The nightmare was so real that Luis could feel his neck and throat closing, depriving him of precious air. In that dreamlike state between sleeping and waking, something smooth and cool was causing him to slap at his neck in his sleep. It wasn’t until his head was shoved roughly against the headboard that he realized his dream was all too real.
“Son of a bitch!” he screamed, sitting up in the bed.
“I don’t much cotton to you smacking Lola, motherfucker. What’d she ever do to you?” King chuckled as his favorite girl slithered out from under the sheets, which promptly became saturated with Luis’ piss.
King scooped up the enormous white Boa and pulled her in close to his chest, smiling as the snake curled around his body. With the business end of the serpent a few inches from his own face, he spoke soothingly to the snake, whispering endearments and playfully touching the tip of his tongue to hers. He laughed softly as the snake slid the top of its head against his cheek, much like an overly affectionate cat.
“Such a pretty girl, such a pretty, pretty, girl. Don’t worry about that mean man, Lola. Daddy will handle him.” He carefully placed the behemoth back in her carrier and returned his attention to the ashen, slack-jawed man. “Lola is an excellent judge of character. She doesn’t care for anyone who crosses the Ramirez brothers. Like most creatures, snakes are far more intuitive than people give them credit for. It’s as if she can tell when she’s in the presence of a liar and a cheat. Of course, the piss was a dead giveaway.”
King leisurely lowered himself into a Victorian velvet tufted wingchair and idly twirled a pen that he’d picked up from the nightstand. “Well, I see you enjoy the finer things in life. Nothing wrong with that, until you start taking credit for another man’s efforts. Until you try to sully something so beautiful and pure.” He held the pen up and studied it, turning it over and watching how the light reflected off the gleaming barrel. “Hmm. A Graf von Faber-Castel, and I’d be willing to bet that it was bought for you by your former client. Am I right?”
He smiled at the scowl that darkened Luis’ face. “I’ll take that as a yes. Well, you’re through, Luis. She is, even as we speak, on a plane bound for America, to meet the man who is truly responsible for her successful career.” King slid the pen into his pocket and glared, as if silently daring the man to say something. “Your days of taking advantage of the lady are over. As you know, our mutual friend Victor Ramirez is quite taken with her. Your efforts to take advantage of the object of his obsession have not been well received.”
King leaned in and lowered his voice, as if sharing a secret with a close friend. “I honestly don’t know how stable he is when it comes to that woman. He’s always had a nasty reputation for being ruthless when it comes to his enemies, so can you even imagine how he’ll be if his woman is involved? I have to be honest with you, man, I’ve never seen him this smitten with anyone. It’s unchartered territory, really.”
King shook his head with feigned regret. “I think you may have mistaken him biding his time as a sign of weakness.” He cocked an eyebrow and glared into Luis’ eyes. “Do you think my boss is weak, Luis?”
Luis frantically shook his head and looked around as if expecting Victor to appear and confront him about how he’d treated Valentina. “I-I have no idea what you’re referring to.”
Of course, he’d heard the horror stories about the Ramirez brothers. It was rumored that Antonio Wayne had put a man’s head in an industrial vice and tightened it until the man’s eyeball popped out. Supposedly Antonio Wayne had just laughed and said he’d read about it somewhere and always wanted to try it. Between that and the body parts the brothers were in the habit of cutting off, Luis wanted no part of it. As Valentina’s career had progressed, his dealings with Victor Ramirez had been long distance and he wanted to keep it that way. Suddenly with King sitting here in his bedroom, delivering a message of sorts from Victor Ramirez, things had rapidly gotten real.
“I’m referring to the fact that you’ve been taking credit for the success of Cuentos de Amor. Even worse, you tried to cheapen the beauty of a woman who means a great deal to Victor.”
“She doesn’t even know him. They were introduced once, that’s all.”
King waved him off. “A minor detail. You must have mistaken my boss for a chump because you damn sure haven’t shown him the proper respect. When you disrespect his woman, you disrespect him. As you can imagine, respect is everything to a man like Victor.” King tutted as if reprimanding a child when Luis opened his mouth to speak. “He chose to stay in the background while she established her career, but you’ve forced his hand and now he’s ready to make his presence known. Now, if you’re smart you’ll count your losses and release the woman from her contract—the woman Victor made a star, I might add. There will no silly talk of lawsuits from you or the studio; such unpleasantness is unnecessary, wouldn’t you agree?”
King could see the wheels in the man’s head turning to try and figure out any way he could hang on to the beauty who had made him so much money.
“Oh fuck, you don’t realize that the Ramirez family owns the telenovela. Los dos Idiomas, the company that produces the show, is owned by the Ramirez family, you moron. That show is the flagship for the whole bi-lingual television expansion they’re doing. So, you’ll sign now.”
King’s face was impassive as he handed Luis the pen and reached down for a stack of papers on the small table next to his chair. “I’ve got a plane to catch. Victor Ramirez is not a man who likes to be kept waiting.” King smiled at the slight tremble in Luis’ hand as he signed the papers that released Valentina from his greedy grip.
When the papers were signed King picked up the pen, tucked the papers under his arm, and headed for the door with Lola safety coiled up in her carrier. It was true, his boss didn’t like to be kept waiting. They would leave tonight and, if all went according to plan, Valentina would wake up to a new life in Louisville, Kentucky.
King turned at the door and said one more thing as he waggled the pen in Luis’ direction. “I’ll just keep this. I don’t think Victor would like the idea of his woman giving another man an expensive, personal gift like this.”
By the time he arrived at the airstrip, Valentina was already on board the plan, fast asleep from the sedative she’d been given by King’s partner in crime, El Demente. While King had been dealing with Luis, El Demente had entered Valentina’s home while she slept. She never felt the prick of the needle.
As they taxied down the runway, King settled in for a nap. It was a little over sixteen hundred miles back to Louisville. It was a little after midnight. They would touch down in Kentucky in less than five hours. With the two-hour time difference, they should still be home in time for breakfast. Not bad for a day’s – or night’s -- work.
He couldn’t help but feel compassion for the latest woman to be caught in a Ramirez man’s web. He grinned and shook his head as he flicked off the overhead light and pulled down the window cover next to his seat. The woman never stood a chance.
Funny how a person could think they truly knew their life inside and out, only to discover their fate had been in the hands of a stranger all along.