Claudia lay on her back in the centre of the four poster, staring up at the cream ceiling of the spacious room. Next to her lay Jack, still asleep on his stomach, facing the other way. She continued to stare into space, thinking abut last night. She was engaged to Hector, was planning on marrying him, bus did she love him? No. She first got started with him because she despised living in poverty and wanted Sergio to live a better life. Over the past year she had half convinced herself that she was on, love with him, but the first time she saw Jack on the ranch her heart skipped a beat, she was attracted to him instantly. She had tried to push the thoughts of Jack out of her mind, he would not even consider anything with her, after all, she was engaged to his boss. But he did. What did this mean? Did he like her as much as she liked him? She hoped so. She rolled over and gently ran a light finger through his hair. She decided that, if he did feel the same for her, she would make something from it. It would be dangerous, yes, but it was worth it, wasn't it? Last night was, as she thought of this she began to giggle out loud. She knew Jack well enough and was pretty sure had felt something last night, other than the alcohol. She hoped he did anyway.

Jack slowly began to stir once hearing the giggles that escaped from Claudia. He rolled over onto his back so he was facing her.

"What's so funny?" he asked. His face was a picture, confusion mixed with tiredness.

"I was just thinking about last night...." Her voice trailed off as she began to wonder if it really was just a drunk fling for him.

"What about it..." He asked, beginning to feel the effect of just how much he had drank last night.

"Well, you were in a bad state," she motioned to the padding on his shoulder as she said this, "I'm just wondering if you did something you will regret, you were out of it." She laughed to try and conceal the embarrassment and disappointment in her voice, thinking he may not be interested in her.

Jack sat up against the large oak headboard, thinking about what to say.

"Why would I regret what I did last night? If Hector finds out.... then I guess I will regret it.. a lot...." he broke off laughing... "but I can't think of any other reason for why I might regret it, unless you do?"

"No!" She said whilst grabbing his hand. "Anyway, you had better get going, its six o'clock. Ramon and Lais normally pick you up at half past. If Ramon's gotta wait on you...." She broke off knowing he knew what she meant.

"Yeah I guess." He got up and began to gather up his crumpled blood stained clothes off the floor and pull them on.

"So were okay..." Claudia asked tentatively.

"Yes, more than okay. I'll call by later tonight when I get back.... if that's okay?"

Claudia's face broke out into a smile, "That's okay. I'll see you later." She blew him a kiss and he headed off.

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It took Jack 10 minutes to get across the ranch to his small apartment. Normally he would had jogged but his stomach was threatening to empty itself, and the heat made him want to pass out. He got in the shower and had it ice cold, trying to wake himself up. After this he pulled on some black trousers and herd the door open. He went through the hallway to find Lais looking for him, Ramon in tow.

At first Jack was scared, Ramon was waiting on him. A week ago he had drove Ramon to go pick up Real, and he was still in bed. Ramon and Real were very close but Ramon still beat him up. Jack and Ramon were very close, but everything went out of the window if you were late.

He quickly approached the two, trying to look confident, not show his fear:

"Sorry Ramon, I'm a little behind this morning, Just been checking through the papers from last Thursday, you see. I couldn't do it last night with what went off and all."

Ramon noticed the fear instantly, and liked the fact that people were scared of him, even his close friends. But as close as Jack and him were, he was late and they didn't have time to waste. He did help out last night though, so he decided he would leave it until they were finished for the day, he didn't want to slow him down when they were doing a deal. Plus, he wouldn't need him tomorrow, so everything would work out for the best if he waited until later. He figured he would just send a few boys round.

"Do not worry Jack. Just get ready, we have a lot to do today."

Jack nodded and headed back into the room to grab his shirt and the weapons he would need. His insides churned, not just from the alcohol, but the fact that he knew there was everything to worry about. Ramon was stupid if he thought he didn't realise he was going to wait and punish him later. Perhaps he knew about Claudia and is just waiting until after the deal, then kill him. He shrugged the thoughts off and focused on what was going on today, he would worry about Ramon and Claudia later.

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