The Boss's Daughter

Chapter 2: The Price Of Loyalty (2,6K)

Chapter 2: The Price Of Loyalty (2,6K)

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

Jace's PoV (18 years old)

It had been two years since Jace started working for Valentine Morgenstern, and he could honestly say that it had been the two best years of his life. He never thought he would say that one day, but he actually prospered in this life of well-organised crime. He was not going to lie to anyone and say that he didn't like this idea of constantly defying the law, sometimes right before some Officials' noses; but what he loved the most about working for Valentine Morgenstern, was the fact that finally, he belonged somewhere. He belonged.

It was more than the fact that if one day he were to mysteriously disappear, he would be somehow missed by someone; but more the fact that suddenly he felt useful. He wasn't stupid enough into deluding himself into thinking that he was of some big importance for Valentine Morgenstern, after all, he was just a common thief, but he still knew that his skills were appreciated amongst the people he was now sharing his life with.

He actually developed a few other skills, some that he shared with his companions (like his accuracy when it came to shooting), others that he kept for himself (like his sense of observation duplicating). But what he liked the most about having started to work for Valentine Morgenstern, was the comfort of life he had. After finding out that he was living from a crappy hotel room to a crappy hotel room, Valentine had bought a condo to Jace, that Jace was buying him back little by little. And with the money he was making, two-three more years and the condo would be fully his. He also didn't need anymore to steel to survive. He actually lived, and he actually lived pretty well. From an outsider, it could even seem that Jace had fallen into the ranks of those people with a 9-to-5 job and a perfect life to go with it.

It was from living in his condo that Jace formed his first friendship with one of Valentine's men. Magnus Bane. Magnus was six years older than him, but still a great company. He was often in Jace's building (once every few months) because he was in charge with Valentine's daughter security when she was visiting a friend of hers who was living in that same building. Usually, Magnus would drop the young girl at her friend's so they could have their time together, and stay with Jace for the time being, slowly forming with him a friendship.

Jace also found a friend at the gym, Jordan Kyle, with whom he trained from anything physical to anything weapon related. And though Jordan was slightly closer to him in age, and he had a good time with him, his friendship with Magnus still felt deeper to Jace than the one he had with Jordan. Probably because they would talk more about meaningful stuff with Magnus than with Jordan.

Still, when it came to having a wingman, Jace always went out with Jordan. And it never failed to get him to go home accompanied. This was also something that he had benefiting from living a life comfort thanks to Valentine Morgenstern, it was that he had discovered his s*x-appeal, and the attraction the other s*x had for him. He never lingered on that before because he was struggling to survive, and when he started living, it came to him.

And he was not going to pretend that he didn't like this aspect of his life. He actually liked it quite a lot. He liked that, with just one smile, he could get a girl to melt and follow him to his bed. But what he liked the most was the game. The little hunt before getting the price. He liked it even more when girls pretended that they weren't interested, but ultimately fell into his bed. And this was probably why he never had a relationship that lasted more than seeing the girl a couple of times more after their first nights.

Over his two years working for the man, Jace also learnt a few things concerning Valentine Morgenstern. It wasn't that he actually tried to pry into his boss's life, but more that people talked. It seemed that where Jace was lucky, Valentine wasn't. He apparently lost his first wife to childbirth and his second wife to a rival. And not in the romantic way where she would have left him, for some other guy, but in a way where she was torched alive by someone who didn't share views with Valentine. Suffice to say that the man did not survive his affront, though he left Valentine a second-time widower with a daughter that he wanted to protect even more after the death of her mother

Jace had never really formally met Valentine's daughter. Very few people did. Actually, only the people who went often enough to the mansion had met her. He knew what she looked like, because she came every once in a while in his building, and he always thought that it would do him good to know what his boss's daughter looked like; but that was it. He knew that she was thirteen, a redhead with green eyes and who, according to Magnus, had quite a temper on her.

From the few times Valentine and Jace talked (and that was not business related), Valentine never talked about his daughter to Jace, and Jace never tried to pry into Valentine's private life, even though Valentine did not shy away from asking Jace intimate questions from his parents' disappearance, to his love life. But strangely, even though Valentine was his boss and a crime lord, Jace never felt like he had to be embarrassed or hide parts of his life to the man.

In all honesty, he actually respected and admired the man that was Valentine Morgenstern. Valentine had started from nothing, out of the gutter, just like him, and had managed to make himself a name over the years. His mob was one of the most important and influent in the world, if not the one. He was more ruthless than the Brava, more structured than the Yakuza and more loyal than the Mafia.

Actually, the only flaw that Jace could spot in this new life he had since he started working for Valentine Morgenstern, was Hodge Starkweather. He couldn't tell why, but there was something about the man that made Jace never trust him. It was to the point that he wouldn't even dare turn his back to him, by fear of being backstabbed by the man. There was something false and fake about Hodge, but Jace always kept his suspicions to himself because Hodge was Valentine's right hand. What Hodge said was almost as holy as what Valentine would say.

Still, though he didn't tell anyone about it, Jace made his little investigation after seeing Hodge acting shady and meeting a middle age man in a motel. For six months, he shadowed Hodge, realising as the months passed by that Hodge was a mole. He didn't know per se what he was doing with the man he was seeing, but he knew that the guy was a Fed. He had followed him all the way to the Bureau several times.

For several weeks, Jace tried to figure out what would be the best approach in this situation. He didn't know if he should get rid of the problem, and then Valentine about it, or if he should tell Valentine and let him deal with it. And after hours spent dwelling on it, Jace had decided to do a little bit of both. He followed Hodge from his house to a little café the old man liked to go to before he knocked him unconscious so he could bring him to an abandoned warehouse, where he had texted Valentine to join him.

He tied Hodge up to a chair, waiting for him to wake, and for Valentine to join them; but it was Hodge who acted first. He slowly emerged, blinking a few ties to accustom himself to the darkness of the place, and when he saw Jace, he furrowed his brows as he asked:

"What's the meaning of this?"

"What's the meaning of meeting frequently with a guy working for the Feds?" Jace retorted, sitting in front of him, his elbows resting on his spreader knees.

"I have no idea what he's talking about," Hodge defended himself, looking past Jace. Jace had heard Valentine entering the building, he was a thief, after all, he could decipher the faintest sounds, especially when he was doing something that could be qualified as compromising.

Jace snapped his fingers in front of Hodge, regaining his attention, as he told him: "Why are you looking elsewhere than at me? You think that because I'm young, I can be fooled around, and that I will crawl to you, asking for forgiveness."

"What is this about?" Valentine asked nothing in his voice letting Jace know if he was condoning his actions or not. With his heart beating a bit too fast (especially knowing that he was doing the right thing), Jace looked straight into Hodge's eyes and said:

"Do you want to man up and say it, or shall I?"

Hodge looked alternative from Jace to Valentine, before he assured with panache: "He's delusional, Valentine. I actually suspect that he's on drugs. Something heavy that makes him delusional."

Valentine darkly chuckled, pulling a chair next to Jace and sitting on it as he enunciated: "Jace doesn't even drink, and you want me to believe that he's on hard drugs?"

Jace was surprised that Valentine knew this about him, especially when he actually doubted that Magnus knew this about him. But he didn't let this show, instead, he kept on looking at Hodge, seeing with satisfaction that the man was starting to sweat.

"Honestly, Valentine. Who are you going to trust? Me? Who has had your back for decades, or that street rat that you took under your wing in a moment of weakness?"

"A moment of weakness?" Valentine asked his eyebrow dangerously up. Hodge glanced in Jace's direction, before blurting:

"You never would have considered letting him even live if it hadn't been for what you did to J—"

"Don't try to lead me astray, Hodge! What happened then has nothing to do with why you are tied to a chair! Now, you have two seconds to tell me why you are in that chair, or all those decades of friendship will fly through the window and I will put a bullet between your two eyes!"

In two years, this was the first time that Jace actually saw Valentine raise his voice, or even show temper in his demeanour. He had always pictured that Valentine was a calm man, that could be very patient but that shouldn't be pushed too far. And apparently, Hodge had just pushed too far. Which was why Jace estimated that it was his time to intervene.

"He's been seeing a Fed for at least the past six months."

"He's lying!" Hodge immediately defended himself, even though the panic was clear in his face and eyes.

For a moment, Valentine didn't say anything, looking straight into Hodge's eyes, as if scanning his soul, before he lightly sighed and got up. Hodge panicked even more, as he cried out:

"You can't believe him! You've known me for years, and you believe that kid out of the dumpsters! Come on, Valentine! I was there all along for you, why would I desert you now?"

Slowly, Valentine walked to Hodge, and put his hand on Hodge's shoulder, in a comforting and reassuring way, leaning a little so he could whisper in his ear: "I forgive you, Hodge. Loyalty isn't something fit for everyone."

Tears escaped from Hodge's eyes as he babbled: "You have to understand, Valentine. They've been on my back for months. They wanted to lock me in. They wanted to send me back to Utah so they could sentence me to the death penalty. I just tried to survive."

Valentine did not utter a word to Hodge's plea, simply walking away from the man, but as he passed by Jace who didn't move from his chair, he retrieved his gun from his back and gave it to the young man.

"Get rid of him."

Jace's heartbeat skipped, clearly not prepared for this outcome, but his body acted on instinct and took the gun. For a minute he stared at the deadly weapon, before looking back at Valentine. "You find the flaw, you remove the flaw," Valentine explained, looking expectantly a Jace.

With all the difficulty in the world, Jace swallowed, getting up from his chair and aiming at Hodge. But as he was doing so, it occurred to him that he had never shot a man before. He practised almost daily with Jordan back at the stand, but it had always been at targets. And even when he was living in the streets, even though he owned a gun, he never shot anybody with it. He never killed. He never ended a life before.

Hodge was still pleading for his life, but all Jace could hear was the blood rushing to his ears, his heart beating loudly in his ribcage, his breathing accelerating as he was realising that ... he didn't care. Hodge could die from his hand, he didn't care. He would still sleep on both his ears when the night would come. And just like that, he pulled the trigger.

For a couple of seconds, the astonishing sound of the shot numbed Jace; but when Hodge's chin fell on his torso, Jace felt like he was back to normal. People always made such big deals about killing or shooting, but to Jace, it felt like it was more fright than necessary.

He turned to give Valentine back his gun, which he took, before letting Jace know: "Make a statement with him. I want the FBI and the men to know what happens to moles who try undermine me."

And on those words, he left, leaving Jace alone with a corpse and a mission.

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.