I woke up with a groan, feeling a slight throb in my head. Snapping my eyes open, I found Alacran sitting on a chair in front of me. I didn't have to try to move to know that my hands and legs were bound. I was shirtless too.

"You know, I was thinking of killing you once you woke up. Then I thought of how you played this fearless game to get my attention and also saved my life." He said. “What actually saved you was that you didn't have the mark of the Sierra Cartel on your chest."

I kept my gaze fixed on him without blinking, and he smiled. "You know, those are quite some scars you got on your body. Tiny as they may be, they are scars owned by men who have been in the field a while."

"My father. He was abusive. And I've lived most of my life on the street." I lied smoothly.

"And what did you do to your father?"

"I killed him."

Alacran chuckled. "I thought so too. That's one thing we have in common. My father shot and killed my mum because he thought she was cheating. He tried to kill himself but I took the gun from him and beat him until he could barely even make a sound. Then I slit his throat."

He laughed, and I smiled, not a bit horrified by what he was telling me. If anything, I would expect that from Alacran.

A groan made me realize we weren't the only ones in the room. Looking to the side, I saw the three men that'd been with him tied to chairs pulled close in a circle.

One of the men had stired. Alacran got up from his seat and walked to stand in front of the man.

"Pietro. I was hoping you would be the one to wake up first. After all you were supposed to be the best among my men and you failed me." He said with an ever-present smile.

"Alacran, give me the chance to kill that bastard. Let me show him that nobody messes with Alacran and gets away with it."

"You're lucky I'm not planning to kill you for failing me. Just shut up."

The other two groaned at the same time. Alacran rounded to stand in front of them.

"Perfect timing." He stroked his moustache. "You failed me. I thought you were men I could trust, but if this had been a death threat, I would be dead by now."

None of the men spoke but their faces displayed so much shame. These men really had to be loyal dogs.

Two gunshots fired so suddenly they startled me. Alacran had shot both of them in the head. He put his gun back behind his belt.

I looked at Pietro to find him looking dismayed but not shocked. Alacran had probably never been lenient with the men who failed him.

"Take care of the bodies." Alacran ordered after untying Pietro. He went to work like a loyal dog.

Alacran walked back and sat in front of me. "That is what happens to anyone who fails me. It equally applies to anyone who betrays me or signs with the enemy. Do you still want to be recruited into the Scorpione Cartel?"

He was looking into my eyes pointedly. He had killed those men to make a point, to shake me. I met his gaze without flinching.

"Yes boss."

He smiled, bobbing his head in approval. "Are you ready for your first job?"

****

"Help me. Please... Help me." Mateo said weakly as I stepped into the dark room where he was being kept.

He was tied to a chair and he looked like he'd received more beatings than before. His face was a bloody mess. Alacran had brought me here to kill Mateo as my first job. He probably wasn't very convinced that I didn't know Mateo somehow.

I stepped in front of him, gun in hand. "Alacran told me how you refused to give the address of Monica. I must say this is the first time you've surprised me." I said, speaking in a whisper.

"I love her."

"I believe that. Otherwise, you would've ratted it out at the first blow you were given. By the way, she sends you her thank you for winning her the money. She also said I should tell you goodbye."

"What are you talking about?" Mateo demanded. I waited for him to figure it out on his own. He shook his head. "No. Monica would never do this. She loved me."

"You thought she'd so easily forgotten the rape and the beating you gave her five years ago? How you made her look like the bad guy?" I snorted in disdain.

I took aim with the Glock in my hand and pulled off the safety. "I'm killing you mainly because you gave those men my address. A dear friend of mine was killed. My Montse could've been killed."

"I'm sorry." He whispered. He looked like he was about to cry.

"Say that to the devil when you meet him in hell."

"No. No. Please, don't..."

My bullet passing through his skull silenced him.

*****

I told Alacran my name was Gustavo.

After only two weeks of recruiting me, Alacran made me his right hand man. Pietro had been his right hand man, but after the fiasco at the club, Alacran had lost faith in him.

Alacran declared me as the most suitable for the position because I served him well. Needless to say, most of Alacran's men hated my gut. Pietro especially.

After all, I was a stranger who'd come out of nowhere to take a position that was usually reserved for people who'd been in the business for long.

Not that I cared, I only cared about my mission. But things like this rarely happened. Alacran could be having an ulterior motive for making me his right hand so quickly and I wasn't going to let my guard down.

Poor Alacran. The man didn't know that he was just a pawn in my game, a disposable one.

The Godfather didn't live together with his men but I knew that Alacran went to visit him almost everyday to discuss matters concerning the cartel.

At the rate everything was going, it wouldn't be long before Alacran took me along on his visits. That would be when I would finally get to my main target; The Godfather himself.

That being said, my servitude to Alacran consisted mostly of kidnapping, torturing to deliver messages, and killing.

Shutting Montse out of my mind was mainly what helped me to carry it all out. But I guess it wasn't that hard considering that all the people I was made to deal with were all criminals.

Traitors of the Scorpione cartel or members of other gangs who attacked the cartel or posed a threat to it.

I missed Montse so fucking much. Most of the time I wondered if she missed me too. If she thought of me as much as I thought of her.

If she loved me the way I loved her.

My only consolation was that I was doing this for her. So that we wouldn't live a life where my past would always hold me back. That being set aside, I was feeling good about how my plans were running so far. Until I wasn't anymore.

It happened when Alacran decided that he wanted to take a stroll through the town. Most people who saw him tried to put as much distance as possible between themselves and us. But one guy decided to play unfazed.

Alacran needlessly tried to intimidate the guy but the guy stood up for himself, even calling Alacran a bastard who's only strength was his gun.

That night, Alacran made me drive him to the town and parked in front of a house which was part of the several apartments that lined a particularly street.

"Take it down." He ordered once we were in front of the door.

With just one kick of my leg, the door flew into the house. We stepped inside. On the couch in the living room, two men were busily undressing each other while kissing like they had no care in the world.

Startled, they broke apart. I recognized one of the men as the one who'd insulted Alacran.

"Wow, just look. How beautiful! Caught in the act." Alacran said laughing as he looked at them in wonder.

"What are you doing in my house?" Mr. Firemouth demanded, getting up and stepping in front of his lover protectively.

"You know, I find it amazing how a homosexual...a womanish man like you could challenge a real man like me. That's a very bold fag you are."

"Get out of my house, homophobic bastard." The guy growled.

Alacran gave me the eye signal. He had a certain way of looking at me when he wanted me to beat the shit out of somebody.

I felt sick to my stomach but I did my best not to let it show. So far I'd only beaten and killed criminals. This man's only crime was standing up for himself.

I didn't want Alacran to sense my hesitation. Not wasting more time, I surged forward and grabbed the guy by his mostly torn shirt, hitting him on the mouth.

"No." His lover screamed trying to push me away.

I hit him in the stomach, and he fell to the floor groaning. I returned my attention to the main guy and punched him again and again. He fell to the floor, and I began kicking him in the ribs.

I didn't think I had an option. If I didn't do it, Alacran would do it himself, and his confidence in me would start to waver.

"Please stop. Please don't hurt him." His lover screamed.

Please don't hurt him.

My mother's voice rang through my head. They were the exact words she'd said while my father was being beaten. My gut twisted even further. I couldn't continue to do this. No. I just couldn't.

"That's enough with the beating." Leave him." Alacran commanded right on time.

I could barely contain my sigh of relief as I shot away from him. His face was a bloody messed, and I flinched at what I had done to him.

Alacran pulled out a gun. He looked me straight in the eyes while he stretched it out to me. “Kill him with my gun.”