SEVEN'S POV
Victor knows.
What does he know is the question?
Does he know that I defied his direct orders and made Curby go along with it too? Does he know about me and Lilianna? The anxiety of not knowing what it is exactly that Victor might know is eating away at me. And it grows with every hour that goes by with no reply from Curby. I have rung him over twenty times already even though it always goes straight to voicemail. My texts have also gone unanswered.
Lilianna knows something is up, she knew as soon as I stepped back out onto the deck with her. I saw it in the way her head tilted as she took in my appearance, I know I must look like shit. I feel like shit, my stomach couldn't drop any lower and I feel the sweat building under my arms and in my palms. Much to my surprise but also my appreciation Lily doesn't bombard me with her usual nosy questions. I can tell she's dying to ask me why I'm as pale as a ghost right now but she doesn't. I think the way I had a go at her yesterday over asking questions is keeping her from quizzing me.
Thank fuck. I really don't want to worry Lily over this shit. Not till I at least figure out what exactly Curby meant by Victor knows.
As the yacht glides over the water back to shore I find Lily standing at the front of the deck, holding onto the rail as she looks down at the bow cutting steadily through the ocean at a pace. She doesn't notice me approach and jumps when my arms wrap around her waist.
"Seven! You scared me!" She giggles lightly at her dramatic reaction. Immediately I bury my face into the curve of her neck and shoulder, pressing my mouth to the soft skin and inhaling the sweet vanilla scent she is always bathed in.
"What are you doing up here?" I ask into her neck.
"Just watching. I think I saw some dolphins before." One of her hands rests over mine on her stomach while the other still clings to the railing keeping her steady.
"I've never seen dolphins in real life before so I got a bit excited." She admits slightly embarrassed.
"I'll take you to see some dolphins next time. We can sail out longer." If she wants to see dolphins, I'll make sure she fucking sees some dolphins. Anything she wants I'll make sure she gets it. I wish I'd planned for us to be away on this boat for more than just the one night. I should have done a week, gone off the grid and sailed around the coast where there's heaps of dolphin spotting. She could have swam with them, she would've loved that. I should have done that, fuck sakes.
"I'd like that." She agrees with my promises of future trips. I hope I can make those promises come to fruition, I guess whatever happens when I'm back on land will determine that.
Lily turns in my arms so her back is rested against the rail and she looks up at me.
"Thank you. For doing all of this. For giving us this time together I've really enjoyed myself." Her eyes are warm and her lips hold her cheeks up in a delicate smile.
"I'm glad you were keen to be trapped on a vessel with me." I joke and she giggles gently.
"Of course I would." She glances at my mouth then back to my eyes.
"Seven, I uh, I wanted to tell you something." Lily sounds nervous which in turn makes me feel incredibly nervous.
"What?" I ask but I'm unsure if I want to hear what she's going to say.
"Well," Lily's cheeks begin to fill with embarrassment as her eyes begin to dark all over so she doesn't have to look at my face.
"Well I just wanted to let you know that you're becoming an important person to me. I don't... I don't really have many people in my life. And very few of those people I'm actually close to or that I can depend on. But you're..." She struggles to find the words for a second.
"You're the most important person to me. Everyone I love is gone and I felt so alone ... and then I met you." Her eyes finally meet mine and I hope she can see the effect her words are having on me. My stomach is lifting and I feel this lightness in my chest. I felt alone too, so alone in my life but she made that change. She's making me realise how good it can feel to be with someone and how nice it feels to make them feel good too.
"I—" I try to tell her just how she has done the same for me but her finger presses to my lips.
"I don't know how we'll do it. But you're all I have, and I don't want to feel that alone in life ever again." She confesses and the words make my heart beat painfully fast.
You're all I have.
I can't describe how good those words make me feel. It's nice to feel depended on I guess but I know I also have an obsessive side over Lilianna. She's chosen me over anyone else in this world and me alone. I'm all she has and I won't lie that makes me fucking happy in some fucked up way. I suppose I'm just thrilled at the fact we have that in common, she is all I have too.
She's just as scared to lose me as I am about losing her and it's a nice feeling to be wanted this way. She really does have feelings for me. I hope hers develop like mine, although mine seem to be rapidly growing at an unhealthy and terrifying pace.
"I won't leave you Lily. I promise. You won't have to feel so alone ever again. You're all I have." I avow and lean my forehead against hers. Small arms wrap around me as we hold onto each other and she exhales in content with the words spoken between us. I want to tell her I'm falling for her, and fucking quickly at that. But she only just confessed her feelings for me yesterday after getting over the initial shock of my own confession. I need to give her time. I'm not use to how this kind of thing works, I don't know what is too soon or too late to bring these kind of things up but I feel like after her last reaction I should wait.
Her lips press to mine and the rest of the journey back to shore precipitates as I get lost in her affections. We find ourselves sprawled on one of the outdoor daybeds. Lilianna straddles my lap, grinding herself down onto me as I suck at a spot on her neck, I'm about to suggest we go to the bedroom when someone clears their throat.
"I'm sorry for the intrusion Mr Seven but we have docked." The short man in white says. Lily and I both look around to see we are in fact now back in the marina, and the boat has stopped. How did we not even notice? My dick twitches as Lily climbs off of me as if to answer the reason why we didn't notice shit.
Fucking hell.
The realisation that we're actually back has the anxiety flooding back to me. I can't ignore it now and the moment my feet hit land I almost want to vomit. I've never felt so nervous before, I've never been one to get anxious over anything. But I'm realising rather quickly that opening myself up to feelings for Lily has also opened myself up to feeling all kinds of emotions, even the bad ones. It's times like this I miss being emotionally withdrawn and shut off. But I guess to feel the good people also have to feel the bad.
I throw our bags into the back of my car and try one more time to get ahold of Curby. But it goes straight to voicemail without even ringing. What the fuck am I going to do? I need to find him, ask him what the fuck he meant about Victor knowing and figure out how we're going to deal with this.
Lily babbles clueless to my panic about paying for her classes and makes plans for her to cook us dinner at her flat tonight. I try my best to listen, giving her a hummed response when appropriate but all I can think about is Victor and what his repercussions are going to be for Curby and myself. I will take responsibility and tell him that I forced Curby to go along with my plan and not the orders, hopefully he'll be less hard on Curby then. Because it was my idea and I did make him defy Victor. The churning in my stomach doesn't stop, fuck sakes.
"Seven?" Lily brings me from my thoughts.
"Did you hear what I said?" She asks, a concerned frown playing on her brows. She knows something is up with me.
"Uh, no sorry. What were you saying?"
"I'll see you about six for dinner." Lily says as I pull up outside her flat.
"Yeah. Yeah sounds good." I try my best to sound neutral but she stares at me, knowing something isn't right.
"What aren't you telling me?" She finally asks.
"Nothing." I lie.
"I can see it. You've been acting strange since this morning. I was hoping you'd just tell me when you're ready but I can see you're going to just act like nothing is wrong." She calls me out. I was stupid to think I could hide this from her.
"Nothing is wrong, I just have some shit to sort out." It's not a complete lie, since I don't actually know what the fuck is going down right now. Lily eyes me, not believing it one bit.
"I'll talk to you about it at dinner." I suggest hoping this will get her off my case. I don't want to freak her out about Victor, I need to know what the situation is before I tell her anything.
"Okay." She sighs clearly annoyed but doesn't challenge me on waiting to let her in on what's going on.
"I guess I'll see you at six then." Lily says and I nod. She leans over and I move my mouth to hers. Her plump lips press a single kiss to mine but as she draws away my hand flies to her neck to pull her face back to mine. I'm aware at how desperate my lips move against hers, but she doesn't try to pull away again and let's my tongue enter her mouth. She kisses me back and I have a sick feeling in my gut that this may be our last kiss for some time. And because of that feeling I don't want it to end. Her tongue glides against mine and I try my best to commit it all to memory, the way she tastes, the sound of her shallow breath, the feeling of her full lips moving against mine. When I trap her bottom lip between my teeth she gasps and I mentally record the sound. Reluctantly I release her lip and pull back to look at her, my nose bumping hers affectionately as I do.
Her eyes are a beautiful melting golden hazel and I know she's turned on by our kiss. I consider taking her into her apartment and fucking her before I go but I know if I do I won't want to leave. Instead silently I press a single gentle kiss to her lips and she smiles softly, leaning her cheek into my hand.
"I'll see you later." She half whispers and moves to unbuckle her seatbelt. I want to drag her back into the car and drive us away somewhere, anywhere where we can't be found but instead I just nod and watch her walk away from me and up the stairs to her apartment.
Once I know she's safe inside immediately my brain switches to what I need to be focusing on. I press down on the accelerator and weave my way through traffic in search of Curby. I have no idea where he is, but my first guess is his condo. I just need to find him, figure out what he meant by Victor knowing and then decide on a plan on how to deal with it, I keep repeating to myself in an attempt to calm myself down. I need to be calm, I need to think about this in a rational mind so I can figure out what the fuck to expect and what the fuck I'm going to do about it.
When I get to Curby's condo I notice his red truck is parked in his usual spot. Thank god. That's a good sign. He's probably passed out drunk or something and that's why he hasn't been answering his phone. I make my way into the building, heading straight for the elevators and press for the upper floors. It's always so quiet here I don't even think half the building is even rented out which is probably why Curby lives here. He can throw his loud parties without anyone bothering him. The elevator doors open with a ding and I step inside and select Curby's floor. Classical music plays as the metal box rises the floors and I'm reminded of this very tune playing the various times I've ended up here drunk and high out of my mind with Curby and whatever random chicks decided to follow us back. The thought of doing that now makes me cringe.
The elevator slows and I get out at Curby's floor, hurriedly making my way down the hall to his door. When I'm close I notice something odd about his entrance, the lights are still on and his door is cracked open.
Oh shit.
Not a good sign.
With a quick glance over my shoulder down the hall to confirm I'm alone in the hallway, I retrieve my gun tucked into my waistband. Cautiously I approach the ajar door, glancing through the small gap. I can't see much from this angle, but I can see a mess inside the room. Fuck.
I need to think about this. There could be some gruesome scene waiting for me behind this door. Or someone may even still be in the room.
"Yo, Curby?" I yell out and tap at the door with the barrel of the gun, waiting for any kind of response.
Nothing.
Vigilantly I kick the door wide open and hold my gun out, scanning the room for any immediate danger. Once I conclude the room is clear I begin to analyse the destruction. Chairs flipped, glass shattered over the carpet. Draws looted with their content thrown around the floor, brass bullet shells litter around the place and their matching holes puncture the furniture and walls.
Fuck.
There are a few specs of dried blood in the kitchen but nothing extreme. Nothing that would indicate a bullet wound thank god. But the fact that Curby isn't here is not the best sign.
"Fuck!" I kick over the last remaining seat in frustration. I was too late. Victor has clearly sent guys to come and retrieve Curby. And no doubt I will be next.
"Fuck!" I yell again and kick at more discarded junk on the ground and notice Curby's smashed phone on the floor. Someone has clearly stomped on it. With how dry the blood specks are and the timing of Curby's last text to me in the early hours of this morning I believe that may have been the last message he was able to get out as whoever it was stormed into his place. It was a warning; they're after us.
I know they would have taken Curby somewhere to punish him, I wouldn't be surprised if he's being interrogated for information on my whereabouts as well. I leave his apartment and close the door so as not to raise any suspicion for his neighbours if he even has any on his floor. The last thing we need is people seeing that scene and calling the cops.
There's no point in me running - they'll find me. And it would be cowardly of me to run from the consequences of my own actions. I need to find Curby and stop whatever punishment he may be enduring and I need to find Victor. I need to explain to him somehow that what we did was in the best interests of the firm and not in anyway to offend or undermine his orders. I need him to understand. I don't know how the fuck I'm going to manage that but it's my only option besides getting whatever kind of punishment he has lined up for me.
There are a few different places they may have taken Curby as there are only a few establishments that are equip for serving out punishments. One of those being the basement of Club Venus. It might not be likely that they've taken him there given it's working hours so all the staff will be setting up for tonight as well as the dancers there. As much as I'm unsure if they'll actually be holding Curby there I still need to check. It's probably not the smartest idea with all the members working there who no doubt will be told to look out for me but I have to try. I have to explain to Victor and I have to make this right.
I ignore the various flashes from speed cameras as I drive across the city to the strip club. I could care less about a few speeding tickets if it meant the difference of shortening a beating for my friend. My friend. Curby is my friend I guess, but I'm beginning to notice at times he feels more like family. My father trusted him with my care at a young age, if my father trusted Curby then I should too. He has never done anything to make me question the worth of his trust, if anything he has only proven time and time again that my best interests were always a priority for him. The only thing that ever stopped me trusting Curby fully is Victor's constant reminders to not trust anyone because of my fathers mistrust in his best friend. But if I can trust Lily, then why shouldn't I give Curby the same benefit.
He trusted me with my plan to disregard Victor's orders, I owe it to him to honour that and get him out of the situation that is entirely my fault.
The wheels on my SUV screech to a halt as I slam on the breaks in the back car park of the strip club. There are no members guarding the back entrance so I'm able to slip into the building with no hassle. I rush down the hall and through the entrance door to the club. I'll ask one of the dancers if they've seen Curby or Victor, if they haven't I'm getting the fuck out of here. If they have, well I guess I'll deal with that when I find out.
The music is quiet around the club as it isn't yet officially opening hours but a few of the girls are walking around getting the place ready. When I spot the brunette server Lily usually works with I grab her arm as she walks passed. Her eyes find my hand first and when she looks up to my face her eyes widen.
"Seven?" Kitty sounds shocked and maybe even a little worried.
"Shh." I warn her hoping no one else has noticed me here and pull her closer.
"I'm looking for Curby. Have you seen him? Or Victor?" I whisper and she nods.
"Yeah. They're here. But I don't think you should—" She cuts herself off and looks past me over my shoulder, her eyes widening once again as she steps away from me. Immediately I turn and look over my shoulder. Just in time to see the large fist flying into my face. I have no time to dodge it as it collides forcefully to my nose with a crack.
I'm on the floor instantly as Kitty lets out a yelp at my expense. My nose burns and my eyes water rapidly, I can tell it's broken already just from the sound and the blood pouring down my lips. I flip on the floor to look up at my attacker, spitting out the blood in my mouth and wiping at my nose.
"What the fuck!" I yell at the large guy standing over me. I recognise him as one of our enforcers but I don't know the blokes name. He's already standing over me and goes to punch me again but I kick up at his groin, causing him to buckle to his knees. With him down I take my opportunity to scramble back to my feet only to turn and meet the fist of a second enforcer. His large fist blows into my stomach, knocking the air out of me and leaving me winded.
An order for my head must already be out.
I try take a few breaths and force words out of my mouth but all that comes out is,
"St-uh." I'm too winded to speak and the next punch comes to my side. Right in the fucking kidney and I'm down on the floor again. I grunt through the pain and wait till I'm able to speak properly.
"Wait!" I yell when another assault is being lined up for my face. The guy doesn't hesitate as his fist connects to my jaw.
"Fuck!" I yell more in frustration than pain. It's not as painful as it probably should be, I've been beaten up too many times for this to be a bad beating.
"I'm here to see Victor. Where is Victor?" I demand in a splutter from either of the two large men.
"I'm right here, nephew." Victor's voice calls from across the club. I turn and watch him swan over the floor towards us, his rings glint under the lights as he fiddles with the button on his immaculate suit jacket as he walks.
"Come everyone." Victor raises his hand to beckon the staff to follow him.
"I have a very important lesson to teach you all." He smiles down at me as I am surrounded by strippers and members alike. A lesson? For fucks sake.
I take a few breaths to prepare myself for the beating I'm undoubtedly about to receive.
"You see, to work at such an establishment for such men as myself you must learn to follow the rules." Victor begins his speech.
"Rules we have in place to protect not only yourselves but the very livelihoods we provide. And to go against those rules, well, let's say it's dangerously unwise. Wouldn't you say so, Seven?" He asks me. I stay silent, I know his question is rhetorical and only asked in mockery.
"Who would break such rules? Who would jeopardise not only their own, but your incomes? Who would be ignorant enough to do such a thing?" Victor asks the small crowd of employees and they all stay quiet, clearly fearful of his theatrics.
"My foolish nephew here is." He gestures down to me still on the floor.
"Let me remind you all what happens when rules are broken." Victor says and seconds later I feel the forceful kick to the side of my head and then the pressure on my torso as someone climbs on top of me to begin dealing blow after blow to my face. I can hear the gasps, the whispered screams from the witnesses as my body is pummelled. The kick hurt and I feel a few punches but then eventually it stops. I'm vaguely aware of the whips of my head turning from each blow, of the sensation of blood filling my mouth but I can't taste it. I can't feel the blows. I've drifted off into the silence.
Everything is white, like a bright light being shone over my closed eyelids. I feel weightless, like I'm floating up in the sea of white light. And then there she is. Lilianna. She's nothing but a bright glow at first before my brain pieces together the scene playing before me. It's a memory. All I can see is her smiling down at me. Her blonde hair blowing in the wind of the convertible as she screams into a dark night. She looks beautiful and so happy.
"Wipe that fucking smile off your face." A voice echos far away in my mind. Am I smiling? I don't know. I don't know where I am, all I know is she's here with me. I've always been alone in the silence, this is something new. Her laugh is slightly slowed and delayed as it bounces around my head, my mind playing it's recordings of it to me over and over. My body feels warm, she makes me feel warm as she sits down in the passenger seat next to me. Her head tilts back onto the headrest to look at me.
"Harry." She whispers, the sound rings right in my ears.
"Harry." Lily's mouth moves but it is no longer her voice in my ear.
"Harry!" My eyes squint open and I am no longer laying on the floor of the strip club. My eyes feel incredibly tight and I know right away they're swollen and try to blink the built up wetness from them. It takes me a moment to take in the scene in front of me. It's dark but there are a few bright lights around and I realise I'm in the basement of the strip club.
Oh fuck.
I blink a few more times to try process the room and how I'm sitting up. The aches begin to burn over my body. My nose feels fucking awful and so does my cheek. My head is a bit fuzzy and has shooting pain through it but I don't think any of my limbs are broken. I try move but look down and see my restraints, I'm tied to a fucking chair with my wrists cuffed around the back.
Great.
Fucking great.
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