Light flooded into Karla's boudoir the next morning, waking her up. Through squinted eyes, she saw a woman opening the window curtain.
"Good morning madam."
Karla sat up on the bed, and took in the woman who was now bowing in front of her. She wore a gray apron over a plain white gown, and had bright carrot-colored hair. Once the woman lifted her head, Karla met her amber eyes. She was pretty, in a homely country girl kind of way, complete with freckles and a chaotic pigtail. Karla recognized her as one of the maids of the mansion.
"Amanda right?" Karla asked.
"Yes, but everyone calls me Mandy." The woman replied. "Only Miss Nana insists on calling me by my full name." She had a British accent.
"Your breakfast madam." Mandy lifted a tray containing scrambled egg, waffles and a glass of orange juice, which she had kept on a stool earlier.
"Please call me Karla. Madam sounds suffocating." Karla stretched her neck as she said.
"Where should I keep your food?"
"Drop it back on the stool. I need to brush my teeth first."
"Okay M-Karla." Mandy carefully placed the tray where she had lifted it from. "Is there anything else you need?" She stood upright in front of Karla.
"Yes. I need you to stop being so formal with me." Karla replied. "We're either the same age, or you're older. Besides, I don't give a crap about all those maids and bosses shit."
Without realizing it, Karla grabbed a waffle, and took a bite out of it.
"And I just ate without brushing my teeth." She rolled her eyes, once she became aware.
The sight of Karla sitting cross legged in a baggy night robe, munching on a waffle while talking, and obviously regretting it, made Mandy laughed. She laughed light, but deep. Karla smiled at Mandy loosening up with her.
"I must admit, you are not like any of the master's other mistresses." Mandy remarked.
"Oh. The 'Lord'," Karla did air quotes with her fingers. "has had other mistresses?"
"Many actually. Women seem to find a certain appeal in him. In truth, I see his good looks only on the outside, within..." Mandy's stopped talking mid sentence, and her eyes widened in horror. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." Karla said. "I know a monster when I see one."
It was true. Years back, Raul had been Kevin, but now he was Raul, the leader of a notorious mafia. To rule monstrous people, you have to be an even greater monster. There was no way around it. Karla would be foolish to not acknowledge that.
"Does that have something to do with your meeting with him last night?"
"What!?" Karla yelped.
"A group of people caught Lord Raul leaving your room. They say he looked furious." Mandy explained coolly.
Almost choking on the waffles in her mouth, Karla cleared her throat. The happenings of the previous night had already spread. Karla waited, but Mandy said nothing else. That was good. If Karla wasn't getting bombarded with questions, it meant the reason for Raul's rage hadn't gotten out yet. Hopefully. Karla prayed it stayed that way. She had enough on her plate without the entire household mentioning her history with Raul.
"It's nothing, really." Karla said.
"If you say so." Mandy said.
She smoothened her apron. "I must leave now. I have chores waiting to be done."
Before Mandy stepped out the door she'd just opened, she turned and made eye contact with Karla.
"You are kind, but don't act that way with other maids. They aren't like me. Kindness means weakness to them, and you'll only be disrespected for it." Mandy warned Karla, then left the room.
After digesting Mandy's warning, Karla decided to heed it. The maid always knew best. An hour later, a different maid, Aurora, came in to retrieve the dishes, and Karla treated her accordingly. Karla noticed a slight rude edge to her voice. She, in actuality, didn't seem a bit like Mandy.
Once Karla had the boudoir to herself again, and nothing to do, she decided she needed to get out. She wasn't very sure she was allowed to do that, but she couldn't stay couped up in that room forever. Karla took a long shower, then looked for an outfit in the closet. She was able to find a decent bell bottom jeans, but she had no such luck in tops. At the end, she settled for a peach colored button crop top that showed off plenty of cleavage.
Karla was about rounding the corner of the hallway outside her room, when she overhead two voices conversing. Her back on the wall, so the people round the corner couldn't see her, she listened attentively, and recognized those two voices as Nana and Raul.
"Why do you never listen to me!?" Nana snapped.
"Honestly Nana, if you weren't like a mother figure to me, I would have thrown you out a long time ago." Raul huffed, evidently exasperated.
"That's because I'm always right! Why keep the whore if she can't satisfy your needs. You spent $200 million on her for God's sake! You should send her to the cathouse and get a capable mistress."
This was bad news. It looked like the news of Raul storming out Karla's room had spread too far. The head of household, and obviously an important person to Raul wished for Karla to be evicted. If Raul listened to her, and sent Karla away early, then Karla won't be able to complete her mission.
The mission.
For the first time, it dawned on Karla that she wasn't just at the Valdezian Mafia's headquarters to kill its leader, she was there also to kill her old friend. Her breathing became heavy, and her head felt light.
"Whether she can satisfy me or not is up to me to decide." Raul said with finality.
No sound came from either Raul or Nana for quite some time, so Karla figured they had both left. She took in a deep breath, and proceeded to round the corner. This brought her face to face with Nana.
"Eavesdropping, aren't we?" Nana scowled at her so maliciously.
Karla made to defend herself, but Nana didn't give her a chance to speak.
"I don't know what you did to Raul to make him want to keep you, but you have a week." Nana said. "One week. And if he doesn't sleep with you before your time elapses, be assured you won't have a place in this mansion anymore." She walked away.
And there was another unexpected twist of events. As if there wasn't enough already. Karla couldn't carry out her assignment until she came up with a proper plan and escape route, but both would be impossible if she was kicked out. In light of that, getting Raul in her bed should be the new priority. That said, it didn't look like Raul wanted his dear old friend as of late.
That's right. Karla gnashed her teeth. Raul was her dear old friend. God! Karla really didn't want to do this. She didn't want to kill Raul. He might be a criminal now, but they had so many wonderful memories together. She didn't want to tarnish them, to paint them with his blood she shed. She had previously avoided taking on targets who had a personal connection to her because she knew it would be painful, and the guilt would be overwhelming. But this, what she was feeling, was too much.
In essence, she needed to pick between her father, or Raul. If she didn't pull through on this mission, then her father would be put to rest. Karla couldn't eat her cake and have it, she had to sacrifice one, and she chose Raul.
It was what he got for messing with the Cartel.
TEASER: KARLA WORKS ON SEDUCING RAUL.