Penny snapped back to her senses and saw Capone right beside her. She quickly straightened up and hugged his leg, pleading, "Capone, please spare me this time! I didn't mean it, I just... I just like you so much. You've been ignoring me, trying to push me away. I was out of my mind, that's why I did something like this! I wasn't targeting you... Look, I didn't even let you appear in the photos! I just wanted to embarrass that girl, to get back at her for taking you from me!"
Penny spoke with tears and sobs, her seductive body still coiling around Capone like a snake, but now there was a suffocating sense of despair in her movements.
"Let go!" Capone's voice was cold, like the seawater in winter.
"Please, Capone, I beg you, for the sake of the times I've been with you... Ah..."
Capone grabbed her by the hair, slapped her so hard that she let go, and then kicked her in the ribs. She flew backwards like a kite with a broken string, unable to get up again.
Capone didn't want to do this. He didn't want Sophia to see such a scene, but he just couldn't hold back anymore.
He crouched down, grabbed her by the hair, and forced her to look up. "Do you think you have the right to talk to me about kindness and friendship?!"
Having touched a woman like this made him feel filthy, as if it were a kind of shame engraved in his bones.
"I won't do it again... I won't..." Penny's mouth was full of blood, her body aching as if it might fall apart. Her words were muffled and trembling, as if she could barely get them out.
Sophia turned her eyes away, unable to watch. As expected, she couldn't handle such a bloody scene.
"What else have you done? Tell me everything clearly, and I'll consider sparing your life!"
"There's nothing else, really nothing else... I just installed cameras and took pictures of you. After Sophia Diaz went home, I sent some of the photos to the press, and also sent a few from when she was at ROYAL... I also sent a few! I heard you planned to send a DVD to her engagement ceremony, so I already prepared a way out and... and swapped the DVD... Churn."
"Did Lucas arrange this for you? What did he give you to make you serve him like this?"
"No, no, he didn't give me anything! He just promised to help me get back to you... He still cares about Clare, and when there was a woman at ROYAL who looked like her, I sent her to him, and he agreed to help me!"
She was too foolish, in the end just a discarded pawn in someone else's hand. Moreover, the whole photo incident had been her own impulsive decision, with all the blame pointing toward Sophia, nothing to do with Lucas. But now, it didn't matter if she dragged him down too.
Penny spoke in fragments, but everyone present understood the situation. No wonder Sophia had been humiliated by Lucas at ROYAL; it turned out that, aside from Cronus, Penny had also been covering for him, all for her own selfish reasons.
Capone took a deep breath, feeling the veins in his forehead throb painfully.
Nothing was a coincidence. A few people with bad intentions could stir up endless misunderstandings behind the scenes.
Capone released his grip, and with his usual temperament, he would have snapped her neck right then and thrown her into the sea. But now...
"Sophy, what do you want to do with her?"
Sophia's face was pale, each of Penny's words seemed to strike a painful spot, and all of those pains were connected to Capone.
What could she do? She didn't even know how to face Capone, or how to deal with the issues between them.
"I don't know... do whatever you want, I'm tired. I just want to go home for now!"
Capone didn't press her. He didn't want to waste any more time there. He turned to look at Penny on the ground and said, "Liver, lungs, spleen, stomach, a pair of corneas, and two kidneys... I think this is a deal worth making. You've got the looks, you're healthy, probably can fetch a good price! KK, she's all yours, sell her and donate the proceeds to a charity fund!"
Penny finally understood that "KK" was one of their brothers, someone ranked "KK" among them. A wave of darkness clouded her vision, and with the last of her strength, she grabbed a highball glass from the gambling table and hurled it at Sophia, shouting, "I didn't want this! It's all your fault, you damn woman, it's all your fault! I'll take you down with me!"
She lunged, claws out, but Sophia had her back to her. At the sound, she instinctively dodged to the side, and the glass shattered against the wall, its jagged pieces becoming more dangerous and sharp. Capone quickly stepped in front of Sophia, blocking Penny's attack.
In a frenzy, the strength of a person is multiplied several times. Even though KK and the bodyguards outside pulled Penny away in time, a few shards of glass still embedded themselves in Capone's back. Blood gushed out, soaking his light shirt, a shocking sight.
Sophia was in his arms, unaware of the wound on his back.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Let me take you back to your room first!" Capone felt the pain had numbed, as long as she wasn't hurt, that was all that mattered.
"Give me a break! Just give me a break..." Even though Capone was escorting Sophia far away, Penny's shrill cries could still be heard.
Sophia was feeling chaotic inside. Unable to resist, she turned around to look and then noticed the bloodstains trailing down Capone's back. She gasped and covered her mouth in shock.
"You... you're hurt on your back!"
"Really? I don't feel anything!" Capone smiled calmly, as if the injury wasn't even there. He pulled Sophia toward the room on the top floor. "It's getting late, let me take you to rest."
"But..."
"No buts!"
He firmly held her and guided her to the room on the top floor. On the ship, only the third floor had guest rooms. The room wasn't very large, but it was lavishly decorated and quite functional.
Sophia didn't have time to say anything when she entered the room. Capone slammed her against the door and kissed her, his lips enveloping hers, sucking and licking her tender lips.
Sophia's hands flailed in the air for a moment, not to push him away, but to point out that he was injured on his back. Blood had dripped all the way here, and she could feel the astonished expressions of the surrounding subordinates.
But she couldn't get the words out; her throat was blocked by him, and her hands, which had flailed for a moment, were restrained and twisted behind her back.
His breath was hot and erratic, pressing against her lips, as though he wanted to melt her completely.
She couldn't see his face clearly, not just because he was so close, but also because the way his tongue relentlessly tangled with hers disrupted her thoughts. She could only feel his presence and his desire through the sensation of their lips and tongues entwined. She had nowhere to escape, trapped in his embrace, her shy tongue also tangled up with his.
Where could she run to?
He didn't know how long he kissed her, until he felt her start to gasp for air. Fearing she might faint again from the struggle, he reluctantly pulled back. His lips still hovered near hers, pressing a soft kiss, the sound moist and suggestive, like an aphrodisiac in her ears. Sophia's cheeks flushed a deep red.
"Don't do this... I don't want this!" Sophia placed her hand between their chests, furrowing her brows, biting her lip. She could feel a sharp sting on her lips—he always kissed her so wildly. Her lips must have been swollen and bruised by now.
"Why don't you want this? Haven't I made myself clear enough? Everything I've found, I've put right in front of you. What else do you want me to do?" The heat in Capone's eyes, still lingering from the passion, was now mixed with some helplessness and pain, as if the wounds from earlier had only started to hurt now.
"You don't understand!" Sophia didn't know how to explain. "Do you think this is some kind of gift? Why can't you understand? If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened. I just want to go back to a simple life, without all these grudges and complications!"
"Yes, I don't understand! I don't understand what you want! But now, you have no choice. There is no other path for you but to be my woman!"
Capone was both angry and helpless, unable to do anything but kiss her wildly again, trailing his lips down her jawline to her sensitive neck. He felt her struggling fiercely, and his rage flared up, as if it would burn both of them to ash.
"Let me go..." Sophia's cry was mixed with sobs.
How could he do this? Just a few days ago, things were fine. He had seemed to give her space and respect. Now, after Penny revealed everything, he thought all the problems were solved.
He always treated her like a commodity, thinking that dealing with Penny would make her let go, but he never cared about her feelings or pain. How was she different from a prostitute?
Sophia's struggles grew more intense, her cries grew louder, until she could no longer speak a word, her body drained of energy.
Capone's body temperature cooled, and a tension in his chest grew tighter, almost suffocating him.
In the end, he let go of her, defeated and disappointed. He walked heavily to the side of the bed and sat down.