by V. F. Mason
Our hope.
Dead.
No!
Fuck no!
“Go, Dominic, take the kids and run to where we were told.” Beth and Ben were already inside the small tunnel. Dom shook his head reluctantly as the guard removed his knife from Tony’s chest, wiped it over his pants, and started to move toward us. “Go on, Dom. Go save the kids.”
“Brother!”
“No time, go!”
“Dominic,” Beth cried, and with that, they disappeared inside the tunnel as I faced the fucker who wanted to take it all away from us.
He laughed. “Kid, I fucked you once in the ass. You’ve got nothing on me.”
He was wrong.
He didn't know what it was like to be a kid stripped of everything and live in hell the majority of his fucking life. He didn’t know what it was like to be a kid whose mom was raped, his dad killed, and whose brother broke with each new day. The man had nothing on me.
I pulled the trigger, but he ducked his head, and the bullet missed its target. He launched himself at me, knocking me to the floor. We struggled. He forced me onto my back, pinning me to the floor with his weight. He was raising the hand back that clutched the knife, when a loud cry sounded. Out of nowhere, Dom jumped the guard from the side and they both fell, giving me time to scramble aside. I grabbed the gun from the floor near Tony’s body and fired at the guard’s forehead.
Relief washed over me as he collapsed. I didn’t even think how in a matter of minutes, I killed two people.
“Dom, come on. We need to go.” Dom didn’t move. Swiftly, I ran toward him, rolling him onto his back, and my heart stopped.
He had a knife protruding from his stomach. His shirt was soaked with blood.
“No, no, Dom!” I screamed, and he smiled weakly.
“Brother, this is the end. You need to live.”
“No, Dom, come on.” I removed my jacket, placing it over his wound to try to stop the bleeding, but it was impossible. His hand stopped me as he breathed heavily.
“Damian, you promised, remember? To leave me behind if it was necessary. Go.”
“It was never part of the plan. You and me together against the world, remember? Dom!” He shook his head, swallowed, and exhaled a breath.
“Damian, you’re the best brother, and I’m happy I can save you. Go. Please, leave me or my sacrifice will have been for nothing.” The familiar sound of shoes running was getting closer as he urged, “Go.” Tears ran down my cheeks. I understood nothing could save him anymore. I leaned down and kissed his forehead, closing my eyes. I squeezed his hand tight.
“You will always be part of my memories, Dom.”
He smiled shakily. “You will always be part of my heart, Damian. Go.” With one last look, I ran toward the tunnel as my heart was ripped in two.
After ten minutes, everything was over.
I was free, but my brother was gone.
As I cried silently into the pillow that night, I made myself a promise to kill every person who was part of the organization, and avenge my brother’s death.
He wouldn't rest in peace until I did.
''Damian, do you understand?'' Luke asked me once again while my attention was on the sand pit in front of us, where kids played without a care in the world. Their parents laughed along with them and snapped some pictures.
Lucky.
''Yes, you repeated this shit many times. My answer is still no.''
Luke cursed in frustration. ''Damian, your parents were part of Huston’s elite. Your father went against a crime lord, and as a punishment, they did what they did and sold you boys to John. John and Ken had no clue who he was dealing with.'' He exhaled a heavy breath. ''Your mom couldn't survive this, but she still left guidance in her will in case you were found. Juanita will be your guardian, and you have millions in your account. You can have a peaceful life, kid.''
At his words, hollow laughter escaped my mouth. My hands squeezed my stomach hard and I could barely breathe. Luke frowned, not understanding my reaction. Finally, I stopped myself and gazed straight into his eyes.
''Luke, I can never live normally, knowing they are out there doing the same shit to other kids as they did to us. They will pay. Either help me, or I'll find someone else who will.''
He shook his head, leaned back on the bench and asked with a hopeless voice, ''What do you need?''
Plan was simple.
Change my name.
Change the city.
Become part of Manhattan’s elite.
Create an empire.
Become a lawyer.
And finally, avenge my brother.
Sapphire
My body felt sore in places I hadn't known it could as I took a shower the next day and thought about the bizarre night we spent together. He guessed my every wish, every desire, and opened up a world of pleasure from a different side. What girl could want more, right?
However, as hot as his lovemaking was, I hadn't felt the connection, which usually followed his touch. Almost like he’d distanced himself from me, and every part of my body hated it. I didn't want his skills; I craved the passion he showed me. Once the sex was done, he rolled on his side, giving me his back, and just like that, everything was over.
My body took some time to doze, but finally, exhaustion allowed the land of dreams to claim me. When I awoke, Damian was nowhere in sight, and only the TV playing let me know he hadn't left.
Done with the shower, I dried myself off and put on jeans and a comfortable sweater.
Damian stood in the kitchen, fully clothed as he placed several items in his duffel bag.
“What’s going on?”
Without raising his eyes to me, he continued what he was doing. “We are leaving. Eat breakfast.”
“What? Why? Where?” All of a sudden, we needed to be gone? Was this his normal procedure after each kill? He couldn't stay in one place; was that it?
“Home. New York. Eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” I whispered, not understanding what was going on. Shrugging, he grabbed the keys from the countertop and pointed at the door.
“Let’s go then.”
Too stunned to say anything else, I followed him and waited as he closed up the house and opened the car door for me.
Once he navigated to the road to New York—turns out, we were several miles from the city—my curiosity got the better of me. “What changed your mind?” He didn’t answer. His finger searched for the right music as each of the radio stations was rejected. “Damian,” I snapped, and he finally looked at me with vacant eyes, which killed me.
“You did.” Just like that, the conversation ended and the rest of the trip was spent in silence.
Damian
What I planned to do once we got back to the apartment went against my every instinct, but if freedom made her happy, she’d get it.
Sapphire came first.
My eyes scanned the room carefully as I sipped champagne, making sure I smiled at all the important people. John Blake invited almost every elite to convince everyone he was still deeply in love with his wife.
I’d carefully studied the file on his daughter, Sapphire Blake. She studied at Columbia University, majoring in creative writing, lived in the dorms with her best friend, Sophie, and most importantly was single. Her love for books and romantic movies made her an easy target for me. Granted, I’d never used my charms to seduce anyone as innocent as she was, but sometimes, desperate times required desperate measures. I had never willingly slept with any of the women. The idea of sex repulsed me, and in those times, when women had valuable information for me or could bring me to their fathers, I just trained my body to come when required.
A romantic soul like Sapphire would find nothing more mysterious or interesting than a stranger in the night. For an hour, she sat and shifted uncomfortably. After finishing her second drink, she sighed and went out on the terrace, giving me the perfect opening. John and his wife, Nora, were too occupied with the guests to not
ice her disappearance or that some man followed her into their secret hideaway in the garden.
I barely restrained myself from laughing aloud. I knew the ins and outs of this house, and even the code to John’s safe. I could have easily turned him in to the FBI, but prison would have been too easy for him. He needed to suffer like Dominic did, and then he needed to die. Period.
Sapphire sat on the bench, admiring the view, and suddenly, her face brightened up in a smile as she tipped her head back, allowing me to admire her beauty in the moonlight, and for the first time in my fucked-up life, my chest squeezed.
Mine.
Mine! Mine! Mine! screamed the voice in my head and my cock hardened from the idea of possessing her.
In that moment, I understood Sapphire Blake wasn't an easy target, and she couldn’t be used in my carefully staged plan.
She was going to be mine.
Sapphire
The apartment.
He brought me back to the city? Without any words, Damian let me out of the car, took out the bags from the trunk, and guided us to the elevator. An older lady kept it open for us then chatted about the amazing weather, probably not noticing how tense both of us were. Finally, we ended up on his floor, he grabbed my hand as we exited the elevator, and we ended up in front of his door. He opened it quickly, but once we were inside, Damian let go of me, leaving me standing in the middle of the living room while he went to the bar and poured himself a glass of whiskey.
“We are in New York,” I said dumbly, and he chuckled.
“Yeah, I don’t decorate all my apartments the same way.”
Ignoring his sarcasm, I threw the scarf from my neck down and focused my attention on him. “What are we doing here?”
He sipped his drink, his eyes focusing on something over my shoulder. “I’m giving you a choice.”
“Choice?” A few hours ago, he made me constantly repeat that my body belonged to him, and all of a sudden, he was giving me choices?
“You can stay with me and be mine. Or, you can leave now and not come back. I won’t look for you, won’t force you to do anything anymore. You’ll have your freedom.”
I blinked, trying to wrap my mind around his words and failing to do so. “What?”
He turned his back on me, putting a few ice cubes in his glass. By the tension in his shoulders, I knew the conversation was affecting him as much as it was me. “I wanted you from the first moment I saw you. We had electrifying touches and glances, and there is chemistry between us. I dreamed of you being mine. However, I never imagined you’d compare me to those men who kept me hostage all those years.”
My body heated with shame remembering my words to him. Words said in the heat of the moment, when anger and humiliation over how easily he could master my body drove me crazy. Kidnapping me was on him, yes. But raping and using my body? No, everything had been consensual.
However, could I live with the man whose ultimate goal was to kill my father? A man whose hands were tainted with blood? A man with a lot of psychological issues, which would last a lifetime and might never be cured? Was I strong enough to be in this relationship?
Could my one and only be a serial killer?
Not having any answers to those questions, with one last glance at his back, I left the apartment and wandered the streets of New York, hoping the walk would clear my mind so I could make the right choice.
Damian
The view of New York at night from the penthouse was mesmerizing. Cars moving, people walking, lights illuminating all imperfection and the perfect rhythm. The city represented freedom for me, and I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Twelve years ago, once I came back from hell, the idea that no one here would know anything about me thrilled me. The city gave me the opportunity to start fresh. No one could confine me here, no restrictions, no chains.
I remembered taking hours and hours going around the city, exploring every corner, discovering my favorite places ‘til my legs were numb and my feet were blistered. After the cage Dominic and I were kept in, a day hadn’t gone by without me doing some walking. The ability to do whatever the fuck a person wanted was taken for granted by many people, and sometimes I wanted to shake those people who sat on their asses and shout at them to wake up and use all the opportunities available to them, or someone could come and snatch it from them. New York centered and calmed me, always.
However, Sapphire was gone, and that was something even the sight of New York couldn't fix. Giving her a choice was essential. She was my singular obsession, possession, and my woman. But the words she threw at me in the dungeon—that I was the same as my captors using her for sex, keeping her against her will—snapped and broke a part of me. I had never wanted anyone to feel like that from my hands. My intentions were always for her to accept me for who I was, support me in my mission, and let me cherish her for the rest of my life, once the vengeance for my brother’s death was satisfied. Sapphire didn’t understand that my brain didn't operate normally. I was damaged inside and out. For me, she was my only salvation.
So yeah, she got her freedom. It had been six hours since she left. The almost empty bottle of whisky in my hand was an indicator of how I felt. The deep ache in my chest, rage at myself for not handling it better, and finally, a sense of loss so profound I wondered how people survived it.
My mouth lifted in a self-mocking grimace. No one died from a broken heart. I survived hell on Earth. I could survive her leaving me. At least, until everyone was punished. Once it was done, my life had no meaning.
I was so deep into my thoughts I hadn't registered that someone had entered the house until I saw Sapphire’s reflection in the window. I spun around, the whiskey in my hand splashing a bit as we both faced each other. The lights were off, so my girl was beautifully illuminated by the bright light of the full moon, like the night we’d met.
“You’re here,” I whispered, not caring how needy my voice sounded, and she nodded, exhaling a heavy breath.
“I wandered around the city for hours. Watched different couples. They all appeared to have normal lives. No tainted pasts. No evil fathers. Everything seemed easy.” My stomach sank; she came to say goodbye. If there was one thing I couldn't give her, it would be normal. “And you know what? Their love doesn’t seem any different from ours. Those men…they look at their women the same way you look at me. Then what is normal?”
Her eyes held mine as I asked with a rapidly beating heart, “Sapphire, what does it mean?”
“You gave me a choice, and I’m choosing you.”
Happiness like never before overpowered me. I barely held myself back from going to her and saying, ‘fuck it’ to everyone. One thing had to be crystal clear before we proceeded any further.
“I won’t let go of my revenge. Your father is one of two people left. Can you live with me knowing I killed him?” Wasn't this the most important question? Never in my fucked-up life could I have imagined being in love with John’s daughter. Everything the fucker touched turned to dirt or hideous things. Not my Sapphire, she had a part of him inside her and she was still precious, innocent in her own way, pure.
“Can you live with the fact he’ll always be part of me and our kids? I can’t change the fact he is my father, Damian.”
“Yes.”
She took a deep breath and sent me a shaky smile. “Could you not kill him?” Everything in me fought against those words. John was the ultimate revenge, the evil of all my nightmares, along with S. Tears slid down her cheeks as her voice trembled. “I wouldn't be able to live with you if you killed him. I know he did despicable things. I know. But he is still my father, Damian. Knowing you killed him with the same hands you touch me…I can’t. I will accept your revenge. Send him to prison. Forget how many lives you took. I can live with that. But not with the man I love killing my own father. I can’t live with that, Damian,” she finished. She almost stopped breathing, waiting for my answer.
Revenge against John and S kept me sane all those years, some
thing I promised Dominic I would do. They made our life a living hell, and thanks to them, we lost our parents. Sapphire was asking me to choose.
But was there any choice?
“Yes. I promise you.” With a cry, she ran into my arms. I picked her up as her arms wrapped around my neck while her legs circled my hips. I could feel wetness from her tears on my shoulder as she quietly sobbed in my arms and we gained strength from each other. She was back where she belonged, and together, we could face anything. After I threw the bottle of whiskey away, we made our way to my room, and I gently placed Sapphire on the bed, not once taking my eyes away from her. My hands moved to remove her dress, while she did the same with my clothes. In a moment, we both lay naked, basking in the blazing warmth our bodies provided for each other.
“Damian,” she whispered in my ear. “Let me make love to you.” I froze at her words. She wanted control. No one had ever made love to my body. I never wanted anyone touching me. Any sense of losing control drove my mind crazy, and I didn't deal well with restraints. “Please.” Her fingers moved my chin to face her and our mouths came together in a deep, passionate kiss.
“Only for you,” I replied and lay down on my back, giving her complete access.
Sapphire loomed over me. Once again, I admired her beauty: brown hair as rich as chocolate cascading down and creating a veil around us, every sexy curve of her body, the gracefulness of her neck that I so loved to sink my teeth into, her full mouth that was made for kisses, and finally, sapphire eyes, which mesmerized me with just a glance.
Her hand caressed my cheek as she leaned down, giving me a soft peck on the lips.
“Thank you for your trust,” she whispered against my lips, and proceeded to move lower, leaving gentle kisses over my jaw and neck, sucking on my nipples, and who the fuck knew they were sensitive too? All the while, she ran her hands over my chest in soothing motions. My eyes closed as a sense of panic threatened to come to the surface, but her harsh voice snapped them back open. “Eyes on me, Damian. Keep them open to know who is loving you.” I nodded, and after a beat, her tongue lazily licked my chest, moving lower and lower until she kneeled down in front of my cock. She raised her eyes to me with a question in them.