Chapter 26
twenty-six
-Set-
I cast an exhausted look at Whiro and remind myself that Father wouldn’t be pleased if I killed him. Still, he’s dangerously close to making it happen.
Keeping an eye on my brother, I call my men to make sure everything’s good to go. I’m already out of patience being in the same car as Whiro. And he’s only been here two minutes.
At least something seems to be working in my favor, and it looks like things will go even easier than planned.
One of his strippers was tasked with going to Chen’s office after her shift ended.
Which means he’ll stick around for a while.
And even better, I have a solid shot at catching him alone.
Everyone usually leaves at closing, so there’s no need for the smoke bombs, which means no cops and no fire trucks.
Just more time for me to deal with Chen.
Unfortunately, it also means Whiro’s stuck my ass for a few more hours.
I so miss Hell. So peaceful and quiet there.
And of course, my brother gets back in the car. It’s not like we can leave right now and return later. I know there’ll be at least a few more hours before the party dies, but I can’t risk not being ready when it does.
Besides, I need to wait until Chen entertains his guest, and we’ve got to stay under the radar while we do it. That means avoiding everyone else who is important in this town.
It takes barely half an hour before Whiro gets hungry. Of course, he’s hungry. It’s just another way of him torturing me.
I have no other choice but to ask one of my men to get him the Chinese food he’s rambling about.
At least he seems to make Serena feel less stressed.
Not that she bothers me—it’s normal for her to handle the pressure of these kind of events differently—but she says dumb shit when she’s stressed, and that does bother me.
My mind has to be in the game right now.
The hours pass like weeks, especially with Whiro slurping that damn milkshake for the past fifty minutes. And he’s not alone. He got Serena one too, and together they’re making some kind of weird unholy milkshake symphony.
Right when I’m ready to kill them both, my inside man finally calls to give me the green light.
Chen's office has just been marked off-limits, and almost everyone else has cleared out. It’s just the guards that we have to deal with.
I look at my watch—4 a.m.; so, this is what real torture feels like.
On a snap decision, I tell my guy to still use a few of the smoke bombs, but this time near the smoke machine. Let everyone think the fucking shit’s busted.
The stench will clear the place out and give us enough cover to handle the guards with no civilian casualties.
I let Whiro in on the change of plan as soon as I got off the phone. Then alert the rest of my crew to get into position.
My brother insists on leading the op and taking out the guards—which translates into him wanting to be the one doing the killing. I can live with that as long as he lets me have Chen. Fine by me. If he handles the rest, I can take Serena along to watch me finish Chen.
Whiro might be certifiable, but he’s a pro, and everything goes off without a hitch.
By the time Serena and I step inside, people are already pouring out of the club, coughing and cursing the poor management.
We’ve got tear gas masks to avoid breathing that crap in.
And by when we reach the hallway leading to Chen’s office, everything’s handled and Whiro’s already watching the perimeter, grinning like he just aced a test. “You have the honor,” he says, gesturing me toward the office.
Two guards lie dead by the door, but the music’s still blasting, so Chen hasn’t even noticed.
Or maybe he did, and he’s expecting us on the other side.
I motion for Serena to get behind me, I’m not putting her at any risk whatsoever, and my body is more than enough to stop any stray bullet. Not that Chen will get a chance to fire—even if he’s waiting for us.
I’m about to kick the door in when Whiro casually twists the knob and swings the damn thing open. The stupid bastard thought he was so well guarded, he didn’t even bother to lock it.
And I instantly see why.
We find him leaning over the desk, pounding into the stripper my guy mentioned.
She’s sprawled beneath him, tits bouncing against his desk, palms gripping the edges, her red wig almost falling.
He still thrusts inside her a few more times before registering what’s happening.
And by the time he does, my gun’s aimed straight at his head.
But when he turns, I realize that’s not Chen. It’s Xuan, his right hand. The bastard who handles all the dirty work for him.
Fuck!
“Don’t,” I snap, knowing he’s gonna try something while the girl pinned to the table lets out a scream.
“Shut it,” Whiro growls, warning her not to make another sound.
Honestly, I’m surprised he hasn’t shot her already.
But I quickly find out exactly why. “Don’t kill him, yet,” my brother says, his gun still focused on them.
“Let the man have his last pleasure,” he gestures toward the bastard to go on fucking the girl.
I pause, finger still on the trigger. And yeah, the sadistic part of me agrees with my brother. Let the man have his fun, knowing he’s going to die balls-deep in someone he probably had to pay for. No money in the world can make you less of a loser if that’s in your DNA.
Xuan freezes, shock written all over his face. The same shock that leaves him motionless for a few moments, before my brother barks, “Move!”
Xuan still pauses for a second or so, but then starts thrusting again, fucking the stripper.
The bastard probably thinks he’ll still have a shot to live if he does what he’s told and keeps going, or just wants to stall, hoping Chen’s men will bail him out.
Well, surprise, no one’s coming to save him.
“Is this really necessary?” Serena’s voice breaks from behind me, and it only makes me draw her closer so she can have a front row at this.
“Very,” Whiro answers while his eyes are locked at the woman’s tits.
Oh, grow the fuck up.
Xuan’s still moving inside her, and I suspect he wasn’t doing a great job in normal conditions, but this looks like a fucking disaster.
Still, my brother’s a psycho—this shit probably turns him on.
So I let him have his fun. Call it his reward for helping me with this.
Plus, it makes the whole scene more intense, and the lesson I’m gonna teach Serena that more real.
Xuan keeps jolting his hips, the desk, almost skidding across the room.
Several minutes later, and still no climax.
This shit’s getting boring AND hard to watch.
The bastard’s ugly as fuck and his moves are so all over the place, I actually could feel sorry for him.
But before I’m the one to put a stop to this, Xuan collapses, spent—his half-hard dick slipping out as he slumps over the girl.
There’s no chance in hell he’d get this done. But before I get in a word, preparing to blow his brains out, a burst of laughter fills the room.
Whiro’s barely holding it together, his gun wavering as he stares at Xuan’s pathetic excuse for a dick.
“Let me guess. Competing for world’s smallest cock?
” His laughter stops him from speaking. “Doll, I’m so sorry,”…
more laughing. “Is that an inch... an inch and a half?” More laughter.
“At this point, I'm starting to think the cruelest thing I could do is let you live with that... that thing dangling between your legs.” Whiro has one hand on his stomach by now, trying to stop himself. But he seems pretty much unstoppable at this point. “What was Chen gonna to do with the artifact—grow you a new cock?” He suddenly pauses, like he’s having a revelation.
I guess he’s done fooling around because the next second, a feral expression replaces the large smile on his face. “So... should I or—“
“No,” I cut him off before he spirals into a bloodbath. “I’m the one who gets to end this bastard,” I say, the urge to kill more intense than ever. “Is the contract on Serena Halden, still open?”
“I don’t know, man,” he cries again—obviously lying.
I let out a silent Tsk. His last warning.
“Okay... okay. The contract’s off the market—for now. But someone took it. I can get you a name if you let me go. I handle that kind of thing for Chen,” Xuan tries to bargain. But I’ve already got my answer. My informant was right, there’s no one else on her trail for now.
Since the bastard cooperated, it’s only fair to make this quick for him. “No one hurts what’s mine,” I roar, grabbing Serena’s waist. I pull her tight against my chest, my lips melting to the back of her head as I pull the trigger and blow Xuan’s brains on the wall.
She has to know—no one would ever harm her as long as I’m breathing.
The girl pinned beneath Xuan starts screaming and crying—hands down, the sound’s the most annoying thing I've ever heard. Whiro’s already lining up the shot to end her—no witnesses, after all.
But just before he gets a chance to pull the trigger, Serena breaks free from my arms to stop him, “Please…don’t… don’t kill her.”
Whiro looks at me, slightly surprised, expecting a sign to proceed. And I’m just as caught off guard myself. I get that Serena wants to protect the innocent and all that crap, but she can’t seriously expect me to let a witness live.
“Please, she won’t say a word, I promise.” Yup, she actually expects me to believe that. “Please,” she pleads, then turns to the woman, “You’ll keep quiet, won’t you?”
“Yes, please, I swear. I’ll forget everything that happened. I’ll leave town right now.” The woman also begs, but I’ve got no reason to trust a word of it.
Still, I could get something out of this. And the dark side of my mind works its magic.
“Please,” Serena begs again, and I feel a smile tug at my lips.
“I brought you along to watch what I do with my enemies—not for you to plead for their lives. You know how favors work—one for one,” I offer, already waiting on what she’ll trade. After all, I’m the devil’s son.
I signal Whiro to hold off. I can see it in Serena’s eyes—a favor is coming. She’s just weighing her options, calculating what she can offer that would take. But never, in a million years, did I expect this.
She turns to face me, eyes full of temptation as she steps closer, expecting me to lean in, as if she’s telling a secret. And it’s a hell of a secret. “My mouth. Your cock,” she whispers and I already feel myself twitching.
I try to swallow the knot in my throat so she won't see it. So she won’t recognize the kind of power she has over me. "I won't be gentle," I say, pushing her limits, but all I realize is that she is pushing mine.
“I know,” she answers with a smile tugging at her lips.
Damn. The thought drains every last ounce of reason, and all I’m thinking about is dragging her back home and making her keep good on her promise.
I have to wrap things here quickly.
“One word and you’re dead,” I warn the woman who still hadn’t gathered the courage to get out from under Xuan’s corpse. I step beside her and nudge Xuan’s dead body off with my boot. He thuds to the floor, the sound music to my ears.
She rises from the desk, covering herself, but not daring to move, even to fix her outfit.
“Hold on,” I say, rifling through Chen’s drawers.
He’s got to have some cash stashed from tonight’s take.
And sure enough, I find it in the second drawer.
I toss her a fat stack of bills, more than enough to skip town, maybe even start over somewhere else, and keep her damn mouth shut, just like she promised.
I nod, signaling to her that she can leave. Only then does she start fixing her dress.
Whiro’s a little too into the view. In fact, so interested, he can’t keep his big mouth shut.
“Damn, I need to get laid.” He says, still ogling her tits.
“You free tonight?” he calls after her as she bolts terrified out of the room.
“You weren't my type anyway.” He shrugs, and I spot the most disgusted look on Serena’s face.
“Hey, don’t blame me for wanting some action. I get bored easily,” he says, all innocence and zero shame. “Which reminds me, she promised you something earlier. What was it? Can I watch?”
I don’t answer just so I won’t end up punching him in the face. We just let him be as I take Serena and get her out of there.
My men are lined up inside the club, waiting for orders. And I give them, more gladly than ever. “Light it up. Burn it to the ground.” A message for Chen to never fuck with me.
My men start dousing the expensive new couches, the stage, and the island bar, ready to torch every trace of the place tied to the bastard who wanted to hurt her.
“See, I’d burn down this whole city for you, maybe even the world.
” I pause, waiting for her to look at me.
“But that doesn’t mean blind allegiance.
Handing you the match to do it yourself does—renouncing this kind of power, so you can gain it.
” I slip a matchbox between her fingers and wait for her to take the next step.
Her fingers tremble as she takes the box from my palm. I can see it in her eyes. The power is there, and she wastes no time proving how much stronger she’s become.
The lit match arcs through the air, lands on the gasoline, and within seconds, the whole place reminds me of home.
I wish I could stay and admire it longer, but I need to keep her at a safe distance.
I won’t put her in danger—not even for a second. Her life is more precious to me than even my own.