Page 3 of Kings of Lust
‘No, Brax. You want everyone to believe that you’re some kind of monster, while I know that something good lies within you.’
My bottom-of-the-heart speech was quickly interrupted by Cole’s hysterical laughter, unable to keep his reactions to himself. Still, I wasn’t going to stop chasing the truth, bringing up a delicate subject for Brax ‘Why else would you give all that food every night to the less fortunate?’
‘Because it would be just a waste of good food otherwise,’ his words escaped in a muffled roar, hindering the irritation of me having had blown hiscover. ‘I’m starting to believe that one day I will need to prove to you exactly what kind of monster I can be. You know, just so you can stop making assumptions.’ There was a dead-serious promise hiding between those lines. One that I feared he had every intention of keeping.
‘Brax...,’ Ferris’s voice cut through the air like the sharpest blade, drawing the line of unspoken authority.Who would have ever guessed?
‘What I have to say is important for you too, Brax. What will happen to all your businesses when the Pit will be just that a pit, a prison? What do you reckon they will do with your clubs, your bars and restaurants, and whatever establishment you have made in Echo city?’ There had to be a way to put some sense into him since I considered him to be the main pawn in helping me convince all three of them.
‘I’ll survive. I always do,’ his specific arrogance surfaced again, revealing all the mutual features he shared with Cole.
‘Yeah, it’s just the whole world around you who wouldn’t,’ and in that world, I, and my family, were included.
No matter my efforts, his shield could not be broken ‘Your point is...’ he pretended he didn’t care, or maybe he was right. He really didn’t and I was failing to see that. But I had to try.
I owed it to myself to try. I owed it to my family. I owed it to the whole city, feeling that fate had brought me the information and the means to help me fix this.
‘So, what’s the plan, Mouse? Dress us up as fucking Vikings and lead a war against the Elite?’
‘No. Notfucking Vikings... and you won’t have to lead a war, but end one, or maybe even suffocate it before it begins. If we’re lucky enough and time is on our side.’ I was asking so much of them, and of me.
‘And out of all people, you decided to orchestrate this?’ Brax could not contain his irony, probably still judging me only by my nice pair of tits, or whatever his other criteria were.
While I had every motive to show him I could ‘Someone has to do it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to lead this. I’m not... how should I express myself?... Devious enough. I’m more like the glue that holds the pieces together.’
I guess my newdefinitionof them didn’t agree with everyone, especially Ferris ‘And we are? Devious enough, I mean…?’
There was no point in hiding the obvious since I had a suspicion that he was the most darkly ingenious of them all. However, I didn’t doubt even for a second that Brax and Cole weren’t resourceful enough to be the masterminds behind this. But Ferris... he had something extra. Maybe it was in his nature, maybe because he successfully masked any deceitful intentions with his charming behavior. And that made him a hundred times more dangerous than Cole or Brax put together.
It was time to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. ‘Yes, more than enough,’ my breath ghosted the reply, as my eyes raised to drown into Ferris’s. He was the only one in the room that still kept appearances, while my other two kings almost preened on being perfectlydevious.For them,deviousnesswas their greatest quality and not by any means a flaw- and I was betting all my money on that.
‘Each one of you brings a special value to the table, which when put together could give us the power to do anything we set our minds to.’
‘Oh, do tell what special power I possess,’ Cole seemed to be in the mood for jokes, though judging by Brax’s gaze, he wasn’t keen on hearing about Cole’sspecial powers,especiallynot about the ones the king of EMA considered as beingspecial.
‘What about you tell us. How deep do your connections in the political scene run?’ I had overheard his father, but I needed to know for myself exactly how much we could rely on him.
‘Ocean’s bottom fucking deep. My family has connections even with the president. But as all wheels in motion, every connection must be greased. And these people need a lot of grease to function.’
‘I guess this would be how I fit into all of this.’ It didn’t take Ferris long to realize that his fortune would play a major part in thegreater plan.
I loathed to tell him that I needed his money. But as Cole very well said, his bank account could set all wheels in motion.
‘Yes, and hopefully also with your connections. Money makes the world go round, right?’ I tried to smile, sending it out to be a joke, though not much humor was left in me.
‘Unfortunately, not. Not connections, I mean, since public life was of no interest to me for the last couple of years.’ The sheer grief in his voice made me aware not to pursue the subject, especially since I noticed Brax’s and Cole’s eyes falling to the ground, sinking themselves in some kind of memory that was setting a deep sorrow on their beautiful faces.
‘And I?’ Brax, broke the silence after a couple of minutes which seemed like a collective moment of recollection.’Let me guess. Underworld connections, access to information and, how can we neglect: a possible alliance with the leaders of the rebels.’
‘Yes, all of the above, plus your men, for protection -if that will be the case.’ I was asking so much of them, involving them in a fight that was not entirely theirs to carry. And like all kings, each one of them would want something in return for bringing their forces into the battlefield.
‘That sounds so noble in theory, even though I’m not sure any of us carry a single noble bone in our bodies, but I do have a question regarding all that you’re asking of us.’ it was Ferris who spoke, carefully weighing all of the options ‘Why would I agree to this? Why would I risk my fortune for a fight that I could so easily avoid?’
Indeed, why would he?
Maybe I was just a fool, but my mouth got to speak before my brain got to react ‘I hopedIwas a good enough reason... at least foryou, Ferris.’ Ninety-nine percent spoken from the heart and a hundred percent wrong.
At least, it didn’t take me long to figure that out.
