Chapter 9 LIES AND PRETENSE

(A/N: GAEL IS THE NAME OF THE PRISONER BEING HELD BY MIKHAIL)

CASSANO'S RESIDENCE

Torture Room**

Gael's screams and wails echoed through the four corners of the room.

He was mercilessly dealt with by Mikhail and his men.

There was no single ounce of life left in the prisoner's body.

He felt defeated, weak, and dead.

His face was barely recognizable. He was missing one eye, and his fingers on both hands were missing. He had different cuts from different blades all over his body and face.

But Gael refused to say a word about Octavius. He was willing and ready to die...

Mikhail's white shirt was stained with the blood of Gael.

He sat comfortably on the chair, facing Gael who could barely open his eyes or utter a word.

Marcello was holding a screwdriver as he awaited his boss's order.

"Start talking." Mikhail bellowed.

Gael tried to open his one eye but it was impossible for him.

"Speak," Mikhail grunted, impatiently.

"I...I..." Gael's croaked out, inaudibly. Being dead was far better than feeling this way.

Mikhail nodded his head at Marcello.

Marcello took the hint and wrapped his arm around Gael's neck, his hold wasn't firm. He raised the prisoner's head so Mikhail could see the face better.

"Speak."

"F...f...f*ck you." Gael managed to say.

Marcello gave the man a heavy punch in his back, earning a loud cry of pain from him.

Gael coughed out more blood, staining himself and the ground.

"You are going to die if you don't f*cking say what you know." Mikhail threatened.

"I...am I...i...no...not de...dead already?" The man stated quietly, hissing in pain because of his injured jaw.

"You are but think about your family." Mikhail snapped his fingers and one of his men stepped forward with a tablet in his hands. "Want to see a scene?"

The guard switched on the tablet and showed it over to Gael who forcefully opened his one eye.

He stared at the tablet for over five seconds. He almost lose interest, thinking Mikhail was only bluffing but he was knocked out of the air from his lungs when he saw his wife and son. They were tied to a chair and unconscious.

"N...no. Ke....keep my fa...family out o....of these." He begged.

Mikhail waved his hands and the guard with the tablet stepped back, switching off the screen.

"I won't hurt them, trust me. They did absolutely nothing wrong." Gael let out a deep breath of relief which unfortunately got stuck in his chest when Mikhail said his next words. "But I can't promise you anything if you refuse to tell me what I want to hear."

Gael trembled in fear.

"I...I...I don't know hi...his whereabouts. I...sw...swear." He said.

"Tut, tut, tut." Mikhail clicked his tongue, shaking his head in disapproval. "You must really not care about your family."

"I...I swear. Th...the one who knows...is...is Fernandez." Gael painfully stuttered.

"Check who that is," Mikhail told one of his men.

The man took out a laptop and started operating on it. A few seconds later information about Fernandez appeared on the computer screen.

"He's the right-hand man of Octavius. And he's currently in New York."

"I see."

"Wi...will y...you let my fa....family a...and I....g...go?"

"Your family saves but as for you," Mikhail stood up to his feet, dusting off imaginary dirt from his trouser. "I don't know."

"Wha...what?"

"Take care of the mess," Mikhail said to Marcello before grabbing his jacket and walking away.

The next thing that flew past Mikhail's ears were the screams of Gael but he cared less. He stormed out of the torture room and shut the door behind him, putting on his jacket so as not to draw attention to his blood-stained shirt.

*****

EVENING

BFF'S APARTMENT

Zara entered through the front door, humming to a tone, excitedly.

The lights were all turned off which made it a bit difficult for her to see clearly.

She stopped humming and quietly walked towards the switch to flick the light on.

She was miles away when she heard a muffled sound from the living room.

Zara's heart skipped a beat in fear as she squinted her eyes a little at the direction of the place where she heard the noise.

The darkness prevented her from seeing.

"Who's there?" She asked, holding out her bag for defense. Her handbag was obviously a wrong choice of weapon but it was the only thing closest to her.

She heard a shuffling sound and saw a dark figure adjusting on the couch.

"Arrrrrgh!" Zara screamed as she fell to the ground, shutting her eyes closed. "Get away from me!" She cried, kicking the air.

She heard the footsteps of someone approaching her.

"Please don't kill me! Get away from me. Please don't kill me. I promise not to shout. Please don_"

"Zara?" Diamond turned the lights on and the whole place shone brightly.

Zara movement came to a halt as she opened one of her eyes and then the other.

She took in her environment before shifting her gaze to Diamond who was looking down at her with a bewildered look on her face.

Zara sat upright on the floor and looked over at the couch where she had earlier seen a dark figure.

"Were..." Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. "Were you the one sitting over there earlier ago?"

Diamond silently nodded her head.

"You are sweating." She pointed out.

Zara nervously stood up, dusting off imaginary dirt from her skirt as she dropped her bag on the table.

She shut her eyes and took in a few deep breaths, calming her nerves down.

"One....two...three." She opened her eyes and gazed directly at Diamond. "ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME!? YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK. HOW CAN YOU SIT THERE LIKE THAT WITH THE LIGHTS OFF? WHAT THE F*CK IS YOUR PROBLEM? I ALMOST HURT YOU, YOU KNOW."

Diamond laughed. "You? almost hurt me?" She laughed harder, throwing her head back.

"Why...are you laughing?"

"We both know that's a huge lie."

"H...how do you mean?"

"You were literally crying not quite long ago, begging me to spare your life."

"I wasn't begging you. I thought you were someone else."

"That's no different from what I just said." Diamond shrugged as she went back to sit on the couch. "Do you need water? You were loud and I think that might affect your throat."

"B*tch," Zara muttered, going to pour herself a glass of water. She walked out of the kitchen and went to sit beside Diamond. "F*ck." She gulped the whole thing in the glass and dropped the empty glass on the table.

Diamond let out a deep breath, lowering her head to the ground. She looked like one who was deep in thought.

Zara studied her for a while,

"Let it out." Diamond stayed quiet. "DIAMOND!"

"F*ck." Diamond gasped, startled. "What the h*ll?"

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay? You were so lost in thought. What's wrong with you?" Zara asked worriedly.

Diamond sighed, running her fingers through her hair.

"Something happened earlier today."

Zara creased her brows, seeming interested. "What happened?"

Diamond hesitated. "Dad came by."

Zara's eyes widened. "You are kidding."

"No. I'm not."

"Really? It's been such a long time."

"I agree. But he didn't come alone."

Zara's smile dropped and it was replaced with a deep frown.

"Don't tell me your mother came by."

Diamond rolled her eyes. "Mom will never come by and you know it."

"Who then?"

"Felix."

"Felix? Who is that? A friend of your father?"

"Really now? I'm talking about Felix."

"Felix?" Zara thought for a few minutes, suddenly her eyes widened in shock as realization hit her. "FELIX!"

"Okay, you have been shouting a whole f*cking lot since you walked through that door," Diamond muttered.

"Shut up and tell me you are joking."

"I'm not. And besides, why will I even joke with a thing like this? It's been five years, Zara. Why will I just think about him all of a sudden, huh?"

"You are right. But," Zara paused. "Why did your father bring your ex-boyfriend over? It makes no sense at all."

"He doesn't know," Diamond whispered.

"He doesn't know...what?"

"He doesn't know about the breakup."

"WHAT!?"

"Can you f*cking talk without screaming your lungs out?"

"Sh*t. Sorry." Zara cleared her throat. "But how is this possible? It's been five long years, Diamond. Why didn't you tell your father?"

"I forgot." Diamond simply answered.

"You...wait, you forgot?" Zara repeated.

Diamond nodded, sighing.

"How can you forget to tell your father such important information? Are you okay?"

"Don't insult me."

"I am not insulting you. I'm just asking you the question out of concern and love."

"Indeed." Diamond sarcastically replied.

It was silent for a while,

"Why did he come here with your father?"

"Now that's where the problem lies." Diamond readjusted herself on the couch.

"What do you mean?"

"I am engaged."

"Eh?"

*****

Aurora's Bedroom**

Evelyn entered, carrying a tray with a glass of milk and cookies.

"How are you doing, dear?"

"I'm good. Is my daddy back?"

"He came back earlier but stepped out right back. He had something important to take care of. Do you need something?"

"Not really. I just need my daddy." She observed Evelyn closely. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"You have a band-aid on your cheek. What happened to you there?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? You just woke up this morning and saw a cut on your cheek, is that it?"

Evelyn laughed quietly. "Not exactly. I hit my face on the door, that's all."

"And only had a cut on your cheek. This looks less than that."

"You are too smart for your age, dear."

"Dad always says that. Although, I know I'm smart. I took it from my daddy."

"And mummy," Evelyn added.

"Mummy...Dad told me a lot about her. He said I looked so much like her. Is that true?"

"He is right. You are like a little version of Madam Diamond."

"Hmm. I wish she didn't have to die while giving birth to me." Aurora pouted. "She died because of me."

"Hey, don't say that. She didn't die because of you, okay? Don't ever say that again."

"But_"

"No buts." Evelyn cut her off. "Don't ever say that again, you hear? Your dad will feel really bad and hurt if he hears you say something like that about yourself. Do you want him sad?"

Aurora quickly shook her head.

"Good. Now drink that milk and eat the cookies, okay? I will come back to get the empty glass."

"Okay, Evelyn."

Evelyn smiled and then turned to leave when Aurora said,

"Take care of yourself and don't hurt your face again."

"Thank you, dear." Evelyn left the room.

Aurora smiled and grabbed the glass of milk from the tray. She took a gulp and continued playing her favorite game 'candy crush' on her pad.

*****

BFF'S APARTMENT

"What did you just say? You are engaged? What the f*ck does that even mean?"

"You don't understand what being engaged means or what?"

"Wait, who are you engaged to?"

Diamond ran the tip of her tongue over her lips.

"Felix."

"Oh, my God. This is too much for me to take in. First, your dad came over with that a**hole and now you are engaged to him. Are you trying to tell me that you didn't tell your father the truth?"

"I couldn't..."

"What do you mean?"

"Felix lied to my father and me on the other hand, I chose not to tell him five years ago that the bastard cheated on me."

"And?"

"My parents already told everyone in Mexico about my engagement. Especially my mother. And you know how serious she takes her reputation."

"Felix was the one who cheated and not the other way round."

"And you think my mother cares?" Diamond scoffed. "You talk as if you don't know that woman."

"If there's anyone to be ashamed then it should be Felix, not you."

"You don't get it." Diamond sighed. "It will be so embarrassing if it comes out to the open that Felix lied to my father about our engagement. They will laugh at my dad and even worse, insult him. How can a boy like Felix deceive a man like my father?"

"Anyone would have fallen for the idiot's lies."

"You think the world cares? My father might ignore them but my mother..." She shook her head. "She won't take it lightly. And the last thing I want is to get involved with her. Again."

"So, you are going to get married to Felix, is that it?"

"What? No way. I will just stay engaged to him, pretentiously until I figure out a reasonable way to disengage him without raising suspicion." She said.

"Hmm."

"But do you know what hurts most?"

"What?"

"The jerk lied to my father about being engaged to me because of the promised father made to him if he weds me."

"What the h*ll? That despicable jerk! Doesn't he have any single shame at all?"

"He doesn't trust me. I can't believe I was stuck with a fool like him. Indeed, that saying is very correct."

"What saying?"

"Love is blind."

They both laughed.

"You better don't fall for that bastard trap," Zara warned.

"I won't. Come to think of it, why the hell will I leave those numerous d*cks out there and settle for one like Felix? You should know me better."

"I trust you." Zara sighed coming up to her feet. "I should get changed."

"And cook," Diamond added.

Zara rolled her eyes and walked towards the stairs but stopped.

"Did he fix a wedding date also?"

"Fortunately, no. Though dad asked about it but I lied that Felix and I want to take things slow and haven't fixed a wedding date yet."

Zara nodded. "Alright." She climbed onto one stair when Diamond said from where she remained seated.

"I will be going out to search for a job tomorrow morning."

"mmm-hmm. You've said that countless times and look, here you still are."

"Are you mocking me?" Diamond feigned hurt.

Zara laughed loudly as she ascended the stairs to her bedroom.

*****

MIDNIGHT

CASSANO'S RESIDENCE

Mikhail returned home by midnight.

He walked past Evelyn who stayed awake, waiting for his arrival.

"Boss," She called out.

Mikhail groaned in answer, turning to face her.

"I will be putting out a notice for a new nanny tomorrow morning." She announced.

"You should have done that before now."

"I'm sorry sir." She bowed.

Mikhail just waved her off and went upstairs to his bedroom.

He quietly opened the door, knowing fully well that his precious daughter was in there.

He approached the bed and indeed, she was sleeping peacefully on his king-size bed.

His lips stretched into a smile as he leaned down towards her and dropped a soft kiss on her forehead.

He took off his shirt and went to have a quick shower. Twenty minutes later he returned to bed dressed in black joggers and a black singlet.

He climbed on the bed and gently wrapped his arms around Aurora's tiny body. He pulled her close to himself and smiled at how she quickly adjusted.

"I love you, princess." He whispered, placing another kiss on the top of her head.