Darkness Ignites Desires

LILIANA.

I pace through the empty halls of our grand estate, my sandals slapping against the polished marble floors. The silence is suffocating – a sharp contrast to the chimes of laughter and whispers Kyle and I shared two days ago.

I can't help the feeling of despair as it rips through me, taunting me with the possibility of him still being around if I hadn't gone up the stairs that day.

As I approach the steps to make my way back into the house, I catch the hushed whispers of the domestic staff and their topic of gossip is about the possible abduction of their boss. They cease their gossip the moment they spot me, making a show of religiously tending to their chores. But I'm no fool.

I lift my chin, square my shoulders so as not to betray my emotions, and make my way into the living room. Once in, I slump against the wall as a shuddering breath leaves my lips.

“Ma'am, you have a call from Mr. Mikhail.” I raise my eyes. It's the bodyguard assigned to me by Theodore, my husband's assistant.

I raise the phone to my ear with a strangled, “Hello?”

“I've just gotten in contact with some of his business associates and none of them have seen him since you left for your honeymoon last month. I'm driving to the house now and then we can figure out the next step to take .”

I want to hurl my phone at the wall for such unfruitful news. I want to yell at him to search further but I manage to keep it together. I toss a glance at the bodyguard to find him turned away from me.

My fingers comb through my hair in a desperate action. After two uneventful days of worry, it is sure to be knotted tight in different places. I sigh for the umpteenth time.

“Okay.” I simply say, hopelessness nipping at the edges of my composure. The call ends with a click that sets reality sinking in.

I would never see Kyle again.

I drop my phone in the console on the table and sink into one of the plush cushion chairs that do not offer any form of succor.

“Your mother has been trying to reach you as well. She's outside the gate as we speak but we haven't let her in as you ordered.” The buff man standing like a fortress informs me.

I eye him wearily. “I don't need her to cut off the last remaining threads of sanity that I'm holding onto with her incessant demands. Keep her there. When she's fed up, she can leave.”

I know I might have sounded harsh, and inhumane even to my birth mother but some things are not as they seem. Right now, there are far more pressing things to worry about than a woman spewing empty threats outside.

I remain in my seat, too wrapped up in my head to hear the door open and Theo walk in. However, hot on his heels is the one I've been avoiding.

He shrugs helplessly, giving me a look spelling that his hands are tied.

Before she opens her mouth, I beat her to it. “I'm going through so much right now and I beg that you do not be the icing on the cake. My husband is missing and I'm without a clue, so please…”

My voice cracks towards the end and I work to swallow the tears slowly rising to the surface.

One would think the fire in her eyes would simmer down a bit. “Missing? He can never go missing. Have you seen your house? It's teeming with guards who would kill before any harm comes to him. Spare me that bullshit and suck it up. I'm not here for that. You have men at your dispersal, so do the needful!”

My nostrils flare in anger. I shoot up to my feet and in seconds, I'm in front of her. “What do you think I've been doing? Waiting for him to magically drop out of the skies? He cannot just vanish into thin air, for goodness sake, so give me a reasonable explanation for his disappearance because I cannot think and have gone way past my tolerance limits.”

She rolls her eyes and I know that action means a disregard for my words. Typical. “He's probably whoring with one of his kuaj right now while you worry yourself sick. Come to think of it, why would someone of his caliber settle for a Mary Sue like you when he can have better?”

Call me a bastard but I am this close to smacking that belittling expression off her face. Heaven help me!

Suddenly, I feel depleted of all the zeal to fight back. I lower myself back in my seat to gain another grip on my tumultuous emotions. Answering her is a complete waste of my time. It would be better to not fall into her trap this time.

Telling by the glare on her face, she looks like she isn't done with me. She never will be.

“Then you wonder why I always pick Lajla over you. You'll never be the person she was. Never!” She spits so vehemently that it causes my heart to squeeze in sorrow at being reminded of my double tragedy.

With all of my might, I fight the tears burning just behind my eyes waiting for the right moment to flood my face. She doesn't deserve to gloat more than she has else she risks a swollen head.

“You really should leave now,” I say quietly.

There's a pause allowing my words to sink in before she reacts, blowing off the top.

“You're kicking me out of your house? I fucking pushed you out of my vagina, ti vajzë e pashpër! I gave you life even when you weren't deserving of it. Just because you have the opportunity to get into the tiniest bit of wealth, you're ordering me out of your house?” She bellows so loud that the windows rattle.

"All I have ever done is to please and accommodate your excesses, yet I'm the ungrateful one?" Fortunately, my bodyguard comes to my rescue with an arm stretched towards the door.

“You're causing distress for her, ma'am. You need to leave.”

She rakes him from head to toe, her face contorting in disgust as she sizes him up. For a moment, she looks ready to defend herself should he make any sudden movements.

She turns to me with those eyes brimming with hatred. Her rouge lips open to vomit words sharper than the slice of a butcher's knife. “Mark my words; I never want to see you again. For your information, you ceased to be my daughter the day your sister died.”

‘How I wish it was you instead’, are the words I read from her eyes as she gives me one last sweeping glare before she storms out. The door shuts with a bang.

And just like that, gone is all the negativity she came in with.

“Give us a moment.” I hear Theodore say followed by the heavy thud of the bodyguard’s retreating footsteps.

My muscles which were rigid with tension and coiled tightly for defense now relax. I drag in a much-needed breath as Theodore crosses to where I'm seated. Worry is palpable in his eyes.

I raise my hand before his words of pity fall through. “I don't want to hear it. What's the update?”

He purses his lips with silent regard on his face. Sensing my resolution, he exhales sharply. “Same response. I'm afraid if we don't hear from anyone before the end of today…”

I shut my eyes as though they would stop the weight of his unspoken words from crashing into me.

“There has to be something. He cannot just disappear…it doesn't make sense.” I mutter to myself. More confusion settles in my bones, throwing off my balance.

I feel like I'm losing my mind with every second that ticks by.

“I suspect the Talaverases. That diabolical family has always envied his business empire. Perhaps this is their doing.” Theodore suggests as if that is supposed to ease my anxiety.

Why would anyone even want to hurt Kyle after witnessing his compassion for the people he loves? He could not hurt anyone on purpose.

Although his reserved nature usually leaves me insatiated and craving for more affection, his gentle smiles and thoughtful gestures won my heart.

Now his absence feels like an amputation.

I put my head into my trembling palms as I draw in a lungful of oxygen. I would give anything to have my husband back, anything at all.

A shrill sound slices through the thick silence and Theodore rises to his feet, inclining his head towards his phone. Then he steps some meters away from me.

In a little while, he returns with a grave expression pregnant with underlying messages.

“What was that about?” I dare to ask.

The looks he gives me are filled with compassion yet he cuts straight to it. “I have news and it's not good.”

My heart leaps painfully in my chest, waiting for the damning news. “Is…is he okay?”

He hesitates, “The police just called.” His face twists in anguish. “They've found him. Just that…it's not what we expected.”

DAMIAN.

I'm hunched over the paperwork on my desk skimming over the letters on each page, drinking each information in and growing angrier by the minute.

My fingers fly across the keyboard with burning urgency and in a few seconds, the screen displays the private profile of my previous target; Josie Davis. It includes information about him down to the last place he used his credit cards.

Picking up a red pen lying on the side, I visualize being the Grim Reaper while I strike Josie's name off my list. When I lift my hand, the paper becomes branded with a brown stain on my palm. The fucker’s blood refused to come off after washing.

I chuckle darkly as the memories of his pleas come to mind. Barely minutes after I began our session, he became a wobbly mess with bladder issues.

A puny weakling with a big dick and loud mouth. Useless.

The room brightens up with light from my phone. I look at it with a big frown which deepens further when I see my brother's name. The reason for his call might not be farfetched.

“What is it?” I ask immediately after I pick up the call.

“I've called a thousand times before now and you have been avoiding my calls, Kristoffor. Seemya dolzhna byt' prioritetom.”

If he has to spell out that family should be the priority, then something is about to go awry. I knead the space between my brows, feeling exhausted.

“What. Is. It?” I bite the words out of my mouth taking great care to not lash out at him. I'm wrapped up in too much shit to be beating around the bush.

I hear the click of his tongue on the line before he answers, “How’s the mission going?”

“It's underway,” I reply curtly.

“Good. Wrap it up quickly and make your way back here. We need you handling business.” He presses.

I'm not sure he hears me grit my teeth in anger but if he can, I don't give any fucks at the moment. “I said I'm working on it.”

He damn near explodes into my ear. “Working on it? Do you think that's enough? I don't think you get the whole point here. We're losing ground, Kristoffor. The other families are sensing weakness. What more? I caught wind of plans to overthrow you and although those negodyai have been taken care of, you need to mount your guard.”

My body trembles with rage, fighting the urge to hit the red button and return to my tasks. I made a promise not to go home until I find all of them and pay them in their fucking coin. I'm not about to break away from that vow.

Somehow, I find the rein on my anger. “I understand. I just need you to keep everything under control as you have been doing. I owe you a favor–”

“No, you don't understand. This isn't about favors. You're too far removed from the business. You need to be here, making calls, breaking heads.”

I sigh, feeling the weight of responsibility pressing once more into my back and I feel trapped.

“I’ve got this under control.”

“Bullshit! You are chasing ghosts, Kristoffor. She’s dead, deal with it. Focus on what matters.”

The way he speaks about her so flippantly causes my blood to boil. The pen in my grip bows and snaps in two. “She's not just anyone and you know that!”

“Enough!” He barks. “She's dead. Move. On.” The last words are uttered so silently with vehemence.

I grit my teeth, biting back my retort. I might be the Don of the clan but he is my older brother.

He continues, “We need you to secure our interests. The Morani family is making moves. It'd be better if we begin with strategic moves of our own before they think we're vulnerable. Stop thinking like a soldier and think like a Vozdh’.”

A leader? I scoff. After I bring my enemies to their knees. “I’ll handle it soon.”

“Soon isn't enough. We need concrete results now and we can't afford mistakes. The Seemya is counting on you.”

Then the line goes dead.

My body vibrates with anger. I fling the ruined pen towards the door same time that it opens to reveal one of my men. His face doesn't bear much to decipher, however, his nervous stance gives him away.

“Spit it out,” I order in a grave tone.

He shuffles on his feet nervously. His eyes flit around the room in search of something.

I become irritated with his nonsense. “Look around one more time and I promise you, you'll be palming one of your eyeballs before you exit this room.” I threaten.

He knows I'm not one to back down on my words and that knowledge probably straightens him.

“Th…The man can't be found.” He announces.

I know the exact person he's talking about. Why not? He has been my main target for months. But jumping to conclusions is not my thing.

A possibility crosses my mind just then. What if he had gotten information about me being close to his tail and escaped?

“You don't work with the Seemya just to go into the field and act stupid. If he has escaped, your job is to look for him even to the ends of the fucking earth and bring him to me. Alive!”

He flinches, all the color draining from his face. His mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water.

I cock my head to the side to regard this fool. “Did you mess up again?” Slowly, I rise to my feet still waiting for his words.

He gives a frantic shake of his head, fear evident in his eyes as his gaze measures the distance between us. “No. B-but, when we got there, we discovered that he was dead. Nicolo is dead, boss.”

After that, he takes two cautious steps back which I think is a wise decision to protect himself from my rage bubbling to the surface like molten lava about to erupt.

“Did you confirm?”

He stretches out his phone towards me. Ignoring the tremors of his hand, I take it to behold the mutilated body of the one I've been seeking for the most.

It's a grotesque image. Instead of repulsion, I'm filled with regret and pain. I hurl the phone against the wall, heave and upturn my desk destroying the content on it.

“Fuck!” I yell, angry at myself. “Fuck it! Fuck this! I was supposed to end that psycho myself, he was meant to die by my hands. Shit! Shit!”

This was not the plan. The plan was for him to go through a slow, torturous suffering that he'd wish for death to come swallow him whole.

“I had everything put in place including the machinery to resuscitate him if his heart stopped halfway through our playtime and the fucker had to blow it up by dying early.”

A slew of profanities that I pay no attention to, leave my mouth as I punch the wall over and over until I hear the sickening crack of my knuckles and blood slides down to my wrist.

That single sound gratifies my anger and it simmers down to a slow boil. I'm breathing hard by the time I'm done.

“Boss?” The voice is almost a squeak. My head turns slowly to the side.

The man is standing off to one corner with eyes wide up to the size of saucers. He looks like a terrified prey who just witnessed an apex predator lose its shit.

“There's one more thing you should know. What you desire is still possible.” He passes me his almost destroyed phone.

The screen is flickering and the moment I see what he wants me to, it trips off. My anger dies down totally as I look at him and a look of understanding passes between us.

He gives a frantic nod of his head and thankfully, his legs do not give out on him as he makes his way out of my office.

I look back at the ruin on the floor not feeling one bit remorseful for it. I take my phone out of my pocket and dial a number.

The person picks up.

“I need you in my office this instant. Ensure the whole place is tidied and my things are replaced before I get back. I have a playdate.”