Chapter 34: The Sweetest Con
Ander let out the deepest sigh after hanging up from his call with Reina.
He had no idea how she was going to pull off this feat – of coming face to face with her unhinged ex-boyfriend and his loyal sidekicks.
And finding an opportunity to restart the spy camera.
And finally getting out of there in one piece.
Yup, shouldn't be a problem at all.
Glancing around the eerie quietness of the classroom he was camping in, Ander let out another sigh.
The feeling of helplessness was killing him. Knowing that there was nothing he could do but to sit back and wait, while Reina was walking right into a danger zone...
It was too much.
He was utterly worried about Reina.
Would she be safe? Would she need backup? Would she be able to defend herself if things get ugly?
"I'm outside the locker room. About to step in," Reina reported in a hushed tone. "By the way, we need a code word. It'll be 'Drake', okay?"
Despite the intensity of the situation they were in, Ander was warmed by what Reina had said. Drake. It felt like an intimate inside joke between them. Just the two of them.
"Drake. Got it," he answered.
"Okay. This is it. I won't be able to hear you from now on. So I'll – I'll catch you later. Bye, Ander."
"All right. Bye, Reina. Be careful. I love you."
Wait, what?
The words rushed out from his lips before he had time to think.
Did he just say love?!
Why would he do that?
Was there any chance that Reina caught it?
Was she silent now from the shock?
And more importantly... was it true?
Did he actually love Reina?
"What the fuck, Ander?" he mumbled to himself, his mind spinning.
At that moment, the door flew open and Guzmán appeared, startling Ander out of his thoughts.
"Hey! Just saw all the group messages. What's happening now?" Guzmán asked.
Okay, focus. I need to focus.
Ander quickly updated Guzmán, and not surprisingly, his friend's eyebrows shot up sky-high.
"Reina is insane," Guzmán declared. "Not only did she not tell us exactly what she plans to do... but I have a feeling it's not going to be something rational and feasible. She's going to ruin it for us."
"I trust her," Ander insisted. "Besides, we don't have any other options, do we? She's our best chance of salvaging the plan."
Guzmán began pacing around the room. "And where is Polo? And Christian?"
"No fucking idea. With Carla, maybe."
"Fucking with Carla, probably." Guzmán couldn't help smirking. "Both of them."
"So it's down to you and me. We'll wait for Reina to give us the signal."
"And 'Drake' will be the signal?"
"Yeah."
"She's a strange girl."
"All part of her charm."
"Hey, listen. I hear voices from your phone. Turn up the volume."
Ander set his phone's speaker volume to the maximum level and held the device between himself and Guzmán.
"Reina, what the hell are you doing here?" Matteo's hostile tone came through loud and clear.
"I figured you guys need help," came Reina's response. "Since it's taking you so long to accomplish such a simple task."
"I wouldn't call committing arson a simple task." Matteo paused. "And how did you find out anyway?"
"Did you forget that I was – and still am – the queen of San Patricio? Of course I have my sources."
"Get out of here, Reina." It was Eric. "You're a fucking traitor and I don't want to see your face."
"You've always been so good with manners, Eric. You know that?" Reina said coolly.
"Only to those who deserve it," Eric retorted.
"All right, enough," Matteo's commanding voice halted the bickering. "I need to focus. We haven't heard anything from Noel who's standing guard outside, right? Eric, come help me with the kerosene. As for you, Reina, I don't know what you're up to – "
"I'm here to help. Plain and simple," Reina stated.
"Come on, Reina. We're not idiots. You expect us to just believe that?" Matteo challenged her.
"I don't. But it's true anyway. I – I've missed you, Matteo. I made a shitty, fucking mistake breaking up with you. I realize that now."
Matteo laughed. A hollow, humorless laugh. "What?! After blocking me on your phone and socials for months, now you're telling me this? Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"Look, Matteo, I know I did you so wrong. You know me. I get bored and end up looking for that next high to chase. But with Ander – I crossed the line. I shouldn't have."
"Yeah seriously, out of all the guys you could've cheated on me with, you went with some poverty-stricken scum from Las Encinas. It's fucking insulting."
"I know. It's the biggest regret of my life. He doesn't even have a car. And his parents live in the saddest little house in a suburban neighborhood. I doubt he would have gotten into Las Encinas if his mother wasn't the headmistress."
"So when did you finally wake up? Was it when he dumped you to go suck on some other guy's dick?"
"Oh, I'm really glad that someone is taking my discarded rubbish. Ander was being too clingy. And whiny. I just can't deal with pathetic losers. And the worst thing was..."
There was a brief moment of silence, followed by some rustling sounds.
When Reina spoke again, she had put on a low, sultry tone. "The worst thing was, his dick was so tiny. I could've cried when I saw it, Matteo."
Matteo laughed. This time, it was a lot more cheerful.
It sounded like Reina had walked up to Matteo and they were standing very close to each other, judging by how much louder Matteo's voice was now.
"I knew it," Matteo said with glee. "Ander Muñoz is just a loser in all aspects."
A sexy, throaty chuckle from Reina. "I need to go back to being with a real man. I've been so miserable without you, Matteo..."
Ander swallowed hard. Hearing this exchange between Reina and Matteo – it was oddly very, very hurtful.
Noticing that Guzmán was looking at him a bit too intently, Ander cleared his throat and tried to maintain a neutral expression. To ensure nothing revealed how affected he was by all of this.
Ander forced himself to recall what Reina had told him: "No matter what happens after this.. no matter what you hear – you must trust me."
He had given his word, but fuck, it was so goddamn hard to place his trust in anything right now.
Was Reina really conning the San Patricio boys?
Or was Ander the one getting conned by Reina?
For a fleeting moment, Ander couldn't be sure.
"Ex-fucking-cuse me, love birds. Are we still doing this or what?" Eric asked impatiently.
"Let's do this," Reina responded immediately. "I miss the thrill of carrying out the perfect revenge."
"This fire isn't starting as fast as I thought," Matteo muttered, his annoyance evident.
"Hey there's an open locker over there. I'm going to check and see if I can find something useful," Reina announced.
Ander perked up.
Guzmán clapped his hands. "The open locker. Great!"
That was where they had planted the spy camera.
"See? I told you that Reina would come through," Ander said to Guzmán.
"Let's not celebrate too early," Guzmán cautioned him. "We still need to wait for, ahem, the code word. I'm dying to see how she's going to bring up 'Drake' in a situation like this."
"There's so much useless junk in here," Reina reported with an impatient sigh.
Rustling sounds. And more rustling sounds.
After what felt like an eternity, Reina spoke again. "Yes! I've got it."
"Got what?" Matteo asked.
"This bottle of hand sanitizer. Which contains 70 percent alcohol. Win!"
"Nice," Matteo replied.
"It's like Drake said," Reina exclaimed with a laugh.
"What?"
"Drinking every night because we drink to my accomplishments," Reina quipped.
Eric let out a snort.
That was the last thing Ander and Guzmán heard because they had sprung up from their seats upon hearing Reina utter 'Drake'.
Ander walked over to where his Surface Book was and let out a whoop as his eyes caught the image on screen. "The spy camera is back up!"
Guzmán quickly appeared by his side, his breaths coming out in a steady stream of excitement. "Aw yeah. And from this angle, it's capturing everything those San Patricio dumbasses are doing."
Ander nodded.
Things were back on track. The plan was going well again. And soon, Matteo would get exactly what he deserved.
Ander should be feeling relieved. And triumphant.
But as Ander continued watching the camera feed, he couldn't ignore how Reina was standing really close to Matteo; putting her hand on his arm; and tossing her hair back while giggling at his words.
Ander's heart did an involuntary dip all the way down to his stomach.
This was, without a doubt, shaping up to be the most miserable victory that Ander had had to go through.