My Ruination

Chapter 26.

~Zaeden~

He was lying on the cold stone floor, writhing and groaning. The deep gash on his stomach oozed out blood, slowly and feverently. He was going to bleed out to death, right here in this cell and I wasn't going to delay the inevitable. I rose from where I was leaning against the rusted iron desk, walking upto him and he joined his hands in prayer as hope bubbled in his eyes. Hope, what a foolish thing a man clings to when he knows he is taking the last breaths of his useless life. I slipped the nylon gloves on both my hands, and went down on my shins, watching the bastard reek of weakness and desperation.

"Tell me what you know of the Mortelle." I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt to avoid getting blood on my cuffs from what I am about to do to him. I paid a handsome amount to my employees to act like blood and brains on my clothes were nothing new but what good was crime when done proudly in broad daylight? "I don't." He sobbed, "I don't know anything about it. Please let...let me leave."

"Let me give a generous offer- you provide all the information you have and I will protect you from them. I will take you to a hospital and give you a handsome amount of money to retire on a remote place with your family. How does that sound?" I offered and the happy tears rolled down his sweaty face. He thrived on hope, does he not? I will turn his hope into my weapon against him, stroke him until he softened and then, leave him shattered with a final blow.

"I don't...I don't know much about the Mortelle, except that it is a criminal organization that holds more power in UK than the monarch or government. Every single mafia, terrorist, or an assassin works under their control. They are involved in trillion dollars of scam and almost every miscellaneous crimes." He wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know. "But...the leaders of this organization, they are not a part of any gangs or crimes themselves. They belong to influential familes and are selected after some serious vetting. The Tsarina is the ruler, they hold absolute and complete power over everyone. No one has ever met the tsarina or the queen before. She operates from the shadows and not even the oldest members can claim meeting her."

That was certainly new information. Now I knew the person I was actively seeking out was a woman. A dead woman soon enough. "I did...I was paid to transport several cargos for them...and I overheard all this. I would be dead if they knew I know even this piece of information." I looked at Bishop and he understood at once, kneeling down to hold the man back and he begun screaming.

"You knew what was in those cargos, don't you? You helped them traffick teenage girls as sex slaves and you think you deserve to live in peace after that?" I shoved my hand deep into his open wound, crawling like a pest inside him and meeting flesh and blood. The loud wails and crying bounced off the walls and died within this very cell and Bishop shoved a piece of cloth into his mouth. I pulled out his intestines as the light finally left his eyes. So bright. So fake. I got up, leaving his guts hanging out like that as Bishop nodded to take care of the clean-up. Bishop was also a professional killer but I have seen the surprise in his eyes when I work. Like being subjected to death at my hand was a torchure worse than hell.

I dumped the nylon gloves and thoroughly cleaned my hands. I will need to shower in my office before I head back home but this will have to do now. I walked out from the basement of the club and slide into my car as William turned on the ignition and slid out of the cold, dark alleyway. I leaned back on the headrest and closed my eyes. Every single time I kill someone, it takes a piece of my soul and turns it into a shard of broken glass inside me. It eats up at me but I will not stop until I reach my goal and avenge the wrongs, even if it finally kills me too.

My hand travelled to pull out my phone from my slacks but a lacey fabric is what gets caught between my fingers and I pulled it out instantly. It was Maahira's black underwear I had removed from her on the day of her brother's accident and after she left, I have been carrying it with myself for about 2 days now. I brought it close to my face and took a shameless sniff and her scent surrounded me. The smell of her cucumber melon bodywash and cloying sweetness of her arousal, even though now faded, warmed my chest and tethered my fragments together.

She was currently living with her family, attending events and playing the perfect little show pony of her father to help him save his company and his reputation. The Times article covered everything about her, from her schooling to her hobbies and now those details of her life were avidly available to the world with a small stop to a magazine stand. I would never tarnish her shine but Markov told me she was not happy about the interviews and how her father went behind her back to provide them information she didn't approve of. It's a different story that I pulled 99% of the magazines out of the market and even deleted the online version of it. If it upsets Maahira, it was simply not happening.

But I was a madman. I was a vile, disgusting man who didn't hesitate to sniff her panties multiple times and let the fabric wrap around my fingers like a leash wrapped around a dog's neck. Everything remained forgotten as I called up Markov, who was also present with Maahira to protect her, and received the call within two rings. "Mr Kaushal," he whispered in a low voice, "Everything went well today. She attended lunch with some very flashy people and has been home, studying for the rest of the day." He updated and that eased the pressure developing at the back of my skull.

"Markov, I am face-calling you. Tuck your phone away discreetly and let me watch her." That was raw bullshit and both Markov and William could see right through it but they didn't have the audacity to speak up. Atleast William didn't.

"Sir, that's...that's crossing a boundary on my part. She is enjoying private time with her family and I will...it is an intrusion of her privacy." Markov read a four-page violation sheet to me but I clenched my fists. Intrusion of her privacy was the last thing I cared about. Her business was my business.

"She is my wife and there is nothing private between us." I said, my tone rough and abrasive. "Boss...I just do not want to overstep my job and not to mention, if Mrs Kaushal hears about this, she will scratch my eye out." Markov said. I respected his work ethics, and his determination to stay professional at all times but he was the one who had more access to Maahira than I could. I could call her myself and irrespective of how she responds, I will not be able to see the unbridled, offguard version of her that her brother brought out, her brand of crazy that I've yet to discover.

"Markov...I understand but I need to see her. Stat." There is desperation in my voice, the similar kind I heard in the voice of the man I murdered, just more powerful. Markov remained silent for a second too long and said, "Okay, sir. But only because Bishop informed me about your basement job today." He said and I hung up, face-calling him immediately after.

Markov was possibly standing in the foyer but I was offered a clear view of her. She was seated not on the sofa but on the coffee table itself, her hair opened in loose waves and wearing a ridiculous pair of tshirt and shorts, her mangalsutra hanging out on her neck. A chessboard sat before her and Rudra in the opposite. She was looked too impatient, too fidgety and too stressed while watching the chessboard but Rudra looked calm and composed. I couldn't make out the board clearly but her white pawns were more off the board than on and it was her turn to make a move. She watched with concentration only for a few seconds but I watched the exact moment her determination died.

She pushed both of her arms forward, shoving all the standing pieces down and basically sabotaging the entire game with a evil smirk on her face. "I was going to checkmate you from all and any directions." Rudra complained, apparently too offended by this move but Maahira played with the mess of pieces some more and said, "Oh really? What proof do you have?" She said and begun laughing out loud.

"Maahi...you little cheater." Her brother stood up and as she stood along him on the table and ran away out of the frame but not before her laughing sound filled the house and my senses. Rudra ran after her to chase her down but I hung up right after. Fuck. I have never had her laughter fill my monstrous mansion like this before, warm my insides like a heated blanket and push all the vicious thoughts in the back of my mind.

Rudra said to let Maahira be with him for atleast 10 days but we settled on 7. Looked like I was going to break that deal right on the third day because she was coming back tomorrow, to her house, her family and her husband. It was extremely selfish and so fucked-up, people might seek therapy for this. I was starving for her light, only to offer her my darkness in return but in this world, where everything felt unassured and hidden in shadows, she felt right. She felt whole.

"Do you have something to say, William?" I said, catching him staring at me through the rear view with a sardonic smile. "Nothing, boss. 27 years of marriage and two kids later, I still run after my wife whenever she visits her parents and brothers. You're no different from us. Your ruthlessness and reputation holds no light for what she will make you feel."