Until you {uncompleted}

Chapter 7

     I'm lying on my bed, staring at the wall when I hear it. It was just a little bit of an unusual movement. Rustling, people whispering a door opening then closing . Then suddenly it changed. It turned into an outright yelling match. I bolt upright and ran down the stairs thinking to myself that the only one who can get that much noise by simply being there is Damian. And I'm right.

The scene that greats me when I get to the living room is less than ideal. In all truth, it scared the hell out of me. Scattered around the room are men with assault rifles, automatic weapons and handguns holstered to their sides. Liam was standing in the middle of the room yelling so loudly I'm afraid he will damage my ears. What he's yelling at is what caught my attention and held it there. Damian is covered head to tow in blood and I'm pretty sure that most of it is not his. The faint smell of smoke is perfuming the chilly evening air. And given that there is soot and ash mixed with the blood covering him I'm betting on him as a source.

He's standing tall, totally ignoring Liam and giving orders to his men. I caught things like "Increase the guards around the clubs". "Total lock down on the warehouses". "Cancel on next week". What ever was gonna happen next week didn't sound good and he seems pissed that he had to cancel.

Liam grabs him around the shoulders and says almost reasonably. "Damian, if you don't tell me where the hell you've been for the past two days I'm gonna shoot you."

Damian sighs and says, "Out.". Within seconds the room is cleared and Damian is in front of me. "You, get in." he yanks me inside and locks the door.

He looks at Liam. "If I'm going to talk, you'll give me your word not to leave or get yourself killed by doing anything stupid."

Liam looks annoyed. "You have my word, now get on with it."

After fixing two glasses of whisky. He sits down in the throne-like chair by the fire place and gestures for Liam to sit on the adjoining couch. I'm left standing but whatever, I'm too anxious to sit down anyway .

Damian points a hand in my general direction and says, "The first black box revealed a few interesting facts."

Liam raises a brow, "Like?".

"Like what happened to uncle Mathew."

Given that his father is an only child, Mathew is probably his mother's brother.

It's now Liam's turn to sigh, "We both knew that the minute he disappeared he was dead. This isn't a matter of what happened to him. It's a matter of Who? "

"The Knights," was Damian's answer. "I'll spare you the details, just know that it ended badly."

Oh God. I have the stinking suspicion that the guy I watched getting tortured in that video was their uncle. I close my eyes and send a prayer for his soul. Even an Evans or a relative of them anyway doesn't deserve to die like that.

Liam's eyes cloud with pain and he has to clear his throat a couple of times before he can speak. "I would've gone to the Knights right now for revenge, but looking at you I'm guessing that you already did. God Damn it, I should have been with you."

Damian smiles, and I swear to God. I can almost see the malice seeping through his body. "It was more fun this way, and a few men are  harder to detect than an army."

After a minute of silence , Damian shifts his attention and his eyes towards me. " You!" Oh, if looks could kill. " You, little miss innocent almost had me fooled. Thinking that your only worth is as a hacker. Surprise! Surprise! When even after I put the word that you opened all the black boxes, old-man Giovanni still wants you. Word is that soon he'll offer me close to twenty-five million dollars for you. "

With every word he uttered I felt an imaginary noose tightening around my neck, but I refused to show it. Of course the old SOB would offer his enemy a fortune for me, if he had me he'll have the means to unit with the Knights and end the Evans. God I hate plots. I would have lived in less intrigue if I had been Ann Bolin in the Tudors court. Through it all I kept my back straight and my face blank." Why would he do that". I murmured almost sounding bewildered. And found myself trapped against the wall with his hands around my throat. He didn't let go until I felt like I'm going to pass out.

I fell on my knees the second he let go gasping for breath. I'm shaking so hard I feel like I'm going to shatter into thousands of little pieces. He grips my shoulders forcefully and hauls me back to my feet.

"Care to change your answer? " He raises one eyebrow.