Chapter 115: A FINGER FOR A QUESTION.

Asher

Just before he could say more, Jordan walked in, a group of men behind him.

"Sorry for the disturbance but they were framed." Jordan said, he slipped something into his hands and he scoffed, signalling for his men to let us go.

I sighed.

Jordan obviously had deep connections in this place.

"How did you know to come here?" I asked, and he turned, looking towards Nathaniel.

"I told him to be on standby." He revealed, and I nodded, looking between the both of them, it suddenly made sense why he wasn't nervous.

Back at his residence, Dima rushed forward the moment he saw us.

"Where did you go? There was hardly anyone here when I returned." He said, and a small smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

"A place where our goods might be." I told him, and Dima looked beyond me, at Jordan and Nathaniel before he returned his gaze to me.

"Did you get the goods?"

"No but we were met with a pleasant surprise. We have to wait till tomorrow." I explained.

"What surprise?" He asked, scanning out faces for any answer but the crease between his brows only deepened.

"Don't worry about it." I said tapping him by the shoulder. I took a seat, and he sat opposite me. "What did you find?"

"I managed to find some of these men but they all refused to talk, they kept to the same story we were told before. They didn't speak even when I offered them some benefits." He said and I nodded, leaning back on my chair.

That place was now our only clue, and whoever that man is supposed to be.

The next morning, Nathaniel knocked on my door with a lot of his men behind him. I rubbed my eyes, thinking this was some sort of illusion but they were truly there.

"Why are you taking them with you?"

"Just in case."

"Why don't you ask them to enter secretly?" I asked and he shook his head in disagreement.

"It's best if they enter with us. That way, they would know better not to touch us." He said and although it didn't make much sense to me, I still followed along with him.

The layout of the place had changed a bit, different from when we had come last night. The space below no longer contained chairs for guests, only the private rooms were available and a space outside for people wanting to watch.

I took in a deep breath before I took my seat, Nathaniel was still next to me in this private room but he seemed to have his eye out for something else.

"Only three goods are being sold today. Please bid blindly." My eyes widened as I turned to Nathaniel.

"Just check out the goods. Whichever one you feel could be yours, te—" Nathaniel's words blurred in my head as I saw the exact same good that had gone missing. They didn't even try to cover it up.

I pointed towards it... "This one. It's exactly the same." I said and he nodded.

This was either the good we lost or it was just a trick, and it would be quite a well planned one.

We won the bid, and were invited to the back room to collect the goods. Surprisingly, the man from last night was actually not present or at least he didn't let his cover slip.

An attendant led us deep into the place, and soon enough, we came to a stop before their boss.

"Tell me, why are you interested in this? You didn't even place a bid on any of the others?" He asked, and a smile spread across my face.

"I just felt it would be the one for me." I said quickly and he leaned forward.

He folded his hands together and rested them on his legs, his gaze hard on me. "Really? Then, I would love to see how good your luck is." He said and signalled to his men.

The goods were soon brought before him, and he raised his hands. Nathaniel inched forward but I held him down.

I stepped forward, a smile still plastered on my face. "I'm afraid that doesn't align with your rules." I said and he nodded, relaxing in his seat.

I tapped Nathaniel's hands lightly before letting him go.

"Great. You know how to use my rules against me." He mocked, and I lowered my head slightly, waving my hand in the air.

"How could I? This isn't my territory after all." I said and he nodded quickly.

"At least you still know your place but I insist on knowing what's inside. What are you going to do about it?" He asked, an arrogant smirk playing on his face.

"Why are you bent on opening it? Is there perhaps some treasure there that you are unwilling to let go?"

His eyes widened, and he parted his lips to speak but a smile spread on his face instead

"You are even more surprised than I thought you would be. Open it." He said, signalling to his men. My eyes widened, I tried to step up but the door was pushed open at that moment.

Nathaniel's men came in and pushed the attendants to the floor. The color drained from his face and he peeked out but soon fell when he discovered all of his men were gone.

"What did you do? How did you do this?" He asked, his voice shaky.

A smile rises on Nathaniel's face and he steps forward, pushing him to the floor. "It's now our turn to ask questions."

"First, what do you think is inside that package?" Nathaniel asked but he looked the other way, obviously unwilling to answer. A smirk grows on Nathaniel's face.

"I like the stubborn ones." He signalled to one of his men and he placed a knife on his hands.

Nathaniel stepped back, studying the man's face before he spoke.

"Let me take one of your fingers first.”