Roses and Guns

Chapter2

CHAPTER II

She opened her eyes, and they were greeted with the sight of an unfamiliar room, little bumps formed across her skin as she noticed rusty stains of blood splashed across the wall, the putrid smell punching her nose, coinciding with the noises of rats resounding through the dark room.

"Look who we've got here," a voice exclaimed upon entering the room. Amsel lifted her head and was met with the face of Kenshi, devoid of any emotion.

"Kenshi" she uttered, finding some relief in the familiarity of his presence. It had been three weeks since the incident at the cafe, yet the memory of that man still haunted her thoughts.

"Did you bring me here to tend to your wounds?" she inquired, her voice trembling slightly.

"You have no sense of fear, do you?" he responded, raising a knife to her neck, causing her throat to tighten.

"Read, "he commanded, shoving a contract on her face.

"You now belong to me," he declared, rolling up the paper.

"No way my brother would ever sell me. I'm the only family he has," she protested, her disbelief evident.

"Family betrayals are the hardest to accept," He sighed.

"I don't believe it. I need to hear it directly from my brother. Where is he?" she asked, trying to hold back her tears.

" Well, you are here because I don't know where your brother is. You see, I'm not quite satisfied with this deal. I do acknowledge your beauty "he raised her face by her chin to look at him, "But it is not worth my five million dollars" he said with a smirk playing on his lips.

"Five million dollars," she shouted as her eyes widened. "Why would you give a young boy that much money? How did you expect him to pay you back?"

"He said he had a beautiful sister, and my foolish brother accepted the deal," he replied, his tone filled with a mix of amusement and annoyance.

"Since you're not satisfied with this deal either, please let me search for my brother," she pleaded.

"How are you going to do that?" Kenshi asked, raising his dark, thick brow.

"I don't know," she answered, breaking her eye contact. Her brother barely returned her calls or replied to her texts. When he did, it was with a word or two, he never asked how her day went or the source of the money she sent to him.

"I'll keep you here with me. Once I find your brother and he pays me back, you can go back to your boring, usual life," Kenshi stated, getting up from the chair he was sitting on.

"Rufus, untie her and take her to her room," he commanded, and a man she hadn't noticed in the room rushed over to untie her, offering a silent thank you.

"Enjoy your new home," Kenshi smirked before leaving the room.

"It won't be for long," she whispered to herself, gently rubbing her bruised wrists, determined to find her brother and escape this situation.

********

She lay on the bed, still wondering how her brother could betray her. She wiped away the few tears that escaped her eyes. Was she going to stay here? What if they can't find her brother? Would they kill her? These mafia people are really brutal. Fear coursed through her body as she hugged herself tightly.

“I'm not sitting here, waiting for death,” she said confidently, getting up and scanning the room, plotting her escape.

She ran towards the door and tried to pull it open. “As expected, it's locked,” she muttered, furrowing her brows as she sat on the floor near the door.

Her eyes fell on a pole in the middle of the room. “Who the heck puts a pole in a bedroom?” she asked herself, clapping her forehead with her palm. While deep in thought, she was suddenly struck by an idea.

“Amsel, guess you ain't dying here,” she said with a slight smile. She got up and gathered all the curtains and bedsheets. She tied them together, fashioning a makeshift rope.

"Haha! Bless the genius who put that pole there!" she giggled to herself as she tied one end of the cloth to the pole and threw the other end out the window.

“I got this! I've done something like this at Camp before,” taking a deep breath to gather her courage for the descent.

Her heart pounded in her chest as each step brought her closer to the ground.

Suddenly, a voice from above shouted, “Hey, you!”

Looking up, she saw a man yelling from the window. She picked up her pace, but unfortunately, she ended up slipping and falling into a hedge. Ouch! She quickly brushed herself off, enduring a few bruises, a small price to pay for her freedom.

“Come back here." the man demanded, his face contorted with anger.

But she wasn't having any of it. With a defiant smile, she showed him her middle finger and swiftly took off, running as fast as she could.

**********

“Careful,” she said with an aggressive tone as the hefty man tossed her to the bed.

“One thing I detest is when humans breach an agreement,” Kenshi remarked without shifting his gaze from his book. He sat on a chair opposite the bed.

“ I’m trying my best to be accommodating, but it seems you don’t appreciate it. Humans never appreciate kindness,” He scoffed, his attention still on the book.

Amsel couldn’t help but criticize Kenshi in her mind. “He’s acting like he isn’t human himself,” She thought to herself. All her efforts to escape seemed futile now. As she looked at the bruises on her leg, a sense of despair washed over her. She sat on the edge of the bed, feeling a heavy weight in her chest.

“ Try this again, you won’t like the outcome,” He continued without expecting a reply from her.

“ Sir, he is downstairs,” the housekeeper said upon entering the room.

“ I should have left you to bleed to death,” she said, furrowing her brows.

“ That’s why I haven’t broken your legs” he replied.

Kenshi stood, adjusting his suit “Aiko, Tend to her wounds,” He instructed before exiting the room.

************

“What did you find?” He inquired as he entered the office, settling into a chair opposite Angelo.

“ Nothing, Nothing at all” with an Italian accent that made it sound like he wasn’t speaking English. “ It’s hard looking for someone with just tattoos and descriptions, Sai?” He absentmindedly scratched his scruffy beard.

Angelo gazed at Kenshi’s neutral face, He couldn’t quite figure out If Kenshi was angry or disappointed.

“Maybe he is not with the Barone family anymore,” Angelo suggested.

“ Check other families then,” He said, dismissing him.

“Si, Capo” He nodded respectfully before leaving the office.