Thomas
Thomas takes off his Hermes suit jacket and tosses it onto the couch. He walks to the bar and pours himself a drink. Thomas gestures for the man who looks like he’s about to pee in his pants to approach him. The man trembles with fear as he gets closer to Thomas. Thomas takes a sip of his scotch before reaching into his back pocket for a cigarette.
“Light it up for me, Alberto,” Thomas says, holding out his cigarette, but the man is unable to do so because he won’t stop quivering.
“Don’t worry, I can do it myself.” Thomas takes the lighter from his hand and lights it himself.
“So tell me what happened again,” Thomas says, taking a drag on his cigarette. The man narrates to Thomas what happened in the past few minutes.
Once the man is done talking, Thomas puts out his cigarette and finishes his drink in one swing.
“Repeat the last sentence, Alberto,” Thomas says, folding his shirt sleeves.
“That’s how I lost Miss Melina, sotto capo…” Thomas lands a hard punch on Alberto’s face, knocking him to the ground, and causing him to lose a tooth.
“Repeat,” Thomas barks, bending down and grabbing Alberto’s collar. He pulls him off the ground and forces him to kneel before him.
“Tha-t-t’s ho-o-w I los-s-tt Mii-i-ss Me-el-l-ina,” Alberto stammers. Thomas grabs his glass, which had just held his scotch, and smashes it into Alberto’s head. The cup shatters on Alberto’s face, cutting his skin. Thomas throws another punch into Alberto’s face, unconcerned that the broken glass has pierced his knuckles.
“Repeat,” Thomas yells, causing Alberto to pee on himself.
“Th-hat’s how I-I I lo-s-s-t Mi-s-s Me-e-li-i-na,” Alberto says, his mouth filled with blood. Thomas grabs a handful of his broken-glass-covered hair and slams his face into his knee. Alberto’s jaw dislocates, and more blood pours from his wounds. His face is slowly becoming unrecognizable.
“Repeat!” Thomas yells, his blood boiling with rage. He couldn’t believe Melina had fled right under his nose.
Alberto barely speaks but manages to repeat himself. Thomas grabs a bottle from the bar and pours it on Alberto. He screams as the alcohol touches his wounds. Thomas clutches his hair and pulls his head back.
“Open your fucking mouth,” Thomas orders. Alberto quickly does as Thomas asks, winching as he forces his mouth open. With his free hand, Thomas picks up a new bottle. He pours the entire bottle of Jack Daniel’s down Alberto’s throat and splashes some on his nose. Alberto tries but fails to break Thomas’ grip on his hair as he chokes him.
When the first bottle runs out, Thomas grips his hair tightly and pours another. Alberto coughs and begs Thomas to spare him.
Thomas ignores his pleas and slams his head three times into the nearest wall. Thomas lets go, and Alberto’s body gives out on him. He bends down and straddles him, punching him hard in the ribs and face. He fractures almost every bone in his body. Alberto’s blood is like a second skin on his body.
Thomas stands up and draws his gun to give the bloody man an easy death but decides against it. He leaves him alive so he can slowly bleed to death.
“Leo,” Thomas calls as he walks to his room. He takes off his blood-stained shoes and walks into his bathroom to clean up. He takes off his shirt and pants, which are stained with Alberto’s blood.
“Yes, sir,” Leo says, standing outside the bathroom.
“Once he’s dead, have the boys come in and clean up.”
“Okay, sir.”
“Any luck finding Richard?” Thomas inquires as he removes his boxers.
His IT analyst recently went missing. Thomas suspects the American government is to blame. Richard was one of the best in the world. Thomas suspects they arrested him and demanded that he work for them or go to jail. If he wants to find Melina, he must first find Richard. Last time it took him six months because Thomas didn’t have Richard until a week before the day he found her. He doesn’t even want to imagine how long it will take him again without Richard.
“No, sir.”
“Fucking find him,” Thomas shouts.
“I will, sir.”
Thomas walks into the shower and cleans his body of Alberto’s blood. He walks out of the bathroom once he is done and towards his closet. He selects a new Tom Ford suit and begins to dress up.
“How is the search in the city going?” Thomas asks Leo, who is still in the room. Thomas knows the second that fool opened his mouth and said he lost Melina, Leo must have immediately mobilized men to search the city for her.
“I have men looking for her at every train station, bus stop, and airport.”
“Good. Any movement in her sister’s house?”
“None, sir; I have men stationed there. Melina hasn’t arrived, nor has her sister tried to leave.”
“Did you ensure they didn’t make their presence known?” Thomas wishes to catch Melina by himself if she’s at her sister’s place.
“Yes, sir, I made sure of it.”
“Good. Is the car ready?”
“It is, sir.”
“All right, Let’s go.” Thomas puts on his suit jacket and walks out of his room.
***
Tenants of Sunrise Apartment Complex rush into their homes as they see the men with tattoos and dangerous looks walk down their hallway. Most of them are afraid of the one without tattoos. His aura is dark and deadly. Some almost pee their pants as he locks eyes with them. As he walks to Franky’s door, no one dares block his path.
Thomas knocks gently on Franky’s door, impatiently waiting for her to open, but no one answers. He hits twice more to no avail. He then takes a step back from the door, giving Leo room to break it down.
Thomas is filled with rage the moment he walks into Franky’s apartment and flips the light switch. As his eyes take in the empty apartment, he tightens his fist, almost breaking his knuckles. Thomas couldn’t believe how foolish he was. This is the second time Melina has made a fool of him. He wants to rip her head off her body right now.
Thomas is going to kill Melina the second he finds her. Nobody, absolute nobody, he means no single fucking soul on this motherfucking earth, can ever make a fool of Thomas and live to see another day, but Melina has, and not just once but twice. Melina doesn’t seem to value her life because the moment Thomas finds her, he’ll make her regret meeting him far more than she did before. Thomas will kill her from the inside out. When he’s done with her, Melina will wish she’d never been born.
***
Melina
A few days later
For the first time in a long while, Melina wakes up with a bright smile on her face. She stretches her arms and legs before lowering her feet to the ground. Melina scans the room for Franky, but she’s nowhere to be found. She must be downstairs making breakfast. Melina walks to the bathroom to shower before heading downstairs to have breakfast.
It’s only been a few days since they arrived in the Bahamas. They’re staying in one of the houses James purchased if Melina, and he had to leave the states for a while. One of James’ friends helped Melina and Franky in settling in. Melina knows that getting herself involved with anything related to James is risky, but she doesn’t have a choice. She needed to leave the states, and James’ properties were the only ones she was aware of.
“Good morning, Franky,” Melina greets as she walks into the kitchen. She takes a seat on one of the kitchen stools.
“Morning, Mel, how was your sleep?” Franky asks, placing a plate of eggs, toasted bread, and sausages in front of Melina.
“Good. How was yours?” Melina asks, taking a bite of the toasted bread.
“Good. Any morning sickness today?” Franky asks, concerned.
“Only a little.” Melina threw up earlier in the shower.
“Sorry. I’m planning to visit the store today with Henry to get you some pills to help keep the baby healthy.” Henry is James’ friend who helped them settle in.
“Thank you, and when will Henry arrive?” The doorbell goes off as Melina speaks.
“You’re welcome, and if I’m not mistaken, he should be the one at the door,” Franky says as she turns off the stove and walks out of the kitchen to the front door to let henry in.
While enjoying her breakfast in the kitchen, Melina’s hands freeze when someone speaks behind her. The tea mug shakes in Melina’s hand, and she almost burns herself. Melina turns to confirm what she has heard. Her eyes widen in bewilderment on seeing him. Why is he here?
“Hello, love, it’s been a while,” James says, smirking.