The Laws of Kings

by Jennifer Loren

  He laughs. “Of course, I did. She was a fucking whore with two bastard children that we were supposed to welcome into our home as our own? No, I wasn’t going to stand for it. He shouldn’t have stood for it, but he didn’t have the balls to kill her. He said he still loved her. How can you love a woman that does that? She’s nothing but trash at that point.” Austin tenses. “Easy Honey, I have a special deal for you and my brother that will keep you both alive for a while. Now, clearly, my brother could easily take my men with no problem and most likely escape with ease; however, you can’t sweetheart. Hell, you can barely stand, so if Dace here wants to surrender himself to my men, then I’m willing to make a deal for your life to be spared.” My brother looks like the monster only nightmares form. His demonic smile and wild eyes are nothing of the brother I admired and loved.

  I shake my head. “Why would I believe you? Why would you keep her alive knowing she would turn on you the first chance she gets?”

  “Oh, well that’s the beauty of my plan. You see, you surrender to save her life and she surrenders to spare yours.” Michael kisses her cheek. “Yeah… see I want more kids, and she is going to give them to me, willingly …” I stare at him in horror as Austin groans. “…eventually. For now, all I want is the perfect wife at my side when I win the election and attend the celebratory events. I assume children will come when she finally comes around and gives up on you.” I shake my head in disbelief. “Let’s see if this Stockholm syndrome is a real thing,” Michael says to Rowen who steps out of the house, chewing gum and kicking his steel toed boots against the stone façade.

  “They both look like their mothers,” Rowen says.

  “They do actually, especially Austin here. Her mother was a good fuck too.” I watch her cringe as Michael admits something we didn’t even know. He was the attacker that got away, or rather was let go by someone on the payroll. “She fought like hell too. I love that about a woman. I have wanted to find out about this one ever since I saw her. Can’t wait actually, and I am more than happy to let you go Dace and enjoy my girl here for a little while before handing her over to my friends, to fuck her to death.”

  “No, Michael, how could you hate this much? What about Sage?” I ask him, hoping Austin can get enough control of her body again to get away from the men holding her.

  “Don’t talk about my daughter, you lying bastard! You are nothing but trash and will never be anything more than that. Still, I have a heart, so here’s the deal. You surrender, Dace, and Austin will live, and if Austin here agrees to be my loving wife, then you will live too, not well, but you will live.”

  I stare at Austin as she stares at me, shaking her head. She suddenly breaks free and slams her knee into one man and fights with another as I move into help her. I get her hand and try to run, but she exerted every ounce of energy she had fighting and falls to the ground. “Austin!” I yell, diving to the ground for her.

  “Run, Dace, run!” she yells at me.

  “I’m not leaving you, not ever,” I say taking her in my arms as Michael watches on.

  Michael’s men surround us as he walks up. “Well, that was fun. Now what’s it going to be? Because, frankly, I am getting hungry, and it’s way past my dinner time.”

  Austin holds my hand, still begging me to run, but I can’t. “I’ll surrender, Michael. Just let her go. She won’t say a word, who would believe her over you anyway? Let her go. You don’t want someone that doesn’t want you.” I release Austin from my arms.

  “Dace no, please no,” Austin cries to me.

  I step forward, dropping my weapon and the car keys, and close my eyes. I don’t have to see Michael enjoy the moment that is coming. I can hear his excitement in his eager gasp. “Argh!” I scream out as Michael’s men take turns striking me with their fists and hitting me with whatever they can find. They find their own enjoyment in the payback. My ribs crack, my jaw twists, and I begin to choke on my own blood, waiting to die.

  “Dace!” Austin screams for me. “Stop, Michael!” They drop me at her side. Austin takes hold of my head and cradles me. “Stop please! Please!” I can barely see her through my swollen eyes, but her tender touch is comforting enough as I believe these are my last minutes of life.

  “Strike him again,” Michael orders as Austin is pulled away from me. I scream out again as my leg is broken in two.

  “Stop!” Austin cries out. “I’ll do whatever you want. Please just stop. Don’t hurt him anymore.”

  I twist the best I can to search for her and try to argue, but all I can see is Michael’s smiling face. “Now isn’t this a great moment. He surrenders himself for her, and she surrenders herself for him, now that’s love. I wouldn’t have believed that you two loved each other so much. I thought you were just fucking. I tried everything with you Austin. I was as nice and as sweet as I could be, yet you still fucked him. I even considered cutting off his dick, but now I know that probably wouldn’t have worked either because you two are actually in love. How sweet and yet very useful to me. Say goodbye, Sweetheart. We have a life to build or, maybe, we can consummate the marriage finally? Oh that might be fun. Do you want to watch, Dace?” He leans over me and grabs me by the hair. “What do you say?”

  “Fuck you,” I breathe hard.

  “That’s a no then? Oh well, this isn’t exactly the nicest of places to fuck anyway. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you are aware when it happens.”

  “You son of a bitch!” I try to crawl to her as she tries to get away from the men surrounding her. “No,” I groan. Austin’s cries become louder. “Austin!”

  I feel her hand briefly before I hear her dragged away and shoved into a car. The harder I try to move, the more pain I am subjected to. My only relief from this hell is when the pain becomes too much and I pass out. I wake up briefly as they put me in a truck and drive me away from Ettore who can barely look at me.

  Chapter 33

  Antony

  I waited for Dace to call, hoping for the best, but the call never came. I knew Michael had him, and I had to do something. It’s been a really bad week, but then I finally got the call I had been waiting for. Dace’s friends come through and fly into the States to meet me. I give them the information I know and hope they can help me find out the rest.

  “His own brother is holding him hostage? What kind of fucked up family is this? No wonder he was running away from them. Why in the hell did he even come back?” Peter asks. I instantly assume the guilty stance. “Oh, you’re the brother that called.” Peter steps to my side and puts an arm around my shoulders. “Well don’t worry, Heartbreak, we will get him out.”

  “How?”

  “You worry about giving us as much information as you can on your brother Michael, and we will handle the rest. What we need right now is to know where Dace was staying?”

  “Oh I’m sure they have taken over his place already and cleaned it out of anything of value,” I say, but Peter laughs.

  “Knowing Dace, I doubt that. I am sure they have tried, but they have given up finding what we are needing.”

  “Alright, I can take you there, but I can’t guarantee my brother won’t have people there waiting for me.”

  “If there are, do you mind distracting them while we access Dace’s computer?” I stare at him with wide eyes. He laughs hard with everyone following him. He slaps me on the back. “I’m just kidding. You need to loosen up. Everything is going to be okay. You can only do what you can do, no reason to stress about what is out of your control.”

  They somehow gain access to Dace’s place and his system with no problem; there is apparently a secret code between them. It is all very impressive, but it will be even more so if they get Dace back safely.

  “So who is this woman?” Leandra asks, pointing out a picture of Dace and Austin together at the cabin.

  “She’s the police chief’s daughter.”

  “Then why can’t he get his own daughter?”

  “Because Michael owns him too, so much so
that he would probably kill his own daughter for him. He is not exactly above sacrificing his daughter for his own skin. His son he might sacrifice for, but not his daughter.”

  “What a dead motherfucker he is going to be,” she says, only I am not sure who she is talking about—Michael or Austin’s father. “She’s really kind of scary,” I mumble as a man comes at my side laughing.

  “Yeah, she is, but that didn’t stop Dace from fucking her.” He laughs when I look back at her in shock.

  “Antony, come here. I want you to look at these plans,” Peter says, motioning me over to him. I walk over and only to see Michael’s house plans. I’m impressed that they managed to get them so fast. “We think Dace is being held in the basement over here? Do you know anything about this area?”

  “How do you know he’s there?”

  “We tapped into some secret military … anyway you don’t want to know things that could be held against you later, just know we heard him with some really cool technical shit.”

  “So he’s still alive?” I ask, suddenly having hope of seeing him again.

  “Yes, he is alive for sure. Not doing well, but alive,” Peter says, patting me on the back.

  “I don’t know much about Michael’s security or his house except that he has twenty-four, seven security on that place. There are cameras everywhere; however, there is a servant’s entrance at the kitchen. They deliver food and things at that entrance all the time.”

  “Good,” he says happily.

  I have never been more nervous in my life; however, none of Peter’s crew seem the least bit on edge. It’s somewhat comforting, yet I’m concerned that they may not understand the severity of what they are about to face. Fidgeting with my hands and pacing from one spot to the other, I wait for them to get all they need in order and tell me what my role is in all of this, all the while having one of their men check for me to see if Dace is still alive, and he is. I know Michael has no reason to leave him alive so why is he? Unless, he is trying to draw me in to come get him. He must know that I would never leave my brother. Maybe Ettore is helping him after all, which is even scarier. What does he have to gain by ever helping Dace and me, except problems?

  “Are you ready?” Peter asks, causing me to jump when he pats me on the back. “Easy there, Heartbreak. Everything is going to be okay. We know what we are doing.”

  “I hope you understand that my brothers are very used to handling attacks; they are well-prepared for anything that might come at them,” I say to him, waiting for him to reassure me somehow.

  Peter smiles wide and puts his arm around my shoulders. “You see all these people, Antony? They have encountered every possible situation there is; they have been to every country in every fucked up situation you can imagine, and yet, we still come out of it with our goal achieved and ready to move on to the next task. We know what our enemy is going to do before they even consider doing it. Trust me, we got this.” I nod, and he begins nudging me with a smile until I smile back. “Now you are going with Thomas over there. You are going to lead him through the house while we communicate with him through an earpiece about the comings and goings of the guards.”

  “Don’t I get an earpiece? Maybe I should be told of the plan or have some kind of idea of what we are doing?”

  “No, we will communicate with you and let you know what to do through Thomas, so don’t lose him.” I am suddenly feeling more nervous about things. “Now you know how to take on bullets, don’t you? How many do you think you can take before you can’t move any longer?” I look at him with wide eyes. “I’m just kidding,” he laughs with a roar.

  “Ha ha, that’s so funny. So I will be taking my gun for sure.” I load up my weapon before piling into the car with Thomas.

  Our driver stops and lets us out near a warehouse where food trucks are driving in and out. Thomas presses a small computer to a fence lock that then opens and allows us onto the company grounds. He leads me into the building and grabs a hat for me and places one on his head as well. We keep moving and never bother to stop, even as employees pass us. I continue following him right, left, and down a hall and then left down another until we come to a loading dock where trucks are lined up and parked. Thomas grabs a clip board on our way in and reads it quickly as we keep moving. He then tosses it into a nearby trashcan before moving even faster. “Take this,” he says, handing me a box. I take it and continue following him as he picks up a box himself and shows me a truck to load onto. We blend in and continue help loading a particular truck until they are nearly ready to go. Thomas looks around briefly and pushes me back into the truck and shuts the door. “Get in that cooler there.” I look at the container and look back at him as if he is crazy. “Don’t worry. You can do it, and it won’t be for long. Our stop is the first one.” He helps me in and shuts the container around me. I hope that he isn’t outside laughing at the gullible idiot in the box. Thankfully, Thomas was right. I don’t have to stay in long before he is helping me out of it again. We step out of the truck, and I find us right at Michael’s service entrance. We wait for a signal and then move inside to an out of the way corner. It is late at night, and I am wondering if we can find our way around in the dark. Damn Michael and his issues with seeing service people. Thomas grabs me and pushes me ahead. “Lead the way.” I walk through from one room to the next until we come to a sitting room where Michael is still up and talking to someone.

  “I am about ready for bed, I called in someone to relieve my stress unless you want to take care of it for me?”

  “I would rather you just shoot me,” Austin says.

  “Oh, Darling, I can’t possibly do that. I am having way too much fun.” There is a long silence of groans and nervous tension, when I hear a kiss. “Goodnight, be sure to get plenty of sleep. I need you looking especially bright and lovely tomorrow for a press event.” Michael leaves the room and goes upstairs.

  Austin walks out soon after and right past us. Thomas reaches out and takes hold of her arm, covering her mouth at the same time as she begins to struggle. I step in front of her to quickly get her to settle down before we all get caught. I press my finger to my lips, and she calms down instantly. I motion for her to come with us, and she does, but when we begin to take one set of stairs, she stops us and shakes her head. She points to a blinking light and Thomas follows the wire from underneath the first step.

  “It’s every other one and dead center, so step to the right side of all; just to be sure they stay consistent,” he whispers. We both nod and go ahead of him down the stairs. Austin seems to know where to go, so we follow her, slowly. She stops and pats the door in front of us that is obviously locked. Thomas listens for a second to his earpiece and then takes out a small box and begins working the heavy door with some equipment I have only seen Dace carry. I suddenly begin to wonder what all he has gotten into since he left college. When the door opens, Austin starts to run in, but Thomas stops her and feels around the inside edge of the doorframe. He smiles wide and jerks out a wire before having us move in. Austin runs in and hovers over a blanketed pile on the floor or what I thought was a pile of blankets. It is actually Dace, badly beaten and barely conscious.

  “They beat him every day. They stop just short of killing him,” she says, pulling him into her arms.

  I lean down and look at his bruised face and am surprised that he opens his eyes.

  “Hey Antony, nice of you to visit. I would offer you a drink, but I feel like shit. You didn’t happen to bring a bottle of something did you?”

  I laugh, but Thomas pulls one out and hands it to Austin to help him drink. “Alright, Antony, I need you to be a decoy and run out of the house to a car waiting for us on the other side of the gate.”

  “Ummm… that doesn’t sound good for me.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ve got it handled. You go out the front door running, and whatever happens, don’t stop and don’t look back. We are going to go out the side and hide in the food truck that’s leaving.” I
nod and look at the stairs considering when he pulls me back. “Make sure you run fast though.” He smiles and shoves me ahead. I step outside the door, take a deep breath, and … run. I run through the house and out the front door, triggering every alarm there is, exciting every dog, and setting off every motion light as I become the highlighted idiot running down the front lawn. Damn it! I should have taken a drink before I went. This would be so much better drunk. I look out and see the car waiting for me and get excited until the guns start firing. “Motherfucker! I hate this! I hate this! I fucking hate this! Oh how I fucking hate this!” I sing all the way out the slowly closing gate and into the waiting car. I slide in and breathe.

  “That went well, don’t you think?” Peter says with a nod.

  “No, I don’t. If I had known I was going to be a guinea pig, then I would have suggested another plan.”

  “That’s exactly why we didn’t tell you.”

  As we sit, Peter stares out at the house. I poke my head out and watch as Michael comes out with Sage in his arms and a crew of men surrounding him. The alarms are turned off, and I step out of the car and make eye contact with Michael as he smiles wide. He’s up to something. “Peter, he’s up to something. Where is Dace? I don’t see the food truck, where is it?”

  “Don’t worry. They’ll make it—I know it.”

  Michael hands Sage off to a woman who takes her and puts her in a car. He walks slowly towards me and stops short as his men keep him from coming too close to us. “Nice to see you again, Antony. I’m sorry to hear about your loss,” he says with an emerging sinister smile. He raises his phone up, “Now,” he says, and instantly, half the house explodes while the other is rapidly engulfed in flames.

  “Dace!” I scream. Peter and two of his men take hold of me and push me back into the car. Michael points at me and fires his fake gun as if to say I’m next. They hold me down in the car as we drive off to some place I don’t know about. It seems like we are in the car forever. The silence is killing me. When a rush of adrenaline comes over me, I sit up in a rage. “Take me back and let me kill that fuck!” No one pays attention to me. “Take me back! Take me back!”