~~Daniil's POV~~
I thought it was only my freedom being taken away again when I saw Andrei until I walked into the living room and found my and Ashley's pictures littered all over the table. Ashley's house, Ashley getting into my car, Ashley getting to the hall with me, Ashley in my arms, Ashley in… I exhaled deeply; there was not a single moment we spent left out. Hiding underneath these prominent ones were photos of us being together before tonight. From the day he went awool up until today, he'd kept his eyes on me. This Andrei was a sneaky one.
I swerved back to him with daggers in my eyes, ready to shoot when I saw one of his lackeys sit a laptop on the table. On display was a virtual meeting with my dad. I sucked in air through my teeth, listing my head backward with a hand enclosing my forehead out of frustration. 'I'm fucked!' My father was trying to humiliate me publicly today.
I wasn't even done bracing up for what the night held in store when I felt two hands arrest my arms and was now trying to lock them behind my back. Before they could succeed, I swung my hands out of their hold and rushed their necks with them. I thought to release all my hurled-up aggravation through my hands when I tried to squeeze the life out of them.
'Harder… Harder' Impulsively I responded to the beast in my head as I plunged my fingers into their flesh. In the meantime, I savored the bright red look on their faces as they suffocated and struggled to free themselves, beating my hands and writhing under my hold. But too bad, I wasn't going to let go until I felt blood. My patience lately was top-tier and it was a struggle holding back from unleashing my venom on the folks who tickled my nerves in school. Right now, I saw no reason to hold back. Behind the gloom that covered my eyes was an excited person who savored watching these lowlifes intensify their struggle for breath.
When I eventually felt something wet and sticky on my fingers, with a sharp swing, I dumped the guy by my right on the center table, making sure he landed on the edge with his rib. Ignoring his continuous coughing and writhing in pain, I balled my fist firmly ready to dislocate the other guy's jaw when I caught the screen switch places through the corner of my eye.
*Pause*
Suspending my clenched fist midair, I veered cautiously to the screen, hoping and praying I was mistaken. But my hopes were dashed. Not only did the heart-wrenching scene sap every scintilla of energy in my being, but it also allowed them to subdue me. With a hard kick against the back of my knees, I was sent down on my knees, still unable to take my eyes off the screen.
My mom.
Seeing her held down to a chair with her hands tied behind and her mouth gagged made my heart bleed. She was struggling and shaking her head while weeping profusely – even more so when she saw me fall – and humming something to me behind the gag. The least I wanted was to see her suffer because of me. At the same time, I could not cry in front of these people so I just had to suck it all in.
In my perplexed state, I couldn't sense what was coming until a hard punch laced with so many hard feelings grazed my jaw.
••••
Meanwhile, someone else in the room was having a fit watching Daniil get kicked, punched, kneed, elbowed, etc, but managed to hold it in. He gritted his teeth so hardly that they could shatter. By his sides were fists so fiercely clenched that his fingers could bore holes in his palms. Of course, it was Jason. Just one word from Daniil and the perpetrator – Andrei – would be sent flying across the room. But right now, he knew it was the least Daniil wanted. Showing his mom to him in that state was meant to destabilize him and make him surrender.
Daniil on the other hand remained numb to all the pain being inflicted. Not once did he groan, grunt, writhe, or grimace in pain. Instead, he let his mom do all that for him. The poor woman could hardly sit still watching the whole drama play out. Jason knew he'd rather croak than give Andrei that satisfaction but damn! Every single spot was accurately hit to cause agony and intense pain. No average person would be able to endure that. Unable to keep watching, he'd either look away or shut his eyes.
The moments of horror ceased when the screen drifted back to Mr. Vladimir. As a result, every servant present in the room bowed slightly with crossed hands in front of them, in unison. And as for Andrei, his knuckles were already bleeding, and not even a sound was yet to come from Daniil. Instead, he just knelt there face down.
"Obshcheniye prednaznacheno dlya lyudey, Daniil. Kak ty dumayesh', chto ty delayesh'? (Socializing is for humans, Daniil. What do you think you're doing?)" Mr. Vladimir spoke up. "YA neskol'ko raz preduprezhdal tebya, chto ty vsego lish' chudovishche, dikiy zver'. I etim urodam mesto tol'ko za reshetkoy, (I have warned you several times that you're nothing but a monster, a wild beast. And these ugly creatures only belong behind bars,)" he reviled then paused briefly. Daniil remained unbudging.
He continued. "YA dal tebe vozmozhnost' osvobodit'sya, no ty prodolzhayesh' yeyu pol'zovat'sya. YA preduprezhdal tebya perestat' obshchat'sya s lyud'mi. Kak vy dumayete, vy dostatochno razumny, chtoby podderzhivat' otnosheniya? Tebe suzhdeno byt' odinokim volkom, Daniil. Kak vy dumayete, chto proizoydet, kogda eta Eshli Sinkler…, (I have allowed you to come free and yet you keep taking advantage of that. I warned you to quit socializing with people. Do you think you're sane enough to keep relationships? You're meant to be a lone wolf, Daniil. What do you think would happen when this Ashley Sinclair…,)" Daniil unburied his head sharply and was glaring back at his father now. Saying Ashley's name was the only thing that affected him obviously. Vladimir scoffed at his reaction. "Chto? Neuzheli ty dumal, chto ya ne smogu uznat' o ney tak mnogo? (What? Did you think I won't be able to get this much about her?)"
"Leave her alone," Daniil murmured through gritted teeth and a blood-dripping mouth.
"Kak ty dumayesh', chto proizoydet, kogda ona raskroyet tebya, Daniil? Ty dolzhen zhit' tak, kak budto ty mertv, I ne privlekat' k sebe vnimaniya, poka ne stanesh' dostatochno zdravomyslyashchim, chtoby vernut'sya syuda I zanyat' svoye mesto. (What do you think would happen when she unveils you, Daniil? You're supposed to live as though you're dead and not draw attention to yourself until you're sane enough to come back here and take your place.)" He remained collected but spoke with authority.
"Pust' Eshli budet moyey golovnoy bol'yu, pap. Ne trogay yeye, (Let Ashley be my headache, dad. Do not touch her,)" Daniil warned.
"Vse zavisit ot tebya, synok. Yesli ty prodolzhish' davat' mne novyye slabosti, kotorymi ya mogu vospol'zovat'sya, u menya ne budet vybora. V kontse kontsov, imenno etim my zarabatyvayem na zhizn'. (It all depends on you, son. If you keep giving me more weaknesses to exploit, then I have no choice. That's what we do for a living after all.)" He smirked grimly.
"Pozabot'tes', chtoby ya bol'she ne poluchal podobnykh zhalob v ranniye chasy dnya, (Make sure I don't get complaints like this in the early hours of the day again,)" he added then duly instructed Andrei to keep his eyes and ears open before the screen went blank.
"Everyone, out! Now!" Jason roared and got everyone sprinting. He looked at Knox who appeared hesitant, still dazzled by the show. That must be a lot to take in as a newbie. But it was only the beginning.
Then he rushed to Daniil and crouched to his level. "Boss?" he called nervously and tried getting him on his feet. "Careful, careful," he chorused, taking his time not to worsen his pain. He looked awful or rather, delicate with all the bruises on his face; his eyes were swollen and his lips, cut but Daniil was still indifferent to all of it. He remained seated.
A pair of feet approached them. Jason raised his eyes to see who dared to remain here and caught Andrei staring down at them with a tinge of amusement in his eyes. His blood boiled and now he wished for nothing but to obliterate him from the earth's surface.
"You can't keep staring at me like that, little brother," he sneered. His face must have betrayed his rage already.
Jason got on his feet and laggardly spanned their distance.
"That's what you get for joining the wrong boat," he whispered, now only a breath away. Now Jason twisted his brows in disgust. "Don't look at me like…" his words were pushed down by Jason's steel grip around his neck.
"You talk way too much, brother," he drawled. Rather than give in to the pain, Andrei snickered while trying to bring down his hands. That spiked Jason's provocation and he was prepared to squeeze that annoying snicker out of him when…
"Jason," Daniil called. "Let him go," he told.
"Your…BOSS…is calling," Andrei managed to spew with sarcasm through a stifled throat.
"Jason!" he called firmly this time, prompting him to yield only after several seconds.
*Cough cough* Andrei coughed incessantly, massaging his neck.
Jason escorted Daniil to his room and made sure his wounds were tended to before retiring for the night.
The next morning…
Jason went back to check on him and met him already on a mug of brewed coffee while staring at the blue-eyed painting in his room.
"It's a good thing you're up again," he said lively.
Daniil huffed before replying: "Your brother's fist packs no punch."
Silence…
"I thought you forgot about her," he commented – referring to the painting – now standing beside him.
"How could I possibly forget the sole reason I am in Chicago."
"Maybe when someone takes her place?" Even though the cup's rim was still in his mouth, Jason could tell he paused when he finished his statement.
"What do you mean?" he continued after a curt hush.
"Ashley." Observing him intently, he noticed Daniil's eyes dart before finally tilting his head to him.
"What about her?" he mumbled incoherently.
"I should be asking you. What was that about last night?" he questioned, now looking him dead in the eye.