One

Ricardo Alvarez sat in the living room of his mansion with a pipe in his hand, a glass of tequila in his other hand and a gun on the table. As the boss of one of the biggest mafia groups in all of Madrid, he never went anywhere without a gun, even his own house. From owning different businesses locally and even across international waters, Ricardo was one of the most influential men in all of Madrid. He was the owner of the famous Alvarez casino with way too many others. Gambling, drugs deals, women, connections, name it, everything was available at Alvarez casino. And that was the least of monuments as he foundly called it, that Ricardo Alvarez owned and superceded over.

The Madrid police department did not only fear Ricardo Alvarez, they made sure to stay out of his way. He ran several illegal businesses, but he somehow always stayed in his lane and the police took that as enough initiative to stay in theirs too. Not like they would have intervened in any of his drug deals or transactions, the last officer that did that didn't live to tell his side of the story. No one wanted to end up like Tores and they all avoided Ricardo Alvarez.

Ricardo was waiting patiently for information from one of his districts in Milan, he had sent a truck load of coffaine to one of his clients and was awaiting confirmation. The courier service was handled by Luiz Sanchez who Ricardo trusted and was responsible for most of his transactions outside the country.

"Boss, we have a situation" Eric, Ricardo's right hand man said as soon as he walked into the house. One thing Ricardo hated was errors in his dealings, he was well known for accuracy and he detested anything that would change that notion.

"What's the problem?" Ricardo asked with anger in his voice. Eric shifted in his standing position, it wasn't a good idea to anger his boss but he had to inform him about the situation on hand.

"Milan called" Eric said with his head bowed low. It was a code in the Cartel to address their partners according to their locations.

Ricardo wasn't really a fan of suspense, "And? Get to the point, Eric, I don't have all day"

"They didn't get the package"

"They didn't what?!" Eric flinched. The boss was definitely angry now.

"They didn't get the package, boss" Eric repeated.

"How is that even possible?!" Ricardo had never made a mistake in his transactions, not even once. He was well known for his accountability and efficiency. None of his transactions had failed before, he wasn't just really good at what he did, as a perfectionist, he did things perfectly. "Get me Luis Sanchez, right now!" He screamed.

Eric bowed and practically ran out of the room, got into the car and tore into the streets of Madrid. Luis was in big trouble. The boss was definitely going to have his head for his mistake.

As Eric ran out of the room, Ricardo flung the glass of tequila that was on the table, at the wall. He was fuming, what in the hell happened to have stopped Luis from making the delivery? He had never made such a mistake for the Five years he had been working for him.

Ricardo had hired Luis Sanchez after he made a delivery for him that got him one of his huge deals, the man was reliable and was smooth with all his operations. Luis Sanchez had lost his wife to cancer and had to take care of his only child and daughter all by himself. An accident at work had cost him not just one of his legs but his termination at his workplace too. With a child to take care of, Luis was grateful to Ricardo for giving him a job and for helping him train Diane, his daughter.

It was a Friday and Ricardo had to go to the casino, he dressed in his signature black jacket and jeans, tucked his gun in the back of the jean, wore his shades and walked out of the mansion. Alvarez mansion was so huge it looked like a castle, Ricardo had it built to that size to compensate for the little shed he had to share with his mum when he was growing up.

Being a single mum without much income except the little she got from laundering and cleaning people's houses, Monica Alvarez lived a tough life. Her husband had run away with his mistress two years after Ricardo was born and she was left raising a child in abject poverty. Born to a rich family, Monica had all the good things of life as a child. The second child and only daughter of Miguel Lopez, Monica wasn't just pampered, she was spoilt and dedicated to pleasing her father unlike her elder brother, Anthonio who wasnt really interested in the Lopez fortune.

With cartels being rampant in Granada at the time, it wasn't long before Anthonio joined a gang. Their father, Miguel Lopez wasn't exactly thrilled when he found out and Anthonio was disowned. The whole empire was supposed to go to Monica if she hadn't go ahead to get pregnant for Ricardo's father. Leonardo was charming, caring and everything Monica felt she needed at the time and without heeding to her father's warnings, she was pregnant.

Miguel Lopez was beyond disappointed, both of him children had let him down. He ended up willing everything to his nephew who took over years after he died. Two years after Ricardo was born, Leonardo fell in love with another woman and it wasn't long before he ran away with her. Monica was left heartbroken, lonely and worse still, penniless.

Ricardo got to the casino in a foul mood that night, there was still no news from Eric and Milan had placed a call directly to him. He had sent any truckload of cocaine and it made him more angry than he was when he found out the delivery wasn't made. He had enough money to sustain four generations after him but his honor meant more to him. Luiz didn't just make him lose over a million dollars, he had bruised his honor and he was going to pay for it with his life.

Eric pulled up in front of Luis house and stayed in the car for what seemed like an eternity. He had a feeling Ricardo would kill Luiz for what he had done, murder wasn't something that was hard for Ricardo Alvarez. The man didn't walk around with a gun for nothing, he wasn't scared to use it and Eric knew that.

Luiz Sanchez hadn't returned home and Eric was very anxious. He had spoken to the neighbors and they told him what had happened to Luiz's daughter but he wasn't sure his boss would sympathize with Luiz or his daughter. Not showing up for a deal meant the other party didn't see the transaction as important and that was exactly what Milan was feeling about Ricardo Alvarez.

A taxi pulled up in front of the house and as Luiz got down from it alone, Eric got out of his car too. It was better Luiz saw Ricardo as soon as possible, delay was deadly. Eric knew that so well, his missing finger was proof enough of the lengths Ricardo Alvarez would go to punish anyone that defiled him even if the person was close to him. Eric feared for Luiz's life and he did so with good reason.