OWNERSHIP
1348 Words
THIRD PERSON POV
Joaquin's night had been chaotic. Sleep eluded him. Weighed down by the pressure of finding a new supplier for the gold bars he needed for his new jewelry collection. The added stress of explaining things to Miss A didn't help. Acquiring gold bars from an illegal site at a cheaper rate had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it was proving to be a costly mistake. How was he going to make up for the hundred million dollars that woman had lost? Why had he trusted her in the first place?
This was all Hans's fault. He had assumed she could do it, or was this their plan all along? To think that a woman would be his own undoing. He should probably kill that witch for all the trouble she had caused, but then that meant he would lose all his money.
Just then, his phone buzzed, breaking the silence. "Speaking," he commanded, his curiosity piqued as he answered the call.
"We got them, boss," Gary informed, his voice firm and confident. Joaquin had been dying to hear those words since the previous night. He had commanded them to get him Hans and Tomas, the people he had assigned to accompany Katherina the day he lost his merchandise.
"Keep them entertained. I'll be there in 15," he informed, hanging up the phone. Joaquin dashed out of the building, his mind racing with thoughts of revenge and retribution. He drove down to the base, his anger simmering just below the surface.
Upon arrival, his captives looked pretty banged up, compliments of Gary's handiwork. "Welcome, boss," Gary said, bowing low as Joaquin made himself comfortable on a seat in their center.
"I heard you two are in cahoots with the little thief who stole my gold bars," Joaquin insinuated, his voice dripping with venom. He was merely acting on speculations.
"Boss, that's not true. We had nothing to do with her betraying you," Tomas defended, his voice shaking slightly.
"Speak for yourself, Tomas. Your little friend there isn't so innocent. I hear that little tramp is his woman," Joaquin informed, his eyes narrowing as he watched Hans's reaction. A wave of shame overwhelmed Hans as he stared back at Tomas with disgust.
"Boss, it's true. We were dating, but I assure you, I had nothing to do with her conning you," Hans confessed, his voice trembling with fear.
"I thought I made myself clear when I said no business with pleasure," Joaquin reminded bitterly, his anger rising to the surface.
"I am sorry, boss. It just happened," Hans confessed, his eyes downcast.
"It's fine. I am not mad," Joaquin lied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "So, tell me something. Did you recommend her just by coincidence?" he asked, his tone heavy with skepticism.
"Boss, she asked me to do it. That woman is not what she seems to be. She is manipulative. She can mess with a man's mind just with a touch..." Hans said, his voice trailing off as Joaquin cut him off.
"We don't want to know what she does to you in bed," Joaquin informed, his irritation clear. He could feel his stomach crawl just thinking of the two of them together. Was this jealousy? Whatever it was, he hated it. Anyway, how good could she be? She practically looked like a tomboy, with her masculine clothing and all.
"So, what you're trying to tell me is that you weren't aware that your little princess was into drugs, my drugs, to be exact?" Joaquin questioned, his doubt clear.
"I wasn't aware, boss," Hans lied, his eyes darting back and forth. Joaquin's anger flared, and he slapped Hans across the face.
It was practically impossible that they had been dating for three months, and he hadn't suspected a thing.
"You know what I hate the most, liars," Joaquin informed sincerely, his voice cold and detached. Liars disgusted him; they were the reasons why this world was in shambles. His mother's lies were what killed his younger sister and equally sent her to jail.
"Boss, I am not lying," Hans lied once more, and Joaquin punched him across the face.
"I see you're not ready to confess," Joaquin said angrily, turning to leave. "Gary, try breaking a few bones while you're at it," he commanded, his voice dripping with malice, before closing the door behind him.
The next thing he heard were screams. Screams of agony, which brought a twisted smile to his face. With all the suffering he had endured in life, seeing people in pain kind of made him happy.
He started driving down the lane to his pack house...when he saw a familiar feminine figure limping away from the woods. It was Katherina. She was trying to escape, but how did she manage to escape her room? The door was perfectly locked. He even still had the key.
"Help me. I got kidnapped," she yelled as she jumped in front of his car, continuously waving her arms in an attempt to get him to stop. She must not know the car belonged to him, thanks to his tinted glass, and the fact that it was still pretty dark. It was practically 5 a.m. now. She wasn't going to like it. Imagine running from your kidnapper into your kidnapper's arms.
Joaquin stopped the car as requested. "Thank God I found you. A jerk kidnapped me, and..." She started speaking but came to an abrupt halt when Joaquin lowered his glass, and she saw his face.
"Hi, beautiful. Nice to see you back on your feet," Joaquin said with a smile, attempting to annoy her.
"No, no, no, no," she uttered in a panic as she turned to run away. Joaquin loved this. Chasing his prey like this. It had been so long since he went hunting. This could be fun. She was practically limping, so he didn't need to run after her. He just walked after her for a while until she lost her balance and fell to the ground, holding onto her swollen ankle and gunshot wound as she groaned in pain.
"See. You're only hurting yourself," Joaquin informed as he carried her bridal-style to his car, even though she tried to resist. But unfortunately, she lacked the strength. Her body was burning up, and she was sweating profusely.
"Joaquin, please tell me to go. I honestly, I don't know where your gold bars are," she confessed once more as she was being forced into the car.
"First of all, that's boss to you, and second, you are not permitted to speak unless it's to divulge the location of my gold bars," Joaquin informed without sparing her a glance.
"Boss, please..." She beseeched him, but he cut in.
"One more word, and I would take away your ability to speak," Joaquin informed sincerely. There was just something about her voice that annoyed the hell out of him.
"Are you seriously going to hurt a woman?" she asked, delusional with fever.
"Why? Is there a woman in this car? As far as I am concerned, you're a thief and a liar," Joaquin informed sincerely.
"What do you mean?" she asked, still maintaining her frown.
"You look and dress like a man. You even smell like one. But that's beside the point. You're going to pay for what you did," Joaquin informed, his voice cold and detached.
Katherina's eyes flashed with anger, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. Joaquin smiled to himself, satisfied that he had finally shut her up.
"So, here's the deal," Joaquin said, his voice cold and detached. "You are going to pay me back the hundred million dollars you owe me. And if you can't do that, then you will have to face the consequences."
Katherina's eyes widened in fear, and Joaquin could see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to think of a way out of this mess. But Joaquin knew that she was trapped, and he was going to make sure that she paid for what she had done.
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- Writer
