Chapter 13 - The Cartel King.The interior of the Navarro mansion was a grotesque display of illicit wealth and excessive power.
Gold-plated fixtures and priceless artifacts were now riddled with bullet holes from our aggressive entry.
My operatives swept the lower floors, violently neutralizing any remaining resistance.
I walked slowly up the grand marble staircase, the barrel of my weapon sweeping the shadowy landing.
Victor flanked me, his eyes scanning every single doorway for potential threats.
At the end of the long, velvet-lined hallway stood a massive set of double mahogany doors.
The master suite.
I approached the doors, my heart pounding a steady, relentless rhythm against my ribs.
I did not bother to knock.
I kicked the doors open with a brutal display of force, leveling my gun at the center of the room.
Sitting in a leather armchair, casually pouring a glass of aged tequila, was Hector Navarro.
The ruthless boss of the Navarro cartel did not even flinch as I aimed my weapon at his chest.
"Mariana Escalante," Hector greeted me, his voice a deep, gravelly rumble.
"Your father taught you to knock, didn't he?" he chuckled, taking a slow sip of his drink.
"Where is my husband, Hector?" I demanded, refusing to engage in his arrogant banter.
Hector sighed, setting his heavy crystal glass down on the wooden side table.
"He came to me offering highly classified logistical data regarding your shipping routes," Hector explained calmly.
"He wanted my protection from the hurricane he knew you would bring down upon him."
I kept my gun perfectly steady.
"And you accepted his offer?" I asked, my finger hovering dangerously close to the trigger.
"I am a businessman, Mariana, but I am not a fool," Hector replied, a wicked smile crossing his scarred face.
"A man who betrays the woman who built his empire will inevitably betray me as well."
Hector snapped his fingers, and two massive cartel enforcers emerged from the walk-in closet.
They were dragging a bloodied, beaten, and utterly pathetic figure between them.
It was Andrew.
His expensive designer suit was torn to shreds, and his face was a swollen canvas of purple bruises.
The enforcers threw him onto the expensive Persian rug, where he groaned in sheer agony.
"I took the flash drives he brought me, and then I beat him to a pulp for being a coward," Hector laughed loudly.
Andrew looked up, his swollen eyes widening in absolute terror when he saw me standing there.
"Mariana," Andrew sobbed, spitting blood onto the pristine carpet.
"Please, you have to save me, they are going to kill me!" he begged shamelessly.
I stared down at the man I had once vowed to love and protect until the end of time.
I felt absolutely nothing for him but a profound, chilling emptiness.
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"I didn't come here to save you, Andrew," I whispered softly.
"I came here to finish what you started."
