When we arrived at Cantaros restaurant, Santos went directly to the host.
"I need the special table I reserved," he said with authority.
"Santos!" I protested. "A special table wasn't necessary. A regular table would have been perfectly fine."
"No, no!" he insisted with his characteristic smile. "It's my treat, so I'm treating how I want. Besides, Marcus is coming too, so we'll be four."
"Marcus is coming?" I asked, feeling genuinely excited. "That's awesome! I really like him."
🍾「Ooh! A special meeting!」
🍾「I like this place! It has good energy!」
🍾「This is going to be interesting!」
What Alleinad didn't know was that Santos had been nervous all morning. Giovanni's order had been clear: bring the kid to the restaurant, but make it feel like a natural coincidence. Santos, who usually handled these situations with ease, found himself struggling with conflicting feelings about involving someone so young in his world.
Jonathan, for his part, had been internally debating since the phone call. The orders he'd received the night before not to contact Alleinad had been clear, but when his friend called him directly, he hadn't known how to refuse without raising suspicion or breaking his heart.
The host, who looked more like an executive secretary than a restaurant employee, led us through the main dining room to a more private area. Jonathan walked behind us, quieter than usual.
We entered a separate room with an elegant round table. There was a man sitting in the center, and right next to him was Marcus.
"Marcus!" I exclaimed cheerfully, approaching to shake his hand. "So good to see you again!"
Marcus smiled, but seemed a little more formal than I remembered. "Alleinad, I want you to meet my friend Giovanni. He works with Santos and me."
I turned toward the man in the center with a big innocent smile, extending my hand.
"Nice to meet you, Giovanni! It's a pleasure to meet you."
When Giovanni saw that smile for the first time in person, he felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. Marcus and Santos's reports about the kid hadn't prepared him for this scene. He had completely the essence that scared him most: a kid who, despite all the trauma he'd suffered, could still smile with that genuine innocence.
However, what disturbed him most was the file he'd received that morning and couldn't get out of his head. Marcus had worked all night to get information about Alleinad's "kidnapping," and what he'd found was much worse than anyone had imagined.
Alleinad Gilbert wasn't just a traumatized college student. He was the sole heir to Gilbert Pharmaceuticals, a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And his own mother, Teresa Gilbert-Ramirez, had literally sold him as human property to the Kozlov Brothers, one of the most despicable and lowest-ranking criminal circles on the entire East Coast.
The Kozlovs weren't simply criminals; they were human traffickers who specialized in "breaking" their victims before selling them to the highest bidder. The fact that Alleinad had escaped from them was almost a miracle. That he'd maintained his sanity was completely a miracle.
Worse still, the records showed that Teresa had sold her own son to pay gambling and drug debts that she and her new husband had accumulated with various lenders, including some associates of Giovanni's own organization.
[DETECTING: Charismatic presence, natural authority]
[NEW ABILITY UNLOCKING...]
When Giovanni returned my smile, I swear I saw something in his eyes breaking. For a moment, it seemed like he was seeing... a child.
"The pleasure is mine, Alleinad. Please, sit down."
I sat in the chair he indicated, and we began talking about trivial things: the weather, the restaurant's food, how I'd done with my new ID and my new name Alejandro. But after a few minutes, I began to notice something strange.
Marcus, Santos, and Jonathan seemed very serious and rigid. It wasn't the relaxed attitude you'd expect at a meal among friends.
╔════ NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED ════╗
║ [BEHAVIORAL ANALYST] - Level 2 ║
║ Type: Social observation ║
║ Description: Detects behavioral patterns, ║
║ social hierarchies and power dynamics ║
║ Effects: ║
║ • Identifies authority roles ║
║ • Detects nervousness/tension ║
║ • Analyzes body language ║
║ Status: ACTIVE ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════╝
The new ability let me see what my mind already knew. The body posture, the way all three addressed Giovanni, how they waited for him to speak first...
"So you're the boss," I said without thinking, the words coming out of my mouth before I could stop them. I realized what I'd said, covered my mouth with my hands, and jumped.
The silence that followed was absolute. Marcus, Santos, and Jonathan looked at me with completely open eyes, clearly surprised by my direct observation.
At that moment, all the guys experienced a mix of emotions. Marcus felt a pang of professional pride: he'd been right about the kid's exceptional observational skills. Santos felt simultaneously impressed and worried: if Alleinad could read the situation so easily, what else might he deduce?
But for Giovanni, that demonstration of sharp intelligence only confirmed what the file had revealed: this wasn't an ordinary kid who'd had bad luck. This was someone who had been systematically betrayed by the people who were supposed to protect him, and who despite that, had managed to not only survive but thrive intellectually. And surely he could have learned behavioral skills to never trust anyone so easily again.
Giovanni thought about the Kozlov Brothers and felt a cold fury he hadn't experienced in years. When he finished with this lunch, he'd have some very serious conversations with certain people about trading rich heirs like cattle.
Giovanni laughed, but it wasn't a laugh of happiness. It sounded surprised, maybe even impressed.
"How did you know?" he asked with genuine curiosity.
"The attitude of all three says it all," I explained, feeling a bit self-conscious for speaking without thinking. "They're rigid, formal, like there's someone important in front of them. I studied human behavior in university and combined it with my medical studies. Social hierarchy patterns are pretty obvious when you know what to look for."
Everyone fell silent, I think deducing everything I'd said. The tension in the room was so much that I didn't notice—
GROOOOWL
My stomach rumbled loudly, completely breaking the seriousness of the moment like those funny moments in anime. Remembering that, I felt completely embarrassed, my face turning red.
🍾「HAHAHAHA! Your stomach has perfect timing!」
🍾「Nothing like hunger to ease tension!」
Alleinad's stomach growl was like a slap of reality for everyone present. A mixture of tenderness and sadness permeated their being. Here in front of them was this kid, heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, demonstrating analytical skills that would impress veteran detectives, and yet still young and innocent enough to be embarrassed by his stomach making noise.
Giovanni remembered one of the most devastating details from the file: according to bank records, Alleinad had been living on less than $50 a day since his escape, since he used the rest to rent the hotel where he was staying, basically surviving on cheap fast food while his family enjoyed a life of luxury with money that technically belonged to him.
Giovanni laughed genuinely this time. "Marcus, call the waiter. Alleinad needs to eat something."
"You can order whatever you want," Giovanni added. "I'm buying."
I didn't want to abuse his generosity, so I ordered moderately: a steak, truffle fries, and...
"A virgin mojito, please."
I saw how everyone tensed for a moment when they heard "mojito," but when I said "virgin" they visibly relaxed. It seemed like a strange reaction, but I didn't give it much importance.
The reaction to "mojito" had been instinctive. The three adults had simultaneously remembered they had a minor sitting with them, and for a moment of panic, they thought he was ordering alcohol. Everyone thought maybe the kid had become an alcoholic. The relief when he said "virgin" was palpable, but it also painfully reminded them of the true age of the kid they were recruiting.
For Giovanni, however, that innocence only made the Gilbert family's betrayal more unforgivable. He'd seen the contract Teresa had signed: she'd sold the legal rights over her son for $2.3 million dollars, less than what the family spent on annual vacations.
After everyone ordered, Giovanni leaned back in his chair and looked at me directly.
"Alleinad, I've been told a lot about your work last night. I liked what I heard. I want to hire you permanently. What do you say?"
"Sounds good! I accept! When do I start?" I said immediately, without hesitation.
Everyone was surprised for the second time that day.
"Don't you want to think about it?" Marcus asked. "We can give you a few days to consider it."
"No, it's fine," I replied. "If the pay is good and I can work in the shadows without legal problems, that's enough for me."
The speed with which Alleinad accepted the offer broke everyone's heart in a way they hadn't experienced, but especially Giovanni's, since the death of his younger brother years ago. He knew exactly why the kid hadn't asked questions: when you've been sold as property by your own mother, any job opportunity without being discovered seems like a gift from heaven.
Giovanni made a decision in that moment that would change everything. He wasn't just going to hire Alleinad; he was going to make sure this kid recovered everything that had been taken from him. Every penny of his inheritance, every opportunity he'd lost, every betrayal he'd suffered. And as for the Kozlov Brothers and everyone who had participated in his sale... well, that would be a different conversation.
"You'd have to buy your own tools and specialized equipment," Marcus mentioned.
"I don't mind, that's fine—"
🍾「Excellent! My lovely permanently employed boy!」
🍾「Now I can give you access to what I like most about this system!」
🍾「Preparing you for the LokiMarket!」
╔════ NEW FUNCTION UNLOCKED ════╗
║ 🛒 LOKIMARKET 🛒 ║
║ Exclusive system marketplace ║
║ • Buy cleaning or normal items ║
║ • Sell found objects ║
║ • Trade drugs for points ║
║ Payment methods: ║
║ 💰 Cash ║
║ ⭐ Karma Points ║
║ Bonus: Gifts to Loki = Discounts ║
╚════════════════════════════════════╝
🍾「You can also sell things you find at scenes!」
🍾「Jewelry, drugs, valuable objects!」
🍾「And if you give me gifts, I'll give you special discounts!」
When the food arrived, I got especially excited about the truffle fries. They looked incredible.
"He wants to know if he can try the truffle fries," I said without thinking, then realized how strange that sounded. "Um, I mean, can I order truffle fries to go too?"
Stupid, I seemed like a kid asking his father for permission to take food home. I almost wanted to hit myself.
🍾「HAHAHAHAHA! Oh kid, you kill me! Maybe I should put a restriction on your thoughts!」
The innocent request about fries to go was the final blow for Giovanni. Here was the legitimate heir to hundreds of millions of dollars, who should be dining at the world's finest restaurants, and his greatest joy was being able to take truffle fries from a middle-class restaurant.
In his mind, Giovanni was already planning. The Kozlov Brothers would be the first to pay. Then would come Teresa Gilbert-Ramirez and her husband. And finally, he'd find a way to restore Alleinad to his legitimate position as heir to Gilbert Pharmaceuticals. But for now, he'd be content with making sure this kid never again had to worry about his next meal.
Giovanni looked at me with a tender expression. "Of course you can."
While they ate, everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing: how desperate did this kid have to be to immediately accept a job like this without asking questions about the risks.
After the meal, Santos took me back to the hotel. Before I left, they gave me a new phone specifically for work calls and a laptop for the same purposes.
"Welcome officially to the team, Alleinad," Giovanni said as we parted. "I think you're going to fit in perfectly."
While Alleinad left the restaurant with Santos, Giovanni remained sitting in the private room with Marcus and Jonathan. The three men were silent for several minutes, each processing not only what had just happened, but what they'd learned about the kid's true identity.
"Did we do the right thing?" was the question none dared ask aloud, but that all carried heavily in their minds. They had hired not only someone with exceptional talent, but the stolen heir to one of the country's largest pharmaceutical fortunes... and a child.
Giovanni finally broke the silence:
"We're going to take care of him. That kid is going to have more protection than he's ever had in his life. And everyone who participated in selling him is going to pay dearly for what they did."
It was both a promise and a declaration of war, and Marcus understood that his boss had just adopted not only an employee, but someone he considered family.
Jonathan, who until now hadn't known all the details of the kidnapping, realized he'd gravely underestimated the magnitude of what his friend had suffered. At that moment, he made his own silent decision: he'd do everything possible to help Alleinad recover not only his safety, but his legitimate place in the world.
As I returned to the hotel, I couldn't help feeling that my life had just taken another dramatic turn. But for the first time in weeks, it felt like a turn toward something better.
🍾「Congratulations, my agent of chaos!」
🍾「Now you're officially a mafia employee!」
🍾「Your new life is beginning for real!」
What that kid didn't know was that in the private room he'd just left, three men were planning not only to protect him, but to avenge every injustice he'd suffered.