Z
"Did she get the letter?" I ask Alru, my second in command.
It has been a few hours since I came back from the nightclub in the wee hours of the morning. I gaze at the amber liquid in the glass tumbler that is placed on the edge of the mahogany desk inside my underground office. The place is so dark and eerie, that no one beside me and Alru even dare to come in here, let alone claim the space.
"I placed it exactly where you wanted, I am sure she is perceptive enough to find it as soon as she gets up."
"Oh she is perceptive alright."
"But Sir..."
"But still, it will be a while before she wakes up considering how much she drank, to put that perception into motion."
"Yes, we didn't expect her to spiral into her sadness and get drunk."
My hands clench on my sides. Did she actually feel so much for that good-for-nothing, that she felt the need to drown her sorrows!?
The beautiful sight of her sad face, the pure look of betrayal that flashed in those beautiful blue eyes of hers as she took in her surroundings and the circumstances that circled her in that moment, is etched in my brain.
I had watched and watched and watched the haunted look in her eyes. Every shade that her eyes went darker to, my heart swelled with pride. I did the right thing because watching her cry was worth every extent I went to, to make her. She doesn't deserve anything but those tears.
"I want you to make sure no other man approaches her. I will make my move soon"
She is turning twenty one soon and I have let her run around enough. She has been playing hit and run ever since she turned 16. It is time to bring down the most notorious assassin of New York.
"Yes sir. Do you want me to put a tail on her?"
"Do that and I will grow a fucking tail on your back." All the color drained from Alru's face at my threat. Serves him right for even thinking about putting a watch on my little toy.
"Sorry Sir."
"Hmm." I grunted in annoyance. "How is our little captive doing?"
"He is not doing too well. The blood loss was excessive. He is currently fastened to a wall in the basement"
"Good. Keep him alive for now. Use a spell if need be." I am gonna make him watch when I claim Erna. "He should have known better than to touch the one thing that I truly own."
"Sir, about that letter…"
"What about it?"
"We weren't able to scan the contents of the letter your grand-mother passed to Ms. Erna. We believe it was protected by a talisman and will only be visible to the person it is addressed to."
"That's something the old hag would do." What could have been so important that the old woman felt the need to even hide it from me. Erna is mine, everyone in the family knows that.
And that puts me on spot to wonder, what everyone is upto back home. They have been quiet, too quiet for my comfort. Sometimes it feels like they know my plans. They know what I intend to do to Erna but that's not possible because no one has ever seen me feel anything for her except hate.
"So, Sir…"
"Don't worry about it. Let her have her way. For now."
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Erna
It has been two days since I got the letter and I still haven't shown it to my parents. I don't have to ask to figure out that the thing they have told me about, the thing they have been running from ever since I was born is this family.
The family that has stealthily approached me. Entered a guarded mansion and got into my room. Escaped all cameras, all talismans and the security detail. They are not simple by any means. They are dangerous, dangerous enough to send my parents on a fucking run across oceans. Which means I can not and will not take them lightly.
My twenty-first birthday is next month and in that time, I can either run away, take my parents with me or go to that banquet. But for all I know, it might be a trap to lure us all in. And I am in no way about to fall for it.
I need to come up with a plan and fast.
My thoughts are interrupted by a loud ring of my phone. I groan before rolling to the other side of the bed and extending my hand to grab it. But apparently I roll too fast and my slip nightgown tugs at my legs, causing me imbalance and I fall head first to the floor.
Fuck my life.
I dive forward and clasp my hands around the phone, whose rings have gone several notches high. Why wouldn't it just stop ringing?
Kal's name flashes on the screen and all of a sudden all my annoyance evaporates and I go into business mode before picking up the call.
"You should know better than to call my personal cell Kal." I reprimand him in mock anger.
"And you should know better than to not answer my texts and calls for two fucking days." He bellows back and his anger is not mock. I am still immersed in my thoughts when his voice sounds again. "I had to inform you about an important job for tonight, but you haven't answered my calls at all. What is wrong with you?"
"My phone didn't ring."
"Did you put it on silent again and threw it in the back drawer like the last time you were mad at me? Please tell me no, because the last time alone cost us a job worth six million."
"No, no I didn't." I groan in surrender before making my way to the cupboard. I pull open the drawer where I keep my burner phone but the drawer is fucking empty.
"Well then?"
"Kal, don't be mad."
"Don't say something that would make me."
"The phone's gone."