Chapter 23 Florian
Florian
Pure rage consumes me as I listen to Didrick reveal how my father intentionally got him addicted to drugs, knowing I would try to save him. He only found out when he overheard Olan talking to my other brothers about it. What kind of parent would do that to their child?
“I’m sorry, Florian,” Didrick apologizes again. “I didn’t know. After the accident, I just wanted the pain to end, and after his doctor gave me the first hit, I just couldn’t stop.”
I firmly grip his shoulder. “This isn’t on you,” I assure him.
His eyes reveal shame, and I understand why. However, the man who caused his suffering and mine acts like an innocent man and is sitting right in front of us.
“All’s fair in war, boys,” Olan says with a smirk. “You have too many weaknesses, especially that ballerina, Florian. If I can exploit them, so can others. You might want to remember that.”
“Asva, take Didrick to the penthouse,” I order, never taking my eyes off our father.
“But I thought…”
I raise my hand, stopping Didrick’s protest. I’m not letting him see what comes next, especially not with what Olan has done to him. I won’t be the reason he spirals back into addiction.
“Not this time.”
He stares at me for a moment before nodding. I can see the disappointment on his face, but I hope he knows this is the best thing for him. Whether he’s here or not, he’ll no longer have to worry about our father.
He looks at my father, and the smirk that crosses my father’s face will only last for a few moments. Didrick walks closer to Olan and spits in his face.
“Rot in hell, asshole,” Didrick says.
Our father chuckles as Didrick’s spit slowly slides down his cheek. “You’re an addict. A loser. I should have had that doctor give you a fatal dose and been done with you.”
Didrick pulls back and punches him in the face. When Olan screams, it’s like music to my ears. I’ve dreamed of the day I would hear his screams.
“Fuck you!” Didrick yells. “Fuck you! You piece of shit!”
While I believe Didrick needs to get all this shit off his chest, I don’t believe he’d be able to live with himself if he killed Olan or even watched him take his last breath. So, I signal to Alrick to grab Didrick before he gets carried away. It can be very cathartic to beat someone’s ass.
Alrick snatches Didrick, pulling him out of the room with Asva following. Then Asva closes the door, leaving only Olan and me.
I take off my suit jacket and casually throw it onto the table near the wall. I can feel Olan’s eyes on me, watching every move I make, anticipating what I’ll do next. But he has no idea what’s coming to him.
I carefully roll up the sleeves of my dress shirt to my elbows.
Tattooed on my right forearm is the goddess Freja in a chariot pulled by cats, which represents my mother.
Tattooed on my left forearm is a colossal beast, his teeth displayed and blood dripping from its long canines holding a sickle.
Its arm is tightly wrapped around a ballerina, symbolizing my wife and me.
The two most important people in my life.
One I couldn’t protect from him, and the other one, I’ll die trying to.
I position the chair in front of me and take a seat facing him. “Oh my, my, my, how times have changed, dear old dad. Look at who is the prey and who is the predator now.”
“Let me out of these restraints so we can see how much times have changed, boy. I’m always the predator, son.”
I laugh. “How does it feel to know this is your final day on Earth?”
“My sons will come for me.”
The confident tone of his voice only adds to my amusement. Even if they know where he is, they won’t be able to save him because they’ll die as soon as they step inside my building.
I have the feeling my brothers would rather our old man die. They want to be free of him as much as I do.
“Will they?” I ask with my brow arched.
“They will, and they will make you pay for this.”
I couldn’t stop the laugh from leaving my lips. “Well, if they do come, which I think is highly unlikely, but if they do, they’ll die right along with you, Olan.”
His eyes narrow. “You’d kill your own flesh and blood for power?” He scoffs. “You’ve become exactly the man I thought you would become. That’s why I wanted that bitch of a mother of yours to abort you. You’re nothing. I can’t even believe you’re a result of my seed. You’re no son of mine.”
I throw my head back and burst into laughter again. “I might be nothing to you, but I’m more of a man than you’ll ever be. I’ve got both your empires, and you have nothing.”
I rise and remove the knife from the holster attached to the waistband of my slacks. Holding the blade in front of me, I flip it back and forth so my father can see his fate.
“What are you planning to do to me?”
There’s no trace of his previous bluster and confidence in his voice. Now, it trembles with fear.
I slide my finger along the sharp edge of the steel blade, never taking my eyes off him. “Anything that I want to do to you, Olan. You will get no mercy from me, just like you gave her no mercy.”
“Son, you don’t have to do this,” he pleads, but those pleas fall on deaf ears. “We can rule together.”
“Together?” I step closer to him, tightening my grip on the knife’s handle. “Why do you think I’d want to rule anything with you?”
“You’re my son!” he yells, never averting his gaze from my knife. “If it wasn’t for me, where the hell would you be? You can’t kill me! You need me!”
I press the knife against his cheek, then pull it down and watch his skin split into two. As Olan screams, the sound reverberates in my ears, causing a dark pleasure to rise within me.
“That is a very good question, Far.”
With a chilling laugh, I trace the knife along the other side of Olan’s face, relishing the sensation of the knife slicing through his skin.
“Where do you think I would be if it wasn’t for you, Olan?” I ask, even though I don’t give a fuck about the answer.
He’s cost me so much, and he’ll die for it. Today is the last day I’ll have to worry about Olan Larsson.
Defiant as always, Olan glares at me. “Dead, just like your whore mother.”
His laugh reveals his blood-stained teeth.
Tamping down my anger, I shrug at his insulting comment about my mother. He knows she’s a sore spot for me, and he’ll say and do anything he can to get under my skin, but not today. Today, I’ll celebrate his downfall.
“Maybe I would be dead.” I shrug. “But that was your mistake, Olan. You should have killed us both when you had the chance. Instead, you wanted to make us suffer because of your lonely existence as a man.”
“Fuck you!”
“How does it feel knowing that the kid you tormented for so long will be the one to kill you?”
He lets out a laugh, but it comes out muffled and distorted due to the blood pooling in his mouth. He tries his hardest to spit it out, narrowly missing me. A glob of blood and mucus lands at my feet.
“You’ll pay for this,” he says. “As a matter of fact, there’s nothing you can do to save her now.”
Fear floods my senses, leaving me paralyzed in its grip. “What have you done?”
“I’ve ended you!” he shouts as best he can, his laughter echoing through the room. “I’m going to show you that you’re still that same little boy who will always crave my attention. And now you have it, my son. How does it feel?”
I shake my head, trying to clear the fear closing in on me. “Where is she?”
His piercing gaze locks onto me, and a victorious grin spreads across his face. “Dead.”
Torturing him is not important now. As long as he’s dead, I’m good. She’s more important than he’ll ever be.
With a loud yell, I forcefully drive the knife under his chin, plunging it through his head. I ignore the sound of his final breath escaping his lips. Watching him die isn’t as important anymore, and he no longer deserves my attention.
Arabelle’s gone.
I rush out of the room, feeling the adrenaline coursing through my veins along with pure terror and rage. Asva and Alrick fall in beside me, their footsteps matching mine as I pull out my phone and dial Hugo’s number.
“What’s wrong?” Alrick asks.
I end the call when he doesn’t answer and dial him again. After a few more tries, he finally answers, but heavy breathing comes over the line.
“Florian, what’s going on?” Alrick asks. “Talk to me.”
“Hugo!” I shout. “Hugo!”
Silence.
“I’m sending help, Hugo. Hang on. Asva, take Nero and get to the house. Something’s happened. Alrick, you come with me.”
With another burst of adrenaline, I hop inside the passenger side of the SUV, feeling the powerful acceleration as Alrick peels away from the warehouse. I end the call to Hugo and immediately dial Arabelle’s number.
“Hello, Florian.”
When Addie’s voice comes over the line and not Arabelle’s, anger rushes through me, causing my hand to clench around my phone.
I’m going to kill her.
“Where’s Arabelle, Addie?”
“No ‘how are you doing?’” she asks, laughing like a crazy lunatic. “No ‘I’ve missed you too, baby?’”
“Addie, stop fucking playing with me. Where the fuck is Arabelle?”
She huffs. “Get a grip on yourself, Florian. Your precious Beauty is fine.”
Arabelle’s blood-curdling screams send shivers down my spine, and my heart drops to my feet.
“At least, she’s fine for now.”
“I’m going to fucking kill you when I see you!” I yell. “Let her go!”
“If I die, so does she, Florian. And I know how much you don’t want me to die, my love.”
I need to think rationally and calm down before it costs Arabelle her life because, clearly, Adahlia has lost her fucking mind.
“What do you want, Adahlia? I’ll give you anything you want if you just let her go.”
“What I’ve always wanted, Florian. You. I want to be your wife.”
“Where are you?” I ask, raking my hand over my face in frustration and ignoring her statement. I have one fucking wife, and Adahlia will never be her. “We’ll meet and talk.”
“At our special place. I’ll be waiting.”