Five Weeks Later

~ Santiago's POV ~

"So you're all clear on the plan?"

The three of them nodded for about the billionth time that day while Arturo also let out a chuckle.

"Calm down Santi, you know us, we got this."

"No." He rolled his eyes at my harsh and short reply before he nodded his head, looking back down at his phone.

"All our men are ready and in position. Noah will go to the first warehouse, Nicolas at the second, me at the third and you, Santi, at the fourth. We don't come back until it's done and-"

"And if it's not done, don't bother coming back." Arturo glared at me when I cut him off but thankfully he chose to stay quiet.

"We're ready when you are Santi." I glanced over at Noah before I let out a sigh and nodded my head, standing up from my place on the couch.

In that moment I was well aware this could be the last time I was with all three of them together.

Anything could go wrong.

"Let's go."

Leaving mine and Arturo's suite, we all went down to lobby and instead of leaving from the front entrance of the hotel, we went through the back. It just allowed us to be a little more discreet when getting into the numerous black SUVs that were waiting for us.

"Good luck." I rose an eyebrow at Arturo who stopped next to me just as I was about to get into my car which would take me to the warehouse I was responsible for.

"Good luck? This isn't a school sports day."

Of course he just let out a laugh at my response before nodding his head.

"You didn't say goodbye to me so I had to think of something to say so that we could speak."

"You're acting like a little girl with a crush. Stop being so clingy." Arturo smirked, stepping closer to me causing me to narrow my eyes at him. "Or maybe a big boy with a crush."

He wiggled his eyebrows at me and as much as I wanted to glare at him for his stupid response, I couldn't stop the small laugh that escaped my lips.

"You're an idiot. I'll see you later."

I hope.

Just as I was about to get into the car, I turned back to face the man who'd pretty much been my only real family for years.

He was like my brother and bestfriend wrapped up into one. The fact this could end up being our last conversation if this goes wrong definitely wasn't a nice feeling.

"Don't screw up."

He nodded his head, a smile tugging at his lips.

"I love you too Santi."

I rolled my eyes at his words although I didn't bother to hide my smile. Without another word I got into the SUV, ignoring the men that were already sitting in there waiting for me.

The car was deadly silent as we drove and soon my attention drifted down to my phone.

In the last five weeks I'd had 29 missed calls from Madison and 65 texts which all showed exactly how she felt about me not getting back to her. They weren't exactly polite either.

I did want to call her back but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. What was I supposed to tell her? That it was highly likely she may never see me again if things go wrong with our plan to take down the most dangerous organised crime group in Mexico?

I just had to wait until after today. Once this particular part of the plan was carried out I would know, pretty quickly if El Dios Del Diablo were real. If they were as good as the rumours suggest, they'd know it was me who pulled it off and they'd retaliate pretty quick.

Pftt, if they were as good as the rumours suggest, they should see this coming anyway.

"Jefe we're here." (Boss)

I looked up from the numerous text messages from Madison to see that we were parked in a deserted carpark where more of my men were already doing whatever task had been assigned to them.

We all got out the car and almost instantly I was bombarded with questions and issues that needed dealing with.

The worrying thing about it was that I was able to handle all of the problems and I'm sure Arturo could on his side, but Nicolas and Noah...I wasn't so sure.

They're good but I don't know how much I would trust them with my life and consequently the lives of my family back in LA.

After a while of directing people to do their jobs, we were finally ready to get the plan into motion. Most of the men stayed behind in the carpark as I got into the same SUV with three men. Two were there for backup and one was a specialist in this kind of mission.

We drove down the last couple of roads until we could see the warehouse in the darkness ahead of us.

"Just wait. I have men watching the perimeter of each warehouse. When it's time and you see the signal, then you go."

Arturo didn't say a word as he waited on the other side of the phone, along with Noah and Nicolas since we were on a four way call.

We waited and waited until I finally saw what I was looking for.

At exactly 10:32 every night the guards switch over and meet on the opposite side of the building to do one sweep of the warehouse together before the next guard started his shift.

Our calculations from the last five weeks told us that we had exactly 6 minutes and 17 seconds until he would be back.

This was the same for each warehouse we had managed to locate and identify as being the largest warehouses for the production and storage of drugs in Mexico City. They were the largest warehouses which didn't belong to me, so by default they would have to belong to El Dios Del Diablo, if they did exist.

"Has the guard moved?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"No."

As soon as I heard Nicolas say no, I suddenly felt that feeling of dread, like my heart dropped in my chest.

"Nicolas...what do you mean?"

"He's just standing there. He hasn't moved yet."

I heard Arturo let out a curse word as I shook my head.

The one day we counted on them doing their usual routine and this fool decides not to move.

I could suddenly sense the panic around me as my guys in the car looked at me waiting for an indication of whether the plan was going ahead, and I'm sure the rest of them in the other cars were doing the same.

"Everyone else stick to the damn plan. Send your guys in, arm the explosives and get out of there. Nicolas if he doesn't move in the next minute you don't go, I'm not letting you risk your life."

"But Santi-"

"No. Don't argue with me, your guys won't have time to get in and out. You'll get caught."

I could hear him mumbling something to himself but thankfully he didn't argue. As soon as the guard I was watching was out of sight, I started the final drive towards the warehouse.

With the headlights off to obscure the car even more, I drove towards the back end of the warehouse which had the easiest entry point for my men to get in. As soon as I stopped, the three of them got out, doing what they were trained to do which was get in, arm the bomb and get out in record time.

"Arturo?"

"They've gone in, I'm waiting in the car." I nodded my head, mentally checking Arturo off the list for now.

"Noah?"

"They're going now, we just pulled up."

"Nicolas?"

"We're on, he's moving." I let out a sigh of relief, nodding my head as I waited in the quiet car alone.

"Be careful. Make sure your guys look for anything out of the ordinary before they go in, we've been watching them for almost five full weeks and this hasn't happened before."

Nicolas mumbled and 'okay' before he started speaking to his men in a hushed tone.

A few minutes passed while we all waited for our guys to go in and arm the bombs intended to blow up each warehouse.

"What if something goes wrong?" I frowned at Noah's words as he spoke in a quiet tone, now that it was just the four of us listening into the conversation.

Noah was the one out of all of us who felt things the most, he never found it very easy to separate his emotions from his job.

"It won't, don't say stuff like that." Arturo on the other hand found it the easiest. Apart from the ones he loved like us and his family, he never cared about anyone else.

As he would say 'whatever happens to them is their own fucking fault'.

Before I could say another word, the doors to my car opened causing me to jump, my hand instantly going to the gun resting on my lap.

"Jefe, it's done. Let's go." I let out a sigh of relief as my men got back into the car.

"My side is done, let me know when you are too."

Arturo mumbled an 'okay' as I started the drive away from the warehouse, the other two just stayed quiet.

We went back to our original place in the deserted carpark and it wasn't long until everyone had checked in with me, confirming that they'd managed to get the bombs inside.

"Whenever you're ready Santiago."

I let out a sigh when Arturo spoke on the otherside of the line before I turned on my feet and faced the warehouse in the distance.

Anything else that happened in this story would be traced back to this moment when I may or may not have stupidly blown up four of their largest warehouses where they housed their drugs.

As Vidal said, to get the attention of a cartel leader you have to mess with their stock - with their drugs.

They screwed with me for so many years by letting me think I was on top.

They wanted to play a game, so my response to that is - let's freaking play.

"Do it on the count of three."

"1...2...Let's see how damn strong you are...3."

As soon as I said I finished the count down, a large bang sounded from the warehouse before it all burst into flames before my eyes.

"Is it done?"

Once the three of them had confirmed that their warehouses had also blown up, I admired the dancing flames in the distance before I eventually started the drive back to my hotel.

I guess now we wait and see.

~ Madison's POV ~

"Jesse...you didn't have to..." He gave me a wide grin as I stepped aside, allowing him and Apollo into the house. I took the bouquet of red roses from him, trying not to show the confusion on my face as I held them in my hand.

"Anything for you Madison."

I let out an awkward laugh as I closed the front door to Santiago's house, turning back for a second to call the twins who were getting their jackets.

"I'll just put these in some water and then we'll go?"

He nodded his head, smiling when we heard the patter of feet from upstairs. When I turned around, the twins were standing at the top of the stairs with their jackets. I gave them a smile as I walked through the entry hall to the kitchen to quickly put the flowers in a vase.

"Mama!"

I had the most impatient children on the planet.

"I'm coming!" Rolling my eyes I quickly grabbed my house keys and my phone before heading back out to the front door.

The house has been weirdly quiet since Santiago left all those weeks ago. The twins and I were so used to living in my two bedroom apartment that suddenly living in such a huge house wasn't easy for us to adjust to.

The only rooms we used were the kitchen and living room downstairs and the twins' room and bathroom and Santiago's bedroom where I slept along with his bathroom.

The house has at least 20 rooms and we used six of them.

At least when Santiago was here he would use his office and the gym and sometimes we would all eat together in the dining room or something.

It felt more like a home when he was here.

But that was five weeks ago. We're used to it now.

"Ready?" I nodded my head as I reached the front door where Jesse had stayed with Apollo thankfully. I really wasn't comfortable with him bringing Apollo into the house without checking first with Santi if he was okay with having dogs in the house.

He'd been gone for so long and I was still that nice bitch who always put him first.

As soon as I shut the front door, we started our walk down the driveway and down the road Santiago lived on. For the last few weeks Jesse had been coming over regularly so that we could take the twins on a little walk with Apollo.

It was really cute watching them interact with the dog, but all it did was unfortunately make them more insistent on getting one for our family.

"How've you been?"

"Good, just getting on with shifts at the hospital and looking after my little rascals." Jesse let out a chuckle when I gestured over to the twins who were holding Apollo's lead and guiding him forward.

"They're not that bad, they're growing on me." He flashed me the smile that used to make me so weak at the knees, as we walked now through a little forest.

"How's work?" He nodded his head, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. "Good, really good actually. I think I'm close to getting a promotion."

"Oh, Jesse, that's great! Let me know when you get it and we'll celebrate." He let out a laugh at my words.

"I'm not completely sure I'm going to get it but I appreciate your faith in me anyway." Once again he smiled at me before he went over to check on the twins.

He was actually really good with them, especially when they were playing with Apollo who was also warming up to the twins more and more every time he saw them.

"Have you heard anything from him?" I glanced over at Jesse who was already looking at me when I eventually shook my head.

"No, nothing."

I knew exactly why he was asking me this, it was so obvious and the roses he brought me just made it even clearer.

I had tried to explain the situation with Santiago to him. But, I think the fact he wasn't actually home and hadn't been for the last five weeks coupled with our turbulent relationship gave Jesse some kind of idea.

An idea that there was a chance for us again.

"Maybe...it's time you move on from him Madison. If he was serious about you, Cameron and Mackenzie, don't you think he would have contacted you by now?"

"He is serious. Santi is...he's complicated - his life is complicated."

Jesse didn't know anything about Santiago's life or our past, but going off the information I had given him, he still thinks there is hardly anything between us.

I honestly wish that was the case. Santiago had managed to worm his way back into my heart, in such a short amount of time but the this time I wasn't so sure it was just in a friendly way.

I had no clue what I felt for him.

I was supposed to hate him, but deep down I knew that was impossible. After all, he would always be that little boy who gave me both his Twinkies when I didn't have any lunch and that teenager who never failed to call me beautiful.

Deep down my bestfriend was there, at least I hoped so.

"Complicated? He's been on a business trip for five weeks Maddie. We both know that he's not just there for business, otherwise he would have called you back by now."

"You don't know what you're talking about Jesse." I don't know why I felt the need to defend Santiago against Jesse's words, but I just did.

"Maybe, but I know how I feel about you - how I've always felt about you. Madison, I'm here, I'm right here."

My steps slowed as we finally reached a little clearing where the twins were playing with Apollo and while they were distracted I continued my conversation with Jesse.

"I can't give you anything right now Jesse - I'm not available."

"But you're not with him."

"No I know, I'm not with anyone but right now I'm good with just being single. I'm still dealing with the death of my father and now with Santi gone, I've got so much going on. I just...I don't want to lead you on."

I could tell he was disappointed, not that it bothered me much. Jesse meant a lot to me, but that was a long time ago. In that time I became a mother, something which completely changed my outlook on life and relationships and friendships.

Deciding I was done with the conversation I just about managed to give him a forced smile and instead I went over to the twins to give them some company.

We ended up playing with Apollo in the clearing for a little while longer, throwing sticks for him to fetch and things like that before we started the walk back to the house.

"Do you love him?"

Jesse's question caught me off guard as we walked.

This guy really didn't know when to leave shit alone.

"No."

Are you sure?

It didn't look like he believed me, even when I spoke in an emotionless tone, but he didn't push me on it.

"He's a lucky man."

I didn't know what to say to him as we finally came to a stop outside the gates to Santiago's house.

"I guess I'll see you soon then?" Wordlessly I nodded my head while he bent down to say his goodbyes to the twins. As he stood up he, once again, caught me off guard when he gave me a quick hug.

Ignoring the way Kenzie was staring at us, I gave him one last smile before he walked away to his car and the twins and I walked down the drive to the front door.

"Mama is Jesse your boyfriend?"

"No Kenzie, he isn't." She nodded her head happily as we stopped at the door and I got my keys out to unlock it.

"Good because you have daddy."

My movements slowed when I heard her words and I had to force myself to focus instead of allowing myself to start thinking about Santiago again.

"He isn't here Mackenzie. Now please, both of you go upstairs and put your jackets away. I'll start making dinner."

Thankfully they both nodded their heads and did as I said while I went into the kitchen to start on dinner.

The rest of the evening went by like every other day. After dinner I gave them both a bath and then we played for a while before I eventually put them to bed.

Once I'd finally finished cleaning the house and doing the laundry, I walked into Santiago's bedroom letting out a sigh when I was once again alone in there.

You would think I would be used to him leaving me after he left when I was 18 and then after we slept together, but unfortunately I wasn't.

My heart still missed him.

Just as I was about to go into the bathroom, I saw my phone on the night stand light up and the number of notifications on the screen caught my attention.

Picking up my phone, I scrolled through the numerous text messages and missed calls from Arturo all in the last hour, starting at 9pm.

Call me back when you see this.

Madison it's important.

Madison I'm not freaking joking, call me back. Now.

He needs you.

Without wasting another second, I called Arturo back and within two rings he answered the phone.

"Madison what the hell? I've been calling you for the last hour." When he spoke his voice was hoarse which only added to the worry that was slowly bubbling up inside me.

"I know, sorry my phone was upstairs. What's wrong?"

He fell silent for a moment before he eventually spoke in a much softer tone.

"Santiago is in hospital. You need to get here now, I don't...I don't know if he'll make it."

As soon as I heard his voice break, my heart did exactly the same.

"W-what?"

He didn't reply as the news sunk and I felt my heart start to crack as if it was preparing itself to completely shatter.

"Where?" My voice came out barely above a whisper when I questioned him again.

"Mexico City. I'll send you all the information for our private jet and the hospital we're at. Leave now, don't waste time."

He didn't wait for me to say anything else and instead he hung up the phone. For the next minute I just stood there, gripping my phone tightly in my hands as I replayed his words in my head.

Santiago's in hospital.
I don't know if he'll make it.
Leave now, don't waste time.

How much time did I have?

I was suddenly brought out of my thoughts when my phone vibrated in my hand catching my attention. Looking down at the screen I saw that Arturo had indeed sent me the information for their private jet at LAX and also the name of Santiago's hospital.

Without delaying any further, the first thing I did was call my mom, hoping that she was still awake since it was already 10pm.

"Hello?" He tired voice sounded on the other end of the line as I hurriedly began rushing around the room to find my passport that Santiago had taken from me when I was going to leave with Asher.

"Mama, I need you."

"Madison?" I could sense her confusion when she heard the panic in my tone while I began rummaging through Santiago's things.

"Please can you come over. I need you to look after the twins, Santiago is in hospital and I..."

My voice broke as the words rushed out of my mouth.

"What? Is he okay?"

"I don't know, I don't..." A sob escaped my lips at the thought of losing Santiago all over again.

This time for good. This time he really would be dead.

I could hear movement coming from the otherside of the line before my mom spoke again.

"I'll be there soon Madison. Don't worry."

She didn't wait and instead hung up the phone, leaving me to get on with my packing.

My passport.

Turning my attention back to Santiago's drawers I found letters and documents, many different car keys, condoms and finally three passports which belonged to the twins and I.

I packed my passport into my purse with some money and my phone charger before I grabbed my suitcase and started packing my clothes. I threw in as many pairs of leggings, sweatpants, T-shirt's, hoodies and trainers as I could find knowing I wouldn't be needing any other attire.

Once that was done I packed my skin care and make up, along with my hairbrush, hair straighteners and toiletries.

By the time I was done packing, I had a little time to wash my face and throw my hair up into a messy bun before changing into a more comfortable outfit for my flight.

Once all my things were ready and waiting by the front door downstairs, I went upstairs to the twins room where they were both fast asleep. My tears began flowing down my cheeks as I stopped in the gap between their two beds, getting down on my knees and placing a kiss on each of their cheeks.

I didn't want to wake them up now to explain that I had to leave because knowing them I would never be able to leave if they started crying. The easiest way was for me to go and then call them and explain it to them over the phone but that was also the most painful way for me.

I just didn't have the time to do it now. I had to leave, I had to leave them behind.

It's just for now.

I'd never been away from them for more than one night, the thought of being in another country without them just brought a kind of pain to my heart that I'd never felt before.

"I love you both so much. Mama will be back soon, I promise my babies. You'll be okay, I promise you'll both be okay and I'll be back with daddy soon." I stroked Kenzie's hair as she slept before I kissed her forehead and then did the same with Cameron. Tucking them in one last time I sat there for a moment just taking their sleeping figures in before I eventually left the room.

Finally, at around 10:45pm my mom pulled up to the house and I opened the front door for her before she could ring the bell and probably wake the twins up.

"Oh Maddie." As soon as she saw the broken expression on my face she pulled me in for a hug.

"He's a strong one; whatever it is, he'll pull through." I nodded my head against her shoulder as a few tears leaked from my eyes.

"Please look after them. I have no clue how long I'll be gone. He's in Mexico, not California."

I could tell she wasn't expecting me to tell her that I was leaving the country to go to Santiago, but thankfully she didn't mind.

"Oh don't worry, I'll take them for as long as you need me to. It will be nice to have someone else in the house for a change." The sad smile she gave me only made me feel guilty when I remembered she was still grieving for the loss of my father. This was probably going to make that process much harder for her, but there really wasn't anyone else I trusted with the twins apart from Santiago and even Arturo who were both in Mexico.

"Thank you mama." She gave me one last smile, placing a kiss on my cheek before she stepped away from me.

"Call me when there's any news. I'll take care of them, don't you worry about them."

I nodded my head as I picked up my purse and rolled my suitcase out to my car. Loading them into the car, I got in and started the drive to LAX.

I tried to keep my thoughts focused on the task at hand which was getting to the airport as quickly as I could without letting my thoughts drift.

Following Arturo's instructions I found the hangar where their jet was parked outside and as he said there was already a crew there waiting for me.

As soon as I pulled up, someone took my suitcase from the car and someone else came to check my passport before ushering me into the plane. Once they'd done all the preflight checks it was already 12am when we eventually took off, starting the four hour journey to Mexico City.

For the entire flight I was on edge. My mind was focused just on Santiago and what was going on in the hospital. I couldn't sleep even though I was exhausted, I couldn't eat and I couldn't bring myself to watch anything on the tv to distract myself.

I just sat there, wrapped up in a blanket worrying about the man who somehow managed to throw my life into chaos on more than one occasion.

By the time we landed it was almost 6am in Mexico City since they were two hours ahead of LA where it would have been 4am.

Kenzie usually wakes up around 4am.

I gave a curt smile to the pilot who was standing to the side as I got off the plane and made my way over to the car which was waiting for me.

Once my bags were in the car, I told the driver the name of the hospital and unfortunately it was another half an hour drive from the airport to the hospital in the city.

Sitting in the back of the car, I kept my attention focused on the sunrise which was somehow managing to keep me calm as we drove.

Considering I hadn't slept a wink and I was absolutely worried sick, I'm sure when I arrived at the front desk of the hospital with my suitcase, the receptionist was probably terrified.

Of course she was professional enough not to show any emotion.

"What room is Santiago Hernández in?"

When she heard his name, she typed it into the iPad she had next to her on the desk before looking up at me with sympathy in her eyes.

"Room 14 in the Intensive Care Unit on the third floor."

Intensive care units were where patients were usually treated for more life threatening illnesses and injuries.

I managed to nod my head before I made my way to the elevator.

I would have expected to feel something...dread, heartbreak, worry. But I felt nothing. I just felt numb - like it was my body's way of protecting itself.

As soon as I found his room, my heart rate began to increase as I knocked on the door. Gripping the handle of my suitcase in one hand, I waited until someone finally opened the door.

My eyes met Noah's bloodshot ones as he took me in for a second before stepping aside, allowing me into the room.

As soon as I stepped in, he closed the door behind me and then went over to lean against the wall near the door. My eyes slowly travelled around the small room, noticing how Nicolas was also leaning against another wall and Arturo was sitting in the only chair in the room, right next to the bed.

Finally, I let myself look at Santiago who was lying still on the bed with a tube in his mouth to help him breathe, multiple needles in his arm and his eyes closed. The sound of the faint beeping of his heart rate was the only sound filling the room as I stepped closer to him.

Slowly, Arturo rose to his feet, coming over to where I was standing as he took my hand.

"Come on."

My hand finally released my suitcase handle which I didn't even realise I was holding in a death grip as I slowly walked towards his bed. Arturo gently pushed me down into the seat he was previously occupying as he stood next to me.

"What happened?"

If the room wasn't so deadly silent, I'm sure none of them would have even heard my question.

"He was stabbed. He's had surgery, we're waiting for him to wake up but..." There's a chance he still may not make it.

Arturo's voice was so cold and hard, yet somehow still so full of pain as he stared at Santiago lying motionless in the bed.

After the exchange of words, I turned my attention back to Santi, taking his hand in mine. The tears finally welled up in my eyes and soon began flowing freely down my cheeks as I just sat there, holding his hand.

When his hand didn't move in mine, I realised just how serious this all was and then, it finally happened. Those cracks in my heart began to increase and in that moment, it felt like my entire world was crumbling down around me.

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This chapter is so sad 😞

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