Chapter 13
Dmitri
After the argument Ariel and I had at the other house, speaking to her felt like a hassle. I didn’t know that marrying someone like her would bring me so much headache and right now I was considering annulling the marriage.
However, only one thing stopped me and that was the alliance. It was as important to me as it was to her father even though I acted otherwise.
I tucked my black vest into my pair of black slacks and garbed on a pair of black combat boots. Black was my favorite color and since I was always active in the night, I liked that it blended with it.
One of my favorite knives, Kukri, laid bare on the table with my pistol so I wore my holster and inserted the sheathed knife and pistol into it.
And then I covered up with a black bomber jacket and glanced at Ariel. She was knocked out, her hands splayed by her sides as her chest rose and fell into a deep sleep which made it harder for me to decide. I had to go out, but it felt wrong to walk away without informing her.
I snorted and ruffled my hair in confusion. When did I begin to care about her feelings? Was this part of my husbandly duties?
I was a man of the night and I had a lot of things to do, men to torture and the lineup of duties for tonight had adrenaline surging through my veins with a great intensity so I woke her up.
She scratched her neck with an annoyed expression on her face and her eyes fluttered open. She darted her gaze around and dragged herself into a sitting position.
“Why did you wake me up?” She sounded offended.
I scoffed, propping my arms against my waist in surprise and regret. “Are you this rude?”
She yawned and rolled her eyes. “Next time, don’t wake me up like this and I hope we won’t have to share a room when we leave this hotel. I want to avoid seeing your ugly face for the rest of my life,” She huffed and chuckled with a mocking tone. “Oh, you don’t even have a face,” She laughed and lay on the bed again, covering herself with the duvet.
My fists clenched in frustration and then I realized that I was in for a long ride. However, the manly ego in me was challenged and I wouldn’t let her win.
Her light snore resonated after I turned the light off and I shook my head with a sigh. I’d warned her not to get in her feelings and she took it seriously, otherwise, she should be bothered about my absence.
Fedor, the soldier I’d asked to be her bodyguard was already standing by the door with Armen.
“Good evening, boss. Are you ready to leave now?”
“Yes, and I hope none of them are dead. I need them to be alive so that they can answer my questions,” My temper was already beginning to simmer.
Anyone who attempted to hurt my daughter would go through so much pain by my hand and the best part was that they wouldn’t live to tell the story.
“Sure, boss,” Armen replied.
I stared at Fedor who stood squarely and squeezed his shoulder. “Make sure you watch over her and if anything comes up, don’t forget to call me,”
He bowed and we traipsed out of the hotel, my mind fixed on the activities for tonight while I ignored the stares and murmurs from the other customers as I was already used to it.
The attention had lessoned unlike before when I’d see my pictures on blogs with annoying titles like: ‘The man whose face is unknown’, ‘Eligible bachelor in Texas without an identity’ and several other crazy titles that those bloggers used to drive traffic.
I didn’t like being in the mask, but I was too scared to want to know what my face actually looked like anymore.
We got into the car and Abram drove off, the tires of the car sliding towards the only place I wanted to be right now, the torture hole.
*******
I strode into the club that was packed with people swinging their bodies with reckless abandon to the loud music blaring from the speakers.
Fortunately, my presence wasn’t noticed as I stopped at a wall and my fingers punched some buttons on the wall. The Murphy door gave way slightly and I pushed it open, barreling into the other compartment that was hidden under the guise of the club.
Though the police were under my payroll, I still preferred playing safe. It would be harder for them to work for me if they knew that I was directly going against the law.
The torture hole was divided into several sections: one for men who directly betrayed or disobeyed us, and the other for women who did the same. Then there was a special room for the men who committed more grievous offenses, that was where I was headed.
Armen trailed behind me quietly. Aside from my brother who had decided to stay away from me and busied himself with other chores because I decided to continue with the marriage to Ariel, Armen was another person I trusted.
I couldn’t find a reason to but I was always at ease with him.
He overtook me and pushed the door open for me. We got in and I was faced with three men who had already been tied to a stake with blood smeared on their bare skin.
I could see the marks from the whips and cuts but none of that could match what I was about to do to them.
“Good evening, everyone. I hope you’re ready to party tonight?” I sank onto a metal chair and crossed my legs, gauging their reactions.
My eyes scanned their faces and I let out a laugh of satisfaction, enjoying the look of fear that blared in their eyes even though they tried to mask it by looking nonchalant.
“Tell me, should I begin with the questions or do you want to have some fun?”
The man in the middle scoffed and shook off the strands of hair that dangled over his forehead. “Your choice, but I’d like you to know that none of us here would be giving answers to your questions,” He replied with a flippant tone.
I stood up and reached for my kukri. “You shouldn’t be rude to your captor. You know, I wanted to make this fast so that you wouldn’t have to feel so much pain, but you just made me change my mind. And the good part is that I have so much time on my hands, so let’s party,”