Episode 7

Carlos left the hospital and decided not to go straight home. He went to the mall where there was a Japanese restaurant he liked to frequent. Since he hadn't had lunch because he felt sick, he needed to put something in his stomach.

After eating, he decided to take a stroll around the mall. He wanted to occupy his mind so he wouldn't dwell too much on the issue with Lucas. His plan to not think about it was failing miserably, as various places there reminded him of when he used to stroll with Lucas in that place. It definitely wasn't working.

Carlos decided to leave since he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it. It was better for him to be at home. He headed towards the escalator and heard his phone beeping. It was Alberto sending a message.

"Are you okay? Have you been discharged?"

"I'm fine. Yes."

Carlos responded briefly, hoping that Alberto wouldn't send any more messages, but it didn't work.

"Did you go home or are you working?"

"No, to both questions."

Carlos continued walking as he responded to Alberto.

"Where are you? Maybe we're close to each other and can meet up."

"No, I want to be alone. Thank you for your concern, but I'm not having a good day, and I won't be good company."

Carlos gave his response and put his phone away. He didn't want to continue responding to Alberto. Even if he sent more messages, Carlos would ignore them. He truly wanted to be alone, and the company of a mafia boss was the last thing he wanted at that moment.

Upstairs in the mall, Alberto put his phone away, deciding not to send any more messages. By his side was Bruno, the man he had assigned to keep an eye on Carlos. Bruno followed him on a motorcycle everywhere he went and informed Alberto. Bruno was like Alberto's younger brother and one of his most trusted men.

"You can go, keep me informed of all his moves. By now, Andrey knows he helped me. Even if Carlos isn't home or at the hospital, the men should stay. If anyone from Andrey or Andrey himself shows up, let me know immediately."

Bruno nodded in agreement and left to continue following Carlos. Alberto sighed. He was trying to keep him safe without interfering in his routine, but if he could, he would keep Carlos in his house, close to him. That way, he could be at ease, without fear that anything could happen to Carlos. Slowly, he had realized that Carlos had affected him more than he wanted to admit.

Alberto had already taken care of his business at one of his restaurants in the mall. Little did Carlos know that the restaurant where he ate also belonged to Alberto's family. He headed towards the parking lot, thinking that he wouldn't have any more danger of running into Carlos there. He got into his car and instructed the driver to go straight to his house. He couldn't overexert himself since his wound wasn't completely healed.

Carlos stopped by two more places before returning home. He arrived home in the late afternoon. His phone beeped a few times on the way, but Carlos decided to ignore it. He figured it would be more messages from Alberto, and he didn't feel like responding. He parked the car while the gate closed. Only after it was fully closed did Carlos get out of the car. He was traumatized by this whole ordeal of having mafiosos in his workplace and his home. Carlos grabbed the shopping bags and entered the house.

He put the groceries in the kitchen and glanced at his phone, which beeped once again. It was Lucas asking a bunch of questions about how he was, where he was, and if he was alone. Carlos decided to ignore the messages and put his phone on vibrate just so he wouldn't hear the sound of incoming messages. He placed the phone on the table and headed towards the bedroom, taking off his shirt.

On the street, Bruno had already arrived and discovered that the two men who were watching Carlos' house were dead in the car. He quickly realized that there was someone else inside the house. Bruno grabbed two guns from the trunk of the car and headed towards the house, calling Alberto.

"The men we left at the doctor's house were shot. They must be inside the house. Call the doctor and ask him to lock himself in the bathroom while I go in."

Bruno skillfully climbed a small tree, climbed the wall, and jumped into the front yard. He drew his gun and headed towards the house. Carlos returned from the room and grabbed a glass of wine. He was wearing sweatpants and was still shirtless. As he passed by the little table on his way to the living room, he heard his phone vibrating. He looked and Alberto's call had just dropped.

There were already at least seven unanswered calls from Alberto. Carlos frowned, wondering why he called so many times. Before he could send a message, Alberto called again.

"Hello?"

"At last, listen to me carefully and don't respond. I want you to stay calm and go to a bathroom and lock yourself in there. There is someone in your house, one of my men is already going in to get you out of there. Don't hang up and go slowly, don't let them notice."

Carlos could already feel his heart racing and couldn't help but look around nervously. He continued holding the phone to his ear and turned to go to the bathroom in his room. As he turned, Carlos screamed when he saw a man behind him. The man punched Carlos in the face, knocking him to the ground. The glass broke, and the phone fell a little farther away. A piece of glass entered Carlos' arm as he fell.

Alberto heard the scream the other made and the sound of something breaking. His heart sank because he knew they had gotten Carlos.

"Carlos, Carlos, can you hear me? Shit!"

Alberto continued trying to listen, but the call was disconnected.

"You had to hit him, you idiot. Do you realize what the boss will do if this guy gets hurt? How are you going to explain this?"

One of the guys shouted at the other who had lost control and took the phone, ending the call.

Carlos remained on the ground, feeling the blood dripping from his nose and the sting from where the glass had entered his arm. It was better not to move too much, he didn't want to receive another punch from that idiot. As the two argued, Carlos could see a man slowly approaching where they were. He assumed that was the man Alberto mentioned.

"What do you want?" Carlos tried to get the attention of the two so they wouldn't notice the other approaching.

"We have to take you, our boss really wants to talk to you." One of the men said, squatting down and getting closer to Carlos.

At that moment, Bruno, who had been lurking, acted quickly. He hit the standing man on the head with the pistol, knocking him down, and with great agility, he immobilized the one crouched near Carlos. He held the hand that held the gun and moved him away from Carlos.

"Go, wait for me in the room." Bruno yelled to Carlos, who, despite the pain, stood up as fast as he could and ran to the room.

Carlos could hear noises outside, but he didn't know what was happening. The two men were probably fighting. He had already locked the door to the room and went to the bathroom to find his first aid kit. He had to remove the glass from his arm and dress the wound. He opened the case, took the tweezers, and went to stand in front of the huge mirror in the bathroom.

He took a deep breath and began removing the glass from his arm. The pain made Carlos nauseous. When he finally managed to remove it, he was already sweating cold sweat. He took a piece of gauze, pressing it on the wound to stop the bleeding. Before he could start disinfecting the area, he heard knocks on the door of the room.

"Doctor, we need to get out of here now. I don't know how many more people could be around. Alberto has already sent more people to help, but it's not safe to stay."

Carlos got up from the bathroom floor and went to the room. He opened the door slowly and saw the man who had helped him standing outside, with a small cut on his eyebrow.

"Just grab a shirt and let's get out of here. You can get what you need later."

Carlos could feel the adrenaline rushing through his body. This was new to him. His only moments of adrenaline were trying to save someone's life, and the sensations were completely different.

He went to the wardrobe and grabbed a sleeveless shirt. He didn't want anything tight against his arm injury. He grabbed his flip-flops and left the room, even with his pants stained with wine and blood. He didn't have time to change.

"Stay behind me," Bruno ordered and escorted Carlos to the car.

He had a gun pointed and was very cautious. There could be more people in the house or waiting outside. They got into Carlos' car and, as they left the gate, the backup that Alberto sent appeared. Bruno informed them where the dead men were and instructed them to take the two who were in the house. He knew that when Alberto saw the doctor, he would want to speak with them personally. Bruno touched his device, making a call to Alberto while he drove.

"Yes, I'm with him. A cut on his arm and a small wound on his face. Sorry, when I arrived, they had already approached him. Okay."

Bruno ended the call and sighed. Carlos, beside him, released the pressure on his wound and put on the shirt. He stared at Bruno, asking,

"Can you tell me what's going on?"

Bruno looked at him, took a deep breath, and began,

"My name is Bruno, I am one of the security guards Alberto assigned to protect you. I have been following you from a distance, in case Andrey's men bother you. As we predicted, he must have found out that you saved Alberto that day and ordered them to bring you to him."

Carlos had his mouth open and both eyebrows raised.

"So, besides trying to chase me because I saved his life, now he's going to chase me because I saved Alberto's life?"

Carlos couldn't believe what he was hearing. Bruno nodded and added,

"Andrey and Alberto are from rival families. On the day of the shootout, Andrey managed to set up an ambush that almost killed Alberto. He must think that if it weren't for you, he would have succeeded."

Carlos's heart was racing. How had his life turned upside down like this? Before, his life consisted of working and trying to forget Lucas. Now he was being pursued by two mobsters, being beaten up, and constantly having to flee. It was all too much for someone like him. He had no idea how he was going to get out of that situation.

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