by Anya Palvin
"Javier Charles Prince" He breathes biting her bottom lip. "Ciara Princess Carlyle" She kisses him gently as they formally introduce themselves.
"Promise me..." She whispers and he stares plainly down at her, no idea what she wants him to promise, but oddlyprepared to say yes to anything. "Promise me, no more running away." She suddenly gets sentimental, allowing herself to be fragile only in his arms. He dries her tears from slowly escaping from her eyes and kisses both her cheeks gently, one after the other.
"Come on, I have something to show. If after then you still want to be part of me, I'll lay my heart and my soul at your feet." He opens up at her, stroking her cheek, and she stares up at him with desire, acceptance, and what?...love?
12.
They seated at the back of Choker's limo, while they move to a secret location. Ciara reaches over and clasps his hand, fastening her fingers tightly with his. "It doesn't matter what you show me, I'm not going anywhere." she brings his hands slowly to her lips and kissed his knuckles once, twice, again and again. Unsure of what to say, he stays quiet, but silently praying she'll still feel the same way after she sees this particular place. He kisses her forehead then she slides closer to him, allowing her back onto his chest, resting comfortably her head on his shoulder.
The main warehouse for the guns and C4 is located here in New York on a 3-acre plot of land in Staten Island. Choker's dad had it built back in the 1950's to house most of the shipments. A safe sheltered and private location, but only serious people are allowed inside. The only woman to ever see it is Choker's mom, but that's about to change for the first time ever.
This is the only way he can know for sure that he can trust her not to bolt when things get heavy in his world. It's not just a warehouse for weapons and bombs, it's also where the most painful and tortured interrogations do happen. Sometimes traitors or spies even bleed to death on the warehouse concreted floor.
Showing her this much this fast is probably a terrible idea, risky and wrong. But if she wants to be with him, she has to know everything, every corner and every single part of him. Being honest and open is the only way to avoid conflict and regret and surprises in their relationship in the future.
The limo pulls up to the warehouse, and Choker steps out, holding her hand firmly and she follows him. He punched an identification code in the slot on the door, and the sound of metal and chains spread through the air, and the large garage looking door slides slowly to the left giving them free passage inside.
The lights are dim, but good enough to see three men tied to chairs in the center of the warehouse with black wheat bags covering their heads. He felt her hand tense and grip his, but she didn't pull away.
He whistles and three large men appeared from the shadows. "Boss, you're here." One of them says, his voice his monstrously deep and he looks like a really experienced body builder...they all do.
Choker stands still with Ciara in the dark, and the guys unmask the men tied to the wooden chairs. They look Arab but it's hard to tell without hearing them speak. "The limo is waiting outside to take you home whenever you're ready, just say the word ok." he whispers on the level only her could hear. "I told you, I'm not going anywhere." she gives his hand an encouraging grip. "Begin" he gives the order and the interrogation starts.
Choker's men released a plague of torture. Thrashing the men on their naked backs with metal chains, burning their ear lobes, electrocuting their eyelids and nipples, chopping fingers, and water boarding. One of the men finally gave in screaming at the top of his lungs. "Stop! Stop!" He cries out in pain, and they remove the rag from his face and let him up for air.1
Water boarding is one of the most deadly yet helpful ways of torture, your body is bent backwards, your face is covered with a rag, and water is poured on constantly into your mouth and nose over and over. It feels as if your lungs are filled with water, making you incapable to breathe.
"Speak" the leader of the interrogation commands. "Pieces sent us, he wants Choker dead." the man continues to cough as he speak. "Why?" The interrogator asks and the man tries desperately to catch his breath.
Impatient and irritated by his lack of consistent cooperation, the interrogator shoots one of the accomplices in the head. "No!" The man screams out as he watched the life leave his brother's eyes. "This one" the interrogator kicks the teenage boy lying close to the dead man. "I know this one is your son, so I'll ask you again. Why did Pieces send you?" He aims the gun at the man's son, but he says nothing.
"He won't talk" Ciara whispers and Choker looks down at her immediately, searching her eyes for fear, but nothing was found. "He won't say anything else. He’s now aware they're all going to die anyway. He shouldn't have killed his brother. I don't think he'll say anything else." She adds her two cents, and he watched aroused as she stares brazenly at the guys. "Hold it" Choker calls out before his interrogator pulls the trigger. "Do you think you can get him to talk?" He asks and her face brightens up, pleased that he wants her opinion on what to do. "Yes" she assures him and he kissed her passionately.
She walks out of the darkness into the light. She bends down and helps the son to stand and carries him over to the table in the back. She starts yelling things like "Cotton, cold water, peroxide, bandage straps!" And the interrogators look to Choker for approval.
"It's ok, she's a doctor." He says and they leave to another room and come back with the things she asked for. "Your son will be fine." she says dryly and walks back to the darkness. "Wait" the man speaks and she steps back into the light. "Why are you helping us?" He asks and she folds her arms across her chest. "I'm not helping you, I'm helping him. He's only 13. He shouldn't have to pay for the selfish mistakes of his father and uncle. If you really cared about, you shouldn’t put him in this position in the first place." she scolds and he looks over at his son passed out cold, on a wooden table. She covered his burnt earlobe with gauze and wrapped his wounds with bandage and stopped the bleeding from the lashes on his back, and dressed it carefully to prevent infections.
"I knew this was suicide." The man begins and his accent is hard to figure out but you could just tell English isn't his first language. "I knew this wouldn't work. He ask us to come and learn your ways and sabotage as much of the business as we can, and give him locations of everything once we figure it out. Pieces is just any other cruel man you could ever imagine, you put him out of business when you took over from your father and sent him away. He killed my wife and threatened my son's life so I was left with no other option. He doesn't know where the other warehouses are, we don't even know that. But he knows where this one is and he's on his way here now. You were nice to help my son so let me help you. You better get out of this place this instant or else Pieces will do to you what he did to my wife if Choker and his 3 bulls can't protect you. Go back to the life you used to know and leave this and everything in it behind, because if you don't...you will die." He laughs out loud and one of the bodyguards runs to check the exits. Choker grabs her hand and leads her to the limo. "What are you doing? Stop." She tries to wiggle out of his grip but fails. "I should've never brought you here. I'm so sorry, I have to get you out of here." he shoves her in the limo, and the driver locks the doors. "What are you doing?" She cries grabbing his hand from the window. "This is my legacy, I have to protect it. You're my future, and I can't lose you either." he kisses her forehead. "Don't stop for any reason, take her straight home and make sure you're not followed. I'll send men to guard her until I get there." he says to the driver and he agrees by nodding and speeds off into the fog. She screams his name from the limo and it took everything in him not to break down.1
Moments later, 6 SUVs pull up to the lot, and Choker watched from the security cameras upstairs. His men arm themselves with guns and grenades, as they wait for the trespassers to step out of their vehicles and into the clear. Choker's dad built this place to withstand bullets, earthquakes, storms, bombs and even fire. It's a special metal, and no one's been able to get in without knowing
the code. But Pieces wouldn't have come all this way just to stare at the exquisite architecture, it's clear they're in for a long, long, night.
13.
Ciara panics as the limo whisked her away into the dark of the night. She tried effortlessly to open the window or the door but it's no use. The windows are pitch black so she couldn't see what’s happening outside and no one could look in either. The entire vehicle is bullet proof, even the windshield and headlights. "Go back!" She beats on the privacy window, trying to get the driver's attention. "PLEASE!" She screams helplessly but he keeps driving onward down the lonely road, no houses or civilization in sight.
Choker would never forgive himself for putting her life in danger, and if something horrible would happen to her, it will be the end of life as we know it.
Heavily armed men swarm the lot, surrounding the building. The security cameras react to all the movement, securely locked the doors and windows of the warehouse. "Boss, give me the order to kill these motherfuckers." One of the guys shouted angrily. "Bobby...shhhh." Choker scolds, grabbing the gun from Bobby's hands. "Choker!" A strong masculine voice calls out and Choke pays attention to the surveillance monitor.
Pieces is almost 50, like Choker's dad. He’s been a right hand man since the early 70's, just waiting for Gadeno to retire so he could take over. But when Julia got pregnant, and Choker was born it became clear that everything he hoped for disappeared in clear air. "Things don't have to be like this, you can walk out of here unarmed and just give me what I want." Pieces shouts facing to the camera and Choker's eyes darken at every word. "On a second thought you Bobby, take the front, Harry, left side, Zeek, right side. I got the back." he grabs a machine gun and a few hand grenades and they head downstairs.1
There are booby traps all around the warehouse, and Choker did major upgrades since he took over, things Pieces isn't the least bit aware of.
Choker's phone vibrates in his pocket, and he answers on the first ring because he knows who it is. "Are you ok?" He asks and she breathes into the phone. "Yes, are you?" Ciara asks in a whispered cry. "I'm ok, I'll see you soon." he assures her smiling. He holds the phone between his neck, pulls a lever on the door and a section of grass in the backyard opens up, and at least 4 of Pieces men, fall in screaming. Pieces cowardly climbed the tree nearest to him and watched his men die. The sound of a tiger's roar and teeth clashing invades the air, until there's no sound of the fallen men or the tiger at all. Choker, closes the floor again, and walks slowly to the other end of the corridor. "What was that?" She panics and he puts the gun on the table where the boy she tried to save earlier still lying. "I'm uh, taking care of some garbage, and uh, feeding my pets." He says it so calm and smooth that she's completely puzzled by his response. "I thought you were in danger." she snuffled. "No baby, I am the danger, that’s completely not the same." Like a good Boy Scout he produced a knife from his pocket and sliced a deep cut from one side of the boy’s neck to the other. The father tries to yell and move about in the chair but it's no use. The tape in his mouth is too tight for him to be able to do so.
The faint sound of bombs and gunshots rally in the background, but the sound proof walls makes it difficult to hear exactly what's going on. "Keys and JT are here." she tells him, and he smiles. "So is there a particular place you want to go for our first date?" he asks her in his sweetest and sexiest tone, while walking over to the man in the chair with the bloody knife. "Umm, I have to go to work in 3 hours, so you can come to the hospital when you're done and we can think of something." she sounds flirty now, all panic erased from her voice. "Ok. I'll see you later, beautiful." he promised and she smiles against the phone.1
The man in the chair mumbles something against the tape, and Choker cocks his head to one side, watching the man turn red with anger. He runs the knife along the side of the man's face, cutting deep into his skin as he goes. "Let me talk to Keys" he requests and she hands the phone over. "Everything’s okay?" Keys asks but no worry can be depicted from his voice. He knows very well how prepared and ruthless his best friend can be in situations like this. He just didn't want to be ruthless and heartless in front of Ciara. Something about being around her makes him weak and vulnerable, but in his world, there's no room for weakness and vulnerability...he's going to have to find an equilibrium.
He rips the tape off the guy’s mouth, and Keys laughs out loud when he hears the man grunt from the sharp tear. "Do you know why you're going to die?" Choker asks, cleaning the knife on the man's already bruised skin. He looks resolutely unwavering in front of his dead son’s body and after a minute or two, hangs his head in a painful surrender. "I'll take that as a yes." Choker murmurs digging the knife deep into the back of the man's neck, twisting and turning it until the man's head falls right off into his own lap. "Fuck!" Choker swears, looking down at his now messy clothes. "What?" Keys asks concerned. "I fucking loved this shirt." He fussed.1
He rests the knife on top of the severed man's head and pulls the bloody shirt over his head.
Choker's beautiful muscular body is now completely bared if only every mobster or villain had a body like this....everything would be ok even when it isn't. "Keep an eye on her. I'll meet you at the hospital in a few hours." Choker hangs up after Keys agrees.
He runs up the stairs to his office and throws his shirt in the sink, turning the pipe on trying to save it from all the blood stains.
"Boss" Bobby walks in, still neatly dressed, not a speck of blood or dirt on his suit. "What?" Choker says dryly, scrubbing the crap out of the poor shirt. "It's done, but Pieces is locked in his truck. He's the only one left." Bobby stares at the shirt, feeling bad for Choker. All this disaster going on tonight, he must really love the shirt to be concerned about it at a time like this. "You have the keys to the truck?" He finally responds. "Yes Sir, but it doesn't open it." Bobby drops the key on the counter. "I need all the remains burnt and thrown off my yard, change the colour of his vehicles and burn the license plates. Have Harry and Zeek lay new grass when the dirt cools off. The fucking yard looks like Afghanistan." He orders and Bobby chuckles. "What about Pieces and the pieces of shits downstairs?" Bobby refers to the dead men bleeding all over the warehouse floor. "I'll take care of them as soon as I'm done washing my shirt." Choke holds up the shirt and smiled when he sees he manages to recovers his shirt.
***
Julia pulls up to Gadeno's mansion in her pink and yellow Lamborghini. The weather in this part of London is almost always dim and rainy, but when the sun does decide to shine, it's appreciated by all. People get rid their coats and long johns for shorts and bikini's. Gadeno bought this mansion when Julia agreed to marry him years ago, and that's the house they built their life together, the same house which witnessed the thick and thin of their lives together and the place where their son grew up until Julia decided to relocate to Italy with Choker.2
She parks at the gate, and the security guard walks over. She winds down the window so he could check her, and he opens the gate instantly upon recognizing her.
Gadeno didn't change a thing to their old home. Everything is still as it was when they all lived there together as a family.
The trees and edges are still cut in the shape of guns and diamonds, the lawn is as green as her memory permits. The house is as pale as snow, and the columns are still solid gold with ancient carvings from Egyptian slaves.
He steps outside to welcome her as she went up the front steps. Neither of them looked a day over 30. It's like they both stepped into a time machine and figured out how best not to age. Gadeno still has that dangerous eyes and a dark stare with him. He's 6"1 and still as ravishing as ever. Probably one of the most dreamy French men you'll ever meet in this age. That explains why Julia's still in love with him after all these years. He's retired from most of the outlaw business, but we all know once you're in, you're never really out...even if you sincerely want to be. "My wife, hello. I never thought I’d still able to see you on these steps again." Gadeno teased and she rolls her eyes
, and steps pass him. "It's nice to see you too, my husband..." he mutters to himself after she entered the house and didn’t say a word.
"I take it by your angry expression that you're not here to move back in?" He jokes and her angry face saddens, and she couldn't hold it in anymore, the tears begin to fall. He rushed over to her in record time, and wraps her protectively in his arms. "What's going on?" He holds her safely in his arms, brushing her hair softly with his hand. "Pieces" she starts and stops, and she didn't have to say another word.
He knows how vengeful and unforgiving Pieces can be, he's the main reason their marriage has been on pause for so many years. "Where's Prince?" He asks and she stays quiet when she hears the anger and danger in his voice. She looks him in the eye and sees the man she fell in love with, and also the man she was afraid of.
Gadeno lets her go and angrily punched a hole in the wall. For an instant she was startled. Maybe coming here and telling him his former best friend just tried to kill their son all the way in America wasn't really a nice idea.
"I...he told me what happened this morning, you know he can take care of himself." she tries to calm him down but deep down she knows that only worsen the situation. He got his phone from his pocket and dialled a number. "What happened?" He asks and she knows he's talking to their son. He stood silent for a moment as he listen to his narration on what happened in the last 6 or so hours to him over the phone. "Where's that fucking little prick now?" Gadeno's fuming mad. "Want what company? Did he build this shit with me? So that's why he followed me around like a little bitch? Prince, don't fucking lay a finger on him. I'm on my way." Gadeno hangs up, and heads upstairs to change.
After a few minutes to herself, Julia follows him upstairs.
In that moment, she didn't feel fear or shocked.
