Arranged love

BONES

I FEEL MY phone vibrate in my pocket, and I pull it out to see I have a picture from Emilee. I open it up. It’s of her and Titan standing on the rooftop of Kingdom a couple of nights ago. He’s holding her up off her feet, his hands on her hips. Her head bent down, kissing him. Fireworks are going off in the background, lighting up the Vegas skyline. With the caption that says, I said yes.

I smile and type back “Congratulations.” I couldn’t be happier for my best friend and the love of his life. I could never love Emilee like she deserved. Or any woman for that matter. Kingdom will always come first, and I know that’s not how love should be. I’ve accepted it.

That’s why I’ve flown halfway around the world. I tell myself this is about Kingdom. But it’s also about the woman in that photo.

“They’re getting married.” I hold up my phone to the man’s face before me. He sits tied to a chair in the middle of the cold and damp room. A single light bulb hangs above his head from a chain.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“Argghh,” he mumbles around the gag in his mouth.

“I’ll make sure to give them your wishes.” I tap his face a couple of times with my open palm.

He pulls away the best he can, which isn’t far. I pocket my cell and pick up the knife that sits on the table next to him. It’s stained with his blood. We’ve been in here for over eight hours.

“It’s been a while since I got to carve a man.” I tell him, running the blade gently down the side of his face, just letting him feel the cold steel while I fuck with his mind.

He throws his head back and fights the restraints, but he’s not going anywhere. “See, George, five hundred thousand dollars isn’t that much money. I could have let it go, but then you fucked with Emilee.”

He shakes his head quickly. His teary eyes begging me not to kill him. To spare his sorry, fucking pathetic life.

“And that sealed your fate.”

I run the tip of the blade down his bare chest, splitting the skin like butter. He screams out as the blood flows like a steady rain.

I once told Titan that if I ever found this fucker, I was going to make him pay in pounds of flesh. And I’m a man of my word.