Chapter 9

Lauren's POV

“I'm so happy the surgery was a success, Mom. Even though I'd have preferred to be right here by your side.” I said, snuggling into her.

“I'm just glad it's over with. You didn't deserve to see me in so much pain and I'm grateful for the gift of you.” She smiled up at me, grabbing both of my hands in hers.

“That's what family does, Mom. And I'll do it over again if I had to.” I said, raising her hands to my lips.

“Mrs Aldoracco, it's time for her medication and rest. I think it'd be best for you to come by tomorrow. I assure you, she's under the best of care here.” the nurse said, walking into the room with a dish containing her medication.

“Come by tomorrow, Lauren. I'll be fine until then.” Mom beamed weakly.

She really needed her rest. I kissed her forehead and squeezed her hands in mine. “I'll be back tomorrow, Mom.”

“I love you so much.” She said, squeezing back.

I stepped out into the reception in high spirit, taking no notice of Marissa and the nurse shaking nervously by the hallway.

My mom was on her way to regaining her full health and that was all that mattered. To hell with Marissa and the snobby nurse.

The guards bowed as I stepped out through the revolving doors and it didn't even feel weird. Maybe this life wasn't so bad. My deadbeat father was gone and my mother was getting the best treatment she deserved, all courtesy of life as an Aldoracco. Maybe it wasn't so bad afterall, I smiled to myself as I got into the car.

Suddenly, I felt the urge to do something fun to celebrate. There was no one with me and I didn't like eating out alone, so lunch was out of it.

Shopping! Yes! I had had enough of wearing uncomfortable dresses when I didn't feel like it. So, shopping it was.

“Pull over at the mall. I want to get some clothes.” I said to the driver.

“Yes, ma'am.” He answered mechanically.

But when he drove past two different malls, I wondered if he heard what I said at all.

“You've gone past two different malls now. I said I wanted to stop at one.”

“I'm sorry, ma'am. But the Aldoracco mall is just round the next bend. We'll pull up there and you'll get whatever you want, ma'am.”

‘Wow, not so bad,’ I thought to myself as he manoeuvred the car deftly through traffic.

We pulled into the car park and the size of it diminished the vastness I thought I'd seen at the hospital. The place was huge!

We stepped out of the car and I was kind of surprised when the guard didn't try to come in with me.

“You're safer here than anywhere else in the city, ma'am.” He said simply and I nodded.

Stepping into the mall through the glass doors held open by the guards, I was surprised the mall was cleared out and the entire staff was assembled in two lines, flanking the walkway.

“Hello, ma'am. It's such a pleasure to meet you. I'm Alfred Raymond, the manager.” A man said, extending his outstretched hand for a handshake.

He was a small man but the aura he exuded made anyone next to him look smaller than he was.

“Nice to meet you, Alfred,” I smiled, taking his hand in mine. “I'm L–”

“Mrs Aldoracco!” he boomed, cutting me short in excitement.

I wondered if every new customer got this grand welcome. I didn't have to think too far before he confirmed my thoughts.

“We cleared out the mall immediately we got the news you'd be visiting us. I hope you find everything to your taste and if you need anything, please call on anyone. Everyone here is at your service,” he said with a slight bow. “Please, come with me, I believe you're interested in the clothes section.” He urged, walking briskly and I followed him down the walkway into a huge colourful hallway, with a super sized sign that read “Clothes” in huge neon letters.

“I'll leave you to it, ma'am, but I'm within hearing distance. Whatever you need.” He said excitedly, scurrying away.

I shook my head, a smile dancing around my lips. It would definitely take some getting used to, being waited on hands and feet.

I looked through the collection of t-shirts and tops and I found more than a few that caught my interest. Their stash was definitely impressive. And the price tags that followed the clothes told me the store wasn't meant for low income earners.

I got a few tops off the rack and some comfortable slacks and pants. I moved on to the dress section and I was amazed by their collection. My salary couldn't get me ten of these dresses at once. I got five glamorous but comfortable dresses off the racks and added them to my cart.

I started pushing the cart out of the section when a sales representative sprung into the room to relieve me of it.

“I hope you're satisfied with your picks, ma'am.” Alfred said as soon as we stepped out of the clothes section.

I gave him a nod and a smile as he oversaw the cashier packing my items into bags.

“Thank you, Alfred. Thank you everyone, you're all so lovely.” I said, acknowledging the staff standing us, looking apprehensive. They visibly relaxed, and a few of them even heaved sighs of relief.

I got into the car, still smiling and watched on as the driver loaded my shopping into the trunk of the car.

In minutes, we were back on the highway, speeding through the mild traffic back home.

As the driver eased the car into the compound, I let out a sigh of relief. I survived a whole day of being chauffeur driven around the city with an entourage of escorts.

“Let me take that.” I insisted, as the driver made to go in with my shopping bags. He had done enough today.

“I'll do it, ma'am.”

“No, it's okay, really. I can manage a few bags up the stairs and into my own room, okay? Thank you.” I said, giving him a smile.

He bowed slightly as I took the bags from him. The guards swung the doors open and I stepped into a quiet house.

The house was usually silent, but today's silence echoed loudly. Eerily.

I stepped tentatively into the sitting room. I silently started up the stairs but a sound wafted into my ears from a room downstairs.

I stopped in my tracks, my heart beating crazily behind my ribcage.

I tiptoed back down the stairs and padded quietly towards where the sound came from. My heart was almost jumping out of my mouth, and I had half the mind to turn back and head upstairs to my room. But the other half of me, the curious part, won.

I held on tightly to my shopping bags, making sure they made no sounds hitting against each other.

I heard the sound again, louder this time.

What the hell was going on? I inches closer, step after step towards the room where the sound was coming from.

I stood, almost shivering in front of a menacingly huge and solid door. This was definitely where the sound came from, and just on cue, I heard it again, louder this time.

It was a man. And he was definitely in pain. I moved close to the door and saw it was slightly ajar. Though the room was fairly dark, I could make out the images of men in the room. I counted three, including a man tied to the chair he was sitting on.

My heart raced even faster than I thought it was doing before. This was a battered man. A broken man. His entire face was bloodied and swollen and he whimpered quietly to himself.

“Tell me, Marco. Where is he?” A voice wafted quietly from the shadows. I would recognise the voice even in my deepest sleep. It was Kelvin's.

I strained my eyes and I saw him, sitting, relaxed, and…enjoying the show.

“I swear to you, Boss. I don't know,” the man whimpered louder, coughing up blood in the process.

“That is a lie, Marco. And you and I know it is.” Kelvin answered. “Take out another of his fingers. Maybe then he will remember where the motherfucker who he betrayed me with, is hiding.”

I watched in horror as one of the standing men advanced towards Marco with a plier. The other man held down his hand.

He struggled against his hard grip, but being tied down, there was only so much he could do. My eyes widened in terror as a heart wrenching cry came out of his throat. The man with the plier dropped the finger in a bowl of previously removed fingers.

“I'm so sorry, Boss. I'm so sorry. Stop, please! Make it stop!” He screamed.

“You can make it stop, Marc.” Kelvin answered, coolly. “You can make it stop my telling me where the fuck Boyd disappeared to. I know he told you because I know you were also planning to leave the country.”

“Please, boss..” he kept whimpering. I stood transfixed to the spot, wondering the kind of pain that could make a fully grown man whimper and beg like a child. Balls of sweat rolled down my face, under my arms, down my thighs.

“Where is Boyd?” Kelvin asked again.

“I– he only tol– told me he was leaving the country. He didn't tell me where, boss. I swear.”

“Hand the pliers to me,” Kelvin said, stepping out of the shadows, stretching his hand out for the pliers. “Hold his head steady.” He beckoned to the men, rolling back his sleeves to reveal arms covered in dark tattoos.

“Boss..”

One of the men held his head steady and the other forcefully opened his mouth, holding it open while Kelvin advanced towards him with the pliers.

“Hold him steady.” Kelvin said, and in a minute, one of the man’s molars was hanging between the teeth of the pliers.

Spittle, blood and tears ran down his swollen face as he struggled to get his words out.

“I'm not gonna ask you again, Marc. If you don't know where Boyd is, then I have no use for you, nor do I have any use for your tongue. It's gonna be the next thing coming out of your mouth.”

“Please, boss..”

“Hold him steady.”

The men grabbed his face again and against the struggle, his spittle and blood splashed on the men’s face as he screamed, “Wait, wait!”

“You're ready to talk?”

“I– I don't know where he is right now, but I– I know where he's going to be.” He panted. “He's picking up his daughter from his mother's house in Wyo– Wyoming. He's leaving with her.”

“Now, that wasn't so fucking hard, was it?” Kelvin said.

“I'm so sorry, boss. It'll never happen again.”

“That's right, Marc. It'll never happen again. And don't worry, I've forgiven you.” He advanced towards him. Something about the way he moved was terrifyingly final.

He bent down to his eye level and cradled his head in both of his hands. Marco’s eyes bulged, filled with terror in their sockets, like he knew something terrible was about to happen.

In a second, the most horrendous thing I'd ever witnessed happened right before my eyes, making my blood run terrifyingly cold.

Kelvin stroked his bloodied face between his hands and in the blink of an eye, he opened his palm wide and smashed it together, but with Marc's face between his palms.

My eyes bulged in sockets and I heard the shopping bags fall off my hands, their content spilling loudly on the floor. My hands flew to my throat and my mouth as I felt bile rise up to my throat.

What the fuck did I just get myself into?