Chapter 19 Chapter 19
The King turned around to look at Marcus who was standing still and his expression was very serious.
"What is it?" Arthur asked exhausted and that was the very first time he felt like that in his entire life.
"We have found one of them still alive sir. He's talking." Marcus explains and the air immediately shifted and the place frozen inside of the hall.
Arthur's entire posture shifted and even his face as well. Jaw clenched.
"Where?."He asked. His voice was changing completely.
"In the West wing." Marcus said.
"Security got him trying to escape the ground, but we got him. He was not shot, no injury." Arthur's eyes went a bit too dark.
But Lydia was looking between both Arthur and Marcus. She was a little scared to say anything. But she tried.
"Now, what does that even mean?" She asked, was curious and even afraid. The King did not answer her, rather he turned towards one of the maids nearby.
"Take Mrs. Romero upstairs. She needs rest. Make sure she eats something before she sleeps." Arthur instructed her almost immediately and the maid nodded her head.
Getting closer to Lydia. But that is not what Lydia wanted. Her face now scrunched and she had multiple lines on her forehead. She was already irritated and now moved her hand forward to stop the maid from reaching her.
"I am not tired, Arthur. I want you to answer me. What's going on? And just what are you both going to do with him?" She asked, not concerned but curious and mostly scared.
These were Mafia men after all.
And both the maid and Marcus did not move. Their eyes moving between husband and wife. And they were not going to come in between this.
However, The Kings voice and face went soft slightly.
"You haven't slept Lydia. Haven't eaten correctly and you were also almost shot yesterday. You have been through a lot. You should go rest." He said, again the softness in his voice stayed.
This was all very new to Arthur and the people around him. But Lydia only huffed.
"I can handle it." She huffed.
"I am sure you can handle it. But not right now." He said worried. And Lydia let out a very heavy breath. Looking away from her husband.
The truth was that, she was actually very tired that he won't let her know more.
Lydia did not say anything, but turned around the leave, when suddenly she stopped on her track and looked back at him looking right into his eyes and he Arthur.
It was as if something pulled him.
"Are you going to kill him?. L... like you did with all of the?." Lydia finally asked. Honestly wanting a different answer or something else but not blood related answers.
The man looked at her for a little longer.
"If someone shot at your family Lydia, would you let them live?. Would you keep them with you?." He asked. His voice was sinister and more than that, there still seemed to be blood in his eyes.
Lydia gulped.
"I am not a mafia lord." She said and she smirked.
"Of course you are not. But there are people in this world you have to protect. What would you do if a time comes, when a trigger is pulled on your people?. Would you let them go?" He asked and she started sweating in her palm.
"Just because you don't want blood on your hands, would you let your family suffer ?. Will that be okay with you and your noble consciousness?"
He asked and for once that question was somehow, in some world, valid.
"Why would you ask me something like that?. I don't belong to a family like yours. I don't belong with the family with guns and violence." She said. Arthur got closer to her.
That is when he stared at her a little longer, into her soul. The same tension that they had last night came back to them. Stronger again.
"There is no world, where anyone is safe Lydia." He said, looking down
at her lips and then her eyes. He was standing way too close.
"There is no world where you can just live peacefully. Happy life." He whispered making her breath check.
"Sometimes you have to make a choice you would have never made before. Never have planned never but you have to make that change.
If somebody came to your family with the gun, would you let them pull the trigger?" She gulped at the statement.
"Why would you ask me......."
"Answer me.." He said. And she looked into his eyes a little longer searching for an answer for this question. And in his own eyes.
She squinted her eyes.
"What family member were you going to lose last night, that you are ready to pull the trigger?." She asked him a valid question as well.
His eyes stared deep in her soul. Never wanting to look away.
"Whatever is between us, it's a contract. You hate me, remember?. You hate my father. Why did all this......"
"You are my wife." Arthur said, interrupting Lydia. And somehow this changes something inside of her, even though she did not want to feel it.
"In which world is that.?" Lydia asked. Almost laughing.
"Remember how we got married?...." She gave a bitter laugh. Soft.
"I am not your wife, Arthur." She whispered, in pain. And Arthur could not take his eyes off her. He only give her a small smile, because he does not agree with it on the inside.
"Nothing will change the way I think about this." He said surprising her. It was something that was unspoken between them. Something that was protected and something that was final.
"Go rest for the moment." He said. And It looks like she might argue again, but instead Lydia huffed and turned around, walking away without another word.
Arthur watched her until she disappeared around the corner, upstairs. As always Marcus noticed everything right in front of him. The way the Kings eyes stuck to her longer, but he did not comment. Not yet.
Instead he said quietly.
"The prisoner is waiting." The King nodded and turned to his right hand man.
"Let's go....." He said, his voice and tone thick now.
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The interrogation room was on the far side of the mansion. Concrete walls and one metal chair stuck to the floor. A single over head light and a man, very large, was tied to the chair and he look terrified.
Blood already stained on his shirt and Marcus rolled his sleeves. Slowly he walked to him.
"Well... You ready to speak?" He asked, casually. The man said nothing and Marcus smirked.
"This should be fun.." He said and the prisoners eyes went wide and then it went to the king.
"You are making a mistake." He screamed.
"I don't know anything." Marcus punched him very hard this time. A crack echoed into the room and blood spraying across the walls.
The King watched everything as he stood there and he did not interfere, Arthur never did.
"Number one rule." Marcus said. "Never start with a lie." The man gasped in pain as he was looking at Arthur, and then back at the man hitting him.
"I swear..." He said and another punch came and this time it was harder. The King was still only standing in the corner of the room, silent and only watching.
Marcus grabbed his collar, pulling him hard.
"WHO SENT YOU?" Marcus screamed on his face.
"I.. I don't know." Marcus slams his head against the metal chair once again.
"You shot at my boss.." He said slowly moving closer, blood in his eyes.
"You are going to need a better answer then that..." The man was shaking at the moment..
"W... we... we were hired."
He said, the king finally spoke and his voice was quiet.
"By who?" Arthur asked. The man waited for a second, breathing heavy and Marcus fist slammed into his ribs one more time.
Screams followed and echoes through out the room.
"Another gang...." The man cried.
"They paid us.." He said and the king stepped forward.
"Which gang?" He whispered, looking him dead into his eyes. He was not challenge, was threatening and Arthur did not even land a punch at the moment.
"I don't know his name..." He said in pure panic and Marcus hit him one more time. This time harder. The prisoner cried out in pain, frustration and fear.
"They got to us through a burner phone..." The king was calm, and he was listening to everything.
"What was the plan?" He asked, because this was burning in his head. The man looked extremely terrified and hesitated. Marcus grabbed his hair, pulling his head back.
"What was the plan?" The man broke almost immediately.
"They wanted the girl.." The room immediately felt silent. The king did not look away from him, but Marcus backed off looking at the king.
The prisoner was was sobbing at the moment.
"They said to take the girl and take her alive." Marcus expression went a little too dark.
"And then what?" He asked, and the man's voice dropped to a whisper.
"We were supposed to transport her out of the country."
"Why?" Marcus ask, leaning closer to the prisoners and Arthur followed almost immediately.
"They were going to auction her of somewhere else." He said understanding that they were going to kill him for this. The temperature of the room dropped ten degrees. And The King went completely silent... still...
Marcus slowly looked at the king. He had seen Arthur Romero angry before, he had seen him mad and violent before... but this this was different.
The King's face had gone completely black and his eyes burning.
"Sir..." Marcus said darkly.
"I can kill him now.." The prisoners screaming, shaking in his chair, violently.
"P...please... I told you everything. This was all someone else planning, and we will just working for him." The King finally spoke. Three quiet words.
"Send him back." this surprised everyone in the room.
The prisoners crying turned into a hopeful laughter. Clearly it was seen on his face as well.
"Yes... yes... thank you." Marcus was frowning slightly.
"You letting him go?" He asked and The King turned around, slowly looking at Marcus, and just looking for a second, a little longer.
And that is when Arthur's right hand man understood. And a small smile spread on his face.
"Understood.." Marcus said, nodding his head.
"Don't worry. We will send you back.." Marcus said turning around to look at his other men. Who were already working on it.
"You can go back home." Marcus added, glaring at the man who was just smiling. But Marcus only smirked.
"In pieces.." He said, completely draining the man mentally and his face went white, almost immediately. But the king, on the other hand, he turned and walked towards the door.
"The door closed behind him and the man screaming came again. And not from pain, but screamed for the though of everything that came to his mind.
The king never looked back, but just walked away, ready to go back to his wife.