Chapter 68 CHAPTER 68
LISA'S POV
I watched as the warehouse went up in flames, tears lingering in my eyes. A part of me prayed and wished that he wasn't gone, but the part of me that witnessed everything shook with fear against the possible truth -- how did one survive such a fatal explosion?
We drove for miles, a blindfold had been placed on my eyes, and my hand was tied behind my back so I wouldn't escape. We finally arrived, and as one of Alexander's henchmen stepped down, the blindfold was pulled off my eyes.
We were at one of Alexander's safe houses. A tall stone house, made specifically of granite. It looked marvelous as much as it looked secure.
I was taken down to an underground cell, thrown in, and locked up. I was still shaking from the whole ordeal. I had lost all resolve to fight. If I managed to escape, would I be able to return to a normal life?
I examined my environment for an escape route. The only window in the room was a small vent a couple of feet above me.
I looked around for anything that would serve as a foothold in the walls, so that I could hoist myself up to the window and get out.
But just as I was examining the walls, I heard the main door open, and then Alexander came into view.
Dressed in a black get-up, he looked a lot like Damien, only older, with a more wicked glow to his face.
"Enjoying our little establishment, I see." He mumbled out, in a tone full of amusement.
"You killed him, you killed your own son! You really are a monster." I said through gritted teeth as tears fell from my eyes. Alexander threw back his head in laughter.
"Killed him? Do you really think it is that easy to kill Paulo? How much you underestimate him."
Hope lit up in my chest like a beam. Was Damien alive? It must have shown in my eyes because a glint sparkled in Alexander's gaze, and he nodded, as if to answer my unspoken question.
"Yes, he is alive, unfortunately, and he will come for you, but I will be ready."
A scoff of disbelief escaped me. He was so determined to destroy Damien. He went through all this stress to fool, betray, and trap him over and over, just to set another trap for him. I had to warn Damien.
"Why are you so bent on destroying him? What did he ever really do to you? I mean, you got away. You survived, and you started over. You could have stayed hidden, kept building the Syndicate, but instead, you went after him and everything he struggled to build."
"You mean everything he stole?" Alexander retorted.
Confusion distorted my expression. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, Lisa, when will you realise that Damien is not the saint he has painted himself to make you believe he is. He roped you in, lied to you, dragged you into his fight despite knowing how dangerous it was, and yet, all you want to do is defend him."
I froze. I didn't want to believe it, despite the fact that a gnawing feeling in my stomach clawed at my conscience. What if Damien had really been lying to me all this time?
"Why should I believe you? You tried to kill me, and you tried to kill Him. Why should I believe anything that you say?" I asked defiantly.
"Everything he has, he stole!" Alexander's roar shook the cell.
I shuddered and moved back out of fear.
"Damien is no Saint. He has no problem backstabbing and betraying everyone around him just so he could become lord over an empire that he was born to see. An empire he was privileged to be a part of."
"Do you know how old he was when he shed his first blood? Four."
Fear engulfed me. He was just four years old? I stared frozen, unable to move or speak.
"Did he by any chance ever tell you what really happened to me? Why was he supposedly dead?"
Dread crawled up my spine. Many times, I had been led to believe Damien Paulo was anything but human, yet each time, he showed up, flanking his guns like a hero, and I fell back into his arms helplessly.
"Silence. I see. He didn't tell you much, did he?" Alexander smirked. I shook it off, the cold, refusing to give him the satisfaction he craved, despite the fact that my heart was beating loudly enough to damage my eardrums.
"You left him. Abandoned him after his mother died. You disappeared, and he never saw you. Given the lifestyle of the mafia, he assumed you had gotten killed somehow." I swallowed, my throat was parched, and each word being said scratched against it, in difficulty.
"Well, he lied."
My heart slammed against my ribs along with Alexander's words. I shook my head aggressively. No, he was a manipulator. It was obvious he was trying to manipulate me, but who was to say that Damien had not been doing the same thing all along?
Tears meandered at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill. I was exhausted, frustrated, upset, and most importantly, I wanted to yell the word "Fuck!" so badly, but I couldn’t.
"Damien was the reason his mother was killed. He was the reason I was on the run and nearly killed. He assumed I was dead? More like he hoped I was dead. I raised that boy with my own hands, and what did he become? -- A power-thirsty mongrel."
No, no, no, no, I shook with disbelief. I had trusted him. Damien was the reason I was in this mess in the first place. I had to be able to trust him...could I?
"He lied to you, Lisa. He used you, and he tried to tie up loose ends when he discovered I was alive. That was why he had you report all my activities to him instead. He put you at the center merely as a decoy."
"The same way you put Victor as a decoy." I scoffed sarcastically. Alexander nodded
"Has he ever trusted you to make a decision? Has he not always called your acts of rescue careless and risky? Yet, he brought you in here knowing what the stakes would be."
I was hyperventilating now. It was hard to keep my emotions together, not when I was at risk of losing my life.
"You have no idea how many women and children he has had to kill to remain at the position he is, and why everyone is so against him. A man isn't born with enemies, Lisa. The only enemies a man has are the ones he makes for himself."
My heart stopped.