Reporting from the underworld

chapter twelve

Alejandro's POV

Luckily, Miguel stepped in. “He was new to the house and got lost when he overheard the conversation and I made him tag along as the accusations were unbelievable even to me.”

“I see” Miguel's father said, “same pattern with the accusations of the food being poisoned. Was he lost then too?”

“Yes.” I responded

“A coincidence don't you think? Eh Miguel?”

“Beats me” I thought.

His father had directed the question to him and he stayed silent.

“You have nothing to say? Well. What about the office Juan talked about.”

“That was a lie to get him off our tail. We did not know who to trust, at least not till we were cleared.”

His father let out a small grumble.

“I wonder how we got this far without the proper introduction. Tell me about yourself Alejandro.”

The entire room felt airtight the moment he dropped the question.

This was what I dreaded all along.

I remembered Miguel's plan for this, “when he asks, just tell him I approached you during one of my assignments. You had helped me with the drop off and I asked you to work with me”

I dud as he instructed and repeated the same thing Miguel asked me to say.

I thought he bought it till he asked, “what assignment was that and where?”

My legs went weak immediately and everything went blurry.

I stuttered and for a brief moment I forgot how to breathe.

Miguel's father on the other hand was relentless, “how exactly did you help him in that assignment”

I felt the pressure get heavier when Miguel stepped in front of me.

He still had that stiff form but something was different, it was not the disciplined aura he had on before. It felt protective.

“He’s under my protection. You have questions, you ask me.” he said

Suddenly the air was breathable again and my legs could hold my body again

That statement was possessive. Sharp. Final.

His Father raised an eyebrow, obviously surprised with the change of tone but he let it pass.

The silence that followed after that was deafening. I waited for the worst while my heart pumped blood twice as fast.

Miguel's father knew how to cause a panic attack seeing that he took his bloody time with speaking.

Miguel was clear in his briefing, his father was a ruthless merciless man but he was still cunning and Intelligent.

He spoke up finally. “I need you to do something for me”. He said to Miguel. “It's about one of our pickup points. It's been weeks since their last report came in. It's about one of our smaller depots but it's still business regardless.”

“I need you to go there and find out what's wrong. Something tells me it's a rival mafia house at work. Your assignment is simple, find out what you can, report an wait for the next mission.”

Miguel nodded, “yes father.”

He turned to leave.

“Eh ehem” Miguel's father cleared his throat, “aren't you forgetting something?”

“What?” Miguel asked innocently.

“Him?” His father answered, his fat index finger pointing to my face, “he is going with you”

“No father, there's no way you're going to allow him tag along, he's going to slow me down, he's dead weight.” Miguel protested

“Rude!” I fired back, “What's do you know about dead weights?”

“See? You'll be fine” Miguel's father said.

I turned slowly. Now I knew there was something wrong. He was on my side? Miguel's crash course on his father did not include him having a sense of humour. Was that sarcasm?

“Father, he can't come along with me. What if he gets hurt?”

“Then he gets hurt. He should know what happens on the job before he took it.”

I could see the defeat display on Miguel's face and I turned to his father.

“Very well,I guess we would be on our way.”

……………

I silently followed Miguel as we went to his room, I took mental notes to find my way back to the office if the need ever be.

Getting lost might have been cute at first,but it seems to be causing a lot of trouble while preventing a lot of trouble at the same time.

Miguel swung the door open and slammed it behind him as soon as he got in.

I hesitated at the door but I knew I was going to get in eventually so I pushed the door slowly, peeking first before stepping inside.

I took of my shirt and placed them on a hanger—

“Drop them over there, they'll will be picked up later today and taken care off.”

“Thanks.”

He was shirtless and was extremely busy with his phone.

I felt awkward, there was a lot to say but neither of us were willing to speak up.

“Your dad, he's uptight.” I said.

If he was not going to break the ice, I would.

“Can we not talk about him?” Miguel responded without looking up from his phone.

I sensed the annoyance in his voice and picked it up. “You sound annoyed, is there something you want to get off your chest.”

Miguel was silent.

“Really? Is that what we're doing now?”

“What would you have me say.” Miguel answered finally, his voice sounded menacing.

“I dunno, whatever it is that's in your mind ? Its better than what you're doing right now.”

Miguel stood and walked towards me, his huge frame towering over mine. “How about you start with keeping your mouth shut try not to get yourself killed in the process?”

“But I did everything you told me to do?” I asked, confused at the sudden switch.

“We would not have gotten to that point if you had just kept your mouth closed.”

“Are you being serious?” I scoffed. His eyes have me the answer to that question. He was.

“You are serious. Boy I saved you and your entire family form sudden death and this is the thanks I get?”

Miguel took a few steps back, “I think we are forgetting the part where my brother is still alive even after he ate the poisoned food.”

He had a point there, “but I heard—”

“Then stop hearing. If that's hard for you then you should either chop off your ears or I dunno, tell me before you take crazy actions on your own. You make it harder to keep you alive.”

“Things would be better off if you were not control freak.” I muttered.

“What was that?” He asked as he rushed to me.

I was terrified but I would rather die than let it show. “I said all these would not be a problem if you don't try to control everything”.

He grabbed my wrist, pulling me closer to him and with a low guttural voice, he said “you are under my care and control. Do not forget that I am the reason you are alive. You're technically mine.”

“You're the prey and I am your predator turned protector. Do you understand?”

I nodded slowly. My legs trembled slightly.

“Good,” he continued. His pants flowed smoothly down his thighs to the floor leaving him clad in his briefs.

I gulped hard, resisting the urge to get his hands all over me. I didn't care about getting my hair roughened a little or pulled even.

I just wanted to feel his body on mine without restraints.

The urge to make a move had never been greater than it was right now and I involuntary found myself taking a step towards his magnetic body.