Millie stood slowly after Mateo’s smug little taunt. Her spine straightened, eyes scanning the twelve men seated around the obsidian-glass table. Her lips curved into a polite smile, a perfect mask for concealing what she was about to do.

Then she moved quickly as Nora hit the lights of the room, blinding everyone but the two of them.

Millie dipped a hand under her dress with practiced precision, fingers wrapping around the gun strapped to her thigh. In one swift motion, the Glock was out and raised. A heartbeat passed.

Then fire.

The first bullet slammed into the chest of Don Marcelo to her right. He was still chewing a toothpick when he fell backward in his chair onto the marble floor.

Nora moved beside her quietly but quickly. Two silenced shots cracked through the air. The two old bastards on their left, Dons Esteban and Ignacio jerked violently in their seats, eyes wide, mouths trying to form words that never came. Blood poured down their silk shirts as they collapsed forward into their plates.

Screams erupted. Chairs screeched. But Millie was already on to the next.

She turned on the four seated across from her. This time, each of them took multiple brutal shots from her because she knew that they were the ones who notoriously trafficked young girls in the city. She

One of them gargled blood before slumping over.

Nora gave another don to her side a clean shot through the temple.

The last don raised his hands in surrender, stammering as he moved shakily from side to side not knowing which angle he woukd be attacked from, “Please, please, I have children—” but Millie shot him in the face before he could finish the sentence. His body twitched, then stilled.

Millie turned to see Mateo at the emergency exit door of the room. Nora had locked all the doors to keep all the guards outside.

Mateo had been shaking the door frantically but now, he was staring at her as she walked towards him.

The heels of her shoes clicked through puddles of blood as she crossed the room. The stench of iron filled her nose. Her breathing was steady.

She stopped in front of him and raised the gun to his forehead. His eyes, normally filled with that arrogant gleam, were empty now. He looked so stunned and confused.

Millie leaned in, close enough to smell the sweat that had bloomed beneath his expensive cologne.

“You should’ve left me alone.”she whispered into his ear.

And then she pulled the trigger.

Boom.

Mateo's body jolted back, and that was it.

*********

“Miss Garza?” Mateo’s voice shattered the vision like a stone through glass. “Are you going to keep us waiting or what?”

I blinked rapidly, coming back to the heavy silence of the boardroom.

I gave a small, controlled smile. “I don't have anything to say for now,” I said, voice steady despite the war raging in my chest. “But I will speak to my father. As soon as he allows it, we shall be contributing a huge sum to advance this cause. We will also be giving a significant number of our best men to join the association’s territory guards.”

Mateo clapped his hands slowly. The rest of the dons joined in, scattered applause echoing through the room like a forced celebration.

He nodded toward the hallway behind me. “If you’d like to freshen up before we continue, the restroom is down the corridor.”

I rose from my seat, my heels clicking against the marble as I walked out, each step tightening the coil of anger in my stomach. As soon as I was inside the restroom, I locked the door behind me and exhaled sharply. Then I gripped the edge of the sink hard and leaned forward until my forehead nearly touched the mirror.

My reflection stared back at me- a stranger I did not know

“God damn it,” I hissed, barely able to keep my voice down. “That fucking bastard.”

“He knew,” I whispered. “He knew exactly what he was doing. Putting me in front of all those men, testing my mask to see if I would crack.”

“I should have shot him right there,” I muttered. “I wish I could just wipe that smirk off his stupid face with a hollow point"

"Fuck! That fucking son-of-a-bitch." I tried to keep my voice low but my anger didn't allow it.

Luckily, I was the only one in the ladies.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of the toilet flsuhing.

One of the stalls opened and an old lady whom I had never met stepped out.

She looked shabby, too shabby to associate with any of the dons including Mateo.

She didn’t look at me, she just washed her hands, cleaned it with a paper towel and left.

She was probably a janitor or something.

As soon as she left, I counted to five.

Then I adjusted the front of my dress, swiped my hands over my hips, and fixed my face in the mirror before leaving.