Page 41 of The Perfect Stranger

Chapter Thirteen

Gabriel loved his women as much as he loved his guns and alcohol. He partied hard and unlike other drug lords, he indulged in a little too much of the merchandise. Instead of keeping the home free of drugs and paraphernalia in case of a raid, lines of coke and vials of liquid coke were offered like bowls of candy. There was eight of us. Gabriel, myself, three strippers from the club, and three of Gabriel’s posse. Reggaeton music blared from the hidden speakers, and the girls did what they do best. They put on a show. The men cheered with each item of clothing fell to the floor. The girls absorbed the attention and when the men partook in another line they became louder and more obnoxious. The drugs didn’t affect them like it would the common user. These men were well seasoned.

I sat on a stool behind the main couch where they were all seated and watched the train-wreck with a mix of disinterest and curiosity. I had a target, and he was not in this room. I had no idea where he was, but I was eager to visit Ana again for more information. She seemed both frightened and somewhat interested in my angle. She wasn’t loyal to Luis Santos. She could quite happily see the end of him.

There was a squeal of delight and my reality returned. Gabriel’s hand circled the neck of the honey blonde stripper bringing her to her knees. She folded with ease and licked her lips at the offering. Under Gabriel’s stronghold she snorted a line, the effects immediate. Unlike the men, she had already consumed too much given her experience and weight. She rolled back on her heels and slumped against Gabriel’s legs, her own legs opening wide as they fell to the side. She was awake but not alert, the world settling into a neat haze around her.

The men cheered when another girl fell to her knees and began eating out her friend. The women were fucked up and would do just about anything to forget where they were. A man known only as Darryl, sucked on his finger, swiped a line and then smeared the coke on his gums. He hooked his hand through the hair of the bleached blonde stripper he’d been watching all night and dragged her away from the couch. She didn’t protest but winced in pain.

This was the hard part. These girls were far from innocent and contributed to the vicious cycle, but they often had nothing better in their lives. To see them abused by men who only wanted to take advantage was sickening. Plying them with drugs and the promise of a small fortune before ripping into each of their orifices was disgusting.

I finished my own drink and contemplated putting a bullet in each of their heads. It would happen, but only when Luis Santos proved he was more than just a myth. I needed that fucker in front of me, and as soon as he was taken care of, I would end Gabriel and every man who basked in his limelight.

Gabriel lived in a mansion, but the walls were paper thin. I could hear the grunts coming from Darryl as he plowed away followed by the whimpering of his victim. He had her bent over the back of a couch, yanking on her hair until her back was concaved to the point it looked like she would snap. He had made no effort to seek privacy, settling for the first piece of furniture he could find.

Then there was Gabriel. My mind was warring, debating whether to intervene and risk jeopardizing everything. Pleas of a desperate woman begging for mercy, and the incessant crying of another, traveled the length of the hall to where I was sitting by the pool. I had seen girls leave his bedroom before, all battered and bruised and longing for better days. He was the violent type. He got off on their tears and loved the challenge in their struggles. Gabriel was no angel.

“Why aren’t you in there?” A voice sounded from the shadows and seconds later a face emerged. It was one of the girls from the club who had not participated in the earlier exploits.

“Can you not hear it?”

She paused, her tired face dropping slightly as another scream broke through the night. “I don’t need to hear it. I’ve lived it,” she said sadly.

“Then why are you here?” I studied the girl. She was pretty. There was something unique about her look that made her interesting. She was a mix, with maybe a hint of Italian in her.

“Gabriel doesn’t just own that club. He owns everyone in it, including me.”

“So how come you’re out here and not in one of those bedrooms?”

She dropped her hands from her stomach and without hesitation she lifted her dress high. Just above her panty line sat a neat caesarean wound that was still fresh.

“Gabriel doesn’t want to fuck someone in this condition, even if it’s his.”

“What’s his? The baby?”

“Me and baby.”

My head spun. “So you two are—”

“Together? You can call it that if you want.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised. This wasn’t your everyday situation. This wasn’t a normal environment.

“Don’t look at me like that.” She sat on one of the pool recliners opposite me and looked every bit the broken woman. The woman who had nowhere else to go. “He looks after us in his own ways. Brought me in off the street after my parents kicked me out. Gave me everything I ever needed. I can turn a blind eye to… this.”

As if on cue, another terrified scream traveled outside and her eyes closed longer than usual.

“Better her than me,” the girl said with no remorse. She was an empty shell of a person.

“What’s he doing to them in there?”

She looked up through her lashes, a weak smile playing on her lips. “You wanna know?”

“Not really, but I feel like I should know.”

“One day you’ll see.”

“I’ll see?”

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