Tension filled the air. Our anger could be sensed from afar. My gaze hardened on Ivan. Fucker was supposed to find the root of the trouble instead of purchasing himself a slave.
Drawing in a long exhale, I quickened my stride over to the black SUV. The windows and windshield were also dark. When we ruled the city nothing was impossible for us.
But a slave! I wanted to beat the hell out of him. How could he do what was most hateful in our group?
"I'll drive." Marcus snorted as he held his hand out for the car keys. He did not forget to shoot a dark stare at him.
Ivan took it out of his pocket and dropped it on his palm.
I grabbed his shirt in my fist as he was about to turn to the girl.
Her eyes were staring at the road during the entire walk out of the shithell. Her raven hair was working like curtains to hide her face. She was barely wearing clothes. Ivan's coat was fitting her like a mini loose dress. At least it was covering her properly. She was almost shaking with fear.
"You better explain everything to me. Or I'll put a bullet in your head for your stupidity." I growled, trying hard to control my anger.
"I promise," He whispered. It felt as if we were in the playing ground and I was their leader like always. I asked him to do something and he assured me with his promises. But something caught my attention in his demeanor. He was looking calm. Did he do this out of his likeness for her? She's beautiful but we don't promote slavery.
"He already cares for her." Marcus muttered in French, snorting. His steps extended over to the car. He yanked it open. Getting in, he slammed it behind him.
The girl behind Ivan jumped in terror. Her big round eyes stared at the car, gripping sheer fear as it was going to explode at any time.
Ivan cursed under his breath and shook his head looking at Marcus. He wasn't taking offense to our sour moods. I snorted as he could see him through the tinted windows.
My gaze drifted away from him. We weren't the only ones who came out of the auction with a girl. Ben, a local drug dealer was hauling a girl toward his car. She would be barely eighteen. She was pulling her hand away from his grip using her full strength, telling him to leave her alone, calling him names. She seemed like she could do anything to get free from him. At least, this woman wasn't troubling us. We'd drop her to her home. That's my plan for now. If she has one.
My expression darkened with anger, every muscle bunched under my shirt. Someone was going to endure my anger. I'm always short-tempered.
My hand went under my coat. Ben's laughter and crying of the girl was increasing my anger. I narrowed my eyes at him as I pulled the trigger pointing my gun at him. It went through his head.
Ben fell with a thud. The girl went down with his weight almost sitting next to his lifeless body. Blood oozed from his head.
The girls let out cries. Quickly it ceased realizing her freedom. A smile crawled on her face. Her cheeks were glistening with tears.
I slid my hand in my pocket as I walked over to her. I took out a handful of cash. I dropped it in her lap.
"Rob every single penny of him. Leave his jewelry if you don't want to give his men any idea to chase you." I growled with frustration as loud as I could.
She jumped to her feet. Bending, she grabbed the cash I gave her. She kicked him with her pointed heels and bent down to take his wallet from his pocket, leaving his golden chains around his neck and his rings. She wasn't bothered about running away in just two pieces, stuffing the cash in her b*a.
I stared into Ivan's eyes. I wanted to lecture him but it wasn't me. It was always my gun that spoke louder than me.
Walking around the car, I opened the door.
The girl was still looking at the dead body, with round eyes. If she was planning to struggle or run away. It must have died now.
"That was pretty good." Marcus chuckled.
Ivan held the back door open for her. He cleared his throat to grab her attention. She was frightened of me now. We weren't in our city. It was near a Mexican village.
"Hurry up, man!" Marcus said, impatiently.
We were planning to stay for two more days. It could help us to reach the root of all this fuss. But Ivan's stupidity ruined it.
"We're heading home." I seethed. They might be bosses but I'm their boss.
She hurried in. Ivan followed her silently.
When the door was shut they're seated back. Marcus sped up the car. "I would stay. I need to find her killer." Marcus said in French. It was mentioned in her description that she could only speak one language, English, and only where it was demanded.
"We haven't seen her face." Ivan said. "Just a lead that she's the queen of all the barbaric fucking auctions."
"You keep your mouth shut, brother. I didn't expect this from you." Marcus thinned his lips. He glanced at them through the rearview mirror. "What's your name, girl?" He asked Irritatedly.
She looked at Ivan. Was she looking for his permission before speaking? My jaw tightened. I was still grasping my gun.
"You're not a fucking slave. Tell us your address. We'll drive you home." Marcus tried to speak softly. He failed in it completely.
He turned cold after his girlfriend died. She was kidnapped and pushed in an auction like a thing. Marcus wasn't the same after he lost her.
"Number Four," Her voice was barely audible.
"What the fuck!" I snarled.
Donovan, Ivan's father, arranged an auction after every five years. Girls and women come there willingly and no men are allowed to violence. They signed a lot of papers before claiming the girls for a week. They bid on them.
Our fathers were buddies. That's saving him and deterring me from pulling the trigger.
"Your fucking name, woman." I gritted.
"Willow!" She almost squealed immediately. She's in her twenties.
I felt Ivan's gaze on me but he didn't say a word.
"Your address, Willow?" Marcus asked in his casual deep tone.
"Damn, stop scaring her." Ivan slammed his fist on the back of his seat.
I gazed through the rearview mirror. Her face was whitened with fear, eyes were big enough to pop out of her head.
Marcus chuckled. "I'm asking for her address. So we could get rid of her. Your address?" He asked.
"I'm an orphan," She muttered.
"Where were you kidnapped from?" Ivan asked.
"I don't remember." Her voice shook. "She adopted me." Another clear whisper reached our ears.
Anger burned through me. Ivan cursed in French loud enough to make her flinch.
"You're trained to be a slave." I took a deep breath.
Marcus and Ivan cursed. "And what else you're trained to do!" Marcus snapped.
I understood his concern. After her death, he didn't trust anyone but us.
"Damn you, man." Ivan fisted his hand again.
"She could be dangerous." Marcus snapped in French.
"We could get information about her. Something! Anything to help us to reach her." Ivan muttered.
I grunted. Clearly, I gave them a warning not to discuss anything in front of her. We were using another language. But she was trained it could include languages, too.
Marcus pulled the car into the garage. I turned to Ivan. "There could be a hidden device." I told him. I didn't need to explain further. He also knew the rules.
Ivan nodded, opening the door of his side. He grabbed her hand and drew her out with him.
Marcus cursed from the driver's seat. "He's already into her. His father is gonna hate this." He said when they were near the elevator.
"He's not gonna talk to us if she'll be more than just whatever he bought her for." I rubbed my temple.
"Oh! I was guessing worse." He chuckled.
He met my gaze as our expressions turned hard. I saw a shadow from the corners of my eyes, moving toward us. Soon, we found the man cladded in the dark standing in front of our car through the windshield. His gun was pointed at us.
After the attack, almost two years back, which took Sylvia, Marcus's happiness away from him. All our cars were bulletproof after that.
"Fool!" He smirked and hit the gas.
I saw the man flying away from our car and landing with a painful grunt. I took out my phone and locked every door with the system of our house, building. The car stopped with the screeching of tires. I also turned off the lights and took out my guns. "She already knows that we're here. She sent us her toys." I cursed under my breath.
"It's gonna fucking fun!" He chuckled and took his guns out.
We stepped out of the car, hiding under the dark.
The gunshots rang in the air as bullets hit our car, the windshield, windows. We waited for them to seize.
After a full minute, we saw shadows moving toward our car, making sure of our death when one of them approached the car. Together, we stepped out of the
dark, taking down every shadow.
One bullet, one man.
All rights are reserved © Seerat Kaur 2023
I pulled the car near an old building. It has been a year since Ivan bought a woman for himself. It was more important than fulfilling his needs. Ivan's guess took us to the information. We were able to track her brothel houses and freed some hundred women in these past months. Willow gave out every single piece of information she remembered during her training. I didn't want to go into detail. It could be painful for most of the people. "This place is safe. It's not a high society area but a reputed one. She'll be safe here." Pete said. I darted my gaze around. The parking lot wasn't fully empty at this time of the weekend, the swimming pool was going under the cleaning process. The playground was busy with kids and some couples sitting on their mats. Someone caught my attention when she wiped her cheeks. The new forming tears rolled down immediately. I felt my heart beating in my chest. My hands tightened on the steering wheel seeing her in pain. Her low
I used a different car today. Endless hours have passed. I couldn't sleep last night. She kept hovering in my head. I read her file. She hasn't dated anyone in the twenty-eight years of her life. It's quite unbelievable. I stared up hoping she would come near the window of her room. I just wanna have a glimpse of her. I don't know feelings, emotions and particularly love. But I felt the need to see her. The door opened of my car and I reached for my gun. I pressed it on his head. He fucking grinned at me. "We do care for Willow. But I wasn't expecting you here." He said, looking at the building. Frowning, I pulled the gun away and put it back in the holster. "What are you doing here?" I snorted, darting my eyes out at the park. There were only kids. The security guard wasn't ever a problem. He leaned forward and peered out of the window. "She's not here. I guess. You must know her apartment. We can go and say hello." He wiggled his brows. "Shut up,"
The pain of losing her is still buried in my chest. There was no medicine that could help me to cure this pain and the loneliness I felt after she left the world. She was my only family after my father's death. I'm not merely dealing with my pain, feeling shattered but I'm also three days away from losing everything if I can't pay my mom's medical bills and funeral expenses. I'm sharing my small apartment that was gifted by my late father with Willow. Technically, it should go to my mother. It shocked me when I found out that I inherited it. Mom just thinned her lips that day and didn't say a word. What would she be thinking….. It always puzzled me. Back to Willow! She's weird, very weird. She's tall, and lean with perfect curves, her hair is dark and shorts. Her nose is pierced, her ears are pierced more than three times. She always wears black and her boyfriend is more weird than her. He scares me. But they are good-looking and seem to be made for each other. And we have
I came here because my friend Marcus suggested it to me. He's ready to take over from his father like me. Though, we don't need to. We're the kings of our kingdom. Deadline of my father boiling my blood. I'm the boss. Still, I could never be rebellious with his stubborn nature. I don't want a wife from the mafia world. I don't want any alliance, or a marriage tie to strengthen the outfit. I want a simple woman to be my wife. Underbosses don't think once to throw their eighteen-year-old daughters at my feet. Everyone is hungry for power. I don't want a kid to tie to me. Marcus is the owner of this club. A very important event for his father and Donovan. We want to throw and kill most of the guests. We're here for a special and hateful event. We're not in this favor. But when your oldies are still alive, instructing you to turn the wheel this or that way, it irks most. "I wanna shoot all the fuckers." Marcus cursed, darting his gaze around at all the faces under th
I have never been so scared in my entire life before. But I'm relieved that Willow came with me. I have seen girls in the hall. Some were naked, getting dressed, doing their makeup again and their hair. But standing up here getting ready to go out on stage scared the shit out of me. I wanna run back home. I couldn't even do so. The girls are barely dressed, almost naked, barely hiding their private parts. I look away and try to think of something else, not wanting to go into detail. Because I am also going to wear this. "Take this and there's the changing room." She handed me a gorgeous, expensive pink gown and gestured to me to go to the back. No one has used it. Why me? You're thirty! My head yelled at me. After I signed up for the auction at Club Blue, they called me in and went over everything. They had me sign many papers stating the guys were buying brides, slaves, and virgins. When I signed the papers with my heart in my throat. I did stop there.
The blindfold was gone and I felt alone in the room the next morning. I am feeling swollen down there. Blinking, my sleepy eyes drifted around. The wealth speaks loud, everything is the best from their times and expensive. My mother used to tell me that we should try to purchase good things, they would last longer. That's what money brought us. With expensive furniture, and dark walls which felt quite strange to me, it looked weird but also beautiful. Weird because it shows a dark and very strong personality. I shook my head. I could still feel his touch on my skin. I'm not blindfolded, or tied. I let out a small smile looking down at myself but also wondering about finding myself wearing an oversized black shirt. The sleeves of the shirt are rolled up to my elbows. I didn't do this. He dressed me up. He's not as bad as I was considering him. My gaze kept drifting, my head filled with his touch, flesh pressed against mine. The shock made me draw in a sharp
I want to kiss her like I need my next breath seeing her innocence and want to strangle hearing her talk about going home. It's her home with me. She can wander around the house, the day she will realize that it's her life. If she had been on the stage, the bidding would have gone across twenty million. She was brought into Marcus's office. They are my trusted men who bid on her including Marcus. She signed up for auction. Marcus knows what kind of wife I want. He knows she caught my attention a year ago. He sent me her details. To get rid of my father's nagging question, or to save myself from most attempts of tying me to knots with one of Underboss's daughters frustrated me. All women were there willingly. I'm against it and Marcus too. But his hands are tied until his old man is still breathing. I didn't believe that she was a virgin until last night when I took her. She's gorgeous and more gorgeous without clothes and just wearing my shirt. I smile. She's too innocen
I bolted upright feeling a touch on my arm. My heart is slamming against my chest. But when I turn my sleepy eyes to him. A smile spread on my lips. Then everything hit me. He didn't let me leave the room. I flattened my lips and looked away. "I am upset with you. Don't talk to me." I mostly stayed busy with my work. I talked to everyone but did not have any particular friends. I don't know how to behave around him. I pick up to be real. I'm upset with him. He should have known that I'm not softened toward him. I just couldn't help. He chuckled softly. "Thank you for letting me know." "Are you mocking me?" I stare at him, offended. He brushed his fingers on my cheek. "Why would I do that? You're such a good girl." I huffed. "You're mocking me, Mr." "Would you like to have a tour of the house?" He asked. "No." I said, flatly. "I know the way to the kitchen and back to my room. Thank you so much." I look around to find a wall cloc