The Kings of Crime

Chapter 2

6:00 am, meeting room at the Meneses house.

At the end of the large table sat Evaristo Meneses, Gabriela's father, as the most powerful representative of the East Zone Complex, that place was rightfully his. He was the only one who covered all areas of organized crime, his allies only had a few specific fields. He was the king of crime.

On one side, the two most faithful allies. Representing the close mouths Jonas Lopes and Marcel Moraes.

Jonas was a handsome man who at the age of twenty was already in charge of the family business. The Lopes clan had a large money extortion organization, mainly public. Most of the family were politicians or associated with them. Money laundering stopped at banks in Sweden or Amazonas as a way to avoid income tax. It was a loan shark family that lent money to big names in São Paulo and charged high interest to users. Missed payment deadlines resulted in the disappearance of the person who acquired the loan, or a loved one. The Lopes house controlled the largest loan sharking network in all of Brazil, which was run by the Molinos, a family of Bolivian descent.

Marcel, on the other hand, had an almost cruel beauty. A man who could be more atrocious than the boss Evaristo when necessary. Its main business was gambling with casinos spread across South America. Most casinos were illegal and dealt with gambling debts with inhumane responses. They also covered the area of trafficking, from drinks, drugs to people working in Turkish brothels or slave labor in the United States.

The Moraes are known in the East Zone Complex mainly for the number of murders they carried out, from homicides of insignificant people to even important figures. They control the network of killers where Max worked, considered one of the most dangerous even among Italian magic, where organized crime is the main competitor of organized crime in Brazil.

On the left side of the boss were the convenient allies, those who were not really reliable, but of great importance. It wasn't smart to have them as enemies.

By Duarte, Faitão at first glance seemed to be a calm man, but Meneses knew very well what he could do when angry. The Faitão clan controlled the trafficking of organs and children for illegal adoptions, it was without a doubt one of the most powerful and richest organizations in the country. They had a large part of their business carried out in European barracks, they knew how to obtain and deliver any human being. Not long ago they entered the business of smuggled products to the Americas, which have the main consumer market. Emerging countries like Brazil support the structure of smuggling businesses. They control an interrogation network with psychological and physical experts for torture, already from the Rodrigues clan, Chico came, the young man was a crime machine. He was the youngest member sitting at that table and had recently become leader of his family.

The family's main business was arms trafficking. Its main consumers were Arab countries where wars never stopped, but countries in Africa that had tribal wars or Latin America that had internal conflicts with some rigid dictatorships were also strong consumers.

In their spare time, they also used cocaine and LSD as the main drugs in their business. The network that the Rodrigues controlled were kidnappers run by the so-called Black Angels, where the main leader was a woman called Luciana.

She only appeared to execute enemies.

“Yes, now could you explain to Evaristo Meneses why you woke us up so early for this shitty meeting?” Marcel said, not caring that his voice showed annoyance.

Meneses took a big drag on his cigar and was watched by everyone expectantly. Curiosity visible in his eyes. Then he spoke in a calm tone.

“They tried to kill Gabriela, they attacked my little daughter!” a painful silence filled the room. Everyone at that moment thought the same: “The author of this infamy will die a horrible and long death!” They knew that Meneses would make a point of hunting down the guy who committed the attack even if he had to go to hell.

“Do you suspect anyone?” Duarte asked.

“Two people! The first is that Paçoca guy, that idiot I didn't let into the East Zone Complex. This isn't just any favela, this is my favela. No one enters without my permission!

“He has more reasons than that to hate you Evaristo Meneses. If you haven't forgotten, he almost got the police to catch him during the last cocaine shipment he made to Rio Grande do Sul. “Jonas said, making a movement with his hand showing that the smoke from the cigar was bothering him.

The East Zone Complex was more than a hill where there are crimes, it was the birthplace of members of the Comando da Ternura, the largest branch of organized crime in Brazil, a peaceful name for men without any signs of empathy or scruples. Most of them no longer lived in favelas, their life under the hood was simple.

Evaristo Meneses couldn't see himself being far from the favela. So he was an easier target. However, the quintet at that meeting were the best known and most powerful in Brazil.

“That piece of shit was dealing in MY area. “He said, making a point of taking the last drag on Jonas, who let out an irritated growl” I suspect your brother too, dear Lopes. Reinaldo must be really angry after I took the power out of his hands and put it in yours, don't you think?

He gave an ironic smile towards Jonas who returned the same.

“Damn, Evaristo, then you have to pray that he and Paçoca don't team up.

“If they overthrow me, you'll fall with them Jonas, have you forgotten that you're in power because of me?” the smile disappeared from heir Lopes' face. Throwing this in Jonas' face seemed to sound like an insult that alone he would never get to the position he was in.

“What do you want me to do? asked Jonas sulkily.

“I want you to look for your brother and watch him closely. The Molinos are very good at espionage and they all work for you. Find out exactly what he has been doing in the last few days, and if he tried to kill my daughter, say goodbye to your bastard brother, no one will save whoever tried to do this evil to my little one.

“As if I cared about him! Reinaldo is not an idiot, if he was responsible for the attack he probably shouldn't even be in Brazil anymore.” Jonas said coldly.

“You have no idea where he could have hidden?” asked Chico, slightly interested. The Rodrigues family had certain business problems when Jonas's older brother Reinaldo was in power. It was the Rodrigues’ desire to give a “response” to the affront that their eldest son, Lopes, had made.

“Maybe Colombia, I know he had business with some politicians there.” Jonas seemed thoughtful for a while.” He is setting up his own business with the family titles that are in his name. At least that's what Molinos informed me last month. Reinaldo was still in Brazil at the time.

“I don't care where he is, I want you to find him. If you need to go to hell for that, don't hesitate.” said Evaristo in an authoritarian tone “Duarte, I want you to look for Paçoca, carry out a very painful interrogation, if in the end he dies “accidentally”, what can you do? Accidents happen... We will have a mass said for him!” Meneses said amidst an atrocious laugh, implying that he wanted to eliminate Paçoca no matter what.

“Hmm... I hope to get something in return.” Duarte said, placing the patch back over his blind eye.

“We'll deal with that later.” he said, looking at the leader of the Faitão in a way that made him understand that the business between them would be resolved alone.

Meneses had separate businesses with each of the four. What did not involve the protection of the East Zone Complex or a war between other criminals was discussed with each person without the council meeting.

“Marcel, I need a decent security guard for Gabriela, someone who isn't stupid enough to not be persuaded by her. I want a professional assassin, who doesn't miss a shot and who knows exactly how to kill someone. And be cold-blooded enough so that my daughter doesn't take you seriously. You know how children are...

“I have someone perfect to take care of your daughter, but he charges a lot, a lot. I'm sure he will charge at least six times what he normally charges knowing that his job will be to protect his daughter Evaristo Meneses.” Marcel was playing with a gun on the table. The blue eyes had a strange shine. “The most skilled of the assassins here, Max...

“As if money were a problem for someone like me.” Evaristo let a crazy smile take over his lips.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

He hadn't been able to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he visualized in his mind the bodies in a sea of blood in front of him, he heard the sounds of gunshots. What caused her even more fear was “seeing” that gun being pointed in her direction again, knowing that the target at all times was exclusively her.

A horrible tremor invaded his body.

He touched his arm, feeling the bandage that covered the scratch. Thank God she had only suffered a minor injury, she got goosebumps just thinking that maybe at that moment she was dead.

He got up from the bed and walked to the mirror. He looked at himself from head to toe. She didn't look like the same Gabriela as before. Her hair was no longer shiny and well combed, dark circles under her eyes, mouth dry and lifeless. She looked like a dead woman.

“I'm a mess!” she said to herself.

He heard a knock on the bedroom door and a soft, weak voice calling out to him. She gave a small smile, recognizing her friend's voice, Rosângela had probably already known the facts of the early morning. Marcel's cousin, probably came to accompany Boss Moraes to the Meneses' house and take the opportunity to visit the blonde.

“You may come in!” Gabi nimbly tied her disheveled hair into a ponytail. It had to look at least presentable.

She admitted it, she was vain and liked to exude glamor and sensuality in her appearance. Being the most beautiful girl in São Paulo wasn't enough, she had to be the most beautiful girl in all of Brazil.

She spared no effort to reach perfect adulthood.

The entire body shaped by gym and surgeries. She was a princess, a princess of crime is reality, but no less majestic.

Rosângela entered the room. Gabriela can see her friend's incredibly black hair falling over her shoulders. The blue sweater matched her blue eyes. Rosângela wasn't a girl who could be called drop dead gorgeous, but she wasn't ugly either. She had an exotic beauty, but it attracted attention in a certain way, mainly because of her shy manner that made her mysterious.

“Gabi!” Rosângela hugged the blonde carefully, fearing that her friend was hurt. His eyes showed concern.” I found out what happened, when Ketyellen told me I couldn't believe it. I was so worried!

Gabi gave a disgusted smile when she heard her ex's name “best friend. So Ketyellen had already been gossiping that she had been attacked? “In addition to being false, she is gossipy... that insufferable.” Forcing a kinder smile to the apprehensive Rosângela, Gabriela led her friend to the bed and sat down with her.

“I'm fine Rosângela, calm down, it was just a scratch.” He said, showing his bandaged arm” But I'm not going to lie, I've never felt so scared. By the gods, they tried to kill me, and they almost succeeded if... If... Dad hadn't arrived in time, I would be dead.

She was very independent and admitting that hurt much more than that scratch, but she knew that she was the one in the wrong, just like the other times. He always messed up, and even after this attack it wouldn't take long for him to make another mistake. No one who knew him well needed a crystal ball to guess.

“Gabi, why do you always do this? You know that for people like us... Errr... B”Well, f-for people c”Like us...

Rosângela couldn't speak, she stuttered in such a way that Gabriela could barely understand what she wanted to say. For Rosângela, the issue about being linked to organized crime was extremely torturous. The Moraes heiress had a good and kind personality. Gabriela didn't know how someone as docile as Rosângela had managed to live surrounded by so much aggression, the little girl with blue eyes had such a pure appearance. And it wasn't just that, unlike her, Rosângela didn't care about branded and luxury clothes. She felt somehow dirty around the Moraes heiress. Even though Gabriela did not accept the way her father earned his money, she enjoyed those blood-stained reais in a futile and superfluous way.

However, he knew that as the years went by his mind was changing, he was becoming mature enough to start thinking like Rosângela. It wasn't worth wearing a branded outfit if it was obtained through someone's blood or with intentions that hell was paved with.

“You know Rosângela, dear, lately I've been feeling so unhappy. As trapped as a butterfly that can't get out of its cocoon.” Gabi looked dreamily at the window “I want to fly, I want to show my beauty, I want to see different “flowers”. I want to go to a place where the scent isn't of blood.

“I know who your new security guard Gabriela is. –Rosângela suddenly changed the subject. She lowered her head, circling her finger over the mattress, showing apprehension. “He scares me!

“New security guard? How do you know that?” asked the blonde, confused.

“I heard your father talking to Marcel when they left the meeting room. His father also ordered Clebão to fire all of his current bodyguards.

“What surprises me is not the fact that there is a new security guard, it is the fact that there is only ONE. Normally he orders about fifteen to surround me, until my beauty is overshadowed in the midst of those horrible brutes.

She spoke nervously.

“Gabi... You won't need many bodyguards with this one around.” Rosângela looked into her friend’s dark eyes “He’s the best killer in all of Brazil! He is simply heartless, he has that cold air, always silent and serious. The few times he speaks is with irony. I do not like him!

“Perfect, my father found a monster, and obviously one of those could only have been recommended by Marcel!” she said, getting up from the bed frustrated. She noticed Rosângela embarrassed by her friend's comment.” Shit, I'm going to kill your idiot cousin!

“I'm sure you won't be able to get away with this one. And if you irritate him... You might... Ahh... I don't want to think, I don't want to...

“I'm Gabriela Meneses, I think it's this security guard who should be worried. I'll turn his life into chaos if he bothers me. “I’m going to make him strip down to his underwear on a stage in a gay nightclub!”“ Gabi winked at Rosângela as if with this gesture she was saying she was in control of the situation.

“Don't make him angry, listen to what I'm saying!

Gabi knew why she was so angry, it was just a way of confronting her father. Disliking the security guard was a more subtle way of saying that she was tired of that life as an escort... Of “cocoon”. She should be happy that her new security guard is really the best, who knows, maybe in the next attack in which she was the target, she wouldn't be so close to death. But the times when she closed her eyes just because of new makeup and trips abroad were over, she was a new Gabriela... Or almost. “That doesn’t mean I can’t wear my designer shoes or drink exotic drinks anymore.”

“What's this guy's name anyway?” Gabi was curious about the new security guard. There must have been more of those thirty-year-old men who would be worried about looking at her cleavage than actually taking care of her, like the others before.

“Max de Souza!

“Max de Souza, huh! I've never heard of it, who is this famous killer that I don't know? Please... But... I think this guy better start praying, because Gabriela will be his mission impossible.