Page 9 of Unfulfilled Promises
I began to speak but had to clear my throat before the words would come out. “I don’t know why he did any of the things he did. He never told me why he took me or kept me.”
“Liar,” Kelly returned and sat back in her chair before crossing her arms. “Sergey wasn’t kind to anyone, except you, and I want to know why.”
“I really don’t know,” I started to say, only for Ricardo to interrupt me.
“Why don’t I just get her out of here and we can forget all about her? She’s going to be more trouble than she’s worth.”
I cut my eyes to him, knowing he knew more than he was saying. I wondered why but really couldn’t have cared less. Looking back at Kelly, I wanted to tell her how little Sergey thought of her and how he only used her to take care of his son. Not ‘her’ son, but ‘his’, and after he was finished testifying, he was going to get rid of her.
But I kept my mouth shut and waited for her to decide what they were going to do with me. The evil smile on her face caused vomit to rise into my throat. She stood from the chair and walked around the front of the desk. Sitting on the edge, she looked down at me.
“I’m going to give you one chance to tell me what you know and what Sergey’s plans were, but I feel like you need a little incentive.” She looked at Ricardo and nodded before he walked out of the room. Lowering her voice, she spoke quickly, “I know you know more than you’re saying, and if you don’t tell me, I swear I’ll make every second of your life as miserable and painful as possible.”
“What makes that any different than the world I grew up in?” I asked, leaning forward and gripping onto the armrests tightly. “Do you think your threats scare me? I’ve been dragged around by one of the most dangerous gangsters in modern history, and you think threats of, what, assault, rape, and torture are going to scare me?” Sitting back, I tried to remain defiant as I added, “Do your worst. I’ll survive long after you’re gone, you stupid bitch.”
My bravery was false, but I could tell it was pissing her off, which was exactly what I wanted to do. Sergey said Kelly and Ricardo were the type of people who, if challenged openly, would usually bend or sway, giving their opponents an advantage. But something told me that wasn’t the case this time and I may have bitten off more than I could chew.
Someone walked into the office as Kelly and I were still in a staring contest. She glanced to the side, and when she looked back at me, the smirk on her face was big. “I’m about to make you eat those words, little mouse.”
A hand gripped onto my upper arm, and I turned to see a nightmare in front of me. There were four men who appeared to be guards from the look of their clothes. They all stood around me, looking at me like I was fresh water in the desert. I was pulled from the chair and pushed toward the group.
Ricardo joined Kelly at the front of the desk while the four men surrounded me, giving me no room for escape. I knew what was about to happen, and at that moment, I felt myself sinking into a comfortable darkness where nothing could hurt me. I hadn’t been in that place since I was a young child, before my mother disappeared. It was the place I lived when my surroundings or experiences were too much for my mind to handle.
As the men pushed me out of the room, I heard Kelly laugh as she said, “I’ll see how you feel about talking after they get through with you.”
The door closed as one of the men hefted me up and over his shoulder, then the group climbed the stairs to the second floor. I screamed, banged my fists against his back, and tried to kick my feet, but it was no use. One of the men in the group lifted my head up by the back of my hair and punched me so hard, my hearing and vision became distorted.
The next two hours were a blur of pain and humiliation that I wished I could move past. The next words I spoke to anyone was over a year later, but I never gave Kelly or Ricardo the information they wanted. Because fuck them.
Chapter 5
Seth
For the last hour, the group of us sat in Rhys’s war room as he and Hannah video chatted with us from her half-brother, Waylon’s home. I personally didn’t understand why they let him live when everyone else in that house died at our hands. He was responsible for Hannah being kidnapped, and I felt, deep down, he was more involved than he admitted.
Devlin and James were asking questions while the rest of us listened, only interjecting a question or simple statement when necessary. Waylon seemed terrified as he looked through the screen at the group of us, and my leg jumped under the table listening to him speak. Booker and Caldwell both glanced at me, so I pushed myself to a straighter sitting position, trying to stop the nervous habit.
I wanted to go check on Regan and see how she was doing, but leaving this meeting would draw attention to us that I wasn’t ready to deal with. I wasn’t afraid of her brother, cousin, his brother, or any of the Death Hounds who seemed to always be around. She’s a grown woman who could tell me she’s not interested, if that’s what she felt. Until she said no, I wasn’t interested in their opinions.
“Let me make sure I’m understanding you correctly,” Devlin said with a sigh, and I could tell he was frustrated. “You were around thirteen or fourteen when Sergey was killed?” Waylon nodded. “And during that time, Kelly kept you and Sergey Junior away from the business?”
He looked to the side, and I could hear Hannah saying something to him before he looked back at us. “She made sure Sergey Junior was involved in everything, but she wanted me out of the way and quiet. So, I stayed in my room and used the back stairs when I came and went. I swear, I don’t know who this mouse person is and I don’t remember seeing anyone that didn’t belong.” He shrugged then added, “It’s not like anyone in the house paid any attention to me, and I didn’t want anything to do with that filth, so I kept my head down and my eyes averted.”
“That’s convenient, isn’t it?” I muttered, causing James to turn his head and pierce me with his cold eyes.
“And Kelly never said anything about who else was involved in the upcoming initiation for the Syndicate?” Devlin inquired.
“Besides Sergey Junior, the one you . . . and the one who didn’t have an offering, that’s all I know.”
“What the fuck are we even doing? He doesn’t know anything, so this is pointless,” I blurted out as I stood from my seat, pushing the chair backward.
“If you can’t be constructive, then leave,” James returned, and I snapped my head at him.
Little preppy-looking asshole may have had a large body count, but it’s small in comparison to mine. I made my first kill at fifteen, when my old man decided to use my younger sister as a punching bag, and I beat his head in with a baseball bat. The courts let me off with self-defense since my sister had a broken nose, black eye, a chuck of hair missing from the side of her head, and bloody welts on her back, ass, and legs from his leather belt.
Rolling my eyes at him, I announced, “I’ll be back when you have something for us to go on.”
Lucian had been silent for most of the meeting, and he gave me a chin lift, letting me know we were on the same page. He was as frustrated about this as I was, but he had more skin in thegame than I did. Booker gave me a confused look, and Caldwell chuckled under his breath as Devlin and James turned back to the large screen on the wall and began to question Waylon some more.
