12 The Demand

The front door to the Russo Mansion burst open as Carlos Russo walked in, more like burst in, looking so furious and pissed, his eyes shooting daggers.

Both Bernal and Mateo were standing in the living room when he came in.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked throwing his phone at Bernal who quickly caught it.

Bernal didn't bother to look at the phone because he already knew what his father was talking about.

He had already seen the pictures of his sister Gemma with that Barbarian Miguel Greco splashed all over the internet for whoever cared to see.

Bernal was shocked when he saw those pictures himself. What was she doing with him? Everyone in Blaso City knows there is no love lost between the Russos and the Grecos. What was Gemma thinking and where the fuck is she?

The Russo cartel and Greco cartel are like oil and water, they never mix. The war between them goes way back several generations.

They both rule different parts of the city and none of them ever dares to crossover into the other person's territory. It's a mystery how Miguel was able to cross over to their territory without being detected.

For the past hour, since those pictures were posted online, all the phone lines in their house have been ringing off the hook. As everyone is calling to find out if the age-long score between the Russo Familia and Greco Familia has been settled, for them to allow their daughter to date a Greco.

"They are not dating! Such a thing can never happen!" Bernal has been telling everyone who called to confirm the news, including their business associates.

Gemma's mother was yet to see the pictures as she was still sedated and Bernal already had the instruction that no one mentions it to her. He was currently in possession of her phone.

"How did this happen? Is your sister dating that bastard? How is that even possible?"

Carlos Russo was almost losing his mind from trying to make sense of the whole situation.

"I don't think Gemma is dating that boy. She would never do that, she knows we are not supposed to relate with anyone from the Greco familia." Bernal said to his father who was almost boring a hole into the floor of the living room with his pacing.

"How then do you explain those pictures? They were looking so close! So close!" Carlos demonstrated with his hands, the veins in his face almost popping out.

"I had to cut my trip short because of this! My phone has been ringing none stop! How am I supposed to explain to the members of the cartel that my daughter was seen messing around with our worst enemy? Ha!"

Carlos threw his arms in frustration and resumed pacing.

"Information reaching us is that Sanchos and his son are both out of town," Bernal said.

"That means they have her! She is with them!" Carlos said pausing in his steps.

"I want our best soldiers sent after them. Search every nook and cranny of the country, until they are found. And if they are not in the country, search every part of the world! Wherever they are, they must be found! They must pay for this!"

"I'm on it," Bernal said punching his phone screen.

"And I want the idiot guards who were supposed to be on duty the night Gemma left the house, brought to me! They must...."

Carlos paused in his statement as his phone started ringing.

Still fuming in anger he pulled out the phone from his breast pocket. A strange number was displayed on the screen.

"Hello?" He answered the phone.

"Carlos..." came a gruff voice from the other side of the phone.

The moment Carlos recognized the voice the hair at the back of his neck stood up and he immediately signalled for his two sons to come with him as he went into his study and placed the phone on speaker.

********

On the other hand, Miguel and his father along with his cousin Pablo sat down in the tiny kitchen in the safe house, his father's phone on speaker as they spoke to Carlos Russo.

After seeing the pictures of Gemma and Miguel on the internet, they decided to reach out to her father earlier than they planned, in order to control the narrative.

"I'm sure by now you already know that I have your daughter," Sanchos informed Carlos in a relaxed voice.

"Where the hell is my daughter?!" Came Carlos's angry voice from the other side of the phone.

"What the hell are you playing at?!"

Sanchos chuckled amused by Carlos's reaction. "That is some way to say hello to an old friend."

"Sanchos, we are not friends! No friend of mine would abduct my daughter!" Carlos screamed from the other end of the phone losing his cool.

"Yeah, you are right, we are no friends."

Sanchos takes. "The abduct is quite a strong choice of a word don't you think? I think the media would beg to differ.

"I'm sure you must have seen the pictures on social media. Does your daughter seem like someone who was being abducted? It's more Like... She came with us of her own will. And oh, you might have to work on improving the security in your territory."

Sanchos burst into laughter when he heard the growling sound that Carlos made from the other end of the phone.

"So I'm going to get to the point of this call real quick. As you already know, your Precious Jewel is with us, and you will get her back immediately after you give us what we want."

"What do you want!" Sanchos growled, his hard breathing could be heard from the other side of the phone.

"Now you are asking the right question. The North coast trade lane. Hand over the North trade lane to us, and you will have your daughter back."

"What! Are you out of your mind?" If Sanchos could see Carlos at that point, he would have ripped off his head.

"You heard me well, give us the North coast trade lane and you will get your daughter back, and if you don't, well…."

"Don't you dare finish that statement!"

"If you want to see your daughter again, you know what to do, I will give you 24 hours to think about it."

With that said, Carlos ended the call and handed the burner phone to Miguel who immediately smashed the phone on the wall destroying it so that they won't be able to use it to trace them. He threw the sim card into his mouth and chewed it.

"Do you think they will agree to it?" Pablo asked his uncle.

"They will, he has no choice. Carlos values his daughter and his pride way too much to leave her with us." Sanchos said with so much confidence.

"I hope you are right, because if you are not, then we would have abducted the girl for nothing," Miguel said, trying his best not to think about the girl upstairs.

"What if they choose to retaliate?" Pablo asked.

"They wouldn't do that, we have something that is most precious to them." Miguel said.

"What are you going to do if he doesn't comply in the next 24 hours?" Pablo asked.

Carlos flickered his wrist to check the time. "If by 11 pm tomorrow he doesn't respond, we will send him a message."

"And what will the message be?" Pablo asked his eye shining with mischief.

"We will cut off one of her body parts and send it to him. By then, he would know we are not joking."