Cara’s POV
If I was told twenty-four hours ago that I’d be here, on my father’s couch, sitting beside my husband, listening to secrets no one could ever imagine, I’d scoff, and continue to wallow in my sorrow.
Or perhaps, I’d trade them all for just the news that his fingers twitched-anything better than the same old news.
But here I was. And it was happening.
Watching Adonis chew on his bottom lip in deep thought in response to my father’s question made it hard not to feel a sense of relief.
I know it’s weird. We’ve barely solved anything, but a few days ago, we were practically lost. With zero information, zero strategy, and most importantly, held ransom by Tina and her mother.
So forgive me if I feel happy about the fact that we now have a direction. The end was near; I could feel it.
Finally, we’d be able to live like normal couples do. No drama-at least not too much, no threats, and with our babies.
My hand subconsciously tightened around his, a tingling feeling wrapping me up in a cocoon at the little moment we just shared. My eyes darting towards my father in a glare, at the intrusion.
If only he were a minute late…
“Suck all you want, corazon; this.” He emphasised, “… is more important.” Without looking up from his phone.
“What do you mean, suck?” I jerked up, caught in the act. “I do not suck.”
“Yes. Yes, You do not.” He sighed, regarding me with a cool look before asking again. “So, Adonis? The plan?”
Still with furrowed brows and a faraway look, Adonis replied. “I don’t think there’s much to it.”
“Why?”
“We’ve already settled on what I need to do. The plan should be ‘how’?” He reasoned. “I know who I need to meet; the question is ‘where do I find them’?”
My father sat up. “I don’t know about Sarah’s son but I know where you can find Diavolo.”
That put a frown on my face. “Adrian?”
“Yes.” He confirmed. “The day I met your second-in-command, I got intel that he would be at an underground sex ring, so I went to check it out.”
“And?” I pressed.
“… turns out he runs it.”
“And we never noticed?” Adonis questioned. “For how long?”
“Three years now based on my calculations.”
Adonis pursed his lips, ” He’s probably not the one at the front. What about the cops? How come they haven’t raided the joint yet?”
“That’s because he disguises it as a boxing ring. Although it’s also illegal, he has some cops on his side that look out for him. I doubt any of them knows what that place truly is.”
An illegal boxing ring? Could it be…
My father’s words sounded familiar. The way he described it sounded exactly like a club I knew.
Pulling myself upright, I interrupted. “Wait, what’s the name of the place? I mean the club he runs?”
He eyed me suspiciously. “I never said it was a club. And not that you would know of it,” he paused, squinted at me, then rephrased, “… or that you should know of it, but it’s Axe.”
I flinched, goosebumps erupting all over my arm. It took a second to realise that I had just made myself easy to read. Lying would’ve been an option if I weren’t glued to Adonis, who, at just the slight shift in my actions, already had his eyes on me.
“What is it?”
“I…” Clearing my throat, I tried again, “I know that place?”
Two sets of eyes focused on me.
“You do?”
“Start talking.”
Laughing uncomfortably, I brushed it off, “It’s nothing. No need to go back on-
“Now corazon.” My father’s stern eyes pinned me down.
“It was the first club I tried out when looking for a job-
“Maldito infierno (F*cking h*ll)-
A string of curses, which I didn’t need to be fluent in Spanish to understand, flew out of his lips.
“I swear, I didn’t know the place was that messed up.” I defended, fretting about, “When I got the job and realised that it was also a joint for illegal boxing, I bolted.”
“What were you even doing, getting a job there in the first place?” Adonis objected.
“Well, not all of us were born with a silver spoon. I needed the money to pay off my family’s then-piling debts.” I sassed as his words hit a sore spot.
Had he forgotten how I was before we met? Not everyone had access to spare cash that’s just lying around somewhere like he does.
My father sighed wearily, “If true to your word, you left on the first day, then we have nothing to worry about. No one should recognise you. You weren’t manhandled, were you?”
“No.” A deep exhale flared from my nostrils. ‘I ran off faster than one could say, Jack Robinson, when I saw it wasn’t all roses and sunshine like I had expected,’ I thought but decided not to add.
“Bel, do you know anything about the sex ring?” Adonis asked, carefully studying my reaction.
“No.” I shrugged. “Although I’m guessing it’ll be on the third floor. I remember it being out of bounds to simple staff like myself.”
“It isn’t on the third floor.” My father replied. “Just like I said, it’s directly below the club itself.”
“But the club is on the ground floor? And there’s an underground parking lot. How is that possible?”
“There’s an underground basement located beneath the parking lot. Once the game is over, special guests would be taken to ‘enjoy themselves,’ as they put it.”
“Are you trying to say they go in by memberships?” My husband inquired.
“Yes. There is a sort of code you’d need to know before going in. It’s always strictly monitored and heavily guarded, so people who are not one of them do not stand a chance.”
“And you know all this just by going in there once?”
“Who said anything about going in there?” My old man grumbled.
“You didn’t?”
“No.” He dismissed. “I just went over to see Adrian. Make him understand that we might not have met officially, but the game had begun. I didn’t get to go into the underground basement; I am not a member.” He said like the fact in itself pained him.
“Then how do you know all these?”
“Alvaro was. He confessed it. So was Sebestien, and Natasha’s father-
“All the men on his side?” Adonis cut in, and my father hummed.
“Yeah. Going in would not be easy. You’d need to become a member, and Adrian would not accept anyone he doesn’t trust. The ring is an avenue to bring together all his allies under one roof.”
“Yet I need to get in as soon as possible…” Adonis voiced. “That’s the only way I can get close to him and take a sample.”
“Why don’t you just hire someone else to do it?” I piped up, forcing the yawn that was threatening to erupt from my throat down.
“Things like this are better done yourself, corazon.”
My back settled against the couch, a tired sigh coming out in its place. “But taking a sample from him to risk your life is okay with you?”
“Of course not.” My father answered again. “It’s not about the sample alone. We need to know who we’re going up against. He’d be able to feel up the place. Predict Adrian’s move. Strategise our plan around the number of men and their resources. He’s going in as a spy. Just a recognised one because there’s no way Adrian would not know who you are Adonis.” He turned his attention to him as he finished.
“Well, I’ve never heard of a man letting a recognised spy into his home. This plan has a lot of loopholes.”
“It doesn’t.” My arm vibrated as the man beside me spoke in a deep voice.
“Dad just said he lets in only those he trusts,” I argued. “Why would he want to trust his enemy whom he knows is coming just to spy?”
“Why does he have to trust me before letting me in? Have you ever heard of keeping your friends close and enemies closer?”
“Uhm, yeah?…” I replied hesitantly, unsure of what he was trying to prove.
“He’d let me in as an enemy.”
Was I speaking gibberish or was he the one having issues understanding? Adrian would never let him in. That was a fact so what was he on about?
My father must’ve seen the confusion on my face as he stepped in to explain. “He wants to go in not as someone he trusts but as someone he needs.” A lazy smile tugged at his lips.
“At this point, it’s safe to say your way of thinking is always upside down.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, sir.”
“It was meant to be a compliment.”
“What are you both giggling about? Does this make any sense? Why would he need an enemy he is sure wants to kill him?”
Adonis’s thumb rubbed at the surface of my hand, “It’ll be a love-hate relationship. He can’t kill me because he’d lose, so he has to keep me around, waiting for the day I’ll become useless to him.”
“So when that day comes. You’d just… die?”
Seriously, does a coma affect one’s brain functionality? How could he be saying something that critical so casually?
“That day would never come. Because I’d be done with my work by then.”
I pulled my hand out of his hold, folding it above my bump, with a pointed stare at him, “How do you intend to do it?”
“If there’s one thing everyone shares a common greed for, it’s money. The more you have, the more you want.” His voice cracked, a fit of cough breaking out from his chest.
His eyes were dropping, and his voice was getting lower and lower with every sentence.
Guess I wasn’t the only sleepy one…
Leaning towards him more, I whispered, “Do you want to rest up?”
He shook his head in disagreement, “As soon as we’re done with this.” Then, inhaling deeply, continued. “In our world, the greed for more power is on that list too. You want to have the best man on your side, so you do everything possible to win him over; even if there isn’t a relationship, there’s a mutual understanding that you’re both together because of a common goal.”
“So you plan to use this to your advantage?”
“Yeah. Who wouldn’t want the best man in the ring on their team? How else would he rake in money?”
“Wait, the best man in the ring?” His words suddenly made sense to me.
“You’re going to fight?