Chapter 2: The King’s Game

The wisp of the cool air made him shudder, and he stood outside the hotel as if he was waiting for someone. Carl was looking out the people and towards the busy streets when he bumped into someone;

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” The young man apologized as he brushed past Carl. 

He held on to his computer; messy hair and his polo buttons were unmatched. His breathing was steady, but his eyes were desperate. The next moment, Carl saw a few men from the Wulfric family running outside the hotel, and this piqued his attention:

“Running away?” Carl asked as he offered his hand to him.

The young man looked at him, his eyes were guarded and desperate, but he was more defensive this time. He didn’t bother to take Carl’s hand at all. 

“Too much to drink, aye.” The man hurriedly answered and crawled away from him. 

Carl squinted his vision as he waited from the hotel valet to bring his car in front. The man he was looking at was his family’s lifetime longtime rival and enemy. Since he resurfaced four years ago, the McConnell family had been investigating this man’s roots. 

The same man who had been under the surveillance of Interpol, which meant this man was a notorious criminal in 7 different states. A highly trained assassin, a former marine, and an advisor to the Wulfric family. 

Police couldn’t tie him down for any charges as evidence was insufficient for life imprisonment. Yet this man was responsible for Diana McConnell’s death, her adoptive mother, Sol’s biological mother, and the only mistress of McConnell’s Estate.   

“Salazar?” Carl whispered, “What is he doing here?” 

When the young man heard him say “Salazar,” he got even more alarmed and hurriedly removed the rest of his polo and grabbed his laptop bag. Inside it was a purple shirt with the hotel’s logo on it. The young man immediately wore the shirt and styled his hair as he stood up;

Carl, standing a few steps away from the young man standing, guessed what was happening. Salazar came out tonight with a few bodyguards with him, Carl knew he was on a hunt, and this young man was the prey. 

“Is it the King’s game?” Carl asked curiously. 

This time, the young man became more vigilant with his actions; the laptop bag he was holding a while ago was now secured in his body. He looked at Carl and next to Salazar, who was still looking for him.

Carl knew how the King’s Game was played. It was a simple game between vicious mafia members. He once participated in the game and became the king. Its mechanics were easy. It was a game of death between the prey and the hunters. The Joker card was the prey, and the king card was for the King. The King’s role was to hunt for the target, and once he captured the prey, he could do whatever he wanted to them.  

The prey could be a woman or a man. On the year he joined, the target was a man. If the hunters capture the target before the King does, the king has to pay the bet in cash or battle for his ownership of the prey. The prey’s role was to hide from the king or hunters until 2 in the morning, or else he must abide by the winner’s request. 

The ugly part of the game was it always involved sex, not just ordinary sex but dirty sadist-masochist sex. Thus, most preys would prefer to be hunted by the king, or the hunters would take turns and molest them. 

Carl hated the game, and so he quit after capturing the prey, he freed the target that year, but Salazar and the other hunters still molested the prey to nothingness and pushed the nameless prey to his well-known suicide. 

The prey’s death became Carl’s worst nightmare up until today. He removed King’s Game in Rayfield City four years ago, and now, seeing this young man desperate for his life, couldn’t help but to step in and save him. 

Carl checked the time with his gold watch, and five minutes before midnight, his car was in sight. If he wanted to save the young man, he must be swift. He immediately went over to the driver’s seat and tipped the valet, and he was 30 seconds away before the midnight bell rings,

“Get in! Before the bell rings!” Carl shouted, and the young man was hesitant.

Only 10 seconds away, Carl blasted his horn and got the young man’s attention, 

“Get in or die?!” He shouted as he continued to blast his horns. 

Salazar looked unto Carl’s way, and this shocked the young man. He guessed this crazy man in a Ferrari was also part of the game, but who cares? He needed to survive the night without sacrificing his virginity. 

So he quickly decided and hopped onto the passenger seat, and Carl immediately sped away from the hotel. 

***

Sabrina settled the drunk Solomon on one of the couches and gave the coach a call;

[Where is he?]

[Sleeping on the couch, coach.]

[Good, I’ll be there on Wednesday and make sure he stays away from trouble. His recent assault is still ongoing, and this match in Rayfield City is our only chance to keep his title. Also, no matter what happens, please do not leave him.] 

Sabrina thought Coach Jenkins was simply concerned about Sol, but she did not know, Coach Jenkins knew Sol’s real identity. Sol’s other life was kept a secret after burning down the City Hall six years ago. 

Sol was a mafia prince, the only son, and heir to McConnell Estates. Back in the day, his name was feared by many due to his unpredictable mood. Only when he started MMA was he able to learn not to throw punches that would kill the opponent. 

Also, Sol couldn’t remember that he burned down the City Hall in Rayfield. But he remembered his forbidden affair that caused wreckage to his relationship with his father, Leon McConnell, and hating him to death. And this life before Sol became an MMA player was unknown to Sabrina. 

“Three shots, genie, hah,” Sabrina uttered as she gave Sol a hard slap in the face. “Better remember that tomorrow, jerk.”

*** 

Morning came. Sol moved around and noticed he was back in the hotel. The last memory he had was, he was busy signing autograph cards to his fans and Carl whispering;

“She’s here. Sabrina Marquez is here.” 

Remembering the alarm tone in Carl’s voice, he immediately bolted from his lying position and saw Sabrina looking at him;

“So tell me, which do you want first? Write your last will or die?”

He looked at her with his eyes wide awake. And said, “or.” 

Sabrina’s clenched her fist, and her knuckles were ready to punch his face before he writhed in pain and let out a silent groan;

“Look.”

“There’s no ‘look’ here, you idiot! You are so irresponsible, McConnell! Last night was the worst. I had to contact tabloids to take down your stupid video dancing like a fool on the stage! Don’t you ever dare step out of this room unless necessary! If you want to live, then don’t think of going out!” Sabrina angrily stood up and went to the door, and left. 

“Fuck.” He cussed as he massaged his head. “She could’ve at least given me honey water before leaving. What a heartless woman.” 

Sol tried to stand up from the couch, but because of his splitting headache, he had to lie down and thought of a better plan. As he moved to his right,  his lips curved when he saw a glass of water with Sabrina’s note;

‘Drink up, idiot.’ 

***

At 9 am, Carl woke up with the loud clanking of his pans downstairs. He groaned and checked his clock parallel to his vision. He sluggishly massaged his head and wore his eyeglasses. Readjusting his vision and it was only 9:15, and he was wide awake. 

Another loud bang was heard, and this time he had no choice but to drag himself out of his bedroom. He saw a young blonde man about to destroy his expensive kitchen, to his surprise.

“Oy,” He called. The young man instinctively looked in his direction and bowed. 

The moment he bowed to Carl, who was looking at him from the stairs, he directly hit his head on the kitchen island. 

‘Is he clumsy or plain stupid?’ Carl asked himself as he headed down to check on his head. 

He immediately grabbed the young man’s left hand and brought him to the nearest couch, grabbed his cheeks, and saw his head bleeding. 

“You do have a sturdy island.” The young man innocently complimented. 

“Yeah, you have a hard head. Get dressed, and you’ll need some stitches for that.” 

Carl threw an overcoat to him and guided him out of his house. The young man had to follow him out of his huge villa connected to an antique museum. He couldn’t help but be awed by the different antiques he saw. 

“Once we get you treated, I can show you around. But first, let’s take care of your wound.”

“Yes, sir.”

Carl sighed, and he knew this man was still guarded against him. 

“Right, what’s your name?” 

“I’m Ethan Castro, sir.”

“Call me Carl. And to remind you, I hate being called sir.” 

Carl then hopped into his Ferrari parked in front of the museum. Ethan followed him as he kept a cloth in his wound. 

“So tell me, Ethan, why were you in the King’s Game?” 

Ethan looked at him and tried to lie his way out, but Carl caught him. If it was about lying, then Carl was great at it. He had been lying throughout his life, so it was easy to figure out another liar. 

“You can lie to others but not to me. So, I’m asking again, why are you in the King’s Game?”

“I was looking for a new game and got into it. The next morning, I was invited to a meet-up for qualified players. Little did I know, the King’s game was real. They had my information, web logins, and dirty secrets. So I couldn’t quit in the middle of the game. I thought I would be a hunter based on my ranking, but then I was the unlucky Joker. If you hadn’t saved me last night, I–”

“You’d become Salazar’s bitch.” Carl coldly continued what Ethan was about to say. 

He gave out a heavy sigh as he parked his car outside the hospital. They both got out of the car and headed to the emergency room, where Carl saw an old friend. 

Hiram Hagan was one of Carl’s and Sol’s oldest friends. He came from a long line of doctors. His grandfather and great-grandfather were all famous doctors of their time. Hiram’s father, however, focused his life on Oriental medicine and built his name in the field of medicine. Meanwhile, although Hiram was as good as his predecessors, he chose to stay in the middle of success and let others be recognized. 

He was currently working in one of the emergency rooms the Carlton's owned. Though the Hagan stayed neutral and uninvolved in the mafia world, they couldn’t deny their longtime relationship with the McConnell family. Leon was a good friend of the family, and Carl and Sol grew up with Hiram and even founded Project C.H.A.O.S. (A/N: It’s a dead project that Alexandrei created years back.)

“Morning, Hiram.” Carl greeted the doctor behind the counter. 

“Jesus! What did you do to him, Carl?” He immediately dragged Ethan to one of the hospital beds to tend to his injury. 

“He did that to himself, don’t judge me just because I’m a mafia.”

Hiram sneered, and he examined Ethan’s wound. The hospital was not completely busy, maybe because it was Tuesday. So Hiram gave them a special pass and stitched Ethan’s wounds. 

“He’ll have twelve stitches at most. Do you want CT?” Hiram asked. 

“I’m sorry, does a CT cost me more money? If it does, can we use a band-aid instead? I don’t have money with me right now.”  Ethan answered.

Hiram couldn’t help but laugh at his innocence and looked at Carl, giving him small signals. 

“Get whatever he tells you to. Don’t worry about the money.” 

Hiram stared at Carl’s back when he left them. Carl headed to the counter and paid for the bill. As for Hiram, who was continuously smiling, he held a gauze and tended to Ethan’s injury. It was the first time in four years that Carl looked slightly bothered.

Carl was a proud man, and he cared about the opinion of others the most and how he dressed up. He was particular with his emotions and how he reacted in every situation. Among Hiram’s friends, he was the calmest one except for that day four years ago, when he brought a drowned man’s body. 

‘The fear in his eyes was obvious and the restlessness when that young man was on my table. And just like four years ago, Carl’s eyes had the same vibe.’

‘Was it the King’s game again?’ Hiram thought and wheeled the young man to the radiology department for a CT. They lined up and waited before Carl went back to check on them.  

“Hmm…you know, kid, today must be your lucky day. That man doesn’t have any problem with money, so get whatever you want. Do you want me to set you up with a plastic surgeon in case this wound would scar?” 

“No, sir. It’ll heal anyway, plus I’ve given Mr. Carl enough trouble today. I don’t want to burden him with my circumstances.” 

Hiram snorted a laugh. Carl had this troubled face since they were kids, and no one knew who wronged him because he had a look that was always frowning. 

“Nah! I’ve been friends with Carl since 4th grade, and that man has only one frown face in his entire lifetime. So tell me, how’d you get in the King’s Game? I believe that game was banned in Rayfield City for four years already.” 

Fact, King’s Game was banned in the city, and no mafia family would try to play that game if they didn’t want to cross a difficult path with the McConnell. So who was stupid enough to bring that old game in the city again? No one knew about that.

Seeing the surprised look on Ethan’s eyes, Hiram could guess the following question and continued; 

“If you want to ask, how did I know? It’s obvious. Carl wasn’t the type of person who would get into someone’s business and poke into it. But if it’s the infamous King’s Game, that is a different thing for him.” 

Ethan had no choice but to tell him his story, and as he listened, it was like a dejavu for him four years ago when Hiram tended to the drowned victim. 

Carl found them in the radiology department and handed over the receipts to Hiram.

He walked towards them, and Ethan took a clearer look at Carl; indeed, he had been frowning since this morning. But despite the frown face, Carl had Adonis’ beauty and a well-built body good enough for a fashion model. 

“I’ll be leaving, his bills are paid, and I will keep him for the rest of the day here. Salazar might still be looking for him. I’ve called my assistant, and he will pick you up by four. And dude, just take care of him.” 

Hiram nodded as he listened to Carl giving out orders. 

“Ah, sir, why are you doing this?”

Carl looked at Ethan with a pained expression on his face and said, “You remind me of an old friend. If I can’t solve the King’s game problem within 48 hours, you are stuck with me.” 

And with that, Carl left the hospital building and drove over to the McConnell estate for his daily meeting with Leon. After Carl decided to move out from the estate, he still had his obligations to visit his adoptive father every day. 

Carl was adopted by Leon and Diana when he was six years old. His birth parents were unknown, and ever since, Carl vowed to protect his family no matter what. He was a stoic young man. Unlike the cold and brute Sol, Sol was still gentler.  

They were considered brothers, and Carl acted as the eldest. Comparing the two, Sol was more brutal than Carl since people could still reason out with him. In contrast, Sol was a determined, a stubborn fool but decisive young man. If Carl had a frown face, Sol had a stone-cold face. 

“Young master Carl.” a subordinate bowed as he greeted him in the living room. 

“Where’s father?” 

“I’m here!” Leon shouted from his study. 

“Father,” Carl bowed as he handed him documents.