Chapter 24: Painful Truth

Lance Storm

Eight years ago, I remember a man who had a lot of debt right after I had moved to Vegas for university and to plant my roots in the gang.

That man had been off-track ever since, not willing to return even a single penny. I was only eighteen, recently starting to take over Mafia Thunder. Meanwhile, Elian had asked our father for a couple more years to focus on studying before he wanted to join. However, our father taught us both the same ways to rule, so to punish that man, I had to do the same thing every mafia leader would.

...Eight Years Ago...

"So, no one knows where he is?" I asked Arthur while checking the paper in front of me. "So that man has the guts to come and ask for money and then run away without repaying us?"

"Yes, boss. All we know was that he has a family. A wife and a daughter," he said, scrolling through his tablet.

"First, I need you to find him. And call Zeth," I said, dismissing him. He nodded and immediately dialed Zeth's number on his phone.

Zeth Kohaku was our best assassin. He was the kind of person who would finish what he started, come what may, so I needed him for this one.

After a day, Arthur came to me to report everything about that asshole.

"Oh, you're here," I mumbled while holding a glass of whiskey. It was the weekend, and I was done with all my assignments from the university, and I missed home, so I decided to drink a little tonight—okay, not just a little. "Did you find him?" I walked towards the big glass window of my office and leaned against it.

"Yes boss, he is in Dallas with his family."

That asshole—he was living happily with his family without worrying about the debt he was supposed to pay back. Why, did he think we wouldn't find him? Did he think the leader-in-training was incompetent?

"What do you suggest I do?" I asked Arthur for fun; maybe he would come up with some great ideas, but he didn't speak. "Okay, you know what? Just tell Zeth to kill him," I said apathetically and walked over to the table to pour myself another drink.

"But if we kill him, no one's going to pay for his debt. How about I tell Zeth to kill his wife first?" he suggested, and I thought for a minute before giving him my approval.

"Don't forget to tell Zeth to give him a chance to pay for his debt. And once he does, we will spare his daughter's life. Seven years, that's the longest time I can wait since he has to pay a heavy amount of cash to me with interest," I quoted, and Arthur nodded in response.

"I'll prepare the contract, boss. Then, I'll send it to you so that you can sign it," he gave me a notice, and I dismissed him.

Not too long after, Arthur came with a paper in his hand. I read it carefully before signing it so we wouldn't have any mistakes in the future.

"Send it over to Zeth and make him work on it as soon as possible."

He nodded curtly at me before driving to Zeth's place.

...Present Time...

That moment, as soon as I received the contract, Zeth immediately did his job. I was drunk, that's why I didn't remember the names, otherwise, I rarely forgot the names.

I dialed Denver's number while changing into a suit.

"Yes, Lance?" Denver answered immediately.

"I want you to find something out for me. Find out whether Ember's father has already cleaned his debts." I sighed in frustration while brushing my hair backward.

"Okay, give me a minute."

I waited for him in line.

Please tell me that he already did. Please, I kept repeating it in my mind while waiting for Denver.

"Lance..." I knew from his tone that he still hadn't.

"Find out where Zeth is and tell him that I need to talk to him. It's urgent." With that, I ended the call and sighed deeply.

Seven years... I had given seven years' time to Zeth to kill the daughter, and Ember said she had started moving around Vegas for more than six months since she was first attacked. Zeth must not have found her for the first few months in Dallas because she was here in Vegas, right under his nose.

My heart clenched at the thought that I was the one who was responsible for Ember's miserable past. I was her villain, not her rescuer.

Denver sent me Zeth's location, so I ordered Arthur to come with me. My other men would watch us from a distance if anything bad happened.

"Lance! The Great Lance Storm!" Zeth greeted me with a big smile on his face—a psychotic smile.

I didn't give him any attention and let my dark aura stay as I went directly to the chair in front of him.

"Sit down, Lance," he said politely.

I knew Zeth. He was the best assassin in our gang but also one of the most dangerous people I had ever met.

We were in some kind of luxurious bar, so there were just a few civilians drinking and enjoying their drinks. Well, I hope this would end well and he would understand politely.

"To what I owe this pleasure?" he snickered at me. "You haven't contacted me personally ever since you became the leader. I just received orders—with signed contracts."

"I need you to sign here," I said and glanced at Arthur. He slowly placed a ballpen on the top of a brown envelope.

"I'm not liking this atmosphere," Zeth said seriously while sitting up straight for a moment. He grabbed the document and slouched on his seat. "Termination of contract Number one." He gaped at me in disbelief for a second and continued reading it.

It was contract number one since it was the first contract we had ever since I started taking control of the gang.

"Pfft," he started laughing so loud and obnoxious that other customers stared at us in annoyance. "Y—you know you can't terminate any contract with me, right?" he said, still laughing at me.

"I'm going to pay you. Name your price," I replied.

This time, he didn't look happy, and his eyes darkened.

"Really?" he asked suspiciously.

I waved my hand at Arthur, and he gave Zeth a blank cheque. I had this hope that everything would end, right here, right now. But it all faded when Zeth started tearing the cheque.

"You can't do this to me, Lance. We have a deal, and in that deal, I only have one condition and you agreed to it. I didn't force you on anything Lance, so you shouldn't force me as well," he said, acting wounded. This guy was really a bloodthirsty motherfucker, that's why he always fitted any killing assignments. He didn't even care about the money, I knew that, but I had to try. There had to be a sum of money that could even buy him.

"I'm offering you however much money you want, so accept it and leave Ember alone before I change my mind to even offer you anything," I ordered with full authority.

Zeth arched an eyebrow in amusement. "Ember? Isn't she the daughter of that Corbin who never repaid his debts? I was supposed to end her as well if her father didn't pay, and fortunately, he didn't." He corrected in a mocking tone, "Oops, I meant to say, unfortunately. Besides, don't mind me, Lance. I have a personal grudge against the girl. That girl had me fooled for six months into thinking she was in Dallas, only to catch my sight in Vegas one day. Ever since then, I have been trying to kill her, but I keep missing her," he groaned in annoyance.

"Look, just—"

"Anyhow, I have got more information on her now. I'm ready to attack again, and this time, I won't miss." His grin turned even more psychotic. "Damn, I would enjoy killing a fine beautiful woman. I can't wait to touch—"

I clenched my fist, trying to control my anger. "Make another move toward her, and everyone will find your head hanging for display," I spat out in a harsh, threatening voice.

He stared at me for a long moment before he burst out laughing again. "Don't tell me... You fool! I thought my man was confused when he reported it to me. But is it for real? Are you two together? Out of all the women in the world, you found her? But, alas! Her dad died, or more like, he killed himself two years ago," he said, grinning at me.

"You're going to leave her alone, or I swear, I'm the one who's going to kill you."

His smile faded this time.

I turned around to leave and plan how I would break the news to Ember when Zeth suddenly spoke again.

"Does she know?" I stopped dead on my track as I could hear Zeth snickering behind me. "Does she know that you made the order to kill her beloved mother? That you ruined her perfect happy family?" Zeth asked and laughed like a psychopath after that.

"She will know," I muttered without glancing back at him and continued to walk away.

___

Ember Corbin

"Why aren't you answering my call?" I whispered while redialing Lance's number.

Was he mad at me for saying he had gained some weight? I didn't mean it, though. His body was like God himself paid more attention while sculpting it. How could he believe me?

Me: Call me when you see this.

I sent the text to him. I quickly changed my clothes for my work while waiting for his reply.

Me: Hey? Did something happen to you? Are you busy?

I texted again, but he didn't even see it. Ugh! Lance was acting like a lady on her period.

I was going to walk to the kindergarten since I got up early. Ever since Lance came into my life, I noticed that I have never been late for my work again.

My phone vibrated while I was walking in the shortcut lane. I had been monitoring this place for days now and discovered nothing dangerous, so I decided to use this lane today. Maybe this time, I'd successfully reach kindergarten without anything terrible happening to me.

All of a sudden, I felt something hard hit the back of the head.

"Lance," I murmured as my head started to feel dizzy. The back of my neck was aching so bad, and when I touched it, I felt something slick... blood.

Due to losing all my strength, my body dropped down to the wet, cold ground. My eyes couldn't seem to focus, but I saw a figure in front of me.

"Look at you, you look so much better bleeding because that's what you deserve." I heard someone say, and a baseball bat suddenly dropped on the ground from that man's hand. Through my blurry vision, I could see the red liquid on it.

"Now, let's see if your prince charming will save you or choose his gang." That was the last thing I heard before my vision was taken over by complete darkness.