Hearts of Deceit (ManxMan)

Ch 21: For Hans

A pounding in my head. Chapped lips clamped shut. The feeling that could only be described as having walked through a desert plagued with a painful thirst that hadn't been satiated right before being run over by a high speed train. I opened my eyes, miraculously enough, and was greeting with the soft glow of yellow light emanating from a rather unassuming lamp. Granted, the dim light was a rather painful white hot light to my eyes. Headaches were no fun. I tried to sit up. It was then that I noticed my predicament. 

I was on a surprisingly soft and comfortable scarlet bed. What was not so comforting were the handcuffs on both my hands and feet. There was a long enough chain keeping the cuffs around my feet secured to the cuffs around my wrists that allowed for limited movement. It sure has hell didn't mean I was making a run for it anytime soon. Screaming bloody murder was also out of the question. My parched tongue pushed up against a piece of cloth in my mouth that was secured there by layers of duct tape. 

Trying to keep the impending sense of doom and panic at bay, I struggled to my knees and glanced around. The headache was an unforgiving addition to my misery and vision but I managed to work out a small and comfortable bedroom with dark red wallpaper and windows that were barred. It could have been almost pitch black if not for the lamp on the oak nightstand by the bed. I would have thought it was a nice soft glow but my mind was still reeling in its attempts to process everything. 

The call from James. The elderly home. Tony. I huffed and slumped back into the pillows, trying to move the weight off the arm that had been shot. I convinced myself that I was annoyed and angry if to keep the fear at bay. A few gruesome thoughts ran through my head as I screwed my eyes shut. 

The door opened. My head snapped up. There he stood, Dominic Seraz, mafia man and asshole alpha extraordinaire. I stared. He was almost like a phantom, a part of me having been convinced he couldn't be real. I hadn't seen the man in person since he had left. Some nights, James would call, trying his hardest to hold back the tears as he would explain the newest thing Dominic had done to hurt their relationship. My heart ached for him and the man before me was nothing short of a sadistic monster. 

"Fitzroy," his voice came out smooth,  low, and quiet. It was not soothing. Not the way Ross often did it. There was a dangerou glint in his silver eye. I tried not to shift too much as he quietly shut the door and strode over, his relaxed steps mismatching the frantic beating of my heart. 

When he was close enough, he reached for me. I screwed my eyes shut and tried to back into the hardboard but was surprised when he reached passed and to the night stand. Out he pulled a bottle of wine I hadn't caught sight of. There was a tense silence, for me at  least, as he poured himself a glass. He was a cruel beast, playing with his prey. I feared he might snap at any moment. 

"You're rather handsome," he said after a long pause his voice a tempting velvet to anyone else. He smirked when I looked up at him, trying and failing to not give anything away. "I remember the scrawny little brat you were in school. Always latching onto James side like an annoying little pest. Telling him to stay away."

His expression morphed into one more sombre when he mentioned James. For a moment,  just a tiny fraction of a moment, something shifted in his eyes as he seemed to remember seeing James for the first time. Knowing the way he treated my friend, I wanted to lunge at him.  

He went back to smirking and circling the rim of the wine glass with his finger. "Really, there is nothing wrong with you or James. But the people I'm around don't see it that way. Really, he just needed to be born an omega and everything would be perfect."

There was another pause in which I tried my best not to show any sign of my trembling hands. I knew something was coming. Something awful. 

"I'm sure you know all about that. Hans must have told you, the pesky little leech." He took another swing of his drink and poured some more wine. 

"I'm sure you understand Conrad. I'm sure you know what it's like, being a pathetic outcast of society. Shamed, poor, living like a rat and trying to survive off of one piece of bread from one day to the next." He took another swing. There was a prominent scowl on his face. He was gripping the glass so tight I was afraid it would shatter. 

"That's why my father did what he did. This whole business. The Blue Dragons. It  was a group of friends trying to make ends meet, trying to stick it to the rich bastards on the top. You understand Conrad?"

The way he said my name had me nodding hesitantly. I was not about to test the man as I watched him take another swing, one of so many I had lost count. He smiled, a slow,  creeping smile.

"That's why you gotta understand why I need Hans. He's a good deal for me. You understand the power I would have if I had him? The connections?" Another pause. Another swing of the wine. Finally, he sighed.

"That's why I'm giving Ross Edwards a week to give up Hans in exchange for you. They have a week where they'll get to see you mercilessly tortured and you'll be dead by the end of the week if Hans isn't on my doorstep. You understand, don't you? It's nothing personal, really."

If I could see myself in a mirror, I would have been as white as a fresh corpse. It was cold in the room. Tremors of despair, fear, grief, and maybe even the beginnings of resignation ran through me as I tried to fully process his words. I hardly moved as he ripped off my duct tape within a fraction of a second. 

"They'll have to hear you scream," he said simply. I licked my dry lips as he pulled out his phone. 

"Wait!" I started. It was a lost cause from the beginning. I knew he wasn't listening. I tried anyway. "Look, I-I-" I tried to think of something. Under no circumstances could I bare the thought of Hans being forced to be with the sadistic man. 

"It won't work! You-you think they'll give up Hans, a beautiful and well-known omega for me?" I tried logic. It wasn't like I was lying. He had to see that. Ross seemed to love the sweet omega and Misha and Joe had taken pretty easily to him. I was just some sarcastic asshole with a short temper from some poor suburb in Brooklyn. Even if they cared for me, they wouldn't sacrifice Hans for me. And they shouldn't, I decided. I couldn't put Hans through this. 

Dominic glanced over at me and seemed to consider my words. My hopes were dashed when he spoke as two betas walked into the room.

"If you die, you die. I'll have other ways of getting Hans."

The two men grabbed me, each painfully holding one arm behind my back. 

"I want him in the cells. Get a good beating in but I want it on tape." 

I tried to steady my heart as they dragged me out. For Hans. I'd do it for Hans. 

-8-

Updates Every Sunday

Vote, Comment, Follow!