19. focus on the major arteries
“it’s sweet you think I can’t hold my own.” I rolled my eye
“val, you should waste your precious time on a spineless bitch. It should be someone with a greater evil. And if it were up to me you’d never kill anyone cause no one would. Dare. Hurt. You. Enough.” He looked mad at the idea of someone hurting me, which made me go aww, treacherous heart. But he looked hot when he got murderous.
“I don’t wanna kill either. They say it torments a person for a long time and honestly, I like torture you get people to the brink of death like you hold the ropes. Not that killing isn’t..”
“it’s not pretty, it really isn’t, you’ll see that soon when you see me work on Anderson’s bitch of a guardian. To see a life drain by your hand, you need to be.,,”
“ironclad” I finished and for the first time we understood each other. Chase couldn’t torture someone as he cannot bare another’s pain and begging and mercy for long whereas I was trained to do so, to know when to stop and when to start again, to play mind games.
I could never see someone give up and die knowing I have played a permeant part in their life and Chase thrived on the fact that he held so many lives and sent people back to where they came from. Justification of our action was simple, we do very bad things to very bad people, not innocent, never innocent.
“Natasha.. was she..” I knew what he was asking, and because this was him I was ready to talk.
“she was my best friend. Wanted to join my gang too. That’s why she has a house here.” He raised an eyebrow, “Mila knows about her she did her research. We were best friends since the day I joined boarding school in the Snakes territory. I was sent after 10 years of home-schooling and training to bring a deal to snakes for an export product by my father. It was a small task, no one knew who I was so they underestimated me. After a year I got to the top and presented the deal. They were shocked to learn that I was my father’s daughter and not a son. The deal was almost done but they asked for a year more to get the product and everything. In that year I fell in love.” I saw Chase’s concentrating face. He leaned in to show me he was listening. I felt heard. I smiled at him and continued, “he was very good to me. Inclusive at school everyone liked him. He played football to get over his trauma, and he was 10th in line as he’s Handbrook’s cousin’s son so I didn’t take him as a threat. But I was cautious as I was in enemy turf, this wasn’t a sister gang it was another one altogether.
Year’s end the deal was pulled, they wanted to export the drug overseas instead which is fair game. And they also told me if they change their mind they will come to me in the future which is why I thought Natasha is here.”
“is Natasha was the girl who fucked your ex when you met me?”
“yes.”
“I remember her from the party, should’ve let you beat them if I knew you like this back then.”
“honestly, the night of the party I would’ve tortured them and that would create a political tiff”
“so I saved your gang.” Chase said lightening the mood.
“no, but you definitely saved me from explaining my personal relationships to my father.”
“oh so he doesn’t know.”
“he knows the official work reason of the deal falling through but he still think I’m a virgin.” I laughed,
“wait, you mean you’ve had.” Chase said his voice getting deeper
“yeah, what you thought I’m going to preserve it like some jewel?”
“but with who?”
“that’s for you to never fine out.” I said teasingly, it was fun watching the smile on his face disappear to an agonizing fury.
“wait, so why is Natasha here.” He asked. He’d not read the file but I had.
“I don’t think I can tell you.” I said and he got into business mode.
“Valerie why not.”
“because it can cause a drift between our frien..”
“if you call this a friendship, I swear to god if you friendzone me after that conversation I would have proven to you how unfriendly I can get, over and over and over again, right here on this floor over your ex’s information.”
I smirked and rolled my eyes, capillaries betraying me still.
“okay, this would give you a leg up into the cartel game,”
“Valarie just tell me.” He said
“well,” I handed him the paper and spoke, “she is here to make a deal just like I did, but the catch is. She’s here to make it with you. I mean Stacks and not ACAB.”