When the two children finally curled asleep on the carpet, Mr. Yang’s bodyguards called for him. The light had dimmed inside the house. One guard hovered behind him while the other guided him. Aiden turned from the open space of the modern mansion down a narrower hall. He passed through a pair of heavy metal doors and into an even tighter space where they could only walk one person at a time. With every step he took, the walls boxed in more.
Aiden tried to look behind him, but the guard blocked his view from the exit. Their footsteps echoed in the emptiness.
The guard in front stopped and gestured. He turned toward the door waiting for him. Beyond it, he heard whimpers.
His heart dropped into his stomach when the guard opened the door.
Inside, a bruised man sat in a chair, muttering to himself. Nothing bounded him, but his eyes remained wide with fear. He looked up in Aiden’s direction, and a croak left his lips.
Mr. Yang sat atop a table on the other side of the room. At the sight of Aiden, he hopped down from it and gestured. The guard behind Aiden shoved him in. His breath hitched at hearing the door close behind him.
“This man has betrayed me.” Mr. Yang grabbed the gun on the table and loaded it. “I’ve gotten everything I need from him, but it’s time for cleanup. He’s already a dead man—brain-wise. I’ve injected him with a concoction that makes it impossible for him to ever think coherently again. But, seeing how you’ve been so kind to play with my children while I focused on this, I figured you’d want to give him something better?” He sauntered over and offered the gun to Aiden. “Perhaps a mercy kill?”
Terror poured ice through his veins. Limbs creaking like a corpse, he took the gun in his hands and felt the handle against his skin. Warmth resurged through his body. He sighed, staring at the gun. When did he lose the ability to express fear with a deadly weapon in his hands? He couldn’t remember, but he was sure the nightshedied killed something inside him.
Don’t think of her.
His heartbeat jumped at the very thought.
Don’t remember anything about her.
The deadly peace returned to his limbs. Aiden looked over at the man babbling in the chair with blood still dripping down from his face. His limbs swung by his side like a clock’s pendulum. His head creaked back and forth.
Pity struck Aiden. He gripped the gun tighter.He really is gone inside.He walked closer to the man and pointed the gun at the man’s head.
He wouldn’t miss. Strangely, in all the areas his brother was better than him, Aiden learned through their lessons that he was a better shot than his brother.Quick, painless, over in a second.He continued pointing the gun.
Eyes.
Aiden lowered his arm slightly. He glanced briefly at Mr. Yang behind him. The mafia family head crossed his arms, leaned against the wall, and smiled with twisted satisfaction.But his eyes tell a different story.Mr. Yang watched his breaths, his expressions, his movements. Aiden heard his questions echoing in the room over the nonsense words spilling out of the man’s mouth.
Is Aiden capable of murdering someone? This should be his first time, so how would he react to the first kill? Will he panic and break down? Will he throw up? Or will he act like he’s done it before despite all evidence pointing this to be his first?
If he can do this, is that a sign he killed his own brother?
Aiden gritted his teeth to prevent himself from spitting at Mr. Yang.How dare he test me on this.He lowered the gun. Turning to Mr. Yang, Aiden marched over to him and held out the weapon. “This is your family’s problem. It would be improper of me to get involved.”
“You are part of Infinite.”
“I believe this little internship with the Zhou, Yang, and Chen is to help acclimate me into my position. I am not part of it yet, and even if I am,” he said, shoving the gun into Mr. Yang’s hands, “this is still a Yang family problem. Not the Hui’s.”
He stepped back and kept his eyes down in deference, but his insides writhed in fury.I hate him.
Mr. Yang unceremoniously pointed the gun at the man from a distance and pulled the trigger.
The sound cracked and bounced off the walls. Aiden turned around in time to watch blood spurt from the man’s head. The body slammed onto the floor. He should be disturbed by death stretched across the floor with a flopping head, but at the moment, Mr. Yang’s gaze haunted him.
The man still tested him.
• • •
Aiden’s steps faltered climbing up the porch in the darkness of the night to his house. Ears ringing, skin clammy, and breaths short. He numbly wandered his way over to the porch chair and dropped into it. He propped his head up on his hands, and he closed his eyes, concentrating on the chilly air nipping at his skin.
Mr. Zhou and Mr. Yang expected something from him, and he didn’t know what or why. Neither family gained anything if they pinned his brother’s murder on him.Why do they keep looking at me like I’m more involved than I am?
His hands trembled as he recalled his last kidnapping.Zhou’s worried about the Guo. That man was worried about the Guo. I don’t even know who the Guo family is.He missed the opportunity to test the waters with Mr. Yang, but the memory of a bloody corpse still flashed before his eyes. He had managed to leave without his stomach lurching, but he didn't want to talk to Mr. Yang again and give the dangerous man any more opportunities to taunt him.
He dropped his hands from his lap and glanced over at the door to the unfamiliar house that confronted him. He was on edge around people whose hands were drenched with blood, and he did it all for a family that didn’t care about him.I guess I shouldn’t fault them for that.He got to his feet and entered the house.Even Ge constantly lectured about self-survival.
