A light in the darkness

Chapter 7

Maria glanced at the three men in the spacious office who were looking at her with emotionless faces. She gulped and fiddled with the hem of her blouse.

"Start talking." ordered Mason King. He was the most terrifying one of the three. He looked mighty and strict, sitting behind his desk. His face was not giving away any emotions but would give you the impression that he was the boss. His brother who held a great resemblance with him had stood behind him.

And finally, her savior had been sitting in front of her with an analyzing look. She had found out his name finally, Ben Williams, Mason King's underboss. His beautiful green eyes that she had found herself admiring, were fixed on her. His blond hair was still messy and the sleeves of his white dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows. He looked strict, but not like Mason. You could still see a twinge of emotions in his eyes and now they were holding a mix of anger and confusion.

"I want to start from the start." started Maria. She had decided to trust these men. They looked cold and strict, but it seemed they had hearts and maybe, only maybe they could help her and Anna.

"My name is Maria Alvarez and my sister is Anna Alvarez," she said glancing at Mason. "We are the daughters of Marcelo Alvarez, the first underboss of Fernando Gomez, the former Don of Spanish Mafia, and my uncle."

She paused for a second, watching the three man's brows furrowed at the new information. "My father died in a mission 16 years ago when I was only ten and Anna was 3." she continued. "My mother followed his suit 5 years later. Our uncle took our custody after my mother's death. He was a cold-hearted and angry man. But he treated us like his daughters, telling us that we were the mementos of his sister and his best friend. He had made sure we never get engaged in Mafia for it was our parents' wish."

"Everything was fine until three years later when our uncle was murdered in an attack. It was then that everything went downhill and Santiago, our cousin, sat at the throne of the Don." she gulped as she reached the hard parts and looked down at her hands.

"He was not like he is now all the time. When we were kids he would treat us like his sisters, making sure that we are fine and comfortable, especially after our mother died too. We had grown up together after all. But everything changed a year after my mother's death. He was nineteen when he was sent away to be trained as a Don. I don't know where he went or what happened there for him, but after two years that he returned he was never the same again."

The three men watched her intently as she talked. Her pale and bruised face was sad and her shoulders were slouched. There were dark bags under her almost black eyes and her black hair that had fallen around her messily had put a shadow on her face, making it look more hollow. Ben looked away for a moment. For some unknown reason, seeing her like that was doing some things to his heart.

"How different?" asked Mason and Maria snapped out of her thoughts.

"It was like someone had taken away his soul." she tried to explain the best. "Like he had become someone else. If my uncle was emotionless and cold, Santi had become ten times worse. He didn't even acknowledge us as his family. He was the one who suggested adding human trafficking to the business. And to make matters worse, he brought Raul with himself when he returned who was dead loyal to him."

"Raul Diaz?" asked Ben and watched the poor woman shiver in disgust. "Santiago Gomez's right hand?"

Maria nodded. "Raul is just like Santi if not worse." she couldn't stop herself from trembling at the mention of Raul's name and that didn't go unnoticed by the men in the room. "But he is loyal to Santi and understands him better than anyone. Once our uncle died, Santi gained control over everything and everyone, and in a matter of a few months, the Spanish Mafia turned into one of the strongest and deadliest families around the world. But it was also the time things turned harder for me and Anna."