombre, we're just here for the girl."

In his state of mind, Carlos hadn't allowed himself to think but rather just...do. The killer, the dark part of himself that was born of Castellano blood and bred by Alberto had resurfaced and played the puppeteer.

 

It was a hand-to-hand combat in which Carlos was faintly aware of his own movements compared to theirs. All that had been niggling in his mind, stored away to analyse later was these were no immediate threat of death. Unfortunately, 'hombre' died. Well...as a matter of speaking. The other one, he'd managed to hold onto. Pinned to the floor and unconscious, Carlos had grabbed the only thing he could think of to restrain the man-the extension cord. It's not like he had rope lying around (he's not Christian Grey). And since nothing else would do in a pinch, the extension cord it had been. Call it paranoia or call it sadism but for added safety, Carlos dislocated the man's thumb and broke each finger to ensure that he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon even if he does manage to regain consciousness soon. Carlos had then stood and taken a minute to assess.

 


Leading back to the present where he blinks again at the damage, but it's all inconsequential since it's all just material things that can easily be replaced. The only thing of value to him sits locked up tight in the safe room behind his closet. Next his eyes scan over the men. They're kitted out in all black combat gear void of any logo. He checks the pockets of one of the men to find only ammunition and no forms of ID. Trained, he notes to his checklist. Trained and after Lola. Why on earth would they be after Lola? Him, he can understand. Him, he would guess it to be a assessment of his strength, a challenge for the position of the new Don of the town but Lola? Who the hell has anything to gain from taking out her? Who would even know of her attachment to him? Granted it's not exactly been concealed very well. Anyone with half a brain could figure it out. After all she did work at L'Anime which Joseph owns now and people could easily find Joseph and him were friends in college, leading to the conclusion he's involved with her. But as crude as it sounds, he's been involved with women before, both pre- and post- Valentina. Why would they assume Lola is anything special? Unless...she has some sort of secret in her past she hasn't shared and he couldn't find.