Chapter 31: Breaking Richard

"I will take down every of his warehouses if that's what it takes to get Rachael"

Alessandro laughed. "You speak from anger, not of wisdom".

"What do you suppose I do, sit back and watch?"

"Of course not" Alessandro tapped the tip of his cigarette to take the ashes off. "Did you do what I told you to do?"

"That man is a demon. He doesn't have anybody close to him. I tried Alessandro I did"

"Fair enough. But burning his warehouse isn't going to bring her back. You might even get her killed. Do you know how much mafia lords cherish their warehouses?"

Xavier sighs in frustration.

"Give him what he wants. He wants to see you break"

"You want me to beg him?" Xavier flared up. "How dare you tell me to do such"

"The reason you called me was to ask for my opinion. If you didn't trust me, you wouldn't be seating there listening to the nonsense coming out of my mouth"

He was right, but wrong about one thing; Xavier begs no one. He was not going to give Richard that satisfaction.

"You don't necessarily have to beg. Make a negotiation with him. One of your warehouses for the lady. One of your houses. You can even partner with him just to make him feel on top of the world. Richard is desperate for power. He will give you the woman

"Then?"

"You strike. Trust me, if you have him in the right place at the right time, you can gorge his eyeballs out. Do with him whatever you like"

"Sound interesting"Xavier repeatedly nodded. All he needed to do was make a negotiation with Richard and get this over with. That can't be so hard.

********

"What do you plan on doing with her?" Emily asked, seated on Richard's thigh as she fondled his hair.

"I don't know. How do you know I have her?"

"Nothing gets past me" she paused as she went closer to him and kissed him on the lips."She's pretty. Do you like her"

"What if I do?" He asked with an apparent smile on his face.

Emily scoffed and stood up from his thighs. "What do you take me for?"

"I don't understand"

"You just said it to my face like I mean nothing"

"You thought you mean something?" Richard began. "You think you are that important to me. a priceless gold? Think again Emily"

All she could do is stare at him, astonished. "You bastard!"

"Watch that tone," Richard warned through gritted teeth.

"Why don't you watch it for me? You do this all the time. You act like I mean nothing, but come crawling back when you are horny"

"You did not lie" he nods his head.

Emily angrily stormed to where he was and smacked him across the face in anger. He raised his head to look at her with angry red eyes. She gulped, instantly regretting what she did.

Richard didn't let it slip. He stood to his feet and slapped her across the face. He didn't stop there. He grabbed her hair, forcefully yanking it. The force he used to hold her black hair was so much that her scalp hurt.

"Listen to me bitch" he yelled at her in rage. "You are a fling, you will always be a fling. Nothing is going to change that. And don't you dare think of leaving me because I will find and kill you with my bare hands" With that said, he pushed her, causing her to fall to the floor. She wept.

Richard sat back in his seat. He didn't care if she cried a river. Nobody can talk to him in such a way and go scot-free.

"You are just scared" Richard groaned in annoyance when he heard her speak again. He thought he had shut that lips. "You are scared of being left alone".

"You don't know me. Now cut it out and get out of my sight"

"You are vulnerable" she got up from the floor and adjusted her hair and her clothes, but that didn't change much. "Have a nice day monster" she said and walked away.

Richard puffed out the excess smoke from his mouth. He resisted the urge to grab her by the hair and pull her back. He wanted to make her suffer for belittling him. Emily was not so easy to tame. He can't always do with her as he wished, but there was someone who he could torment all he wanted. Rachael.

********

The door opened, but Rachael didn't turn to see who it was. In most cases, she would jerk in fear and panic, but this time she didn't. Rachael had accepted her fate. She had already seen the worse side of him. All she could pray was for him not to get any worse.

"What are you doing?"Richard asked Rachael who gazed blankly at the window.

"Thinking of a way to escape"

Richard chuckled. "Even if I was to give you the keys to this door, you won't go far before I catch you"

"My mother once told me. Never underestimate a rash. As small as it is, it can spread and ruin your whole face"

"In that context, I shouldn't underestimate you?"

"Hand me the keys and we will see how desperate I am to get out of this place"

Richard was confused. He didn't under why she is so relaxed. She acted like she was not held hostage, like she was seated right in her house"

"Don't panic yet. I'm not planning on escaping"

"Of course, you aren't" he settled beside her.

She turned to look at him "Why are so mean?"

Richard was taken aback by the question. It was the audacity she had that stunned him. He wondered where she got all the courage from.

"Does it have anything to do with your childhood? I'm a therapist, you can tell me" she said plainly despite how hilarious that statement was. She was playing at something and she hoped it would work. If she can get Richard on his good side, and make him comfortable with her, then she has a high chance of leaving here alive.

"Don't ask me that" he snapped at her.

"You said I shouldn't make you angry. So now I'm trying to be a better person for you and you don't want me to?"

Richard sighed he didn't know where this was going. He hated when someone tried to bring out the soft side of him. It was a part of him that he buried deep down for years. Something he hated talking about. He even wondered why he had not stood up and left. It was like she pinned him down with a spell.

"What do you want to know?" He asked, taking Rachael by surprise. She didn't think it would work. She has always seen him as a beast. This was the first time she saw him this calm.

"Tell me about your childhood. Where were you abused?"

"I was"

"Then tell me about it"