Chapter 1 #2
“My mother’s name was Rebecca,” Torin said; his voice darkened as his fingers fisted around a tuft of her hair.
He leaned closer again. “One of the most important women in the Bible, Rebecca, tricked her elderly husband, Isaac, into choosing their younger son, Jacob, and not their older son, Esau, to lead the future tribes of Israel.” She cried out in pain as his fingers tightened.
“Stop!” William begged. Torin ignored him.
“Are you like her, Rebecca? Are you pretending not to know why you’re here, only because your children are alongside you? Or are you the one who is responsible for your husband betraying me?”
“I don’t know what you want from us! I swear. William—aahhh!” she screamed as Torin yanked her head back viciously.
“William can’t help you, Rebecca. So, are you truly ignorant or are you the one pushing him to take what doesn’t belong to him? Are you the beautiful ensnarer?”
“N-no! I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She struggled to breathe as she started to cry.
His breath hissed against her cheek. “Shh, there now,” he cooed as he kissed her temple softly. “Tell me, darling, what does your husband do for a living?”
“H-he’s a traveling salesman.”
“Hmm, and what does he sell that brings in so much loot that you can afford to live in one of the high class suburbs in Seattle, with your children in the most expensive private school in the city?”
“William is an entrepreneur. He sources products from various suppliers. That’s why he travels so much and is away from home every week.”
“You truly wish me to believe you are so gullible to swallow that dribble?”
“Mr. S, please ... I beg you, don’t,” William pleaded in a pitiful voice.
Rebecca screamed as Torin yanked hard on her hair again and wrapped a hand around her throat.
“Leave my mother alone, you fucking coward!” The elder of the two boys tried getting to his feet, but Razor clamped a hand around his shoulder.
He cried out in pain and settled back on his knees.
“Hurt her again and I’ll kill you,” he sneered as he turned his head this way and that, not intimidated at all.
“Such a brave boy you have, William. Quite surprising, especially since his father is a cowering beggar.”
“P-please, I beg you. Don’t hurt my boys,” Rebecca sobbed in a broken whisper.
“You do not need to be concerned, my dear. Children are safe from my wrath. They need to be protected, no matter the sins of their parents, isn’t that correct?”
“Yes, and I’ll do anything you want, anything! Just please don’t hurt them.”
Torin barked out a laugh. “Did I imagine it, William, or did your lovely wife just proposition me?”
William shook his head, unable to force a word from his lips. Torin was known for his cruelty, especially when he had been betrayed. He’d seen him do much worse than use women as sexual tools to bring the mightiest man to his knees.
“Hmm, it seems your dear husband has been struck silent, so I’ll leave it to you to answer the question. Did you, Rebecca? Proposition me?”
“I...” She swallowed hard as she lowered her head when he finally let go of her hair. “I need my boys safe and if ... if that’s what it would take ... then y-yes.”
“Ahh,” Torin offered William a Cheshire-like grin as he assisted the distraught woman to her feet. “Take Mrs. Kent to the red room, please. I’ll join her there shortly.”
“No! Mr. S, please. Dear God, I beg you!” William yanked on the ropes to no avail as he watched Razor lead his wife from the room.
“Mom! Where are you? Mom!” The younger boy was clearly upset.
Torin guessed him to be around eight years old, too young to know what was about to happen.
Judging by the way his older brother fisted his hands and pressed his lips together, he realized exactly what his mother had offered to appease their tormentor.
“Settle down, young one. Your mother will be back soon.” The deep intonation in Torin’s voice wrapped around the fear of the young boy and he seemed to calm down. He turned to the tall and strong boy who stood on his knees with his shoulders squared and proud. “What’s your name?”
“Brendan.”
“How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Hmm, such a moldable age,” Torin mused as he watched him thoughtfully.
“No! Leave my boy alone! He’s too young and I won’t allow it.”
Within a flash, Torin was by his side and his fingers dug into his chin as he sneered into his face.
“You won’t allow it? What makes you think you have any rights left, William Kent?
You proved you can’t be trusted.” His voice turned silky smooth.
“Perhaps your son would prove to be of more value to our organization than you.”
“No! Leave him be!”
His cry of pain followed Torin’s fist that cracked into the side of his face, followed by a torrid number of gut punches.
“You don’t tell me what to do, Kent. Not ever, is that understood?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. S,” he gasped as pain seared through his stomach from the ruthless hits that felt like it ripped through his skin to prod at his insides.
“I’ll do what you want! Just let my parents go,” Brendan cried.
Torin was impressed that even at such a young age, he managed to mask the fear from his voice that was evident in the sagging of his shoulders. He was a proud young man and that was what attracted him to the possibilities of what he could mean to Kings Inc.
“No! Brendan, keep your mouth shut. You have no idea what you’re saying.”
“What else can I do, Dad? Allow him to ... to defile Mom? Kill you, and leave Samuel fatherless?” His shoulders pulled back as he tilted his chin back. “What do you expect from me, Mr. S?”
“Are you finished with school?”
“I just started college—I’m studying architecture.
I skipped a year at school when I was ten since I was too smart for the class.
” The sadness in his voice was testimony that he was intelligent enough to realize that whatever the cruel man had in store for him, meant his future was about to change.
Becoming an architect, his dream from the first drawing he’d made of a house, would never come to fruition.
“I’ll talk! Just let my family go.”
Torin cast a glacial look at William. “Now, you wish to talk? You were happy for me to fuck your wife and—”
“No! I-I just didn’t believe you’d go that far,” he protested pitifully.
“How long have you worked for me?”
“F-fifteen years.”
“And in that time have you ever seen me back down?”
William hung his head shamefully. He’d failed the greater test in the eyes of his leader. He prepared himself for another foray of hits as Torin began circling him.
“Talk, Kent. I’m listening.”
“I didn’t steal from you, Mr. S, I swear.
” He swallowed hard as he looked fearfully at Razor who had returned and stood watching him from the doorway.
Two of his soldiers were standing in opposite corners, ready to do their leader’s command.
“But I know who did.” He looked at his sons.
“Please let them go and I’ll tell you everything. ”
“You will tell me everything, regardless, Kent.” Torin swiped back the tails of the long coat and pushed his hands deep into his pants’ pockets. “Do you honestly think for one moment I will blindly believe what you tell me, without confirming it?”
“I won’t lie to you! I never have and I won’t start now!”
“Withholding information is a form of lying, Kent, surely you know that?”
“I ... he promised to tell you himself. I beg you, Mr. S.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “Just don’t bring Brendan into this.”
“I believe your son is old enough to make his own decisions.” Torin looked at the dark-haired teenager. “Isn’t that correct, son?”
Brendan swept his tongue over his lips, but he didn’t lose the proud expression on his face. “Yes.”
“You made a commitment to me. Do you intend to honor it?”
Brendan tipped his chin an inch upward. “Yes, Mr. S. I do.” He hesitated briefly and then continued in a firm voice, “But only if you let my mother go.”
“Hmm, interesting. Before you demanded both your parents to be let go. Why now only your mother?”
“My mother is innocent in whatever is happening here. My father,” he turned his head in the direction where he assumed William was, “he seemed to have overplayed his hand and now he has to suffer the consequences.”
“Ha! Do you hear that, Kent? Exactly the kind of youngster who will one day become a leader of the captains and then the Underboss.” He tapped Brendan on the shoulder. “You have a bright future ahead of you, my son.”
“Why do you call me your son?”
“Because soon I will be the one who will take care of you in all aspects. You will, for all intents and purposes, become my son, and one day, you will reap the rewards.”
He turned to Snake. “Take the boys and their mother home.” His eyes pierced William’s resolve as he looked at him. “William and I have a lot to discuss.”