Chapter 4

A few minutes later after the scuffle, Avalyn found herself sitting on a black loveseat across from a man in his tight-fitting suit. The clock ticked above the marble fireplace that crackled as the wood in it burned, an unnerving silence surrounded the woman and man. For some reason, neither spoke up, none willing to break the icy silence. Ava knew she was screwed and to talk without being permitted by the City's most ruthless thug is a suicidal mission, but she's no longer suicidal, not after that one night in Oklahoma. Therefore, the woman in her mid-twenties looked everywhere except at the man directly across from her.

Occasionally their eyes met. While she wanted to not be there, to not see him, his fingers were interlocked under his chin. His right leg crossed over the other and his steel gaze was solely on her. It would've been a lot better if he had admonished her for stealing but he just sat there, frozen like the statue of a Greek God, staring at her. At this point, she was not even sure he was breathing due to how unmoving he was.

Eventually, however, her mouth would betray her.

“So what's your favourite colour?” she said the first thing the voice in her head said.

His immediate reply surprised her.

“Anything dark. The dominating ones are red and black. Red represents blood, black is darkness and evil.” his Italian accent was lucid, and his baritone dripped gold and honey.

“...oh. Well, I like orange, you know, like my hair.” she awkwardly continued by twirling the curly strands. “So, uh, what's your name? I'm Reyanna. It means Queen.”

“Bloody.” his response was sharp.

Stagnant silence ensued. Now it was his turn to break the ice.

“You do know I'm going to kill you for taking my money, right?” how he said that with a straight face was incredibly amusing. “The punishment for stealing from me is being bathed in boiling gravy. While it sizzles and burns your skin I will call in the Pitbulls and Rottweilers to eat you alive. When you finally die your body will be put in a barrel of acid to dispose of your remains, and if anything is left it will be thrown in the Pacific Ocean. You are aware of this, right?”

“Well fuck me,” she looked him up and down. “Yes, I am very much aware that you are out of your goddamn mind. Ain't no damn way you're serious.”

“Sweetheart, I am dead serious.” he rose from his seat. Power emanated from him in deadly waves.

“Now hold on, wait a minute,” she also got up, “I was just joking. Of course, I know the consequences of my actions, I accept—”

“Sit the fuck down. You do not move unless I permit you to.” his thunderous voice echoed across the room. She obeyed without hesitation. “Good. While you do that, shut your mouth too.”

She scratched the armrest. Avalyn isn't the type to accept disrespect. But this is no ordinary situation, and Godfather Bloody is no ordinary man so her best shot at survival is obeying. Ava opted to watch him instead, the man began to undo the buttons on his jacket, and when all were loosened he shrugged it off. Her stomach drooled at the sight of muscles squeezing against the fabric of his white shirt, he had a body harness on his torso that intentionally made his man boobs bigger. She watched mesmerised as he unbuttoned the ends of the long sleeves and rolled them up his arm.

The thing that had her insides turning was the smell he deluded. The smell of saffron and something slightly metallic, but also has lavender. She was so engrossed in checking him out she didn't realize he had vanished. When she did she panicked.

“What the hell?” she looked around and once her head snapped to the left there he was hovering over her. “Holy motherfucking shit! You scared me!” she panted but leaned into the seat, “Wh-what are you doing there? You're not imagining ways to kill me, right?”

“You irritate my soul so much,” he said coldly.

“Go deep throat a cactus numskull I don't give a shit!” she lost all sense of fear of this man. “I irritate you? Well, you make me want to pull my intestines out, bleach them and dry them. You disgust me. Fucking tramp. How about you go eat shit and die?” after the last sentence the realization dawned on her, fear struck her soul but it was too late to stop now.

Another pause came. They stared at each other. One was expressionless the other held strong defiance. In the blink of an eye Ava had a hand in her ginger curls gripping it painfully and dragging her out of sight, the man hauled her across the furnished living room into the kitchen where he threw her harshly against a sink. Her body hit the metal and she let out a groan of pure pain, she slid to the marble floor and held her ribcage.

“Renzo was correct. You do have a sharp tongue and a fiery personality. But let's get this straight little bunny,” he kneeled and took her face in his big palm. “I am an Anybody-Killer. As a woman who has been in the streets for quite some time, I am sure you know what that term means.”

If someone is described as an Anybody-Killer in short it means they will kill anyone. When that term is brought up the first person that comes to mind is Godfather Bloody, why? Because he invented it.

“Was that supposed to send fear racing through me? Well, it didn't you fucking Italian pussy. Try again motherf—” he brought her up by the hair and shoved her onto the island. She winced, she raised her head only to meet her reflection staring back at her. A mirror was on the opposite wall.

That's when she felt it, a hand shamelessly going under her dress to caress her soft thighs. Disgust and cold sweat washed her instantaneously, but her core gave a throb of approval. 𝑰 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔. Ava wasn't going to stand for this, she attempted to retaliate but swiftly a cold hand grabbed her nape to bring her up, fingers wrapped around her throat intending to suffocate. Still, she wasn't going to submit. A knife at her throat did make her stop squirming though.

Again, came the silence. They both stared through the mirror. Bloody took a handful of her hair again then her head down on the island, she did everything in her will to move but Bloody wasn't having it. He bent her left arm behind her back until she screamed in pain, his eyes held no remorse for the pain he inflicted, rather he enjoyed seeing her like this.

“As much as the demons that possess me urge me to kill you and offer your soul as a treat I'd rather fuck your little cunt dry right here, right now,” he whispered against her ear when he leaned down. “Lucky for you, little bunny, it is against my morals to force myself on a woman.” he released her and walked to the right of the island.

Bloody leaned over and looked back at her—who was already up and sending knives in the forms of glares his way. The man playfully smiled.

“You're seriously fucked up.”

“Aren't we all, my dearest?”

“Fuck you!”

“One more word from you and I shall do just that.” he threatened.

Avalyn, now fear-stricken, didn't lament any further. Though she was still very much angered at the man's inappropriate touches, and his words. He doesn't know how to treat a woman. Regardless, silence fell upon the pair as the tension in the room zapping between them got stronger. Ava had her eyes on the man, watching him leisurely move around the island until he came right back to stand by her side.

She shouldn't have, but she did, “What are you doing?” hopefully he doesn't do what he said he would. “Please, just tell me where my best friend is. That's all I want to know.”

“Probably dead. Renzo is in charge of the Torture Division, there is no way to tell what exactly he is doing but I doubt it is anything likeable,” he replied solemnly, “What am I going to do with you, hmm?”

“You could let me go—”

“Shut up.”

Her eyes took to the floor as the man pondered next to her, and her mind drifted off worrying about dear Starlette Constance. A hand gently turning her face around brought her out of her head, and now she was met with pairs of bright eyes. She stared back into his eyes, transfixed in the seas of blue.

Then the words rolled off his tongue oh-so smoothly. “You are oddly beautiful. As pretty as a bunny, I love bunnies,” then he swooped in to take a long whiff of her scent. “Baby powder.”

“Dude, what the actual fuck is wrong with you?" Her mouth couldn't help but say. “Stop calling me that, I look nothing like a stupid rabbit.”

“I've had a change of heart,” his eyes darkened, grip on her face growing tighter by the second. Bloody's head cocked to the side, eyes never straying from hers for even a second. “I propose a deal.”

Through gritted teeth, she muttered, “I propose you fuck off!”

“Be mine, Ava, for three months. I'd love to have you in my bed curled in my sheets.”

“What? No! No way!” he applied more pressure but she was still acting up. “I'm not a slut, just because I strip for money doesn't mean I'm a whore. Go find someone else to warm your bed!”

The playful smile that had been on his lips up till this point morphed into a grin. “Oh, but Bunny, I'm not asking you to be mine. I'm telling you that you now belong to me,” he took a white cloth from nowhere and covered her mouth. His men busted into the room when he began stifling her.

After five minutes she went limp in his arms and the men carried her out.

“She should be happy I did not go through with killing her as I planned. If women aren't the most unreasonable beings created by God I don't know what are,” Bloody huffed, throwing the kitchen across the room that was stuck in the wall and left.

By the time Ava awoke she was long gone from the mansion, and her new home is where all hell began.