Chapter 8: El Diablo

Axel didn't openly go against his father, and the main reason for that is Rene. Unlike Axel, she cannot escape the constant pressure by leaving home for a couple of days. The boy tries not to escalate the situation at home so that the younger does not get nervous. He comes home early, before Rene goes to bed, and spends more time with her. Plus, Axel still drives the younger to school, although it doesn't always work. They play Jenga together, have dinner and, despite the constant presence of Inna in the room, enjoy each other's company. The atmosphere in the house is still oppressive. The father does not return to the topic of their closeness anymore, while Rene tries not to bring her mum to hysteria and keeps her distance from Axel.

This continues until the new year when Chan decides to give Axel a couple of his people and sends them to Sirius on a mission. Axel never tells Rene anything about the job. The girl, who knows what Axel is doing, is very upset about his long absence. After this task, Axel and Leo begin to disappear in the cartel and rarely appear at home. The guys silently do their job and receive constant praise and additional bonuses from Chan.

Axel is now known in the cartel as El Diablo. The boy first mentioned this name during one of the missions in the neighboring territory. Before pulling the trigger, he announced to his opponent that he was El Diablo.

Axel and Leo have been working outside A-Card for three months. The boys are tenacious and don't understand the word "no." Chan considered this trait in them and sends them where his most experienced assistants fail. It is impossible to come to an agreement with the guys. Even bribery does not work with them, and Chan is well aware of this.

"The beasts" are Chan's punishing hand, and there is no chance of getting away from them. Aken spends more and more time with the boss and carries out his personal errands. Dev works as a security guard for a pub where Chan likes to spend his evenings and receives guests. Dev is already used to his face and no longer takes offense at the cartel guys' words that The Devil himself guards the boss's pub.

Axel first goes to Rene, returning from another big deal, but father intercepts him in the hallway and demands to talk.

"What happened at The V? Should the men be outside?" asks Do.

"You know very well yourself," Axel glances nervously at the door, eager to see Rene.

"I know that you brought what you were sent for, but don't you think that you and your psychopathic friend have completely gone crazy?"

" We got the job done; the rest doesn't matter," Axel waves him off.

"You killed everyone in the bar," the man shouts at him. "You will be avenged! On this land, the blood of a drug dealer rarely remains unaffected!"

"Let them take revenge, let them come; I'm not afraid," Axel answers calmly. "It's time for the rats to get out of their holes and start reckoning with new strength. Do you think I like to kill? I warned that we would not shoot if the goods were returned to us. They didn't give it up. From now on, it will be so with everyone. There is no other way for me to win this war."

"You have no war; you are nobody in this system," Do grabs him by the collar. "You're Chan's killing machine now, and he's driving you. It seems to you that you decide something and have the power, but this is not true. You are all covered with other people's blood! Don't be his dog! Look at me, I was the same, and what did I get?"

"No, Father," Axel gently removes his hands from his collar, "you weren't like that. You fought for a piece of bread; I fight for an idea."

"You have already achieved so much in a short time! You don't need to get into the eyes of other cartels and, God forbid, higher powers, confederations. What are you itching to do?" Do does not let go of him.

"This is not what I want. But I will not tell you, because you will say "you can't!" Your and other's "you can't" has been my motivator all these years, I am already convinced, what I can. Now let me see Rene."

Axel walks toward the door. Rene lunges at brother from the doorway and hugs him, drags bags with gifts into the bedroom, including many new clothes. After putting the bags in the closet, the teen grabs her jacket and runs out into the yard. Axel is waiting for her in an old silver BMW.

"Drive, mum's running!" Rene yells as Axel starts the engine.

"Did you eat?" Axel jumps out onto the road.

"Nope."

"So I'll feed you first," Axel draws Rene to himself and kisses the top of her head.

They eat deliciously at Rene's favorite pizzeria. Then, after buying her hot chocolate with cinnamon and an Americano for himself, Axel drives her to the outskirts. Axel leaves the car on the road, and they decide to walk up the hill, where couples often meet and picnic. Because of the cold, they can't walk for a long time, and they decide to go back to the car. Everyone on the way greets Axel, which makes Rene admire him more.

Axel has matured a lot in recent years. He is tall, pumped up, and handsome, and it is impossible to resist the piercing gaze of black eyes from under his overgrown bangs. Rene's heart skips a beat every time she sees him. Now she doesn't come to him without knocking. Not because Axel asked, but because she hesitates to look at the naked torso, which she saw a couple of times and will never forget. Rene has since often dreamed of arms covered with jutting veins, abs, and rolling muscles on his powerful chest. Once in the car, Axel warms Rene's hands with his breath and takes his time to start the engine.

"Oh, mum must be pissed off right now! How am I going to get back home?" Rene chuckles, her cheeks flushed from the cold.

"She won't do anything, maximum grumble," Axel pulls Rene towards him and hugs her. "How are you doing at school? Nobody offends you?"

"No," Rene plays with his fingers, where the letters form 'la familia' and the crown engraved on the knuckle of his little finger. "Nobody is studying here anymore, either they're in the cartel or on dates."

"Were you also called on a date?"

"Yes, a lot," she can feel his hand tighten on her thigh, "but I don't go with them."

"And why don't you go?" she takes his hand and leans back in the seat.

"Because I'm comparing everyone to you," Rene mutters and turns to the window.

"What do you mean?" Axel moves, and Rene can feel his breath tickling her cheek.

"My boyfriend must be as strong as you," Rene says quietly. "Be smart as you, with a kind heart. He should have the same beautiful eyes ..."

"Do you know what my girlfriend should be like?" Axel interrupts her, and Rene shakes her head. "Tiny, with a small upturned nose, with fox eyes," the man lovingly examines his favorite features. "With cherry lips," he keeps his attention on the lips, "and with a huge heart. Just like you." Rene blushes.

"Mum says I'm small and don't understand anything, but I'm not small. I'm almost fifteen years old, and since I've never had secrets from you, you should know that I love you differently... And this is bad."

"What's wrong with that?" Axel looks at her closely.

"I can't love my brother, and you're much older, and you don't love me the way I love you," the girl says barely audibly.

"I'm not your brother, and age is also not important," Axel mimics her, "and I also love you more than you love me," Axel cups her face in his palms. "Therefore, do not be sad, but smile. Your smile is my reason to live."

Rene lifts the corners of her lips slightly, then lights up the car with his smile, warming Axel's heart.

"I miss you so much." Rene buries her face in Axel's neck, inhales her favorite scent.

"I'm back."

"I still miss; I want to sleep with you in my arms. I want to come to you at any time, and I want you to be at home more often."

"Well, it's impossible now, baby, but everything will be, I promise you." Axel kisses her on the cheek, freezes for a couple of seconds, tasting her skin with his lips, slides lower, but immediately pulls away.

"You don't want to kiss me," Rene asserts and turns back to the window.

"I really want to, but I'm afraid that after trying you once, I won't be able to stop," Axel starts the engine.

"Everyone in my class has already kissed." Rene turns on the music and rests her head on Axel's shoulder, watching the road.

"Why do you need to be like everyone else?"

"I have a boy in my class. He wants to kiss me ..."

"A boy?" Axel nearly groans, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"But I will only kiss with you," the young girl begins to sing along to the vocalist of her favorite group.

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

Rene is used to Inna's day-to-day scandals about Axel, so she silently measures Axel's gifts and doesn't respond to mum's cursing next to her. The next morning, she demonstratively walks past the security car and gets into Axel's car. Leaving Rene in the schoolyard, Axel plans to visit Aken, who went to the border to meet Chan's guests and asked him to take the sick Avi to Lea.

On the way to his friend's house, Axel notices a passing car, which usually drives Chan's family members. He immediately sees another SUV without numbers behind it, hiding in the same bend. Axel decides to go after them without checking his guesses. His instincts don't fail. As soon as he turned the corner, he hears shots. Axel blocks the road with his car, draws the attackers' attention, and takes the fire on himself. The man, who is already lying in the front seats, somehow shoots back and at the same time calls for help. Axel is lucky, Chan's men are two blocks away, and the car is intercepted while trying to escape. Chana was in Chan's car. The driver was killed, the guard was wounded, and the girl escaped with fright. The men drive off the attacker's car while Axel urgently calls Chan. From that day on, Axel officially becomes one of Chan's five assistants and controls the "scouts."

* The title of the chapter is "The Devil" (Spanish: El Diablo.)