NALEDI’S POV
“Guess who we found lurking around the manor a few days ago?” Draven looked arrogant and glib. “Our little fire elemental from the Cosa Nostra.”
He looked at me and I swallowed. “I believe you know her.”
I couldn’t even lie. “I met her during my stay at the Cosa Nostra. Used to work with her.”
“Beautiful.” He got up with a smile, “I have always wondered, how the hell you managed to bring down the human farm that Nicolai handled.”
“Arturo.” I corrected, “Arturo handled it.”
“Don’t be naive my darling.” He said, walking around the room like the motherfucking boss he was, “I singlehandedly sponsored all the places you closed down with your little sidekick over here.”
“Luka. Nicolai. Arturo. You name it. The Yakuza were the power behind it.” He shrugged, “You can imagine my shock when I got news of the fire that ravaged the last hotspot in Italy. I have to admit, I was a bit burned.”
“They were hunting women and selling them.” I bit back, unable to hide the bitterness in my tone. “They had to be stopped.”
“It’s all business. Welcome to the game, Attai.” Draken laughed and a part of me saw what was coming, but it didn’t make it less shitty when he said it.
“You see, I am not too convinced of your little ‘I want to be your bride’ charade. So I am going to be straight with you and say if you as much as try to do anything stupid, your little sidekick gets it.”
Korah looked out of it, beaten to a pulp and bloodied. She’s been getting it quite alright. And it wasn’t a good look on her. Why the hell would she come all the way here? It was a fucking death trap.
“I cut her loose the moment I walked out of the place.” I gritted, and he smiled.
“Then you wouldn’t have a problem with us keeping her.” I couldn’t hide my discomfort at his words. “Or killing her.”
I took a deep breath. “She is a spy from a rival pack. Whatever she is getting, she deserves.”
“Good.” If I didn’t properly know this fucker, I’d say that he was happy with me, “That means you wouldn’t mind showing her what it means to cross Draken Yakuza.”
I shook my head, he wouldn’t make me do that.
“That would be your first task, love. It’s been a minute since I watched you in action. I want to see you so bad.” He stopped in front of Korah and pushed her face forward. “I want you to make her bleed. Think you can do that?”
Was that a trick question?
“Of course,” I said with a smile. I wanted to puke out my guts.
He watched me for a while then let her go. “Good to know. However, there is no shortage of people willing to do the job. For now, I need you to be on something. When you are a bit free, maybe we could test out that theory.”
The relief I felt was unmistakable. He saw it too. It was at that moment I knew he had caught on to my weakness. He was going to exploit it. He was going to use her against me and there was nothing I could do about it.
My hatred for the man in front of me tripled.
“But for now, I need you to be somewhere else.” He motioned to the guard in front of me. “Take her away.” I watched as Korah was dragged out of the place like a beaten soldier until she was out of sight. “Come, love, let’s get you started on your job.”
Draken stretched his hand towards me and I took it, despite every single part of me kicking against it. Together, we walked out of the house, all eyes on us and our interlocked hands.
We got to a car and the door was opened for us. I joined him in the back seat, wondering where the hell he was headed. We soon got to the place, a few blocks away from the Alpha mansion.
I couldn’t help but notice how heavily guarded the place was. It seemed like an impenetrable fort. I turned to look at him and a dark glint covered his eyes. What the hell did he have planned now?
Together, we crossed the double doors of the place and I soon realized why the place seemed so heavily guarded. It was the storehouse. Just like Caellum’s little engine house, people were bagging and producing white substances.
I couldn’t help but notice that they were all women. Girls and females of different age brackets, looking frail as they carried out their duties. My body shook with anger at the thought of what they must have been subjected to.
“This is self-explanatory, but this is not where you will be working.” He proceeded forward and I followed him like a fucking fool.
Somehow, there was a field outside the darned house, the entrance was only accessible through the building itself. I felt a cold feeling seep into my soul when I saw the steel gates that led to another old-looking building.
I felt Draken’s gaze on me but I didn’t react to it. I was too busy, focused on the building. Before we got to the gate, it was opened. Ezra stepped forward and bowed in respect before he led us into the darned prison.
The stench of blood and sweat was heavy in the air as we made our way inside the darned place. A part of me knew this was coming, that I was going to have to face it, and another side of me believed I’d be ready – I was ready, but standing in the pit with women locked like animals and watched by men who should be protecting them did the same thing to me like it always did.
It drove me fucking insane with a need to tear this place apart, and more importantly, to tear the fucking man that did this into shreds that could never be put together.
“Since you were so desperate to clear your name, I figured it was best to start at the heart of the business.” He walked through the cages, and the women shrank at the sight of him, scared of the monster he was. “You have been in the system, you know how things work here.”
He stopped, and I noticed I hadn’t moved an inch from where I stood. “You basically grew up here, according to the record, at some point, you were the top girl, climbing her way right into the heart of my dead papa. Which you killed.”
I was loosing my shit at the constant mention of his fucking father.
“My papa preferred women. His ranch showed his preference for the ladies. They were always weak and easy to prey on. Emotionally unstable little bitches.” He smirked, “I get the appeal now that I am in charge. Look at them, silly little things can’t even breathe unless they are asked to. They make a good bargain, and lots of money.”
He faced me, “So you know why I need you to supervise the cells.” His jaws were set and tight. “It’s only fair that you see to the prosperity of this hotspot since you destroyed the other two spots.”
I swallowed, panic rising within me when I spotted Korah in a silver cage, lying broken on the floor and unconscious.
“You wanted to prove yourself. You wanted to earn your spot as my bride. I can’t see any better way to right your wrong at the moment. Growing the business you destroyed. Brilliant, don’t you think?”