by K. H. Kate
Money?
My life?
Cause none of them seems to matter to the man in front of me.
Correction, a beast who looks like a man. As if he can see the scrutiny in my face, his dark eyes darken farther. He's in a tailored suit, his equally dark hair ruthlessly combed back with no care. And he's twirling a knife in his hands. This is the definition of a man I should stay far away from. The one my father reminded me of. The one Nick stupidly messed with. But how can I run when Nick is all I’m left with?
"Ms. Taylor. Is it?" He has a tint of an accent. Not like the locals, it's something I used to hear back at home years ago. Doubts start to creep in but before I can voice them aloud suddenly there’s a knife pressed against my neck.
"I asked you a question, Barbie." Any sound I wanted to make dries out as I feel the cold blade digging into my skin. Will he kill me without a thought?
"Well, I'm waiting..." He's behind me and I can't breathe. It's like the walls are closing in and I have no way to escape.
"Boss I think-"
"Did I ask your opinions, Lou?" His other arm tightens around me without giving me a warning. The whimper leaving from my lips is what wakes me from this dizziness. I have to find my brother. This was the reason they took me. Nick might not be the brother of the year, yet he's the last person I have on this miserable earth. I can't leave him to die on these people's hands.
"H-He...where...M-My brother-" It hurts to make sense of what I am saying. I try again but my tongue feels like sandpaper and there’s a sour taste in my mouth. Was I drugged? "W-Where is he?"
"Ah..." The single brush of his mouth near my ears has me flinch back in surprise. "Now we are going somewhere. So, what can you tell us about your brother?"
What version of my brother do you want to know about? I'm ready to deliver when I catch the slip. He has to be somewhere here. And if I say one wrong word... these people don't feel like they believe in forgive and forget.
"I-I-"
"You know what your brother does?" The man asks, curious. What does he do?
He disappears.
He pretends.
He makes me worry.
And he's killing me now.
"His street name is Nicki. He's ruthless for someone who’s only twenty, knows a lot of inside tricks too. He works for the familia but I guess you already knew that, didn’t you? The tattoo on his skin bounds him to us for life and yet he didn’t hesitate to steal from us. A fucking traitor." The more he says, the more his eyes darken. They glint in the sunlight but I've never been so disappointed when he throws his next blow. "He kills for me, Barbie."
Nick Taylor kills.
Raine Taylor fails to hide her inability to raise her brother right.
I knew what he was doing was not by any means legal. I thought he was doing drugs or running errands for money. But kill-to take a life just to satisfy someone...who is my brother?
Who am I now?
"I-I need to see him." My gaze drifts to the knife. Will he do it or not? "I need to see Nick. Where is he?"
My stomach sinks when he laughs. They may as well sound like no. "Silly little Barbie like you don't get to order around."
Finally, I can feel a tiny bit of pain. Cutting flesh? My throat closes up. My eyes tear up in a wave of sadness. Did Nick deserve to be left here? Why can't I fight? I can feel my ears ring. I can survive this. Can't I? I have survived worse. There...a little more pressure-
"Boss, you will kill her. Let me handle this." There is a new man who has suddenly reached back to take my trembling figure from my dark-haired tormentor. He has blond hair in a bun, his eyes don't reveal hatred so brightly. Maybe I'm not even worth his hatred. He's no less monstrous than the first one, but I will take him over that dark-haired man any day.
"Hey! Hey, can you hear me!?" The blond slaps my cheek softly to bring me back from the delirium. Oh, I can hear alright. I can hear Nick too. He's laughing at me.
You can't escape, Raine. If I'm falling, you're falling with me.
That reminds me of a game we used to play when we still had something to live for. Nick used to call it a game of loyalty. If he would lie about stealing food, I'd take his fall. If he would get hurt, I had to cut the same place just to match his. If he betrayed the devil…
"Fuck it!" I'm in that man's embrace again. No. no, not embrace. More like a death grip. He presses into my wound that I can see the blood drenching his fingers. His eyes follow my line of sight and he smiles. "Alluring isn't it? How much do you think you can take before you start to beg for your last breath? What do you think I will do with your brother then? Shot dead or something...more interesting?"
I fall, you fall.
"H-He lives with me." I start with something simple. My throat protests to leave it be. To just sleep. I can still hear Nick's words following me. Careful Raine. I lie, you lie. "He gives me smiles and I answer-"
The feeling of emptiness comes out of nowhere when I realize that I am on the floor, courtesy of a little shove from the man in my nightmare. My arms bend at an odd angle, making me grit out in intense pain. I should have eaten something before looking for Nick. My energy is nothing compared to these people and if they want to kill me-I'm afraid to look up. I know I am yet I can't help but glance at the now rigid man staring down at me.
"You think this is funny. A joke, Chika?" I can't make out his expression. It's eerily calm. He doesn't give me time to scream before his fists are on my hair and I'm forcefully lifted up from the ground. "Do you know where you are? Do you know who I am!?"
A devil.
My new tormentor. There are just so many names. Which one is he comfortable with though? I don't think he even cares.
"Ace. Ace Martinez. People fear me, Barbie. You know why?" He bares his teeth cornering me against the table and I don't find a difference between animal and human. Maybe he's more of an animal than man. That will make sense seeing how he looks at me. As if he wants to tear me apart with his teeth.
I start to lose contact with reality. So, I blink hard. Once, twice. "W-Why?"
His chuckle fills my ears. They are haunting. I can feel his fingers trail from my throat to my lips. My heart stops only to hear his last words right before he slams a blood-filled locket in my hand. Nick's locket with our picture in it to be exact.
"Because I can cross any lines without consequences."
CHAPTER 4
ACE
Some people shut down at the sight of blood and flesh where people like us can only thrive on it. We make sure with our last breath that the La Eme is safe, no matter what it takes to make it happen. Blood, loyalty, or manipulation.
"Y-You-"
"Killed your brother?" I help her finish with a laugh. "Depends if you are ready to talk or not. If you just answer my questions, everything ends here. I will forget Nicki was your family and you go back home like nothing happened. I can be merciful once in a while. But if you don’t…I can just feed him to my pet alligators and then, perhaps you will consider opening your mouth?"
Her mouth drops open in shock. Good. Fear me, Barbie. "I-I don't know where his money is."
I hear Dario snicker somewhere from the room. "Oh, don't worry about the money. That's all covered. You're here, aren't you? You will be sold to the cartels to get the money we lost."
"Dario!" Lou sputters, clearly with shock.
"Comportarse, Dario! I'm talking here, aren't I? Your boss…" I trail off, daring him to say otherwise. To my not so surprise he holds my gaze straight on and for the last time I wonder if I’m being too lenient with him. His father had been a good friend of mine but Dario…he is too goddamn prideful, a trait sure to drag the family in danger one day.
“Dario.” I press again, not raising my voice but enough to let him know that he’s crossing a line. Finally, he looks away as he should have in the first place.
"Lo siento, boss. Won't happen again." He mutters with a somewhat respected nod, seemingly no longer interested in staying. Only when
he leaves that Lou breathes in relief where Roman shows his solace by dropping his hands from his waistband where I know his gun is.
Fuck, things were different back then. We might have been ruthless but we had each other's trust. But now...our dynamics are changing too fast and I don't know how long I can pretend that it didn't.
For now, I close my eyes, banishing every thought of Dario or my already crumbling family by turning to the Barbie with a grin. “Right. Now, where was I?”
Her voice is scratchy, her fingers clutching the necklace as if it's her fucking lifeline. "He goes to a club named Xeon for three days. What he does in there, I don't know. But someone must have-"
"Mierda! I don't want to know about Xeon! That was my club. Of course, I know what happens there." Her breathing comes in long hearing me. Looks like we hit some bad luck with this one. Every fucking thing she says is turning out to be useless. "He worked for me, didn't I tell you? What I want to know is who he betrayed me for."
"You want me to know that?" She genuinely sounds confused. Fuck, what if she really is...no, Nick fucking Taylor wouldn't try to leave without saying something to her sister. There has to be something I'm missing here.
"Tell me who he cares for other than you. A girl? Babby momma? Dealer? Anything?" I want to pose them as questions. But all it comes out as threats. Fucking hell, I'm losing my mind here.
"Uh...I-I don't know."
"There you go again! Acting like a stupid girl." My fingers feel hot under her skin. How the fuck she's so cold? My hold tightens almost cutting off her windpipe. "Do you want me to kill you that bad?"
"If you kill me, you’ll never find your answers." She juts her chin to look back at me. Fuck! Barbie has some sharp tongue. "You don’t know him like I do. He’s playing the same old game again. That’s what he does."
My jaw clenches harder. "What the fuck that means?"
She doesn't answer. Though she doesn’t have to as I can finally see the truth for what it is. Nick Taylor is clever than I thought. He’s gotten something many of us will lay their life for.
Blind devotion.
The sound of a door opening is what stops me from commenting on it. I don't have to turn to know who the voice belongs to when someone calls out.
"Hola, hermano. Anyone in?"
Clenching them into fists doesn't stop my fingers from ringing out. I don't have to wait a minute when I see him. His once bright eyes have some strange glint in them. The same jaw, the same intensity in our eyes, the same predatory look mirrors back to me. Fucking hell. He is really here.
"Ace. Long time no see."
The smile on my face is almost forced. Almost. I don't know why he is here. And now I'm more worried about my brother's sudden visit than deal with this shit.
"Ares, well. I'm in the middle of something, as you can see-"
"Can I borrow her?" The words I wanted to say falls flat. What the fuck he just said? Borrow?
"What did you say?" Barbie doesn't even have her eyes on either of us. She is still clutching the necklace with one hand and rubbing her bruised neck with another.
Ares shrugs but I don't miss that annoying glint again. "I’m redecorating the club, starting with firing those idiots you call workers. They all look high as hell, and I’m pretty sure they are stealing drugs under our watch. I called Felix earlier to talk about that but he listens to only you. So here we are. This one girl, however, will fit right in.”
My eyes narrow in irritation. Spade knew about it which means they talked recently or our little brother has his own resources. I don’t know which one makes me more worried.
"You run a club now. Which one?"
A lazy grin falls over his lips. "Xeon. Looks like we found something new to compete with."
Fuck.
"Is this the only reason you are here?" I ask, avoiding the itch on my heart. If Ares starts showing interest in clubs, the last form of humanity that he has will be sucked out by our father. "You in the club business...are you serious or is this another way to annoy me?"
He scoffs as if he didn't do that many times before. "Mierda, brother! Have some trust in me, will you? I know you weren’t ready to take over, don’t even deny it. Now that our legal business is going steady, I can help the familia.”
A chuckle leaves from my lips. “I don’t believe you.”
His eyes harden but in a minute he looks dejected. And Ares never looks dejected. “Fine! Padre is hell-bent on arranging my marriage with Dante’s niece. And you know how Vita is. She’ll drive me insane before I’m thirty. Helping you will make Padre back off my case for some months, if I’m lucky, even years. So, I couldn’t wait to waste the opportunity. Now I need people, new furniture, and new allies. So is she-"
"Don’t even think about it, brother. She is not available." The words come out as a growl. He backs off immediately with a smirk.
"Fine, fine. I get it. You think I’m going to include her in our game. No offense, darling, but you are not my type.” He tactfully gets her attention with an easy-going smile but I know my brother and his tricks. He thinks he can gain her trust like this. The only reason I don’t call him out on it because how quickly that smile vanishes, giving him time to really interpret the situation. Her dress is drenched in blood and my fingers are painted with the same color. Ares may be competitive in every sense, but even he knows the rules of our kingdom.
Lambs are only good for sacrifices, and nothing else.
"Boss, what do you want me to do with her?" Lou finally asks when none of us say a word.
"Take her to the East wing guestroom." My eyes are on my men but I can’t ignore that Ares is watching everything with interest. A little too much interest if the thoughtful look still plastered on his face is anything to go by. Deciding to deal with him later, I add. “And make sure she doesn’t run.”
"Already on it," Lou says, leaving with his papers. As soon as Felix finds my gaze, he also follows Lou to take care of things. When they both leave, I turn to Roman.
"Roman."
He doesn't need another word. He lowers his head before forcing a smile onto his face. “Ms. Taylor, if you please?”
She doesn't even fight when Roman takes her out of the room. Only when she's almost out of my sight that she looks at me with those amber eyes. And what I see in them-
That's worse than what I have ever seen in mine.
CHAPTER 5
RAINE
I wait for the monster to return.
Two hours, five, ten...I wait, staring at the wall aimlessly like I used to do for Nick back at home. The clock ticks but I don't see the dark-haired man lingering anywhere around me. Has he already lost interest and forgot where I am? Can that kind of miracle be possible?
My stomach rumbles. Now that's something normal I hear for once. The last I ate...when the last time I ate? I try to remember but all I can remember is going home to home asking for Nick and then Mrs. Julian barging into our home, threatening to call cops on me.
“Can I come in?”
My eyes widen hearing the new voice. It’s not that dark-haired man but the one with glasses. My mouth opens for a scream but nothing comes out. He doesn’t wait for my answer though as he enters the room with a grimace.
“I’m Lou Castillo, I believe we met earlier. How did it go with Carla? She took care of everything, yes?” Just as he says that his gaze shoots to my neck and I can’t miss the look of pity that vanishes just as quickly as it came.
Following him, even I glance at the mirror and wince. Until now I haven't still seen what he did to me. I just saw the beginning of the blood dripping into the sink before I gave up and let Carla, the maid that the blond man called earlier handle all of that. She dressed me up in a white gown, the color matching my pale cheeks.
But it’s red all I see. No matter how many times I closed my eyes, I’m back at that shed with that man’s brain splattered all over me. It got to the point that Carla had to give me some pills for me to calm down. Those knocked me ou
t for three to five hours before I was awake again, whimpering in pain. Just as I said.
I was waiting for the animal to pounce.
That's what they do, don't they? As that man said, he didn't have any line to cross. I wonder if I can last long enough to see Nick.
He kills for me, Barbie.
My brother was-is a killer. I have no way to save myself. That man knows it. Then why am I here? Why am I still alive?
"I’m sorry to say but he went easy on you. Hell, you got a room where most people would be thrown into the cells. But for what it’s worth, I think you were telling the truth.”
What?
For the first time hope blooms in my heart. “Y-You think so?”
“Yes.” The man, Lou, insists. “Nicki is different. I saw through some of his works. I mean he never showed his face to anyone but he is not stupid enough to bring you into this. Though you should be happy that boss got to you before Esteban Martinez could.”
“Martinez?” Isn’t that the dark-haired man…
Lou’s lips twitches. “Yeah, the former underboss of New York territory, Ace’s father. If you think that Ace is cruel, you have no idea what Esteban is capable of doing. By now you’d be on your knees, begging for your life.”
Terror runs through my bones at his change of voice. Like it’s a promise, a given.
I have to swallow twice before I can open my mouth. “But it’s not his father that took me here, it’s him.”
“I don’t think you understand the predicament you are in,” Lou remarks curtly, shaking his head. “By stealing the money and disappearing right after, Nicki not only broke the code and made himself an enemy of the familia, he also made people think that we are weak. By now Nicki and any family he has, you both should have been shot dead. No traitor leaves the mafiya alive.”
My hands start to shake, finally registering what Nick has done. God, that fool has managed to do something even our parents failed to do. He has forced me to a begging mess.
“Ace will kill him, isn’t it? That was the plan. He will be killed, oh, God, he will be killed…”