Page 46 of Intense
I don’t touch them. No one does.
But what I make them do?
That’s the shit I’m going to hell for.
I was told to make the Trials believable.
There are rules. Challenges. It’s real life.
You have to earn your place in this world. It’s an initiation into true freedom for them.
“Look, Finn. I’ll speak to Enzo. We can delay your Trials for a few months?”
I hiss. That man's name sparks a rage in me like no other. To everyone else, he’s a fucking god that we have to bow down to. I see through him. The way he uses people. Hell, he’s smart. But he’s also conniving. I don’t trust him.
And quite frankly, I’m happy to keep pushing him out of the gates of Decadence.
We needed him once, we paid for our sins, six years is long enough. And gradually, it’s working.
But I’ll keep my games going to please him. Everything’s set. Ready to go.
Four women. Four rooms.
It’s about who can survive in their own head.
“Fine. We can delay. I’ll need to figure something out at work if I’m going away and doing the Trials.”
He sighs.
“You do know you don’t have to work, right? You’ve got billions sitting around.”
I shake my head, smoothing out my white shirt.
“You don’t understand, Declan.”
No one does.
If I quit, I tip the balance.
Into pure fucking evil.
While I’m working, I’m saving lives that matter.
That keeps me level. It stops me from thinking.
This mafia life was injected into my veins as a child. Doesn’t mean I want it to consume every part of me.
Medicine is my passion. It’s the only thing I won’t give up. Not for anyone.
“Maybe if you let us in, we would understand, Finn.”
I tut and shake my head.
“Sometimes holding back the truth is to protect, Declan.”
They don’t need to know what happened.
I’m not sure I could find the words even if I wanted to.
