Protective

Before

Dmitri

"Where did my father get this one from?" I asked curiously, poking the man tied down to the chair with my foot.

"He's Yakuza," Boris shrugged, "Hamada branch."

"Is that right?" I removed his blind fold, "Are you working with the Hamada's, friend?"

He stayed silent and I smiled, "Don't you know they're bad company these days?"

I turned to Boris, "Where are my tools?"

He pointed to the empty back of the room, "Your tools have been taken for cleaning, you can't keep reusing the same shit on different people. It's unsanitary."

I shrugged, "So what am I supposed to do with this asshole?"

Boris made a face indicating it wasn't his problem, "I don't know, use your hands."

I groaned, "But I just finished healing them from the last guy."

I pulled a gun from my belt, and shot his foot as he screamed, "Can I get a knife or something? You have a kitchen here, right?"

I didn't know why anyone would keep a kitchen here when I tortured people only feet away but that wasn't my problem. I didn't eat here.

"Butter or steak?"

I smiled, "I love a challenge. Bring me the butter knife."

Boris grimaced before walking out the door, muttering under his breath.

I laughed as I rolled up my sleeves, "Any chance you just spill your guts now and spare us both?"

"Go to hell," he spat.

I rolled my eyes, "All that loyalty for a man that kills his wife and whores out his own daughter. Do you think he'd go under the knife for you?"

Akio Hamada was a special type of sickness and according to my father he always had been.

His major money maker was human and gun trafficking. But he got his jollies off in more sinister ways.

He had killed his wife after she had given birth to a daughter, as the story goes. One night he was fed up with the lack of a boy and killed her in her hospital bed.

He never remarried after her though. That was the thing. Apparently, he couldn't bring himself to love another woman.

I had heard all of these things in the dark shadowed spaces of the world but I had the displeasure of meeting Akio once.

He wanted to give me his daughter in exchange for information. I turned him down and told him to stay the hell away from me.

Akio just laughed and I kept my distance ever since. He had weird obsessions and strange tastes.

I wasn't into any of it. I was fine being a sick piece of shit for my family, it didn't bring me any more pleasure than sitting down every once in a while.

I tuned everything out when I worked. I had done it for years, it was easy.

I did this so Lana could do whatever she wanted and be safe with my shadow looming over her.

No one would ever had bothered her knowing I was protecting her but for men like Petyr my protection was somehow a new and exciting challenge.

I was going to enjoy breaking every bone in that mans body one day at a time.

"Here," Boris came back, "I brought both. Just in case."

"If I were you, I wouldn't eat with this afterwards," I warned, jokingly.

He held his hand up, "After this, I'm never eating here again."

I smiled, "How much time do I have?"

"Couple of hours," he said, "Your father doesn't really expect anything out of this guy."

"Do hear that?" I shook my head, "Let's prove my father wrong, shall we?"

Before I could even bring the knife down to his eye, my phone began to ring.

I groaned, knowing it was either my father or Lana.

I never imagined he would be telling me that someone had tried to kill Yeremy already. He didn't even know if he was dead or alive.

I sent Boris to check while I made my way back to the estate. Lana should be home by now. I knew she had spent the day with Aileen but now she was by herself give or take a massive security detail.

But this was planned. They'd bring enough people to take the place.

Shit. We should've seen this coming faster.

But why do this now? If they could do this the whole time, why wait?

I tried to reach Iosef until I remembered that he was with Yeremy. I hoped the man was alive. Loyalty like his was rare and we'd need that.

I must've called Lana's phone a million times by the time I reached my car. Why wasn't she picking up?

She must've heard the trouble, it was a large house. Maybe if she hid in one of those passages she loved so much. She'd just have to wait till I got there.

If she could wait, I could kill everyone.

I took a deep breath trying to remind myself who was on her guard duty today. Yuri, was it?

Yuri could fight and he would. But what if he was overwhelmed?

I didn't have much time to think about before the shots started.

I smiled a bit. My car was bulletproof. Most of our cars were.

I dug in the glove box and found the bulletproof vest I kept and put it on. I didn't have time for this.

I stepped on the gas and ran over three of the eight men shooting at me before speeding for the house. They were after us and they weren't letting up.

They knew exactly where to hit us and it was becoming that much more obvious that our enemies were now working together.

Manuel, Seamus, Akio, Petyr.

The reality of what Yeremy had warned was becoming that much more real and it might've not happened if we didn't take Aileen.

We poked the bear and now we're going to pay for it.

After calling Lana for the millionth time, the call finally went through and some of the weight was off of my chest.

"Lana, no time to explain. I need you to hide until I get there—

"Oh, she tried, Dmitri. She definitely tried—

"Dmitri!"

I could hear her screaming and my heart plummeted. I was going to kill him. I was going to kill everyone.

"Listen to me you son of a bitch, if you touched one hair on her head I will make you wish your mother swallowed you—

"Hey, hey," Petyr teased, "No need to talk like that, Dmitri. I already won. She's mine and you're too far to do anything about it. This is checkmate."

- - End of Chapter - -