FIFTY THREE
DAMON
Slowly, I walked further into the prison and I didn’t stop until I was a step ahead of Selena which meant that I was standing very close to the man called Stephen who was looking less agitated about the gold he almost lost.
Though I didn’t wish to be extremely stern, with force, I caged the man’s chin in my hold. His physique beside mine was nothing. So when he tried to budge out of my grip, he was highly unsuccessful.
“Who are you?” he spat, literally.
Trying my best not to be disgusted, with my eyes closed and my head tilted to the side, I quickly wiped the foams of his saliva off my chin with my other hand.
“You don’t need to know who he is,” Selena butted in. “Just answer his questions. If you don’t I will take back my gift and take your life as well.”
Fear flashed in the naturally timid-looking eyes of the man. I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed and when our eyes met, Stephen seemed to urge me to go on with whatever I had to do.
“Emmanuel Jones… does that name ring a bell?” I asked.
“J-Jones?” Stephen had a brow quirked in the midst of his stutters.
“Jones,” I confirmed.
“I-I may have heard about him.”
My grip became tighter as I sensed that his responses were on the verge of being fluctuated. “Why did your boss murder him?” I had no intention to stall my words. I have spent so many years in the dark about my brother’s accident. I certainly don’t have the intention to slow down an opportunity to learn the truth.
“It wasn’t…” Stephen bit into his lip, his eyes darting to and fro and filled with extreme worry.
After smacking my lips, my head leaned to the side and in Selena’s direction. Then, I said, “Selena, if he doesn’t give me a response within five seconds. Take your gift and crush one of his feet after.”
Stephen stifled a moan which would have filled the room had I not drilled the seriousness in my gaze into his soul. Now sitting uncomfortably, the man began to shake his head in disagreement, his eyes bulged with more fright.
“I am yet to hear you speak, Stephen.” I went on to eye his hairy feet, a smirk on my face. Acting that way was unlike me, but the fact that I am this close to the truth makes me feel like I am on a different level of ecstasy. “Tell me what you know before I crush your foot.”
“Uh… Okay, okay. I will tell you. Can you let go of my chin at least?” I did as he asked, then I grabbed his hair. “Ow! You didn’t-”
“Speak.”
“Okay.” After throwing surrendering arms into the air, Stephen killed his attempt to take me on a ride and said, “I know Emmanuel Jones. He was the son of Vani Jones, a respected member of our gang.”
Hearing my father’s name sure had a strange feeling to it.
“Vani Jones was a respected member of your gang,” I repeated, my head yet to form a link between the word ‘respect’ and my father’s name. I wonder what he did in the gang to be deemed a person of honour.
“Yes. But, a year before he died, he ran into some issues and agreed to sell his sons to our boss.”
“Sell his sons?” What an odd way to term things.
The phrase was really annoying as well. How can a father agree to sell his children?
Oh wait, my father successfully did that.
“Yes, he did that to continue his presence in the gang after his death. After Vani Jones died, uh…” Stephen narrowed his eyes as his mind seemed to do some calculations. He soon resumed his talk and it looked like he had forgotten that I had a chunk of his hair in my grasp. “We were able to get hold of just one of his sons. One had already joined one of the leading gangs in Poblacion and the other was nowhere to be found because we didn’t get enough information on him. We actually found him recently but I heard he was taken by another gang.”
Okay… I have to say that I find it funny that they failed to get information on me on time while they were able to nab my brother. There seem to be some missing facts in his narration. But since that was not the main focus, I decided to let go of that thought.
I focused more on what Stephen had to say.
“When Emmanuel Jones was in our grasp, our boss informed him about the agreement his father had with the gang. Of course, he refused to do as we asked.”
“So, you decided to murder him?” I asked quite darkly.
“No. Well, yes we did murder him.” My hold became stronger as the indifferent look on Stephen’s face angered me greatly. After a little wince, Stephen sighed. He attempted to glare at me but I quickly slapped him with a furious flutter of my lashes. Quickly, he started to speak again. “We didn’t murder him because he didn’t want to join the gang.”
“So, why?”
“Though I don’t have full details, I am sure he wasn’t killed because he refused to join the gang. He was killed because of the diamonds.”
“The diamonds?” I found myself glancing at Selena who shrugged, expressing her ignorance about what the man had just said. “What is this about diamonds?”
“Before he died, Vani Jones was in charge of a very important mission. The Pretties was supposed to receive a small package that would include diamonds worth billions. But Vani Jones died before our boss could get that package. It turned out that Emmanuel Jones had gotten a hold of the package by some sheer luck.”
My fingers felt tingles in their nerves as the realization of his story hit me over and over.
My brother and his wife were killed because of diamonds. I mean, I get it… the gems are crazy expensive. But did people have to die? Did Rebecca have to become an orphan just because of that?
Rushing air out of my mouth as I tried to keep a sane stance, I asked, “So, Emmanuel Jones was killed because of that package?”
“Yes. But that was a mistake. Our boss ordered his murder because he thought he had gotten a hold of the package. But the box our boss got was the wrong one. He found out minutes after the murder was executed.”
Still exhaling hard, my breath rustling Stephen's hair, I was almost growling when I said, “A mistake? The fucking murder was a mistake?”
“If our boss had just checked the box before giving a go-ahead, we could have-”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I said brusquely. It required every nerve in my face to keep me from scowling. I just had to fight to keep a straight face.
“What?” Stephen’s face lit with surprise. “Why would I-”
“Just do as he says before he bashes your head against the wall,” Selena said from behind while I struggled to keep my cool.
“But-”
Violently, I yanked my fingers off his hair. Still trying to maintain a stable breathing pace, my chest feeling tighter as seconds passed, I faced Stephen again, a shivering finger pointed at him. “Did you fucking just say it was a mistake?”
“I…”
“Damon, that’s enough,” Selena said.
I paid no heed to her words. Taking one more step toward Stephen who was now pinning his back against the wall, with my eyes fully trained on the man in the most deadly way, I said, “Two people died because of your stupid mistake. Oh wait… it was your boss that made the mistake.” The image of the fem-man that had me kidnapped flashed in my head. “I guess I shouldn’t be having this conversation with you.”
Surprisingly, my anger had reduced. Perhaps a part of me decided to store my fury till the day I get to meet the leader of The Pretties again.
Soon, I was walking out of the room, my mind trying to temporarily forget the real reason my brother and his wife lost their life. Till the day I get to face the man responsible for their deaths, I will keep my thoughts and anger locked.
~
“There you are." Looking around as though it was her first time in the room, Selena said, “I didn’t think I would find you here. You seemed awfully wary of the weapons the last time you were here.”
I tore my gaze off the arranged weapons and stole a glance at Selena who was still dressed like a little teen.
Selena continued, “Well, I am sure you are yet to forget the crazy sex we had the other day, we should try something like that more, it was thrilling.”
A sharp exhale and I asked, “Did you know?”
Her feet led her to the long table in front of me. Sitting gently, she replied, “About what?”
“The reason for my brother’s death.”
“I wish I did.”
“We are going after their boss, right?” I made our eyes meet. “It doesn’t end here, right?”
“Of course not.” Her smile was wide. “The game has just begun, why would we back out now? The Dangerous Dame never backs out.”
“Good.”
“You look like you’ve aged,” she said, managing to derail the conversation. “Shouldn’t we do something about that?”
One of my brows was instinctively cocked. “You are up to something. But I can't tell if it is good or bad.”
Her nose scrunched with delight. Waving her right hand in mid-air, she said, “I knew you were smart. Damon…” Her voice took a sultry turn and slowly, she began to pry her legs apart. While I watched, Selena smiled as she continued, “You have no idea how much I have missed you.”
“You want to have sex, don’t you?”
Her smile broke into bouts of laughter. “You are really smart.”
My lips were now curled into a smile as well and for the first time, I didn’t contemplate her intention. I found my buttocks lifting off the chair I was seated in and my body was soon hovering over hers, threatening to glue against her body. That moment was the perfect chance to ignore the recent revelations that were about to plague my mind. “So…” My voice croaked. “Where do you want me to start from, Miss Selena?”
With twinkling eyes, her teeth bit into her lip. Selena reached for my right hand and placed my palm against her exposed thigh. When our eyes met again, our lips were almost touching so much that I felt the heavy fanning of her breath when she tenderly said, “Go easy on me, Damon Jones. I am still healing from my injury.”
