BLOODHOUNDS #2: THE TAKER

Chapter 27 - SAME

Kayden Grant

I'm not the type to lie about my identity and what I do to people. I don't want to fake myself to please others. I remain truthful about myself and what I do for a living. I'm not ashamed or tried to hide what I did to my family in the past.

When Tatiana screamed in the watch room, her reaction was typical. I knew she would react like this, but her question after seeing my man beheading a man surprised me.

"What else do you want to show me?" After screaming and taking her time to process everything. She calmed herself down and turned to me like it was nothing.

"What?" She asked me because I looked at her weirdly.

"Let's go." I opened the door and led her to the elevator to go down. When the elevator door opened, she gasped.

This floor is a jail where we keep all the people who betrayed us, people who tried to mess with us by hijacking the system, and people who wanted to ruin our plans. We walked through the jail made of thick bulletproof glass. It's a one-way glass. We can see them, but they can't see us.

They can't get out.

"No one gets out of here alive," I said, and Tatiana kept walking to see everyone.

"Who kills them?"

"Us." That's when she turned to me.

"How many people have you killed?" I strolled to her.

"I've lost count," I smirked when she gulped, hearing my answer. "My weapon of choice is a knife and a golf stick."

"But they're bad people. I don't think I mind when you kill bad people." She looked away and then ran toward where the elevator was. She freaked out.

I brought her up to the lobby and then led her to the execution center, where she would see people get killed live. We're standing in a room with a good angle to see my man beheading more people.

"I think I've seen enough. Can we talk?" I grabbed her by the arm and made her stand before me. I held on to both of her upper arms, making her watch.

"You're going to watch Mon Avenir. This is just the tip of the iceberg. If I'm bored, I'll be the one who beheads them." I whispered in her ears, and her body started to shake. She was scared, but her eyes said otherwise.

Her green eyes were glued to it, fascinated and scared at the same time.

When my man slid their neck with a samurai, Tatiana stepped back and looked away. I turned her body around for her to face me. Her green eyes were empty and shallow after seeing a brutal kill.

"Now tell me, Mon Avenir. Are you still up to marry me?" She gulped and looked down, avoiding my eyes.

"Will you kill me, too? Because I swear, I won't say a thing. I won't tell the world about it." She took a step back, and she took a split glance at me. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"I knew your family would tell you eventually, but it took longer than I expected. The choice is yours, Tatiana." She wiped her tears, and she looked up at me. Her green eyes were slowly losing color, and why was I regretting it?

I should not have felt this way.

I never regret anything.

"I think I should go to New York and be with Blake." That's when something within me snapped. Tatiana took a few steps back, and her eyes landed on the door behind me.

She was planning to escape.

What the fuck do you expect, Kayden? For her to give you a big applause?

This is where I know exactly why I can't have someone who will never leave me. Eventually, they will end up walking away and never look back. I was born to be alone in this fucking world.

My family hated me, the world saw me as a threat when they didn't know shit about me, and now the woman who was supposed to be my wife in less than two months also wanted to leave me. I thought she would understand since she's been keeping up with me.

I guess I was wrong.

I saw hope in her. I saw myself turning into a better person with her. I saw my future in her eyes when she greeted me at home when she cooked for me, and when she cared for me.

I don't blame her.

I was as twisted as my father. He used my mother's kindness for him to feel good about himself. He wanted her kindness so he could feel like a god. He wanted her to accept him for who he was. If he ends up hurting her, he can beg, and she will eventually return to him.

I guess I'm not that different from my father.

I wanted Tatiana to accept me.

She did it when I was being mean to her, and she showed me kindness and forgiveness after I ditched her to the FBI, after I made her cry over and over again. She chose me over Blake. She was worried about me, she wrote notes for me, and she comforted me.

I expected her to accept me after I showed her my dark side.

She's a future doctor. All she wanted was to save lives when I was the exact opposite of her.

I grabbed her hand, and it was cold. I led her out and called Hugo to pick her up from the second building.

"Take her back to my apartment so she can pack. I want you to send movers tonight to her place and get ready to move everything to New York. You will take her there first thing in the morning. I'll let Blake know that she'll be moving there." Hugo was confused because he kept looking at Tatiana and me repeatedly.

Hugo opened the door, and she got into the car right away. I didn't even look at her because I would lose control and hurt her. My attention fell to my hand. I could still feel the coldness of her hand.

Hugo drove away, and I took my phone out, dialing Blake's phone number.

"What do you want, Grant?"

"Sending Tatiana to you. She'll be in New York tomorrow morning. I'm also sending her shares back. Take care of her, or else I'll kill you." I looked up at the sky.

"And you think I'll do it for free?"

"Name your price, Lockwood. I'll pay for it."