I sat quietly in the drivers seat as a man forced the young woman into the car's backseat. I nodded curtly at him and he left without a word. His name was Vasquez, and he was the only help I was getting on this mission.

I immediately pressed on a button on the side of my door, locking all the doors in the car so that her attempts at escape were futile.

"What is this? What the fuck do you want?" She demanded, a perfectly expected reaction.

"Monica," I said her name. "I hear you are the girlfriend of Mateo Valdez."

"Who fucks me has got nothing to do with you!" She barked.

I ignored her rudeness. "Three years ago, you had him arrested for abuse, both physical and sexual. As it happened, you turned out to be a big fat liar and he was released a day later."

"I did not lie." She interrupted fiercely. "He ruined my innocence. The only reason why he managed to get away was because of his father's stupid money."

Since she was in the backseat, I was looking at her through the rear-view mirror. Apart from not turning to face her, I was also wearing a cap and sunglasses to hide my face.

"I know that tone. It's only used when one doesn't like the person they're talking about." I mused.

"Dislike?" She snorted. "I detest Mateo Valdez with every fibre in my being."

"Well isn't that just interesting? Doesn't that make you wonder why you're with him if you hate him so much?"

"I want to destroy him. The idiot just thinks I have forgotten what he did to me. He raped me back then because he said I drove him crazy. Thankfully, three years hasn't changed that. I have him wrapped around my finger. I'm going to make him sink so deeper and deeper in love with me that when I crash his heart, living wouldn't even appeal to him."

Wow, I hadn't expected her to tell me the truth so quickly. She must really hate that bastard. The passion with which she spoke of her revenge plans evidenced that.

So much passion lost on such a dumb plan.

I couldn't even hide the derison from my voice. "You think losing a woman would cause a guy like Mateo to commit suicide?" I chuckled humouroessly. "You must be very dumb."

"It'll work. I have everything planned out. He's hooked with me." She growled.

"So hooked that he's been having affairs behind your back." I said sarcastically. "I'm sure you don't want to know the number of girls he's slept with in the last two weeks even with two unstable shoulders."

Her face scrunched up into a look of rage. I smiled, knowing I was getting to her and this was my opportunity.

"I despise Mateo Valdez as much you do." I revealed cooly.

Her brows creased thoughtfully. "You're the guy who shot Mateo in the shoulder simply because he refused to give you the money he had on him."

"Is that what he told?" I allowed myself to chuckle, not at all surprised. "Of course he would never tell you the truth."

I paused for some seconds before saying, "What if I told you I have plans to ruin him more foolproof than yours could ever wish to be?"

"How am I supposed to know that you're not here to ruin my plans?" She asked, tone wary. I stayed silent until she finally spoke again. "Okay, what's the plan?"

I told her detail by detail, exempting the parts I didn't want her to know. By the time I was done, she looked as convinced as I could've wished.

"Do we have a deal?" I asked her.

"When's it?" She asked with a smile on her face.

"Tonight."

I unlocked the doors of the car. As I watched her leave, I knew I was making the right choice. Mateo might not be loyal to this woman, but according to my sources, he had kept her longer than any other woman.

Whatever it was, she had an effect on him. Tonight we were going to harness that. Mateo wouldn't know what hit him.

****

La Casino was the biggest night club in this town. Even though it wasn't a casino, they tried to imitate it the best way they could.

People on the dancefloor were dancing to raucous music. Around a large table, two men playing spades were surrounded by a dozen men and flanked by two other players who had dropped out of the game after running out of cash. Most of the customers were just about drinking booze and talking.

I stood at a corner sipping on a bottle of tequila, waiting for him to make an entrance. When he finally did, he had three of his pets behind. By pets, I mean men.

Almost all eyes in the club turned in his direction, and even the talking reduced.

"Hello everyone." He yelled over the music. People made sounds to respond to his greetings, the tension dissipated.

El Alacran. Right hand man of the town's mafia boss. Just like his master, Alacran barely made an appearance in public, but whenever he did, it was enough to invoke both fear and exaltation.

The only reason I hadn't killed him all these years was because I'd known he could be the trump card to my achieving my ultimate vision; getting to The Godfather.

A few eyes followed him as he walked towards the table where the game was being played. With a flicker of his finger, he indicated for one of the remaining two players to get up.

The guy scurried to his feet and left without hesitation. Alacran wasn't someone you messed with, so I'd heard. Alacran snickered. He was an unattractive man with too chiseled a face, a bushy mustache and an unkempt hair.

"Lets play." He said eyeing the substantial amount of money on the remaining players cover.

The guy looked like he wanted to bolt right out but a challenging look from Alacran pinned him to his chair. He nodded reluctantly.

Alacran won the first round easily. Wow, he was so good at spades right? Absolutely, not. The only reason why he won was because the guy let him.

Ten percent of the men who played card games with Alacran, won and took away the money ended up in the hospital from very bad battery bruises, and with no money to treat them.

The remaining ninety percent were found on the street with a bullet between their eyes or in their heart.

Only a few people were smart enough to make the connection. Apparently, this guy was one of the few. He let Alacran win the second round as well despite how good he'd won from his previous opponent. Many people in the bar were watching what was going on.

"They're here." The micro earbud tucked inside my ear transmitted Vasquez's voice.

I looked towards the entrance to find Monica and Mateo entering. She scanned the bar for me, and smiled when she saw me. I nodded curtly as she and Mateo approached the counter.

Mateo looked fine if not that the arm of the shoulder I'd shot looked stiff. It was probably still healing.

Perfect. Things were going accordingly. Now it was up to Monica to do her part. All she had to do was convince Mateo into playing with Alacran.

I watched as they bought two bottles of tequila and settled on stools. He pulled close to her kissing her passionately. She responded so naturally no one in the room would suspect the hate simmering beneath the surface of her facade.

She turned her gaze towards the table where Alacran was playing, deliberately looking engrossed. Mateo said something into her ear and she laughed before issuing him a challenging look.

She said something, making him look at her like she was crazy. He sighed and said something. She placed the handbag she'd come along with on her lap and secretly unzipped it. Mateo's eyes widened.

I knew the idiot would refuse because he didn't have money and so I'd had Vasquez deliver to her a bundle of money.

"Ugh, he is a total disaster." Alacran suddenlnly burst out laughing. A few people joined him.

I looked to find the man he'd been playing with walking away from the table, face grim. He looked like he wanted to cry as he stalked out of the club.

"Okay, so who else wants to challenge me to another game?" Alacran asked. In front of him was the pile of cash he'd just 'stolen' from the guy who'd just left.

Nobody made a move. Just when it seemed nobody would accept his challenge, Mateo walked towards the table, flanked by Monica.

"I challenge you."

Alacran eyed him from his head to his feet, smiling cynically. "Challenge accepted."

Mateo took the empty chair with Monica standing beside him. I couldn't hear the things being said but stakes were put on the table and the game soon began. More people in the room inched even closer.

Mateo won effortlessly. Apparently, that was the only thing the dimwit was good at. Exactly why I was using that against him.

Alacran pushed some money towards Mateo who gathered it in front of him, and they began another round. Alacran was smiling too brightly for his smile not to be menacing. Mateo looked too ignorant to notice.

An hour later, Alacran had absolutely nada in front of him. Mateo gathered the money he'd won and stashed them into Monica's bag. Looking like he'd won the lottery.

Standing up, he stretched out his hand to Alacran who shook it graciously, smile never disappearing from his lips. Mateo placed his hand on Monica's waist and drew her in for a kiss. He smiled broadly after and raised his hands in victory.

Some people cheered for him. Others looked at him as if he was crazy.

I looked at Alacran and found him looking behind him at one of his minions. A silent agreement passed between them before the minion set towards the exit.

Poor Mateo, if only he knew what was coming his way.