Chapter 24 Hello South America
Vanessa’s pov,
“Vanessa, wake up,” Tomasso said while shaking me softly. “We are almost there.”
I wiped the sleep from my eyes and looked outside the window. My breath got stuck in my throat when I saw the beautiful landscape. We were flying between mountains covered in green, forest as far as the eye could see, and a will river making its way through the landscape. The sun was shining brightly and made the surroundings shimmer in the light almost fairy-like. I could see a mountain road with a couple of range rovers making it to the top. At the top was a beautiful villa that looked like a luxurious resort. The building was mostly made from glass and surrounded by a massive infinity pool.
The helicopter flew us to the roof of the villa where it landed on a runway that could fit a plane. I stepped out of the helicopter and saw a man in a fancy brown suit. He had a pretty sensual face and long brown hair but a big scar on his cheek disturbed the image. He smiled charmingly but his cold dark eyes didn’t follow his smile. A chill went through my spine when I looked into his dark eyes. There was cruelty there that scared me. “Who is that?” I asked Tomasso while staying close to him.
“That is Alpha Carlos. Be careful around him. He and his wolf Scar share a passion for violence.”
Don Lorenzo walked toward Carlos and the men embraced each other tightly. Tomasso and I walked over, and Carlos’s eyes got wide when he looked at me. “Who is this lovely surprise you brought instead of Allesandro?”
Don Lorenzo put his arm around me and said, “This is Vanessa. My rising star. More clever and beautiful than is good for her. I felt she deserved to see your beautiful territory.”
Carlos his eyes slowly examined me, and he smiled at me warmly, “I normally don’t approve of having women high up the ranks but I get why you want someone as stunning as her around.”
I just stared at him feeling annoyed that again another Alpha assumed women were only good for looking pretty. Tomasso pinched my side reminding me that I was supposed to say something back. I looked into Carlos his eyes, “You honor me with your compliments Alpha Carlos. However, like Don Lorenzo said I have more to offer than looks. It might surprise you how a woman’s perspective can make a man stronger.”
Alpha Carlos laughed at Don Lorenzo, “She barks I see but does she bite?”
He stared at my breasts, “I wouldn’t mind finding out.”
Don Lorenzo tensed up, “She is off limits Carlos. She is cursed.”
Alpha Carlos quickly stepped away and clapped Don Lorenzo on his shoulder, “Ah well that is probably for the better. I have my hands full with my own feisty bitch.”
“Come on let me show you all around,” he said and when we walked to the villa, he completely ignored me the rest of the way just talking to Tomasso and Don Lorenzo.
“I guess I’m not worth talking to if he can’t talk me into bed,” I thought to myself.
“I would say not having to talk to that man is a win,” Spirit replied.
“You are talking to me again!”
“Yeah, well I don’t like fighting with you but I warned you a relationship with Duke is a bad idea so don’t come crying to me when it all goes to shit.”
I smiled happily because I didn’t feel whole without Spirit, and I knew if it came down to it she would be there for me no matter what.
I quickly followed the men into the villa where Carlos guided us through his beautiful house, every room was filled with lots of light from the windows and the most luxurious furniture. Carlos was just showing us his ballroom that he used for parties when a woman walked in. I felt like time slowed down when I gaped at what must have been the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had lightly tinted skin, long silky black hair, light brown eyes, full lips, and amazing cheekbones. She was wearing an expensive dark blue dress with high heels and definitely looked important. She strutted into the room full of confidence and walked to Don Lorenzo who kissed her hand.
“Beautiful as ever Julietta,” he said.
“Nice to see you again Don Lorenzo.” She walked to Tomasso and gave him a hug and I could see in Tomasso his eyes that he liked this woman. Then she looked at me, smiled, and shook my hand.
“Hello, my name is Julietta. I am the Luna of the Latin American packs. I must admit it is refreshing to see Don Lorenzo bring a She-Wolf.”
I looked into her eyes which seemed to be twinkling and said, “Nice to meet you, Julietta. My name is Vanessa.”
Alpha Carlos abruptly interrupted us before I could say more, “Yeah, yeah we have more important things to do than listen to boring women’s conversations.”
I frowned because of his rudeness but Julietta linked her arm with mine and whispered, “Pay him no mind. He doesn’t like sharing the spotlight.”
For the rest of the tour Julietta stayed at my side giving me information about the business while Carlos was just trying to show off how successful he was. He showed us where they make the booze that they sell through their werewolf network. He let the men taste their best rum and whiskey, but Julietta and I got nothing. “Am I missing something or are we invisible?” I asked Julietta.
She looked unbothered when she replied, “Alpha Carlos thinks men are superior to women and therefore only they can enjoy the riches life has to offer.”
I just snorted but told myself to be more careful with my words from now on because things seemed to be a bit different in this pack. After showing us the alcohol business, we went into the Range Rovers to drive to the nearest city where one of Carlos his biggest strip clubs was. During the drive, we came across multiple villas with big fences around them. “What are those?” I asked Julietta.
“That is where the human stock temporarily is placed.”
“Human stock? What do you mean?”Content held by NôvelDrama.Org.
Julietta lifted her eyebrows at me and then looked at a camera inside the car before she smiled again and happily replied, “Alpha Carlos has a successful business in trafficking female sex workers. All voluntarily of course. Carlos enterprises is known all over the world to deliver the best quality”
I just stayed silent trying to process what I just heard. If you think trafficking drugs was bad, then this was a whole other level. I was lost in thoughts for the rest of the trip until we arrived at the strip club. Inside it was crowded with people but everyone immediately made a path when Carlos came in. They were all pretending to engage in their own business, but I could see they were all watching him closely with fear in their eyes. Scared of making a wrong move that would upset him.
Carlos sat down at a table close to the stage and Don Lorenzo and Tomasso sat down next to him. Julietta was just about to sit down when Carlos slapped her in the face. “You don’t sit next to me you dumb bitch. Have you learned nothing? This table is for men.”
I saw Julietta her eyes light up with dark fire but before she could snap at him, I pulled her away from the table. “Come on let’s sit somewhere else he is not worth it.”
Carlos already turned his attention to Don Lorenzo again and ignored us, but Tomasso looked at us with remorse. I winked at him to let him know that we would be alright and took Julietta to another table. Julietta sat down with her hand covering her cheek. “You okay?” I asked her.
She gritted her teeth, “You would think I would be used to it by now.”
Before I could respond loud music burst from the speakers. Several women came onto the stage and started dancing. The show was starting but after 5 minutes I was already bored with the women just simply taking their clothes off and dancing at the poles. There was no choreography or anything that made it a show really. I forced myself to watch the women that were clearly heavily under the influence of drugs until they all went into the audience to do private dances.
Carlos waved a busty redhead over to give him a lap dance and he grabbed her tits, slapped her ass, and even put a champagne bottle inside her. He and Don Lorenzo were laughing and drinking, and I watched them with disgust. I saw Julietta watching them with the same expression. She pointed at the stripper that submissively did everything Carlos asked, “My life would be so much easier if I could just be submissive like that, but my wolf Leia has too much fire in her.”
“You know that what he does is not okay right? No one should try to abuse you or make you feel like you are nothing.”
Julietta smiled at me sadly, “His way works though. With fear, he controls everybody in South America. No one ever dares to challenge him.”
“There are more ways to rule than with fear.”
Julietta lifted her eyebrow, “Care to elaborate?”
“Fear is one way to rule that works until there is someone that will be brave enough to challenge you. When that moment comes everyone will betray you without thinking twice because they have no loyalty towards you just fear. But if you rule with respect and people do things for you because they want to and they respect you then they will not abandon you quickly. Rule them fiercely but not cruel or dishonest and give them something in return. Some people only think of their own benefit so make sure that what you want also benefits them in some way.”
Julietta just stared at me, and I felt my cheeks getting red, “I was rambling on wasn’t I?”
Julietta still looked at me like she was assessing me, “No that’s not it. You just surprised me. You have thought about this clearly and I don’t think Don Lorenzo is the leader you are describing.”
She sipped her glass of wine and seemed to be talking to herself when she said, “Interesting, interesting indeed.”
A cold feeling went through my stomach wondering if I spilled too much to a woman I just met. I didn’t exactly make myself sounds like a loyal subject to my Alpha. I hoped that I hadn’t gotten myself into trouble, but I guessed only time would tell.