NINE

DAMON

Miss Selena made clicking noises with her mouth as she tapped the wooden arm of the couch she was seated on.

I narrowed my eyes as her response rang in my head a hundred times over.

There was something about the word, 'father', that almost made me believe her but, I could not afford to fall into any trap. Especially if that trap is laced with lies.

I won't let anyone use my late brother as a means to get me to do something terrible.

"What do you mean by my brother was killed because of my father? How do expect me to believe anything you are saying? What?" My frown deepened. "My brother was killed? Please... it was clearly an accident."

"The Pretties masterminded his accident. They made sure it was impactful enough to kill him. So yes, they killed him." Selena exhaled hard as I glared at her. As she scrunched her lips while her mind seemed to calculate things, I went to take a seat opposite her.

"Prove it. I won't believe you until you do so," I dared her.

"Gladly." Her lips grew a smirk that told me that she was telling the truth. She wouldn't be that confident if she had trashy evidence.

There was certainly something.

My sight followed her as she got up and walked towards the huge desk similar to the one she had in TIANOR. She reached for the iPad that lay beside some documents.

After adjusting the little ice sculpture of a horse in the middle of her desk, she walked back to her seat.

As she pressed the device, she occasionally threw stares in my direction. Those stares made me feel uneasy because they didn't carry niceness with them.

As I adjusted in my seat, I urged myself to keep my head high and make sure the woman doesn't get what she wants. If it eventually turns out that she's lying, I would make sure she doesn't get a say till I leave the building and go back to my regular, boring life.

"Here," Selena said as she stretched the device in my direction. A quick look at the screen revealed a video waiting to be played. I looked up at Selena who said, "Press play."

I did as she said.

'What do you mean, a sacrifice?' A masculine voice boomed through the speaker.

My breath hitched for a second as I saw the man pleading on his knees. I recognized him from the only picture my mom had of him. That smooth, always shaved face that gave him a youthful, innocent look... Yes, the man on his knees was my father.

I could see the smile in his eyes that my mom always talked about.

'It was always smiling even when he was frowning,' my mother had said the one time she ever talked about her husband.

A man that looked exactly like Mr. Pretty was seated. With amusement on his made-up face, he watched the man kneeling in front of him.

'If you want to leave so bad, you have to sacrifice someone. You know how it is done in this gang.' The feminine voice could not be mistaken. It belonged to the man that almost had my dick for his dinner.

I swallowed hard as my mind started to process the scene I was watching. I was starting to have certain thoughts that were about to make me hate my father some more.

'But who?'

Mr. Pretty gave a short laugh. 'What sort of question is that? Don't you have sons? Give us your first son and we will give you your freedom."

For a moment, guilt washed over my father's face. A part of me was actually wishing he would say no, but who was I kidding? I have seen evidence of his response. I am a witness to how his many selfish decisions ruined our family.

'Is that all? It is done. I can go now, can't I?' His voice was so cold, making me wonder why my mom ever found it in her heart to forgive him.

After Mr. Pretty gave a short nod, my father got up and approached the leader. He started to fiddle with the man's pants with a smirk on his face.

'This will be our last sex,' he said and I felt a rush of irritation inside me as their lips made contact.

Instantly, I slammed the screen onto my lap and turned my eyes from the device which was still playing the video.

Stupid moans from either of the bastards filled my ears and I turned off the device as I tried to forget what I just saw. I glanced in Selena's way. She had a small smirk on her lips.

"Is something funny, Miss Dangerous Dame?" I didn't sound like myself. I didn't feel like myself either. My fingers tingled furiously while my head seemed to explode with a certain ache.

"Nothing is funny. I just find it ridiculous that you didn't know that your father was a gangster," she replied as she purposefully narrowed her eyes on me. Her hand tucked beneath her chin as she relaxed into her seat some more.

"Is that why you want me to work for you? Because you think I have gangster blood in me? If that's-"

"The Pretties will come for you again, Damon Jones," she interrupted my approaching outburst, a serious look now on her face.

"What?"

"You brother resisted them and they ended his life. I know you will resist them as well. Hmm... I don't have to tell you what will happen after. I have the video that proves that your brother was killed by them."

She gestured at the device on my lap.

"Watch the video after that. It has the leader of The Pretties talking about how to kill your brother."

I didn't want to do as she suggested, but I found myself clicking the next video. It was as she said it. Mr. Pretty was cackling in the video while he bemoaned the cowardness of my brother. He ordered his men to end my brother's life while his lips touched intoxicating wine.

"So," I scoffed as I paused the video while trying to fight my tears, "you want me to work for you so that I don't have to deal with The Pretties. I don't need-"

"They will go after your mother and niece after they get rid of you." I watched as her jaws tensed. Her arms crossed as my sight started to fail me. My headache was starting to get to me.

"Wh-what?"