“The moment he saw us, he smiled, but that smile was more intended for me. He told the lady that he wants us and not to put us in the system. To help her get rid of some paperwork. That is why you haven’t found me when you went to visit. And I’m saying this because I know you did it. Anyway, we both saw a real dad in him until I turned 18.”
“What happened then?” I curiously ask, pressing him to tell me after seeing he didn’t wanna continue.
“When Paul turned 18, two years earlier than me, he let him live his life however he wanted. Paul decided to travel the world and paint while studying art at a famous university. As you probably remember, our house was full of his paintings," he says, smiling while remembering, making my own lips curl a little.
“He had the money to make it all possible. Cathal didn’t want him to leave without some. After two years, when it was my turn to decide, he kept me prisoner. I studied on my own during the years we’ve been under his protection, and I created many useful devices. They were perfect for his business. He decided to keep me and promised me that if I leave, he’ll find me wherever I go, and I will regret it,” he gulps, and I copy his reaction.
“He became obsessed with me, with how much money and power I could bring him. I decided not to upset him, because I saw what he meant by that. You can’t even imagine what he would do to those who disobey his orders. So, I stayed andbecame… his negotiator. From that moment, he became harsher and… heartless.”
He inhales deeply after talking, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, and I am trying to brace myself for what is about to come next. I just see from his glare that it is bad, but I keep my mouth shut and let him continue.
“I was and still am extremely good at psychological manipulation, at making people give me what I want through any means possible. Sometimes… I didn’t even manage to make them tell me what Cathal wanted to know, because I was losing myself in the adrenaline of the moment, and I was forcing their brain too much. I was frying it because my weapons’ power was as high as hell. I was living on another level through their death that was leaking through my fingers. Maybe I was sick because I wanted to continue feeling the strength my devices gave me, but it was too fucking exciting," he says, making me gulp loudly.
“Of course, Cathal wasn’t happy when I did that, but I always squeezed enough information from them to only get a warning. Every time. All without using physical force, even though I was more than ready for that too,” he smiles, like being proud of his performance.
I get goosebumps just by thinking about that. I can’t even open my mouth to say something. I just let him tell the rest of his horror story.
“Every single day, I had strength and fighting training, but that didn’t stop me from creating powerful devices. And I’m also talking about the vibrators, which are not what you think they are,” he smiles for a second, making me frown.
“Lately, I can say that I depended more on them than on the classic methods of manipulation, controlling the human brain in unimaginable ways. I am one of the few people on this planet who can create such things. Shortly, I was a human weapon, and Cathal needed me more than I needed him. But, for him, I wasalso something else: the kid with green eyes he can never give up on. I reminded him of his long-lost child, so he didn’t wanna let me go. As you saw, I tried to leave, and he kept his promise: he found me. I wanted to escape the hell I was captive in, and I came to face Satan.”
“Why did you wanna leave?” I ask in a small voice.
“Because he wanted me to negotiate for a powerful drug, worse than what I was using for the devices. I know it was meant to be something else in the beginning, but it became something…wicked. Something that offered manipulative power that could get out of control too easily, and it landed in the wrong hands. And I don’t know how to tell you, but… he wanted me to negotiate with Marshall. This was the last straw, because I knew he was your fiancé,” he puffs like he is jealous.
My eyes go wide. My lungs don’t wanna get filled with air, and I feel like the room starts spinning. Either Lucas is wrong, or Marshall was never honest about his job.
“From your gaze, I guess you didn’t know he was the most notorious drug creator in the most dangerous world. The biggest criminals have heard of him and wanted his products because he is perfecting them in a very unique way. He didn’t want his last creation to escape from his hands, but it did. Now, all the criminal organisations are desperate to own it, especially because nobody knew exactly what kind of power it gave. Only that it could control people’s minds in a dirty and deadly way. The only thing that can make a difference is the quantity of each substance.”
Ok, this is way worse than I could’ve ever imagined. The pieces of the puzzle are slowly combining in my brain, and I feel like I’m gonna be sick.
This is Marshall’s room, and what I found under the bed… is his.
Oh, God, I need some air. I can’t do this anymore.
I get out in the hallway, not minding Lucas shouting my name. I close the door behind me and run down the stairs.
I need something to help me process what I just learned, and if I can’t go out because of the storm, I can at least run up and down the stairs. Maybe I can clear my head and get rid of the panic that started to rule over me this way.
Fat chance.
Somebody wants to be very funny in these moments.
You’re not fucking helping me at all.
How could he lie to me this much? Why haven’t I done my research on him? I am usually paying attention to this stuff, and I searched all of my boyfriends so far after the moment with Blake and…him. Marshall was the only exception. Oh my God, especially him. I was about to marry him next year, for fuck’s sake. I was too stupid and too in love to think about everything else he was saying because of his eyes from the abyss that just got in my head.
I met him two years after my 18th birthday. My grandma died half a year after the incident with Blake. I didn’t have any money, even with all that I put aside when she was still alive, so I needed to get myself a job. The only thing that I could do, considering my situation and the fact that I barely finished high school and didn’t even go to university, was to be a waitress. It was a much better option than continuing to steal from shops.
In the past, that was a valid option because Blake helped me get rid of the cops, but after… even though my techniques were getting better, I didn’t manage to steal expensive objects to afford paying rent. Just enough to buy clothes and food.
After a year and a half of waitressing, I had Marshall as a client.
I saw him as soon as he entered the restaurant. I felt his aura wanting me to watch him. When I saw where he sat down, I told Carina, who was responsible for the table he was at, that I wouldhandle his order. She immediately accepted, spanking me as a joke while my eyes were devouring him.
He felt my gaze, found my eyes, and didn’t get off them until I ended up taking his order to the kitchen. They were of a black so intense as I’ve never seen before. I was losing myself in them. I was falling down an endless fountain, and I couldn’t get back to the surface.
I know that I noted all that he ordered mechanically, because I didn’t remember a thing. I was only listening to his calm, suave voice, which surrounded my being just from the soft sounds that reached my ears.
