Author's Ροv
Ewan's movements were so controlled considering how he loves to take out his anger on his victims. But he knew this one was special.
And he wanted to take his time, relishing in the screams.
As Julian did the last buckle —successfully strapping Marcus to the wooden plank— Ewan brought forth a metal cage.
Marcus was laying helplessly in a starfish position with a single eye —as he had already lost his right one from Ewan’s ministrations— bulging out seeing the horrors being done to him.
Ewan had already left him in a pitiable state but with Rhyett's and Lucius' visit, he was unrecognizable and severely wounded.
Currently he had a forearm ripped with the other arm having no fingers. His dick was painfully pulled out by pliers and toe nails were ripped off as well.
Thousands of small cuts —none deep— littered his body and the place where his left ear had been prior was now empty.
Altas went forward and turned on the drill in his hand. He slowly brought it close to the rapist's thigh and let it only take a few centimeters of skin at a time.
Ewan placed the cage in his hand on the subject's abdomen and Cyrus pushed a few rats in with it.
As Adam started to heat up the cage, the rats needed a way to escape and the only way out was to tear at the skin of the man chained up.
The twins laughed devilishly as the rats started eating the flesh of his stomach and Marcus' cries echoed through the room.
"I should take out his other eye." Julian asked his eldest brother for permission.
"Since it's his last day, you're free to do as you please." Rhyett leaned against the wall totally unbothered.
He's had his turn and now he was more than happy to see his brothers take out their rage and kill the coward responsible for their sister's misery.
Julian grabbed a knife and pressed it against the edge of Marcus' eye and with the slowest pace possible, he drove it deeper and then lifted it upwards.
"Fuck! I wanted to do that!" Adam half whined looking at the blood soaked eye that now rested out of its socket.
"You can drill holes in his foot." Altas suggested offering the device to his twin who happily took it.
As the rats chewed a huge part of his stomach, Marcus was in excruciating pain and by now even his begging has stopped as it proved to have no effect on the brothers.
"Just kill me." Came his weak voice.
It was so quiet and painful that it could make anyone pity him but not the ruthless Mafia men. They had seen better beggers.
"We will. Be patient, doll." Cyrus brought the blowtorch from his arms to forehead and Marcus almost lost conscience.
"Easy, brother." Rhyett suggested. "Let the rats do their job, they're loving eating his filthy skin." He wanted to delay Marcus' inevitable death for as long as possible.
Before he could take his last breath, he had lost his eyes, hair, parts of his arms and legs, his dick, majority of his stomach was eaten out and he had been skinned at several different places.
The brothers waited for the bastard to die the slowest death possible. They were enjoying the sight of him suffering and crying.
As the rats finally found their way out, the men went to their office which had an attached bath and took a shower, changing into fresh clothes.
"The bitch barely survived five hours." Altas scoffed as they all met again in the parking lot.
The guards were surprised to see all of them there as they never took out time for unimportant people like Marcus but nobody dared to ask what's so special about him.
"I'm guessing you guys had fun?" Rhyett asked stopping by his car.
"Hell ya!" Adam replied leaning against the opposite car’s door.
"Good. You all had time to cool down and digest... the news. Now I want you to be on your best behavior."
Everyone nodded and Rhyett spoke again. "We need to take care of our sister and I won't tolerate anyone doing anything that would hurt her."
He turned to the twins who now had a look of regret and guilt which they could not mask from their brothers as they knew them pretty well.
"I'm really disappointed in both of you. I thought we taught you better." He shook his head. "If you can't do any good for her, atleast don't bother her anymore."
"We're really sor-" Rhyett's cuts his youngest brother off.
"Apologize to her. Not me." He said sharply. "And since I'm not your guardian, I hope dad have something planned to teach you a lesson."
Rhyett got into his car without waiting for their reply followed by Ewan and Julian who were equally pissed at both of them.
"Be good to her, she might forgive you. And well the rest of us.... we'll too if she does." Cyrus patted their backs as he knew how terrible they felt at the moment.
This is exactly why Lucius wanted to wait till Cyrus was back before telling them the whole story. He was great at consoling.
If Lucius was their father, Cyrus has been a sort of mother to the boys, especially twins since they were the youngest.
Like Ewan they were the closest to Cyrus and always seeked him when they messed up. He always negotiated with their father on the punishments.
On the other hand, Cyrus and Julian —ever since their mother left— were close with their father while Rhyett didn't have any favorites.
"I know I shouldn't have done that even if she did it by her choice.... Fuck, I messed up." Altas rubbed a hand on his face.
"I don't understand why you two were overreacting so much.”
Cyrus always gave his brothers a chance to explain themselves. It was more so they can reflect on their actions and conclude where the problem stemmed from.
"You know how guys are in highschool..." Adam said not meeting anyone's gaze. "They just want one thing and I.... I hated the idea that she gave in to some horny fucker..."
"But it's not your place to tell her what she should do. She has a father and after him, she also have brothers who are more mature and capable of advising a teenager than you two."
"I don't think I was necessarily mad at her, I was just... I was mad that I wasn't there to tell her better than to... I do care for her even if it doesn't seem like it." Altas couldn't pin point the reason behind his outburst. "But I didn't intend on slut shaming her... It just happened, I was too caught up in the moment..."
"I can understand you two already had a hard time adjusting with her and dealing with dad's lies at the same time but she didn't have anything to do with it. Why should she suffer through your frustration?"
When the twins stayed silent, Cyrus spoke again. "You had no right to get mad at her. Don't forget that she didn't have any brothers in her life till two weeks ago. And you don't know anything about the life she lived before that.”
The twins nodded to let their brother know that he's making sense. "The best you can do now is try and get to know her, make her like you and don't get angry at her at any cost. You've already made a bad impression by making fun of her at any given chance."
"Not me! Altas." Adam raised his hands up in surrender.
"You weren't a lesser dick today." Altas spat back.
Cyrus sighed. "I'm too tired for this. I barely slept last night and then with everything this morning.... Let's just talk on our way back home."
The three climbed in with Adam taking the wheel, Cyrus in the passenger seat and Altas in the back of the car.
"What's your problem with her diet?" Cyrus shuts off the music so they can continue the conversation.
"Nothing." Altas said immediately. "I don't care if she eats the whole pantry, it was just a joke. I love pissing her off, it wasn't something personal. Every sibling does that."
"But those siblings have an understanding, Altas. As I said, she doesn't know you so she doesn't know if you're joking or actually making fun of her." Cyrus explained like he was talking to a child.
"And she's pregnant so you poking at her eating habits must've pissed her off high time." Adam added and Altas glared at him.
"What happened, happened." Cyrus ended what was about to be another argument between the twins. "Now both of you will not repeat it and show her that you care for her. Apologize and be good brothers for her. Am I clear?"
The twins both mumbled a 'yes' and Altas spoke again. "Should I get a gift for her?"
"Do you even know what she likes?"
"Um.... Food?" They all burst into laughter.
"That's the safest option. Call dad and see if she ate anything or we can stop at some drive through."
After a quick call with Lucius they picked up Udon on their father's advice.
Lucius had gone to ask his daughter if she'd prefer something else but she was fast asleep from all the exhaustion of the morning.
After getting to her room, she had taken a bath and cried the whole time as it was overwhelming for her now that everyone knew her secret.
When she exited the bathroom, she found Lucius waiting for her with egg sandwiches that she had taken a liking of recently.
She didn't want to eat. She felt nauseatic along with a terrible headache but after Lucius' continuous persuasion, she ate some before going to sleep.
———
Adeline's Ροv
It has become my routine to sleep between meals because Anna is kind enough to wake me up each time.
I’m always restless so it’s good to catch some sleep whenever I can. And I could tell Rhyett was proud of me for it because he never wanted me to wander around without a reason.
If he could, he would've chained me to my bed and blame it on Valerie's strict orders.
He was overdoing it but I was trying to remain calm and understand his side. I didn't want to get into another one of my mood swing episodes and take it out on him because he didn't deserve it.
Not to mention I am still sacred of him. Even if he was good to me, the articles I had read about him were more than unsettling for me to get completely comfortable with him or the rest of our family.
Unlike when I first came here, I was now having a hard time remembering how ruthless and sinful these men are. Everyday they felt more like family and almost normal to some extent.
But days like today were a good reminder of who they really are. I shouldn't expect too much kindness from them and probably should keep a polite distance to avoid arguments.
Even if the rest of them were calm and collected, the twins were definitely on my hate list. And I had no plans of getting them off it anytime soon.
I had expected Anna as usual when I felt a little shake on my shoulder but today however, I was woken up by the Leader of US Mafia himself. Lucius Storm. My father.
To what do I owe the pleasure?
"It's time for lunch." He told me as I blinked at him.
"I'll just freshen up." He offered a hand and helped me get up from the bed.
After my quick trip to the bathroom, we headed out of my room. "No one's mad anymore, right?"
He stopped and took my hand in his own caressing it softly. "You have nothing to worry about. They're your family and they now know better to act like it."
For some reason his reassurance made me a little less nervous and I hesitantly moved towards the room that I didn't want to enter.
Though there wasn't any chance that all of my brothers would be present for lunch but I was still feeling awkward facing any of them —except Rhyett or Ewan as they already knew about my pregnancy.
To my utter shock, everyone was here. Just when I was thankful for their work and studies to keep them occupied, they all decided to take a day off and have some family time.
I wanna go back to my room.
Lucius must've sensed my discomfort because he gave my hand a small squeeze. I didn't even notice that I was still holding his hand.
"Good afternoon." Adam greeted me as I entered.
Now that they know I'm pregnant, I think they're gonna give me special treatment which includes greetings.
I politely reply back to him and don't waste anytime before peeling my gaze from him and settling down next to Rhyett.
“Afternoon.” Unlike his twin, Altas decided to give me a fake smile too.
If they both think that greetings would suddenly change how absolutely disrespectful they were to me this morning, then they are wrong.
"Hi." I awkwardly say back.
I can't be openly rude to them —even if I want to. I don't want them to drop the last bit of politeness they suddenly have in them.
"How're you feeling?" Rhyett searches my face and I know he's probably worried for my red-slightly-swollen eyes.
"Better." He doesn't push for a detailed answer and simply sets a bowl in front of me.
The moment my eyes meet the delicious thing set in front of me, I had to stifle a smile. God knows how badly I was craving something like this the whole week.
I hadn't even realized that the taste on the back of my head was this. I spent hours trying to place the dish but I couldn't.
"I'm guessing this expression mean you like it?" Adam asked with a strange hopeful voice.
I grimaced. I think he's joining his twin in making fun of my eating habits. I won't expect any better of him —especially after how he reacted just a few hours ago.
He must've seen my anger because he quickly added scratching his neck nervously. "I was just asking cause I got it for you. I thought you'd like it..."
"Don't try to steal all the credit. We," Altas gestured between himself and Adam "bought it together."
I was already surprised that one of them did something for me and then it turned out it was both. Either I misheard or they're trying to really impress me.
"Thanks but I don't like Udon." I said out of spite.
I can't just give in the first time they do something for me. I had to act somewhat closed off, I couldn't give them another opportunity to make fun of me.
I knew they were only being nice to me because I was pregnant or because our father must've told them to.
And it didn't sit well with me that they only wanted to be my brothers now that they knew how vulnerable I was.
Teen pregnancy.
It wasn't as uncommon but definitely the worst start to life —as everyone put it. I didn't have anything against my baby and wanted it more than anything but I knew the time wasn't right for either of us.
Now that I had conceived it, nothing else mattered. But I wasn't blind to people's judgement or how obnoxious this whole thing felt from the outside.
The twins may be sorry for me. But I don't want their pity. And I definitely don't want their fake care.
"We can order something else?" Cyrus offered and I realized they were waiting for me.
"No!" I pulled the bowl towards me and spoke in a low voice, keeping it neutral. "It's not that bad." I took the first bite and resisted beaming at how delicious it was.
When I heard Altas chuckle, I turned to him and glared. He must've seen how eagerly I wanted to dig in my food.
"Mary craved Udon the whole time she was pregnant with Adam and Altas." Lucius brought my attention to him. I guess he didn't want me to eat his son next.
I felt how his eyes and voice had a softer touch whenever he spoke about mom. Like he was replaying her memories or he simply loved talking about her.
"So much so that she ate it for all three meals some days." Lucius said pouring me a cup of matcha tea. "When she got pregnant with you, I offered to get that again but she threw up just by thinking about it. She mostly ate beef then but you don't like it now."
"Maybe Adeline isn't having a girl then." Julian said. "Isn't it a thing that you can guess the gender by what the mother craves?"
"It's a myth but I read about it last night." Rhyett joined the conversation. "Craving sweet could mean a girl and sour means it's a boy."
"Our sister eat everything so it's either?" Altas frowned.
Everyone seems to be very invested in my pregnancy and this lunch doesn't seem as awkward as I had imagined.
Maybe now that everyone knew, we could be a normal family —for the most part— with no more secrets.
"What do you want, Adeline?" Cyrus asked as he took a bite from his bowl.
"I don't know. I haven't really given it a thought. I just want a baby who doesn't cry because then I'll cry and if-" My rambling was cut short by Ewan.
"Obviously the baby's gonna cry. That's what they do. And they vomit, they sneeze in your face, they shit their pants and worse they can even piss on you when you're changing them."
My brother must've not realized how good he was at selling the idea of motherhood because I was now more enthusiastic to have a baby.
"Thanks for the warning but I don't think I have a choice now." I went back to eating as that seemed the most sane thing to do right now.
I could obviously not throw cutlery at my older brother just because I got mad when he rubbed the truth in my face.
Couldn't he just let me be delusional and think of babies as cute and peaceful creatures?
"Well that's not the case all the time. Some babies are more manageable than others. Rhyett was very calm and always slept on time. He barely cried and even did as told most of time." Lucius’ words made me a little more hopeful.
"We were ecstatic and quite smug that our first was easy and so will be the following but well Cyrus... We decided not to have anymore kids after him." Lucius chuckled.
The comment didn't sit well with Cyrus who narrowed his eyes at our father. "I'm sure I wasn't as much trouble?"
"You were. You had to always put your hand in our food. You tried to eat everything from chairs to even your shit smudged diapers." Eww. "You cried for the smallest things and wanted all our attention. Not to mention your jealousy when Ewan was born. You took years to get potty trained and you didn't want to leave your pacifier at any cost. That's when Ewan's pacifiers started to disappear day by day and we realized it was none other than our own flesh and blood. You even cooked up a story to explain how they got in your room by accident."
"So stealing is an old habit?" Julian said sarcastically. "I thought he got into it to bankrupt the filthy politicians. But to be fair, snatching money from someone's bank can't be equivalent to a more direct approach."
Either they don't keep up their walls around me anymore or it is a casual topic for them to mention how my brother steals from people.
No one bothered to look at me as I gawk at the comment. Maybe it's not the worst thing he's done...
"I'm still thinking back to what dad just said." Altas was deep in thought. "If he didn't want any more kids then are we all miracles?"
"Accident would be a better term." Julian corrected.
Lucius scoffed and leaned back in his chair. "You were all planned except for Rhyett. We didn't want a kid so soon but we were more than thrilled to welcome him."
"Could've lived without knowing that." Rhyett muttered sipping his drink.
"It's ok. You were a happy accident." I nudged my brother smiling at him.
I regretted the gesture immediately but to my surprise he didn't keep his cold mask on and instead gave me an amused look followed by a nod.
Just when everything seemed to be going good and the atmosphere was light and easy to breath in, I brought up the subject that no one appreciated here.
"I invited George and Josh over... They'll be here this sunday." I said hesitantly.
As the words hung in the air, everyone stiffened and I cursed myself for speaking them. I could've told them later. I shouldn't have ruined our family time.
"Sure." Was all Lucius said and I decided to keep my mouth shut for rest of the time.