Chapter 56


    LEIGH-ARI


    From the deep slumber of stupor, I felt I wave of icy coldness covering me. It took a second for my mind


    to register that my body waspletely drenched. The biting cold caused wild shivers to erupt intensely,


    pulling me back from the dark world. My senses slowly connected with my body, my mind regaining itself.


    My ears were ringing loud, and my head felt like it had been banged against a hard concrete for at least


    a million times. My body was pinioned in a very cramped position making me immobile in all ways. I tried


    to move my arms, but what felt like cold chains held me back in ce, and that exined why I felt like I


    was tied down.


    An aggrieved groan escaped my much-patched throat, causing it to hurt even more. I willed m y heavy


    eyes to open but everything was just so blurry and unclear. ‘Rise and shine princess.” A voice called out


    from somewhere behind me, ringing painfully in my already disturbed ears. The unending throbbing in


    my head made it feel like someone took an ax and plunged right through the skull, splitting it into two


    halves. Why was I in so much pain? And the headache?


    I tried to engage my mind to function but everything wasn’t just cooperating. “Water.” I croaked, my voice


    scratching painfully against my dry throat.


    “We don’t want you to die early. So here.”


    I opened my mouth to take a sip of the water but what I received was more! A whole bucket of cold water


    sshed right on my face and my body, the hard ice cubes hitting my already abused body bitterly. The


    cold water clothed my already wet bodypletely. The shivers just went on and my teeth began


    cluttering against each other. No matter how heady the pain made my mind be, the bucket of icy water


    cleared everything. I heard better, I saw everything.


    Through that haze of pain and confusion, I fully opened my eyes to take in my surrounding. I was still


    dressed in my gym clothes, my body covered in angry wounds that were oozing blood, goosebumps


    from the cold, the ice cubes that fells on me, and the droplets of water. I was chained on a metal chair


    with big chains that had me secured in one ce, restricting m y every movement. I looked up to find a


    huge empty warehouse, with a few lights illuminating the dark space.


    Pieces of memories flooded my mind and I remembered the heated collision between the intruder and


    me. He hadn’t gone easy on me at all. I remembered him dragging me against the floor full of broken


    sses, him banging my head against the floor and then repeatedly kicking me on my front. That


    exined the splitting headache, painful ribs, and muscles, the sting on my lower back. My arms were


    covered in angry scratches, a few wounds that had pieces of broken sses inside. And the burn on the


    wounds told me that they had been


    inmed.


    “How are you feeling, Tesoro?” The oh-so-familiar voice called out again and the owner stepped in my


    line of sight


    My mouth hung open from utter shock. All the words seemed to have been stuck in my throat as I stared


    at my captor with shock, horror and so much trepidation. I tried to piece everything together, tried to


    make sense of why HE, of all people, could do this? Betray the boys? Hurt me? My puzzled and


    confused look amused him and he chuckled stepping further in front of me.


    “Shocked right? I get that every time”


    “Lorik!” I managed a small whisper.


    “In the flesh!” He waved his hand and then folded his giant arms across his chest. I tried to find all the


    words; I really wanted to know why he was doing this.


    “I thought we were friends,” I called out in a small voice causing him to throw his head back and let out a


    burst of huge bellyughter that echoed around the empty warehouse, creating a ghostly sound that


    multiplied my tremors. By now, I wasn’t just shivering from the cold, I was scared, terrified!


    “See? That’s where you are wrong. You and I have never been friends.” He spat with a mocking face, his


    hateful eyes boring holes into me.


    I felt my heart clenching immensely.Xander had been right. One person I thought I understood was the


    one who harbored ill intentions towards me. It hurt when I found out about Valerie but this was a different


    kind of hurt. This one was way too much! 1


    “All this time, you hated me,” I said almost to myself while looking down at my knees. There was so


    much I wanted to say. The times we had sat together talking about the OR, the operations, the patients,


    and how awesome it felt to bring someone back to life, all meant nothing to him. Lorik had been one of


    those I just clicked with because of our medical profession. Yes, he wasn’t a surgeon like me, but he


    knew a thing or two about it. He was even the one taking care of patients in the castle, he attended to the


    wounded. And that’s why I just got too along with him. So all along…


    “I don’t just hate you Leigh-Ari. I despise your possible being. I hate the idea of knowing I breathe the


    same air as you. I hate everything about you.” He spat angrily ring daggers at m e. I just looked up,


    feeling so inanimate and out of it. I didn’t even know why he hated me so much for crying out loud.


    “But why? Why do you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you?” I asked with a small tear


    drizzling down my face. The sight of my tears was like a sweet confection that marinated his anger and


    hatred, causing him to be even crazier.


    “Oh, you did nothing sweetheart. You just had to exist.” He said stepping backward and began taking


    unhurried steps around me.


    Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org.


    “What do you mean?”


    I have never been so perplexed. Was it normal for someone to hate the other without a reason? What


    problem did my existence cause to him? Lorik was one of the big respected guys at Dark Woods.


    Although I knew little to nothing about him, I knew he was a big fish. “You stole everything from me


    Leigh-Ari. My boys. You stole them from me and kept them all to yourself. That’s not how I nurtured


    them. That’s not what I taught them. They have everything, they could get anyone they want. You know


    that yourself because the east wing is full of women they’ve fucked. But then there you are; your mere


    existence sends them crazy. I hate you because you make them weak. And I don’t do weak.” He said


    angrily with a raised voice. I tried to make sense of all his words but I was failing miserably. What does


    did even mean? The twins are the ones who popped into my life, turned everything upside down, and


    then stole my life from me. This fucker had no right to tell me I was the one who destroyed his world. 1


    “You don’t know what you are saying Lorik. The boys are the ones who just popped out of nowhere like


    they fell from the sky, took everything for me, confined me in that damn castle, and forced me to live


    THIS life. And now you dare to say I stole your life?” I seethed from my seat, wishing that I was out of


    these damn chains. Because help me God, if I was, I was going down with this psycho.


    He stopped in front of me and then smirked. I red at him angrily and he raised his hand in the air, and


    then pped me so hard that I felt like my head had rotated two times before swinging to my side. That


    fueled my anger further!


    1


    V


    “Beat me all you want coward. But at the end of the day, you are just a damn sick bastard who has no


    balls but can only hit a woman who is chained down. You have me in chains because you know so


    fucking well that had I been free, I was going to fuck you so hard you won’t even recognize your own


    fucking ass.” I yelled at the top of my lungs, feeling so much anger brew inside me.


    He didn’t retaliate, he just took a step backward and then left my eye side to my behind. After a few


    heartbeats, I felt the clunking of metal and cursed my unruly mouth for saying those words to him. I was


    completely bound and helpless, and I didn’t even know where this becursed ce was. Good lord he


    could do anything he wanted and no one would even know.


    “You have a sharp tongue girl.” He said in a calm rxed voice, still working on whatever he had on his


    hand. But the continuous clunking of the metal made me wince and shrink into myself.


    I chose not to reply to him and shut my eyes close. The sounds of his footsteps sounded as he rounded


    the chair and stood right in front of me yet again.


    “See, I know so much, little Ari. I know way more than you think. I know things that you can’t even begin


    to imagine. And yes, you may think I am being a little unreasonable but no darling. I am not. I am not


    going to watch a low life like you destroy everything I have built.”


    e informed in yet another calm tone, but this one held so much authority that I had to open m y eyes and


    look at him.


    He had a big crowbar mped in his hand, his body towering over me. “You don’t have to do this. You


    know that.” I said in a trembling voice. Even if I wanted, I wasn‘t going to make it out alive here. Lorik


    was a very big guy with giant ass muscles. I may have taken a few guys down during the training but


    now…


    “Oh, I have to darling. I have to. Because even if I let you free and took you far away to where the sun


    doesn’t shine, they would look for you, find you and bring you back. And that’s the game I am not ready


    to y.” He said crouching lower to my eye level. 1


    “But why?” Was I really going to die here?


    “Because I am their father.” 1


    LORENZO POV


    “Calm the fuck down will you?” I spat throwing an exasperated nce at Vernero who was going under a


    very serious outburst.


    “How the hell am I supposed to calm down? That bastard doesn’t know his ce at all. He isi n my turf,


    my turf. But he still thinks he can waltz here and do all he wants. I am going to kill him. I swear I am


    going to kill him.” he raged throwing curses. He went in by smashing his whiskey ss to the floor of the


    limo, causing the liquid to spill all over. I decided to pay him zero attention. I had my own thoughts to


    battle against, and although I didn’t like my brother having his crazy episodes, I wasn’t going to pamper


    his little tantrum fit this time.


    I took a small sip of my own whiskey and leaned my head against the headrest. Meeting with Xander had


    been a bad idea. I was surprised at his cooperation at the beginning. Although it was hard to locate him,


    he had agreed to meet us and have a little talk with us. The location had been this deluxe bar


    somewhere in town. We set off early to meet him but when we arrived there; the bartenders gave us a


    small note that pointed us to another location. We drove there, and the same thing happened.


    We drove around in circles until we arrived at this shabby diner that pointed us towards Mn. By that


    point, we were fed up with his little game, but we couldn’t leave things unfinished because Ari was


    concerned here. So with that, we took off to Mn. For full dang six hours, we stretched to Mn to that


    said location, and luckily we found him.


    Upon seeing us, he had stood up and weed us warmly, then ordered a drink for all of us. Verzi had


    wanted to punch him in the face for toying with us and for many other reasons, but I stopped him just in


    time. Xander on the other hand seemed unbothered by Verzi’s attempt t o maim him. I guess he was too


    used to him. He was surprisingly so calm, and I was a little wary of his sudden nice attitude. It was just


    way too good to be true, but at the same time, we couldn’t enrage this lunatic because we needed his


    help. While everything was well served, weid our news on him, asked him about the imposter.


    He gave a little information by telling us the imposter wanted him to kill Ari in exchange for the East. Well,


    that had sent me over. I flew from my seat ready to fuck his little handsome face and wipe that dang


    smirk, but his words stopped me halfway across the table. If I hit him, then he was going to go ahead and


    kill Ari. And that was something I couldn’t afford to see it happen.


    After that, he hadughed like a maniac he is, stood up, and left us in there. So yeah, I was pretty pissed


    off. Mind you, the fucker didn’t even foot the bill for the drink he ordered.


    “That fucking son of a bitch with a scar on a dang face…” Verzi’s curses rang around the whole limo. I


    get it! He was pissed, and so was I!


    The trip to Mn had been a true failure. But that was highly expected from Xander. We never saw eye to


    eye. So what good would he gain from helping us?