He goes to make a run for it, butmy men already knew how I liked to make these kinds of plays, and grabbed him before he even made his way through the kitchen. He tries to fight them off.
“Please, please, I didn’t mean to. They came to me. I didn’t want to, but they said it was for my best interest.” He started to whimper and cry.
How did I not realize how weak this man was? It must have been his food creating a lovely smoke screen.
“So at least I don’t have to hurt you,” I said. “You were approached by Hank and Benjamin?”
He nodded ashe visibly shook.
“And what exactly did they want?” I asked.
Enrique looked at me then at my men and he whimpered.
“You’re going to kill me.”
I smiled. “This is the choice you have. Tell me everything you know, and I will make it a quick death. Fuck with me, make me work for the information I require, and it will be a long death.” I step up into his space. “And trust me, Enrique, I’ve got men who have chosen that option, and I still have them begging for death months later.” I wasn’t lying.
Once you swear loyalty to me, that is it, for life. You break that loyalty, you cheat, you lie, you steal from me, and I will make you rot and keep you alive while I watch you do it.
Enrique nodded. “They needed a safe place to meet. They said it was important for people to not know they were working together. If anyone ever asked, they were never here.”
“What business were they talking about?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I swear. I only did it because they said Ivan Volkov was dead and they were going to replace the Bratva. I would never have done it if I knew he wasn’t dead, Mr. Yahontov.”
Gripping the back of his neck, I pulled him in close for a hug. I liked Enrique. He’d been a good guy. He had a good palate when it came to food and flavors. I’d even been tempted to bring Charlotte down here, but that wasn’t going to happen.
I tightenedmy grip. “And you should have come to me the moment they left.”
In my other hand, I had the knife, and I kept my word. His death was quick as I lifted his head off my shoulder, and slammed the blade into his throat.
“You swore loyalty to me,” I tutted. “You made an oath to serve the Volkov Bratva and you failed.”
I pulled the bladeout and let his body drop to the floor.
“Collect the money. Sweep the place and then burn it to the ground.”
Stepping out of Salvadoors, I know I had blood running down my arm, but I didn’t care.
“I want their clubs and all their underground businessesdestroyed, tonight.”I’d been prepared to allow this to play out, but Hank and Benjamin had struck a fire. Now it was time for them to get burned.
Lottie
I kept expecting the other foot to drop, or whatever the statement was.
I didn’t see my husband, ever. Since he dropped me off at home and showed me to my own room, I’d not seen him again. He told me I wasn’t allowed to leave the grounds, but I could do everything else. This was insane.
The first day, I stayed in my room andhis soldiers actually delivered my food. None of them tried to force me out of my room. They brought me breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They didn’t stop me late at night while I went to the kitchen to get snacks.
The second day was the same, as was the third. By the fourth day, I wanted toexplore.
What was a bit of a surprise was I had a guard with meat all times. It took me two more days to realize it was the same guy every day. When I asked his name, he told me it was Hubert, but didn’t give me any other details. He stayed by my side and helped me to explore, never stopping me as I went from room to room in the house.
My husband owned a mansion. I was pretty sure I could get lost in it. After the first week, I realized I was going around in circles and not really exploring, so I started to leave little sticky notes on each door as a way of me knowing which room I had explored.
His home had three floors with at least six to eight rooms on each floor. I don’t know why he felt the need to have such a large home, but when I asked Hubert, hemerely said Ive’s home choices were his.
Either way, it was a large home, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Ive wanted a large family. I’d never thought of having a family. Ive and I hadn’t had sex, so making a family would be very difficult. Even when I was younger, I didn’t think of a different family or father, or anything. I accepted what I had. Strange.
After exploring the upstairs, including the attic, which I’m not going to lie, scared the crap out of me, I took to downstairs. I found Ive’s office, and I didn’t explore that, as it terrified me. I swore my loyalty to his boss and my husband, checking out his office. This made me think of all kinds of spy and bad shit, so his office was off limits, and on that sticky tab, I wrote as such. Hubby’s office: off limits. I found the library with so many books, which was awesome, as I happened to love to read. When I was allowed to go to the library back home, I’d find myself wandering the shelves. Not just for fiction books, but I loved to learn. It had always been difficult for me to learn with everything that went on at home. I always tried though.
My teachers told me if I applied myself, I’d get the grades. It was easy for them to say so, they didn’t have to go home with their father tearing up their schoolwork, or destroying their books. It was easier to try and do everything at school, which meant my work was often rushed. If I stayed too long at school, it would end in a beating. Not easy to deal with.
After finding the library, my next exploration took me to a game room.
Hubert had stood at the door as I staredat the games. There was a pool table and what appeared to be an air hockey table. There were also some machines. They were all turned off, but Hubert told me if I wanted to play, he knew how to turn the power on in the room.
I was embarrassed. I had never played before. Not one single game. The pool table looked like a lot of fun, as did the air hockey table. I’d wanted to play. It was stupid and childish.
Before I turned back toward him, I made sure to compose myself, and then left the room. Late at night, I’d come down to the room and sit in one of the available chairs and look. Was it strange I wanted to play but was afraid to?
I don’t think Hubert knew I came to the game room. I would have to ask him one day how to turn on the power, so I could at least try while no one was around.
After thegame room, I found the cinema world, and I’d spent several hours in the past three weeks watching movies. I discovered a love of popcorn and ice cream. I loved strawberry cheesecake ice cream, that was my favorite. Then I found a love of cooking. The chef in residence, Michael, spoke with a lovely accent, I think it was French, but I hadn’t asked him if he would like to teach me to cook.