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She didn't react to what I said and stared dead into my eyes without blinking. "Okay then," I continued after the silent treatment from the woman. "I just have one question and after you answer that, I'll put you down easily and painlessly." She stared further into my soul with her dark, brooding eyes. Assassins like her were trained to be like that, unwilling and uncooperative when they get caught. I personally made many puppets like her talk. She's bound to break soon enough just like the rest.
"Is Astor Aguillard the man who sent you after Arie Noelle?" I asked. The momentary twitch in her eyes assured me that I was right, but I had to confirm it by her words. She stubbornly kept her mouth shut, resisting to talk. Stupid woman. "Grab her pinky and hold it in place firmly," I turned to Vince and watched a malicious smirk spread across his face. With the pliers in my hand, I adjusted it to her fingernail and yank on it, ripping it off completely.
She screamed and cried as the blood dripped on floor. "Motherfucker!" She roared, her voice echoing through the large room.
"I keep my promises," I smiled at her.
"I'm still not talking," she hissed at me.
"In that case," I removed the ropes tied around her wrists and legs to yank her up before throwing her towards Vince who grabbed her wobbling body. "Let's go show her my little pets."
Walking to the far corner of the place, I unlocked the door and entered the huge caged jungle. The musky smell of dried blood and guts filled my nostrils, burning my nose hair like a forest fire. Vince stumbled in with the half passed out woman on his arm. "Hades and Satan," I yelled for my pets. They creeped out of the bushes slowly like the predators that they were, coming under the faint light that shined from the room behind us.
"Meet my pets," I smiled at the woman as I jerked her body to me, revealing my beloved babies to her.
She shifted uncomfortably under me as her eyes widened in surprise and fear. "Those shouldn't be pets," she spat, "you sadistic bastard."
"You'll be their next meal if you don't answer me this time." Taking her hand forcefully, I shoved it through the caged fence. "Did Astor give you the orders?" She whimpered and kept her mouth shut. "Answer me," I roared "Or your hand will be their appetizer." She still didn't say anything. This woman was one stubborn little bitch.
"Hades!" I yelled at one of my tigers. "Come here boy." Roaring, he dashed towards the woman's hand.
"Yes! It was Mr. Aguillard," the woman screamed out of fear as Hades got closer, intimidating her. "It was him," she cried out, pulling her hand away from the fence with all the power she had left in her.
"Wasn't that easy?" I cocked my brow at her. "That's all you had to do. You could have kept your fingernail and died gracefully. But I'll still keep my promise and give you a quick death."
She sighed as tears poured down her face. "I failed him. I'm ready for my end." She said with a straight face, looking into my eyes.
"I agree. An untrained girl beat you down and you also disclosed your client's name, breaking the biggest and the number one rule in your profession. What a shame!" I exclaimed and turned to Vince. "Make it quick and painless like I promised her. I keep my promises," I winked at the woman and turned around, leaving Vince to finish off the job.
Useless assassins always broke down one way or another to escape unbearable pain. Enduring torture was hard, but good ones knew how to get through it without jeopardizing their clients and their own families. She definitely wasn't one of them. She put up a good front until she broke down towards the end like all the others.
"What's this about?" Astor asked as he took a sip of his morning coffee.
"I need you to do me a favor." I leaned back in my comfy chair.
"What kind of favor?" He cocked his brow at me, resting his cup on my glass desk for a second to give me his complete attention.
"It's not regarding business, it's about a girl." I propped my elbows on the same table and interlocked my fingers in front of my face, giving him a stern look.
"Don't you have plenty of girls in your other business. Pick anyone you want. I know you have multiple varieties," he scoffed, taking another sip of his coffee.
"I'm not talking about escorts," I sighed, "I'm talking about a particular girl who has a target on her back because of you."
"Many girls do," he laughed menacingly, making a nerve twitch in my body. He was beginning to test my patience and it was taking everything in me to not lash out at this man who hurt Arie and broke her sanity, but I had to hold back for Belle. I needed the entire story. "Which one in particular are you talking about?"
"Arie Noelle, the one you're constantly trying to kill." His face dropped the cockiness at the mere mention her name and adapted a stolid expression. "That's right," I gritted my teeth together, "I know exactly what you did."
"How?" He scowled at me as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"That's for me to know and you to figure out." I stood up and walked around the desk towards the sweaty man. "I just need you to call off your useless henchmen and leave her alone." I loomed over him, staring into his green eyes.
"And why should I?" He mounted up from his seat, inclining with my height and challenging me like the idiotic imbecile he was.
"Because I said so and I'm asking you as a friend, even though I should kill you after what you did."
"But she's going to the police about it," he tried to justify his pathetic behavior.
"What did you expect?" I snorted at his foolishness. "You should have thought about it before you raped her." My teeth clenched together in anger. Was he actually this stupid to not have thought about the possibility of her going to the police? He has always been a good businessman and a smart one too, but making a mistake like that was pretty ignorant and reckless on his part.
"I didn't know she'd go babbling shit to the cops." He nudged my arm and walked past me, looking out the glass wall and over the magnificent city. "They shouldn't have found any DNA on her even if she went to a doctor. I used a fucking condom. If I just killed her that night then I wouldn't be having these problems now."
"You're not killing her or ever going near her," I roared, my hands shaking as a wave of rage took over me. Looking away, I tried to compose my temper because if I lost it, it wouldn't end well for anyone and I needed things to go as planned.
"What does this have to do with you?" He turned around, staring me down. "Why do you care about that girl?"
"I made a promise to protect her. I don't want to keep killing your assassins again and again, and then finally kill you," I seethed.
"And you keep your promises." He mumbled and sneered looking down, shaking his head. "They were my good ones."
"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not."