Chapter 7: Mess with the devil

It was a few minutes past 5 p.m. when Lucas stepped out of his office and made his way towards his private elevator, the evening sun casting a warm glow through the glass walls. On reaching the reception, he made his way to the parking lot. A sense of lightness filled his chest after the conversation with Attorney Jose.

He had even instructed his secretary to select the finest, most exquisite jewelry available—something expensive to gift to his wife. He was wrong to mistreat her; he was going to apologize to her and restore the love that had once brought them so much joy.

~~~

Back at the mansion, Reina realizes that the necklace she received from the mysterious man the previous night was missing from her room. That's when she recalls the moment Lucas ripped her dress yesterday; she had felt a faint yank around her neck, an indication the necklace must be in his room. Determined to retrieve it, she manages to sneak into Lucas's room and is relieved to find Bianca asleep.

After what felt like hours with no luck finding the necklace. Reina turns to leave the room just when Bianca shifts in her sleep, revealing the necklace around her neck. Angered, Reina approaches Bianca, curling her fingers around the necklace and yanking it away from her neck.

Bianca's eyes shot open, and when she saw Reina holding the necklace, she got off the bed and demanded. “Give me the necklace, you bitch!”

“Are you out of your mind, Bianca? Why do you think I would give it to you?” Reina asked as she turned to leave.

“Because Lucas asked me to keep it!” Bianca shouted as she followed Reina out. But Reina only smiled as she walked away; she wasn't going to waste her energy on the blood-sucking leech.

On reaching the stairs, Reina was about to head down when Bianca suddenly ran forward and pushed her. Reina's heart raced as she managed to grab the railing, preventing herself from falling. She straightened up, slipped the necklace into the pocket of her jeans, and climbed back up, seizing Bianca by the wrist when she tried to run away, slapping her twice across her face.

“I know you're shameless, but trying to retain something that clearly isn’t yours will vile means? Stop it, Bianca; that's so cheap of you,” Reina said, delivering another slap to Bianca's face.

In her fit of anger, Reina failed to hear the sound of the door opening. But Bianca saw Lucas enter the house. With Reina still holding her wrist, she used her free hand to grasp Reina's hand and exclaimed loudly, “I'm sorry, Reina! I never meant to fall in love with Lucas. It happened so fast I couldn't stop it. Please don't hurt my innocent baby; I beg you!”

“Are you crazy? What the hell are you talking about? Get your filthy…!” Reina exclaimed as she reached to remove Bianca's hand from her wrist. Just then, Bianca dropped to the floor, screaming.

Reina started laughing at Bianca's obvious act, but her laughter ceased when she turned and saw Lucas running up the stairs.

Lucas was heading towards Reina's room but heard her voice coming from up the stairs. He paused at the foot of the stairs and glanced up just in time to catch her words: “Get your filthy!” His heart raced when he saw Reina shove Bianca to the floor and started laughing maliciously.

Reina wanted to explain to Lucas, who was approaching her up the stairs, that Bianca had deliberately dropped on the floor to frame her. But Lucas pushed her out of the way on reaching her, and she went rolling down the stairs since she wasn't expecting to be pushed.

“Reina!” Lucas yelled when he saw Reina rolling down the stairs. However, before he could take a step toward her, Bianca, noticing his intention to go to Reina, cried painfully, clutching her stomach. Lucas turned around and rushed to Bianca, scooping her up in his arms just as she lost consciousness.

He hurried down the stairs, cradling Bianca in his arms and leaping over Reina's unconscious body at the bottom of the stairs.

Bianca was pregnant with his child, and he couldn’t afford to waste any time that might put their son at risk. He quickly got to his car and instructed Victor to call the ambulance for Reina and asked his chauffeur to drive quickly to the hospital.

~~~ The same day ~~~

Sicily.

Xavier got off his private jet and approached the waiting car with an icy expression, emitting a deadly aura with every step. Already, he was in a bad mood from how things turned out yesterday at the charity event. He even had to abort his plan on kidnapping the Mafia princess. He had wanted to head home and forget everything like it never happened.

However, some fools took the opportunity of him being out of the country and acted recklessly, so he had to take a detour to the base where they were being kept. He had instructed his men not to lay a finger on any of them. He was going to vent out the pent-up anger inside him on them.

~~~

Forty minutes later, Xavier's black Ford F-150 King Ranch Hybrid came to a stop at the underground parking lot of his underground empire.

“Boss,” Lorenzo, one of Xavier's capos, who was waiting for his arrival, greeted after opening the car door for him. Xavier nodded and asked in a baritone voice.

“What did you find?”

“I found they are agents of Igor Petrov of Bratva. They have been providing him with information for the past two years.” Lorenzo said, scratching the back of his head as he walked alongside Xavier.

“Two years? I thought you thoroughly investigated all the men's backgrounds." Xavier asked, with a raised eyebrow, stopping and looking at Lorenzo's face.

“Yes, boss, their backgrounds back then were clear, and it was, but a careless move two months ago left a loophole, helping to find out.” Xavier nodded and asked as he began walking.

“What measures have you put in place, and have the merchandise been found?”

“Yes, boss, we have conducted another background check on all the men, and the goods have been reached on time before they cross the border.” Xavier nodded as they reached the door, and Lorenzo scanned his eye. The metallic doors slid open, and they entered the elevator. Lorenzo enters the floor number, and the elevator starts moving and stops a few seconds later.

~ Warning: The upcoming scene contains killing and blood and may not be suitable for all readers. If you are easily triggered by any of these subjects, please skip. ~

Xavier walked out of the elevator with a chilling grin plastered on his face that sent shivers down the men with their hands bound behind them, kneeling in a line in the dimly lit room.

“Boss, please spare me; I was forced, my mom; she's at the hospital, and I needed money! I know my reason doesn't justify what I did, but please spare me. I'm my mother's only hope; she has no one. Please, I will do anything!” Xavier, who was looking at the pleading man with an emotionless expression on his face, became interested when the man mentioned he would do anything.

As a just person, he would give the man the chance to die peacefully, unlike the rest, who were looking him directly in the eyes as if daring him to show them his worst. He smirked. He was going to remind them why he's known as the devil himself.

“Untie him,” Xavier instructs one of his men, Dimitri, standing behind the men kneeling. On his boss' command, Dimitri approached the man and untied him. Seeing that Xavier indeed pardoned the man, one of the men kneeling decided to also play his lucky card and started,

“Boss, please spare m…” He hadn't finished what he wanted to say when a gunshot rang out. He turned to find the man who had been untied lying on the floor with a bullet in his forehead. He turned to find Xavier looking at him with a flat face, holding his Glock that had wisps of smoke coming out of the nuzzle.

If Xavier still killed the man who had pleaded with him to spare him, then he didn't want to imagine the fate that awaits them.’ He thought as his gaze dropped to the floor, feeling hopeless. What even possessed him to mess with the devil?