21: He Knew Me
1614 Words
Flavian
It did happen, and it will happen again. And again. And again.
Keaton could have sent a message, made a call, booked an appointment, or something, but instead, he sent his good-for-nothing right-hand man, Knox, as the messenger. What is this? The medieval times?
How inconsiderate of him. Now he has ruined the night for me.
After receiving the news from Knox that Keaton wanted to see me in the bedroom, I forced myself under control, dressed, and left while Eve was still in the bathroom. I knew she would leave right after, so I locked the door on my way out.
We weren’t done with our little chitchat. She had yet to understand what was going on. I would make her understand if I must, and I must.
That was the only way I could guarantee she didn’t do something irrational about Danielle.
Eve had become a lot more ruthless. I used to spy on her in the years I was away, but now I was seeing it live with my own eyes and experiencing it firsthand. I would never have guessed she would have a gun, She was always full of surprises. I'm low-key proud of her.
Now here I was, limping toward the man who created Eve the cruel.
Knox, that bastard, was the one leading me there. I was sure Keaton had asked for me. However, when I entered his room after Knox, I saw two of my men standing by.
“Leave us,” I ordered, maintaining an upright posture with the support of my cane. Ironic, daddy crippled one of my legs, and now his daughter wanted to do the same to the other. How cute, they tried, yet I was still the victor.
“They’ll stay. Keaton asked them to,” Knox butted in, waving a signal just as my men turned to leave.
“Well, well, well.” I raised a brow, sneering.
Why did I hate Keaton? Aside from our unfinished business of the past, a big part of the hate was Knox Bishop. One word, snake.
It pained me to know that my own brother, whom I would fight hell or heaven for, trusted Knox more than me.
I knew who Knox was, I knew what he was capable of. I knew him very well because he was the one who… the core reason Eve came into existence.
Knox hadn’t done anything worth holding him responsible for yet. Somehow, he was the one who had orchestrated and threaded the events in the past that brought about this future problem. No one knew this yet, but with my level of experience… war was coming. I could smell it, I knew it. I feared he might just drive things faster.
Knox was a member of the EC, the only outsider in this little court, specially elected by my dear Keaton.
Speaking of the devil, my dear brother made his way into the room in a wheelchair, rolled in by no other than Danielle, Knox’s dear little sister.
Spectacular.
Could the night get any worse? I almost rolled my eyes, instead, I exhaled with relief when she left the room.
Good riddance.
The b***h was begging me to shoot her, slit her throat, and feed her to my crows. Her presence made that clear.
“Brother, may I ask why you yearn for my presence this evening?”
I quietly ran my eyes over him, his face and neck were covered in rashes, and his head was lacking hair. My brother looked starved and sick, because he was. I wished he took better care of his health instead of pouring all his energy into hiding for the family. But then, I understood why, this was the Waldorf family. A grave illness like this was treated as a sign of weakness or reckless living.
As if everyone had forgotten the long history of genetic diseases thanks to the inbreeding period.
“Knox, leave us.”
I angled my head to face him with my signature mocking smirk while he glared at me coldly. I prompted him with a wave of my hand. “Bye-bye.”
He didn’t say a word and exited.
“This two men… they say they saw my daughter entering your room. Is that so, Ian?”
I paused, glancing at my men...no, not my men, I didn't train gossipers and betrayers. I nodded in acknowledgment, managing a faint smile of disappointment. I would have to send my condolences to their families later. Two families had lost a son each, tonight.
“Leave us,” Keaton told them, but I raised an index finger, objecting to his command and signaling them to wait.
“Let them stay… and see,” I emphasized, flashing the two with a friendly smile that reached my eyes.
“What were you doing with Eve in your room?”
“Do you really want to know?” I dragged my feet and cane toward the fruit bowl, picking up the knife there, I tested the edge, checking for sharpness. It was rather disheartening to find it blunt, well...as long as it could serve a purpose, that was all that mattered.
“Answer me!!!”
Keaton’s aged rough voice went through the roof, enough to frighten the men I was now heading toward.
“Do not f*****g dare spill blood on my-”
Rule number one, never run from me.
Too late. I had already stabbed the first man, who had scrambled away when he noticed I was moving toward him. The stab was at his throat, his blood trickled down his body, staining the furry white carpet.
Up next, I looked for my next victim, he was hovering around the door, trying to get out.
I ripped the knife out of the body that had just collapsed.
“Let him be!!”
“You shouldn’t have let me see the faces of your informants.” I narrowed my eyes at my brother over my shoulder before stalking behind the man who was trying every code possible to unlock the door.
Rule two,never turn your back on me.
No need for a knife, I tossed it aside. The keypad’s haptic sounds were getting on my nerves, in annoyance, I grabbed his nape, clenching hard as I rammed his head into the keypad system over and over again until I was satisfied, until he was dead. Since I had destroyed the security system, the door unlocked automatically.
I chuckled. “I was f*****g your darling daughter.”
“Flavian!! What have you done-”
My eyes flared wide when he choked on his words… and his breath.
I didn’t need to be told, I was already tearing through the room, searching desperately for an inhaler.
Thank God he had one in his nightstand drawer, I got it to him just in time.
Just then, Danielle barged into the room with an inhaler as well.
Wait, what? How did she know?
“What happened?!” she asked, staring at me, baffled.
“I should be asking you.”
“Enough!” Keaton seethed between long inhales.
“Leave…”
She stayed, staring at Keaton, waiting for him to say something, but he just stared at her dead in the eyes, the same way I was.
“Now,” I insisted, dragging a threatening step closer.
Upon seeing the blood stains on my hands and clothes, she backpedaled once, twice, then left in a hurry after noticing the bodies too.
“Now, where were we? I said I f****d your daughter.”
“Flavian, why are you so spiteful? Why do you bring me so much pain? What have I done to deserve this level of wickedness?”
I crouched down so he didn’t have to crane his neck to look at me.
“Why won’t you accept me? I am your only brother… yet you treat me like a f*****g pawn. And when things don’t go your way, you fault me? What exactly do you want from me?”
When things didn’t go the way he wanted, I was the one he took it out on. To the Netherlands, to Massachusetts, to Turkey, to South Africa, to Egypt, to NYC… Keaton would send me to the ends of the earth just so I wouldn’t stand next to him.
I should be his right-hand man. I was the only one fit to stand with him. Betraying him was easy… so I chose the harder option, to stand by him, always.
“I want my brother! You’re not the brother I always defended.”
He rolled his eyes downward, taking notice of my gray dress pants, now stained with my blood. The gunshot wound had reopened thanks to the stress I put on it.
“Well… I can’t be the brother you want. This me is the brother you need. Stop pushing me away. I’ll beg you if I must.”
I would beg him, and I wasn’t lying about it. I wasn’t sure I could stand another eight years without physical contact with Eve. He knew… He always knew.
“Do you take me for a fool? You’re just selfish. You do things for your own selfish gains… Leave my Eve alone. You always wanted to get rid of her. That hasn’t changed, I see.”
I let out a dry chuckle of amusement. Like I said, he knew me, he knew what I was capable of.
I rose to my feet, patting his stiffened shoulders.
“You’re right. I do want to get rid of her. Because if I can’t be the one to do it, who will?”
- Writer
