The winner takes it all

Retribution and revenge (part three)

Chapter 18

Trigger warning -  This chapter will contain two torture scenes. Please don't read those parts if you will be upset by it. Those parts will contain graphic violence. Other trigger warnings will occur to indicate where the scenes will begin and end. This chapter also contains character deaths but I'm sure you all already guessed that.

As soon as Vegas ended his call with Pete and Macau, the real hard work began. The remaining gang members sifted through the bodies of the dead, separating their fallen comrades into different rooms on the ground floor of the mansion. Each gang occupied a different room and arrangements were already being made by the leaders to transport their fallen soldiers home.
It took a few hours to sort out the bloody carnage, and Vegas busied himself, supervising the clean-up while Kan handled the issue regarding the police.
The police had been a pain in the arse to get rid of. The rookie officers, that arrived first, were too eager to make a name for themselves by trying to probe too deep in matters that they were sure could earn them an early promotion. Eventually, they had been sent packing after a phone call to and a visit from the most senior officer in the Royal Thai police. A huge backhander (bribe) had to be paid and threats had been made to the rookie officers who had tried to delve too deep into Kan's business.
Vittorio was the most organised despite suffering the heaviest losses. Ever the efficient strategist, he left the mansion first, after receiving his payment from Kan. His clean-up team collected the dead bodies of the Italian Alphas and the walking wounded followed their leader as soon as they were able.
Liu Jun was next to leave, after being paid of course. The Chinese leader and his men had faired pretty well considering the amount of blood that had been shed that day. They suffered losses too, but not as many as the Italians.
Hung Anh - Dung negotiated a new weapons deal with Kan before he left, taking his dead and injured soldiers with him.
The British lingered, helping with the clean-up operation as Razor harboured a deep desire to join Vegas in torturing Korn and Kinn.
The dead from the British and both the Minor and Major family bodyguards were moved to the medical wing. The morgue was quickly filled to capacity with bodies, and dozens of the dead were laid out in the beds usually reserved for sick or injured bodyguards.
Kim, Tankhun and Tawan were kept in a separate room in the morgue in order for proper funerals to be arranged for later.
The clean-up took most of the day, but Vegas made sure to contact Pete and Macau as often as he could.
In the evening, Nop approached Vegas, telling him that Arm was kicking off and requesting information on Pol. Nop explained that Arm and Pol had been in a romantic relationship for years and Arm desperately needed to know what had happened to his lover.
"Take him to visit Pol's body, but stay with him the whole time. He may flip out and start attacking us as revenge for Pol's death," Vegas instructed, "from now on he isn't allowed access to any weapons until he has proved his loyalty to us".
"Yes Khun Vegas," Nop answered before going to collect Arm from the room he was being held in.
Vegas shook his head, "I must be going soft in my old age" he muttered to himself. In the past he would not have shown any mercy to Arm and he would have ordered him to just get on with his duties but being with Pete had softened him up a little, not that he would make that obvious to anyone outside of his family. To show weakness in the gangster world was like an invitation for death. Besides, if they wanted this Arm guy to work for them, a little 'good will' gesture, like letting him say a proper goodbye to his boyfriend, wouldn't do any harm.
Vegas was exhausted. He had now gone nearly twenty-four hours without sleep, and he wanted nothing more than to return to his Omega and cuddle up with him in bed, breathing in his sweet scent and enjoying the calming comfort he felt when Pete was close by.

Saengtham family mansion

Pete sat on the window seat in his childhood bedroom, looking out contemplatively at the sunset.
It had been over a day since he had been in the protective presence of his Alpha. He had changed his clothes since last night, but he still wore his husband's oversized sweater over his pyjamas.
The pregnancy hormones demanded the presence of his Alpha but Pete did his best to ignore those nagging feelings as he knew it wasn't possible for Vegas to return to his side just yet.
His family had done their best to keep his spirits up, and he gave them all the most convincing smiles he could muster to try and convince them he was fine, but the truth was, he wasn't coping very well.
Pete had never been one for temper tantrums or 'brat attacks', there had never been any need because he had lived a charmed life, and also it just wasn't in his kind and gentle nature.
As the day went on, the realisation increasingly dawned on him that he could have lost Vegas last night. He could have lost his fated mate, and he hadn't had any idea when Vegas left last night of the depth of the danger his husband had been about to dive into.
In the morning, when he had learned the truth, he initially felt shock, followed by an enormous amount of relief. But as the day wore on, the initial shock slowly began to turn to anger. He had been kept in the dark by the people he loved and trusted the most in this world. His father and brothers had never lied to him before, and Vegas had only told him 'little white lies' about the dangers he faced on a daily basis. Up until now, Pete had just gone along with it, he wasn't ignorant to the dangers of the mafia world, despite his father's valiant attempts to shield him the whole of his life.
Pete felt conflicted and confused. He was grateful beyond all measures that his husband had survived and lived to tell the tale of the great victory he and his father had achieved, but he couldn't prevent the resentment from slowly creeping in at being left in the dark.
His dad had justified his actions by saying it was to save him from experiencing too much stress, especially as he was pregnant. That just pissed Pete off all the more. He was pregnant, not weak. He just thought he should have been told the truth before the plan had taken place.
In the aftermath of the shocking revelation, he had learned that Macau, Tay and Damrong had been told there was a mission, and they had to be ready to leave at a moment's notice if anything were to go wrong. Tay had been worried about his parents, but they just so happened to be away on a business trip in Australia at the moment. Tay had stayed behind to remain close to his Alpha, Amonsak. Abhisit had been told the truth just after Vegas and Kan had left, but had been told to keep the important information to himself. Mr Saengtham had convinced Abhisit there was no point in causing Pete any more stress than absolutely necessary.
Pete felt disappointed in his cousin, older brother and father. He felt he should have been told the truth, no matter how distressing it may have been. He had a right to know if his husband's life was on the line, right?
The texts and calls he had received from his Alpha throughout the day were undeniably a comfort, but once Vegas was able to come and visit him, Pete decided he should communicate his feelings to his Alpha. He was proud of him of course, but he never wanted to be left in the dark like this again.