I'll Always Choose You #Watty's2023

10. Gio

I sat behind my desk staring at the photo of the bastard that took my mother and sister from me. It's been fifteen years since that day and I had made a vow to them both that I would find him and kill him. My father had been the first to find him, and had gone after him but his plan had backfired and he was killed. For years I've spent searching high and low for him only for the asshole to slip through my fingers until now,that is. He was tied to a chair with a battered face and dried blood. He was unconscious in the photo seeing as it had been taken a hour after he was caught.

Nico and I had just arrived from his college—since I had gone to pick him—when Jonah joined us and whisper in my ear.

"Cordelia and James found him,"

His words still ran in my ear even after four hours.

"We'll finish our talk later but now I need to take care of something," I had said to Nico before pulling my phone out of my pocket and walking away and dialing Cordelia's number.

"Boss," she had greeted on the first ring

"Jonah told me you found him," I replied in a greeting and she hummed

"Yes, I sent an envelope with his photo and it should be on your desk in your office. James and Jace are currently with him at the moment giving him a few punches here and there, though," which explained why the bastard was bruised and had dried blood on his once white button up shirt.

"We should be arriving back at the compound within the next five hours, which will be enough time for you to prepare"

As soon as I had gotten to my office as I opened the envelope that had been sitting on my desk and opened it before pulling out the photo of the bastard. Clenching my jaw, I dropped the photo and envelope back on the desk and walked out of the office and down to the torture chamber in the basement.

It had taken me less than two hours to fully prepare the room to my liking before returning to my office where I was currently sitting at with the photo of him out.

A knock on my door made me look up to see Cordelia—one of the few females in the gang who's a master at sword fight and also one of my childhood friends—poked her head in. She was a beautiful woman with mocha colored skin with soft brown eyes. Even though she was short, she was a force to be reckoned with as she's one of the strongest girls in the gang. She's taken down most of my guys every time they train and it's a sight to see.

"I figured you'd be here,"she said, her Persian accent coming out strong even though she hasn't been to Iran in years. She was born and raised in Iran until she was five years old before her family relocated in New York and my father took her and her parents in, that's how we met.

"What time is it?" I asked pushing from my desk and standing up and she raised a brow but looked down at her watch.

"Quarter to one," she answered and I nodded, "James and Jace have him tied up and ready,"

"How did you find him?" I asked as we made our way down the hall towards the room where he was waiting.

"As you know, James and I had been following him since he left the gang two years ago," she replied and I nodded.

Five months ago, Cordelia and James, another sword master like Cordelia and also her husband, had made the decision in tracking John—the man that was tied up and beaten in the torture room—after he left the gang when I confronted him for stealing half a million dollars worth of weapons and drugs as well as conspiring with a rival gang. He left a letter saying that he was leaving and that we'd never find him but the bastard was stupid enough to believe that he could walk away and not be found.