eight -Ares-
eight
-Ares-
I must be fucking losing it. It sure felt like it for weeks. Like, the only reason I exist anymore is to figure this shit out. Figure out what happened.
No matter how badly I should want to kill her myself, I don’t want to see her killed.
Yet despite that, she seems on an express ride to make that happen.
“Do you have any fucking idea what you’ve done?
What you could’ve done? The damage you could’ve caused?
” I pause, holding back my instinct to kill, because I was trained that way.
I was born that way. The concept of forgiveness doesn’t belong in my world.
She deserves none. “This isn’t just a fucking game.
Kharon isn’t just a game. Kharon is fucking manipulation.
Control of the world as you know it. You think it’s a whim?
Some fucking idea I woke up with one morning and thought, let’s give it a fucking try? ”
She looks at me like nothing makes sense to her anymore.
Welcome to my fucking world for the last two weeks.
“You don’t get it, Brynn, do you?” I hear anger in my voice and the urge to send her back to the room she came from.
Though there’s no more hiding. No more sending her away.
This is something thats got to be dealt with.
“The power given helps me keep the balance.” I take a step further, my jaw tightening.
“What do you think the Valiants and the Observers are for? Politicians and important underworld figures.” I let that settle before continuing.
“I control the game, so I control them. I’m giving them an experience they can’t get anywhere else.
And the fucking bastards can’t get enough. ”
A bitter breath leaves me.
“Money isn’t enough to get in. They owe me favors.
Respect. And not only me. Some of my brothers rely on me, on the men I control to keep their businesses running.
And you fucking jeopardized all of that.
” My words come out hard, just like she deserves them.
“Never in three thousand years have I let a player live, except for the one who won the game, not to mention hiding the player myself and risking everyone else calling it rigged. I did it all because of you.” My voice drops, even rougher.
“I risked breaking the fucking balance. Because you made me choose between the rest of the world, my fucking family, and you.” I stop.
The weight of my own words said out loud a greater burden than I’d willingly want to bear.
I am admitting things I don’t even want to think about, but she has to understand the damage she could’ve caused.
This wasn’t just some innocent lie. This was something that could have broken everything that we’ve built, who the fuck knows, maybe even risk an apocalypse.
She looks at me as the words sink in, and I see the regret I know is there; she’s just too proud to admit it.
Too stubborn to realize this isn’t just about her.
But I’m gonna make everything crystal clear.
“Do you fucking understand the importance, Brynn? I control the evil in this town, so all hell doesn’t break loose. ”
Silence follows for a few moments as I let her process things.
“Yes, I allow criminals to do whatever the fuck they’re doing, but within limits.
” My voice goes steady, controlled. “I use criminals and politicians to keep the balance. We can’t let evil take over everything and drag the world into a new apocalypse.
” My jaw tightens, not because I’m thinking of a greater good, more like someone knocking over my board mid-game.
“That happened in the past, and it didn’t serve anyone well.
But we can’t have bigots who believe in the greater good take control either.
Think of the Inquisition. Cults that strip individuals of self-will and a normal life.
That’s what the balance is for. So that humanity prevails. ”
“You don’t give a fuck about humanity,” she snaps, eyes filled with doubt, like I’m lying to her, and I pretended to be a good guy in all of this for a second.
“You’re right, I shouldn’t. But I do, even if it’s for selfish reasons.
You see, without it, we’d be just entities, the way you see a tree witnessing the passing of time.
We use you to keep us entertained. To have a purpose.
That's why we can’t afford to lose you. Life would be boring without humans. ”
“Oh, so we’re your entertainment?” I feel her slipping into some kind of defense mode, eyes glaring at me like she just found out I’m the devil’s son.
“Most of you, yes… while some of you are… priceless.” The word strikes her like lightning. I think she considers herself to be more damaged goods or even a trading coin, rather than someone I’d find indispensable. Someone I’d find special.
She tries to cover the look in her eyes that betrays much more than indifference, even if there’s a blush on her face that she has no chance of hiding.
I’ve never seen her blush. Hell, I never thought she was capable of blushing, but I guess admitting she’s still so valuable to me changes the dynamic of our discussion.
Her attitude shifts completely, her anger fading into something softer, I’d even call it a form of regret.
“Ares,” she murmurs, her weight shifting toward me, her head slightly bowed, shoulders slumped, like she’s declaring defeat. “I can’t ask you to forgive me. I know you won’t. I’m only asking you to let me do what I set out to. Then you can do whatever you want with me. Claim your revenge.”
Her head remains bowed, kind of saying sorry, without actually saying it.
But as enticing as that do whatever I want with her just sounded, I can’t really claim my revenge if she’s dead.
“It took everything in me to keep myself from killing you. And now you’re asking me to let you go get yourself killed?
” I shake my head, jaw tightening. “I won’t have that, Brynn.
I won't let you carry on with this madness.”
“You can’t stop me. No matter what you do.
I’ll find a way. I can’t live with myself if I don’t do this.
If I don’t avenge him,” she says, still without looking at me because there’s a tremble in her voice that tells me tears are coming next.
She’s not the type to cry. More like the type who's trying to hide them.
Still, her tears won’t convince me to let her get herself killed. “Oh, I will stop you. Because you were right about one thing. I can do whatever I want with you. You belong to me now. You do as I say from now on, and you’ll start by telling me who the fuck helped you get inside.”
“I don’t snitch on the people who help me,” she snaps, raising her eyes with much more confidence than earlier. Yeah, she’s right, she won’t snitch, but let’s see what she does if I give her no other choice.
“You will, Brynn, trust me. It’s time to stop playing pretend and see the real Ares.” If she wants it rough, she chose the wrong person to play with.
I grab her wrist, then drag her through the door behind her and into my bedroom. I’m done waiting for answers or playing the nice guy by letting her stay downstairs. I don’t care if she’s not fully healed yet. She seemed healed enough last night.
Still holding onto her wrist, I reach into a small cabinet from where I pull out a pair of handcuffs, which I use to cuff her to the heavy antique radiator right beside the window.
She doesn’t really try to fight me, more like muttering something under her breath as I push an armchair next to her, so she won’t have to sit on the floor until I get back.
I don’t even know why I did that. I blame it on her wounded leg. But the thought of seeing her suffer unnecessarily doesn’t sit well with me, even when she’s being punished.
“You’re not seriously doing this,” she pouts, dropping into the armchair.
“You said it yourself, you’ll run away first chance you get.” I feel like a cop right now—anything you say can and will be used against you.
“I’m not really capable of running away right now,” she rolls her eyes like this isn't a real possibility.
But I know Brynn, and when she sets her mind on something, there’s no stopping her. That’s what really worries me. That at one point, I won’t be able to hold her back.
“I’m not gonna take your word for it. Capable or not, you’re sitting in that chair.
I have a meeting in about an hour that I can’t miss,” I say, looking at my watch and realizing I have less than fifteen minutes to get out of the house before I lose the auction for a new shopping center I've set my sights on.
I rush to the bathroom, picking up my clothes along the way to take a quick shower and then get dressed.
But just as I’m leaving the bathroom and about to walk out the bedroom door, I hear my name. I’m not insane. I haven’t forgotten about Brynn. I was just trying to ignore her for now.
I don’t really answer her, but I turn my head to glance at her. She’s sitting in the armchair, much calmer than before. Truth be told, I’m surprised she doesn’t try to fight this. Though, I won’t take that for granted for too long.
“Can I have some water before you go?” she asks, her voice strained, making me realize I haven’t thought about how long it’ll take me to finish everything on my agenda today. I can go without food or water, or a piss, for much longer periods of time than humans.
Still, I’m late, and I don’t have time to deal with all of this right now.
I just grab my water bottle—it’s almost full anyway—and walk over to her.
“Here,” I open the bottle for her. “I’ll have Mrs. Holloway check on you in a few hours.
DON’T give her trouble.” I warn her, knowing what she’s truly capable of.
To my surprise, she seems a lot more docile right now. Like the gravity of her mistake has finally sunk in.
She grabs the bottle, but doesn’t drink yet. Her gaze seems unfocused, her voice trembling. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I never meant to let things come to this…” her voice falters. “I wish things were different… wish we’d met under different circumstances.”
“Well, it’s too late to change anything now,” I snarl, unimpressed by her confession. Or maybe I am impressed a little… but fuck if I’ll ever let her know.
I go about my day, trying not to think about what the fuck I’m gonna do when I get home.
I called Mrs. Holloway earlier to drop by and bring Brynn some food, take her cuffs off for a few minutes so she could use the bathroom, and also alerted one of my guards to stand by if my captive tries anything.
Surprisingly, she didn’t. Mrs. Holloway just texted me that Brynn asked to take a shower, then quietly returned to her temporary prison. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it’s not in her nature to act so demure.
I guess I’ll see when I get home. That’s not gonna be anytime soon because my day just got a lot longer with a shipment that went wrong, one of my men got into a fight, and he’s in jail, and a plumber messed up the pipes at one of my new bars.
Now I either tear apart a ten-thousand-dollar floor or have an architect redesign the whole fucking thing.
It’s almost 9 PM when I’m done with everything. It’s usually an early hour for me to go home, but it’s been a long day, and I have a feeling things are not going to be easy once I get there.
I stop and pick up some sushi. At this point, I know she deserves dog food, but depriving people of food is my way of torturing prisoners, not the woman I… I what? I don’t even know at this point. The woman I want to kill, the woman I’m fucking, or the woman I… still have feelings for.
Great! Now I’m even more pissed off at myself.
I return home, convinced I won’t give in to temptation again. She has to learn her lesson, even if it will take an eternity for her to do so. But like everything in my life lately, things are about to go sideways…