Chapter 107 The Arsenal
\[Lilia\]
We reached the house, and Val preceded me into walking down the patio as he pulled out something in his pocket, which turned out to be a bunch of jingling keys. He opened the door, and I followed closely behind him. However, what greeted me caused my jaw to unhinge.
As simple as it looked on the outside, this wasn’t just a house. Instead of picture frames, there were rows of firearms hung up on the wall. There was a long table placed in the center, and instead of vases and flowers, bullets were laid neatly according to their sizes and their serial numbers. Shelves covered in glass and filled with other high-caliber firearms, the kind that I typically see in movies, together with other types of weaponry, such as different kinds of knives, bows and arrows, all kinds.
“It’s fascinating,” I gasped out in enthrallment, watching all the ammunition displayed all around the walls, feeling giddy to actually hold and try each of them, with proper handling, of course.
“Kael owns all of these?” I bemused, still my eyes wandering around, but what he replied next surprised me even more.
“Just for shooting drills.”
All my attention snapped to him, my eyes wide in disbelief, as I gawked at him. “For practice only?”
“Yes,” he nodded casually as though my astonishment didn’t faze him one bit and went to the wall, unhooking a long firearm, then checking its magazine to see if it was loaded before clicking it back in.
My thoughts were racing as I tried to take in the sheer quantity of firearms that were openly displayed throughout this house. I mean, every nook and cranny was crammed with lethal weapons and armed to the teeth. All of these were used only for practice purposes.
That raises a question in my head about what kind of business Kael was really into. Why is it necessary for him to train reapers like Sasha and have his entire mansion stocked with weapons?
“What are these all about, Val?” I asked aloud, still overwhelmed with everything that I saw as I went off with my inquisition. “Kael’s business. I know it wasn’t something legal, but I want to know what kind of world I am into.”
Danger.
That was the very first thing I discovered when I stepped foot inside this enormous fortress, and after everything that I went through, including the ambush, the kidnapping, and the like, it made me question what kind of environment I was living in.
One leg is already buried under the graveyard.
Val’s gaze fixed on my face as he went still for a bit and lowered the gun he was holding.
“I should not be the one saying this sweet cake, but I think you need to know. Kael is a mob kingpin in Russia,” he explained, and if my eyes could get any bigger than they already are, they would have popped out of their socket as my mouth hung wide.
“The entire country?” I exclaimed in sheer disbelief.
And it was the biggest country in the whole world. That could mean the authorities had no power over him. On the contrary, he was able to access them. That is why he could easily get away from any trouble, just like what happened in Italy. The kidnapping and shooting incident never got to any news articles when it occurred in the heart of the city and even the underground dome. It is impossible to operate without the government knowing all of it.
“That explains everything,” I muttered more to myself than in response to Val's explanation as my mind rewound everything, getting every part and piece, and putting it all together. It all made sense.
“The dome is like the black market here? The auction house where I have been sold, he owns all of that.”
“Right.”
However, despite Kael having all that power, it could only mean one thing.
Enemies.
The disadvantage is being on top of everything. Everyone wants him down, making him a target.
That ambush at the hospital, why wasn’t he the target? Why did that man come to me? I am just merely a pet to them. Why go all the trouble of firing down a hospital just to sneak into my room and say those things?
“There’s one thing I want to know,” I started, contemplating whether it is right to ask Val instead of Kael with the question that has been bothering me for a while now, but the thing is, I don’t want to talk with that jerk and Val is the only person that knows almost anything.
“Who is the De Luca?” I finally asked, holding my breath as my heart hammered inside my chest, swallowing the lump of dread in my throat.
“You heard me yesterday?”
I went rigid, remembering what I did. Oh shit! I almost forgot about yesterday. He could not know that.
I immediately shook my head viciously and went with the alibi I used and told him about the day of the ambush.
“N-no, no, I didn’t…Back when I was at the hospital before, we were ambushed. A man came to my room, saying I should be with him instead of Kael,” I said, almost stammering with my words, but gladly I delivered it coherently.
Val’s eyes narrowed on me, his brows furrowed, and his lips pressed into a thin line. His stance suddenly shifted into high alert. I was confused by his reaction, but in one swift movement, Val grasped my arm and dragged me gently into the corner, his eyes darting outside the small window, checking if there was someone out there that could possibly hear us before he shifted his attention back to me.
“Have you told anyone? Did boss know about this?” He was whispering, his face so close to mine and our eyes leveled with each other. I was about to open my mouth, but he preceded me with one last question. “What else did he say?”
I don’t know how big a deal it was for him with the information I gave, but I answered him as honestly as possible. I know Val could be trusted, and he had taken care of me since we met.
“No, I was barely conscious when he came to me. Though I remember him touching my face, the gunfire exploded, and everything went into a haze. I was going to tell Kael, but things went differently,” I narrated, recalling whatever my brain could remember that day.
Val stared at me for a moment, and I could see it in his eyes that he was dissecting every word I said in his head before he broke his gaze and looked outside the window. Then, he moved away from me, nodding his head.
“Alright, sweet cake, keep it that way and don’t tell anyone else, even Aya, for her and your safety. That man is very dangerous, and I don’t know why he came to you that day, but I’ll find out, okay?” He said, lifting his hand and brushing the hair that had strayed into my face.
“We’ll discuss this later. But for now, you need to learn about guns,” he added, cocking his head to the side, motioning me to follow him to the table with neatly piled bullets.
“Okay,” I whispered and walked closely behind him, staring at his back.
However, why do I have this feeling that Val was hiding something?
Though, I hope I am wrong.