FORTY SEVEN
DAMON
“There you are,” Selena greeted me as I stepped into the room which gave off an eerie aura. “Where have you been?”
Not responding, my hands were in my pockets as I scanned my sight through the arraign of different ammunition alongside the numerous kinds of firearms that were hanging on the red wall, the entire room reminding me of the bloody scene that made me stay away from the mansion for three days.
Watching her calm face, I quickly deduced that she was barely disturbed by what happened that day. Well, unlike her, I still find it hard to get the scene out of my head. As I went about my work during the past few days, I constantly felt like I would suddenly hear the booming noise of numerous gunshots.
It took me so many guts to walk back into the mansion after what I saw that day.
“Damon?” Selena queried, her hands carrying a shotgun that she had been inspecting. “Is something the matter?”
Swallowing hard, I decided to speak my mind before the raging thing inside me decides to explode. “Selena, how can you be so calm?”
“How do you mean?” she asked, turning her back to me as she placed the weapon in a drawer that came with the long, brown desk that was positioned below the lengthy arraign of firearms.
“You killed a person, Selena.” My gaze followed her as she walked to the other side of the room, her hands toying with the weapons on that side.
“So?”
“So?” I flared up instantly. “That makes you a murderer, Selena.”
“Why are you overreacting, Damon Jones?” Her pacing feet finally halted and after a sharp swirl, she was facing me, her facial features more prominent thanks to her cornrow hairdo. “I am not a murderer.”
“What?”
“All I did was get rid of a man who has been a huge pain in my ass. You know,” she smirked as her arms folded over her chest, “it is a miracle that I let him stay alive for that long. He was really annoying.”
“Did you have to kill him to get rid of him?”
“Damon Jones,” anger flashed in her eyes and that sight made my daring gaze flutter, “this is not a playground. This is the fucking mafia. You either kill or get killed. There are no other fucking rules.”
Watching her forehead deepen with a scowl told me that I was gradually treading a dangerous path. But it made no sense to me. Her reason was not enough to justify what she did.
So, I replied hotly, “In the world I come from, regardless of who you are, if you kill a person, you have to be punished. Your life has to be taken from you.”
“Oh, really?” Selena’s hysterical laughter made my impatience grow bigger. Then, with a huge grin, she tendered her wrists in my direction, saying, “Why don’t you arrest me then? Take me to the cops right now and tell them I killed a person.” My eyes narrowed. “You know, Damon Jones, sometimes you are a fool.”
“Excuse me?”
“I didn’t kill Damancio because I simply wished to. He deserved a humiliating death if you care to know. Apart from the fact that he tried to ruin my life by forcing me to get married to him, that man was a sexual predator.”
“What?”
“Do you care to know the difference between Damancio and me? I may have murdered a few people, but I did it because it had to be done, I have to secure my position at all costs. But Damancio… he killed innocent women after taking sexual advantage of them. Now, you be the judge…” Her voice was bitter as her eyes glared at me, daring me to say something to counter her words. “Who do you think needs to be jailed? All I did was ensure that my father and Damancio don’t get their way. At the same time, I got justice for the numerous women he murdered after having a night’s pleasure with them.”
"Well…” My voice reduced to a mumble.
“Speak up so I can hear you, Damon Jones,” the woman demanded, anger still in her eyes.
“You could have handed him to the police,” I blurted loudly, my palms wiping their unexpected sweatiness over the length of my blue jean trousers.
Soon, as I darted my sight to the side to avoid her fiery gaze, the sound of her footsteps filled the room and she ended up right in front of me, her head slightly tilted as she made our aching orbs meet.
“Damon…” I was slightly frightened by the tenderness in her voice. My fear grew bigger when she placed her hands on my thick arms, her palms barely spanning my biceps. “The mafia owns the police. Do you think Damancio would violate the law that much without having a fragment of law enforcers backing him? At this point, it seems that you are yet to understand the kind of world you have found yourself in.”
“Well…” I tried to keep my chin up. I can’t let her sense my budding uneasiness. “I didn’t ask to be here.”
“You signed a contract, Damon Jones.” Selena eyed me. “Don’t forget that.”
“I haven’t.”
“Just know that if you decide to leave suddenly, there will be consequences to your action, and the fact that we sleep together won’t help you in such a situation.”
“Are you threatening me?” I asked and she responded by patting my arms before taking a few steps backward.
Her hands going back to tracing lines over the arranged firearms, Selena began to speak, “Just know that I won’t kill anyone innocent with my hands. But there is always a need to kill someone. You witnessed that towel guy trying to kill me, you heard me talk about Alejandro’s plans to assassinate me, there is danger everywhere, Damon. And I have to make sure that I am not murdered as I strive to live.”
Sighing as I silently admitted that I had lost that argument, I concluded my disagreeing thoughts by saying, “Eight years ago, during the rival war between the Damish and Malik Gang, a lot of lives were lost, do you remember that?”
Selena’s lips were pressed into a resolute line when she faced me. “Why would you bring that up?”
“Innocent lives were lost back then, so how do you-”
“Do you think I was happy about the deaths?” she asked, her forehead wearing a crease, her emerging emotions one I had never seen before. “Do you think I desired to waste so many lives? Damon Jones,” Selena took a sharp breath, “do you have any idea how the incident that happened back then has affected me? I lacked sleep for a very long time because all I could see were the lifeless faces that stared at me as I walked down the bloody path the war had left."
“Selena…” I didn’t expect that kind of reaction. As I followed her expressions, I noticed her hands drawing into tight fists and a cloud of tears shielded her honey-coloured irises from my sight.
“I was young then, Damon. I was confused and stupid. And, I regret the decision I made at that time. I am still paying the price for my actions, so don’t think you can make me feel terrible about the kind of person I am.”
“I am not-”
“We were supposed to have a quick lesson about handling guns, but you have ruined the atmosphere.” Selena who had cut my words short took a quick swipe over her teary eyes. When she was done, she began to approach me again. “You have to make up for this, Damon Jones.”
“What?” I needed no guide to tell me that the woman was up to something.
“You have to pay for the distress you have caused me to experience.” Once she was standing close to me once again, my side eye watched as her right hand moved swiftly. Before I could question her, I felt something that was cold to my skin clasp over my left wrist.
“W-wait…” The other wrist felt caged as well and there I was, standing confusedly, my hands cuffed behind me.
“Well, Damon Jones…” Her voice took a sultry tone as her chest leaned closer. Taking her provocative touch past my t-shirt and over my chest, Selena’s body arched sensually as our eyes and she said, “There has been a change of plans.”
