•~11~•
The woman led Karla into the mansion's lobby, where four women stood, all dressed in blue and white checked maid outfits.
"They are May, Amanda, Reece and Aurora." She identified the four women. "They are the maids of the house and will attend to everything you need. I, on the other hand, will be addressed as Nana, the head of household. You are to follow orders from anyone superior to you. That includes Lord Raul, me, and everyone who isn't the maids or the young lads. Speak only when spoken to. Don't ask questions. And never cause any trouble. Fall short in any of these rules, and you will be immediately kicked out. Am I understood?"
Nana's malevolent aura could only allow Karla to nod. There was no mincing words, Nana was scary. She was what you would expect of an old female Adolf Hitler. If she really ran things in the Valdezian Mansion, then it would be no wonder if everything was in tip top shape.
"Come along then. Don't fall behind." She snapped her fingers.
Karla followed Nana up the stairs, and passed two hallways, before passing through a door. The room they entered was a large boudoir, complete with a princess bed, black and red themed interior design, and a television. The black walls had numerous paintings of bloody red roses, and the red tiles we're adorned with thick black rugs. The room was gorgeous, but too busy to be a regular bedroom. Still, Karla had to make do.
"This will be your chambers. Do not leave unless instructed to." Nana said. "Dinner is at 7. It will delivered by a maid. Lord Raul will meet you by 8. Everything you'll need to prepare is in the wardrobe. You better not disappoint him."
As she left, Nana slammed the door, so loud that it made Karla jerk. Now Karla was alone. She weighed her options. She could stay in the boudoir like Nana had instructed, or she could explore her surroundings. There was no need to ask, Karla was exploring. It wasn't just a matter of curiosity, Karla had to study the Valdezian Mafia headquarters' layout, if she wanted to develop an escape route she would use once she'd ended Raul Valdez.
Mindful to be noiseless, Karla shut her new bedroom door, and went back the way she remembered coming, to the mansion lobby. Luckily, there was no one around. Out the entrance she went, into the compound. Avoiding eye contact with the few men who raised their eyebrows at her, Karla took a stroll.
The fence was tall, and had electrocuting wires at the top, so it was impossible to climb. The only visible entrance was through the room sized scanner, and security cameras were stationed at every possible corner. The mansion had a complex security system. Pulling off an assassination on grounds could prove difficult. However, every system had a loophole, Karla just had to find it.
Karla rounded a bend, and came face to face with a man. He was drunk, she could tell from his daddling steps, and the empty vodka bottle in his hand. He noticed her, and smirked. Uneasily, Karla realized she was alone with the drunk man.
"Why aren't you mighty fine." He drawled in a southern accent. "Cmere."
Spinning, Karla began walking away, but the man held her neck, and slammed her into the wall.
"Mighty fine. Mighty fine. I got a nice big dick darling. And I'm givin' it to ya. You want some baby girl?" He whispered into her ears.
"Hell no." Karla growled, but she doubted that would be enough to make her assaulter stop.
The man had begun unzipping his trousers. His hand was still around her neck, and he probably didn't realize it, but he was choking her. Karla could easily get herself out of this situation. The man was badly drunk, and therefore, extremely weak. It would take merely a punch to pass him out, but a the concept of a high priced prostitute with martial artist skills was just too suspicious. Her hands were tied.
Suddenly, the man came off her, and fell to the ground. He screamed and held his elbow, because from his shoulders, blood rush out through a bullet hole. Karla was shocked. She looked sideways, and standing with two other men, one black and one white, with brown hair, was the devil himself —Raul Valdez.
"Nobody touches what is mine." He said, pocketing the gun he'd just used to shoot the man who'd tried to rape Karla. "Next time, it will be your skull."
Raul Valdez. He wasn't dreamy. No. Dreamy was what you called magazine models and pop icons. The leader of the Valdezian Mafia certainly wasn't dreamy. He was dark. Dangerous. Evil. Whatever he was, he had Karla's full attention, because she couldn't look away.
He was even more handsome than she remembered. His lips still held an enchantment. His eyes however, we're colder, more terrifying. She couldn't stand its intensity, so she looked away. That proved to be a terrible mistake. Raul had on a tight black polo on black jeans. The jeans exposed his toned thigh muscles, and the bulge in between his legs, which was noticeably not miniature.
As for his upper half, the black polo hugged every hard line of his chest. The polo's short sleeves left his large bicep for Karla to gawk at. She'd always loved a well muscled man, and Raul Valdez was definitely well muscled. He wasn't as buffy as a wrestler would be, but he surely visited the gym often. Karla couldn't help it, she bit her lip, he was easily the sexiest man she had met, and she'd met many.
A slight smirk formed Raul's expression. He had caught her checking him out, and he was pleased to know that she'd liked what she saw, enough to bite her lower lip. Of course she had stopped it almost immediately, once she realized what she was doing, but not fast enough to fool him. Plenty of women had found him attractive before, but never had it amused him this much.
"Take that man to the infirmary." Raul ordered Ben and Tonio.
As the two carried the man up, Raul walked up to Karla. He noticed her breathing quicken and become heavier, causing him to smirk more. Karla didn't look up, even with him so close to her he could smell her lavender perfume, so he placed a finger below her jaw, and lifted her head himself.
"Lost, Candy?" He said.
TEASER: KARLA AND RAUL IN THE BEDROOM.