Chapter Fourteen

Dimitri

The anger within me continues to emerge as I stare blankly at the empty space in front of me, completely dumbfounded by the skill of this madman. Things that was seemed impossible were somehow made possible by this stranger danger and it feels as if everything around me is falling apart while I keep trying to fix the broken pieces—slightly wondering and even judging the actions I've made in the past to be connected with any of this.

''Mr. Belrose, sir. What do you want me to do?'' Dion appears from beside me, gripping onto his phone near his ear.

My eyes remain still at the sight in front of me, letting the images of before blurring my vision. Exactly coming home to find my whole garage empty and all of the cars disappear, being stolen and completely nowhere to be found is quite a shock. So, it's no surprise how my mind goes blank immediately even though I try hard to find the solutions.

I clench my jaw in anger, in desperation and frustration with only one word in my mind: what is this trying to tell me? Did I do something? Is this a way of telling me how I've deceived? How I've betrayed? Is this my fair punishment?

''Call Aidan, now.'' I say.

No, this not about money. Not about fortune. Not about the simplicity but the simple answer is all I provide: Brody. If everything crumbles and falls without a saviour, how can I face my own son? How can I even bring him up when I'm struggling to bring myself forward? Everything about his future concerns me and even the slightest corruption would lead towards another.

''He's not answering, sir. Should I try again?'' He asks.

''No. Let's go there,''

I'm on the edge. I'd be lying if I say I wouldn't explode if someone messes with my temper. Fortunately, not even Dion dares to joke around in situations like this which makes everything smoother than it should be. Nonetheless, the ride to Aidan's building seems like an eternity and as soon as we've arrived, I am left with one main mission; to find him. To find Aidan and settle all this nonsense, all this mystery. To find the man behind this whole facade. The misery to solve this complicated puzzle.

With the crumbled piece of paper in my hand, I am reminded of the words written: 'Watch as you fall. Watch as you corrupt.'

Watch as I fall? Watch as I corrupt? How is that a possibility? There's no such thing as staying still as I wait for my destruction. I may have been unfair and selfish but greed is something I can't even solve myself. There's no denying how much I favour greed, money and fortune but that doesn't mean I favour the corruption, the destruction that comes after. If the man behind this is altering my life for me then I'd offer to alter his own life . . . the life he had planned shall not go as he wished.

''You can't go in there,'' One of the securities continue to block my path even with Dion trying to reason with them. ''Mr. Belrose, you will have to wait for another hour. I'm sorry but you can't—'' I cut him off by immediately pushing the door open, revealing Aidan and the rest of his board of directors to turn towards me; surprised by the interruption.

''Dimitri,'' Aidan says in surprise.

--

Aidan walks forward as I follow behind him, straight to the rooftop. My eyes wander around to the sight of New York City and how this exact city will be the death of me; the main reason behind my stressful days itself. It's no lie when people say that New York is not an adequate place to raise a kid and there's no reason to deny but I've always defended this city, even without being born here—even without having to live here for long. ''You need something,'' He says, turning around.

The wind blows onto our bare skin as we stand to face each other.

I shove both of my hands into my slacks' pockets, ''I need your help. This is getting out of control. If I wait any longer, I'd risk losing everything and that's one thing I would like to avoid.''

''What happened?'' He raises an eyebrow, running his fingers through his hair before clenching his jaw. ''Dimitri, you've received threats and you had your stuff stolen. Remember what happened that night? You need to report this. We can't solve this ourselves,'' He adds, slowly.

''It happened again. All of my cars are stolen,'' I breathe.

''What?'' His eyes widen in surprise before pinching the bridge of his nose, ''No, no, man. This is getting out of hand—what do you want to do? You can't—no, you can't mean that?'' Our eyes meet in an instant and we both know exactly what is playing in our heads but the look on his face clearly shows disagreement, ''Dimitri . . . we can't. We made a deal and we said we wouldn't look back at that,'' He adds.

''My life is falling apart!''

''You think they would solve it for you?!'' He exclaims, shaking his head. ''This is absurd. You're being irrational,''

''I'm out of options. I'm running out of time, Aidan. What do you want me to do?'' I take a few steps back before frustratingly running my fingers through my hair as I close my eyes in desperation, ''You have to help me. You need to help me,''

''Kenna is pregnant. You have a son,'' Memories of the past continues to wander in my mind as I blink it away; knowing how we were living the life we imagined, the thrill and the rush was as if made for us. It was a memory of a lifetime but it was short and life-risking. ''We're not in college anymore. We're not like how we used to be. We both have responsibilities to take care of. We made a deal to never return, we can't break that deal.'' He continues to speak, ''There are other ways.''

''What ways? What goddamn ways do I have?''

''I don't know. Any other ways than this!''

''You don't understand what I'm going through right now. Imagine being in my shoes—I'd risk anything just so that this doesn't involve Brody. If he can go this far to ruin me . . . he can go as far as to hurt my son. Come on, man. Can't you see I'm desperate?'' I ask, eyes pleading and somehow hopeless. If I leave this unattended any longer, I'd be in a deep regret.

''Then, you'd rather risk it this way? For something uncertain? What are you going to do if we do find him? Kill him?'' He continues to look at me, somewhat waiting for an answer. An answer I can't even possibly give—not at this point.

''You know what? Drop it,''

''Drop it? You want me to drop it?''

''You heard me.''

''You're the one who started it. Might as well finish it!'' He shouts.

I turn to look at him, eyes piercing into his own before looking away. ''I don't want to start this with you. I don't want to ruin what we have with something like this. So, I'm going to go and solve this—you can stay here and don't get yourself involved or you can get yourself involved. Either way, your choice.'' And it doesn't take me long to leave him behind with a burden on his shoulders.

I meet up with Dion outside, finding him waiting for me with my chauffeur Steven. ''Are you okay, sir?''

''No. Get in the car,''

Steven immediately starts the car as both Dion and I enter, causing him to drive down the road while I scroll onto my phone; wanting to find the exact address that Aidan and I went to years ago. ''We need to go somewhere. It's either a yes or no—if not, I'll drive after letting you guys off back at the office.''

''Where exactly are we heading, sir?'' Steven asks, eyes looking up at the rear-view mirror before making a quick turn.

''Somewhere,'' I respond, directly connecting the direction to the car; leaning back on my seat as I clench my fists, knowing the consequences and the risks of ever getting them involved again. It's a risk anyone, everyone should and would avoid.

As soon as we've arrived at the destination, my eyes wander around the neighbourhood; somewhere further away than our neighbourhood up in the city. This is someone would call 'the dark side' of the city—where people tend to avoid coming, only people with bad intentions come here and I suppose, I'm one of those people. ''Sir . . . are you sure we're at the right place?'' Dion asks, gripping hard onto his seatbelt.

''We're here. Steven followed the right directions,'' I answer.

''I think we should head back. Don't you think, Steven? I don't have a good feeling about this,'' Dion continues to speak before sighing. ''Why are we even here, anyway? Sir, can we please turn around and head back to the office? I don't want to be here,'' He adds and I turn to find sweats forming on his forehead which causes me to roll my eyes; the Dion I know would love adventures and thrills but the Dion I'm with right now seems more like a coward who prefers relaxation.

''No, just keep going.'' I continue to scroll down my phone, ignoring Dion's grunts and mutterings.

''Sir, this is a bad idea. We haven't even planned our event properly yet—you cancelled it to attend your friend's wedding, remember? We should get back to that and—oh! We have to recheck the files we've received. You also have a meeting in . . . in two hours, no, no, in twenty-minutes. Can we please get back, sir?'' Dion turns to look at me, gripping hard onto the seat. ''Mr. Belrose, sir! Look at me, please!''

I immediately put my hand over his mouth, ''Shut up. You're making a fuss over nothing!''

''But . . . but sir, I have a weak heart.''

''You surely don't, Dion.''

''Then, I have weak legs. I can't run fast. What if anything happens and I'd have to run for my life?'' He asks, grabbing onto my hand before shaking it—wanting to grab my attention. ''Sir! Sir, please! I beg of you. I'd do anything. I'd even listen to you when you ask me to stop doing makeup for other people at work!'' He grips harder which causes me to flinch.

''Steven, stop here. Both of you stay in the car,'' I immediately pull my hand away before stepping out of the car and seconds before I close the door, I hear Dion calling out my name and screaming for me to come back inside but I refuse; simply ignoring his petty requests.

As I walk down the dark alley, I hear footsteps behind me which causes me to turn around but find an empty street; not a single person showing up to reveal him or herself. I fasten my steps by ignoring any negative thoughts in my head and only thinking of the important people in my life, Brody being the first and Sophia being the second—someone I'm considering on letting her remain in my life.

I stop at the sight of people stepping in and out of one of the buildings, trying to remain out of sight.

Someone grabs onto my arm, causing me to turn and find Dion shaking like a chihuahua and sweating as if he has been running a marathon. Our eyes meet in an instant, ''Mr. Belrose! You can't just—'' I shut him up by slamming my hand over his mouth before pulling him over behind another empty alley, not wanting to attract further attention.

''I told you to wait in the car!'' I exclaim lowly as he continues to grip onto me as if he has lost his own sense, fairly wanting my protection as if I mean the world to him.

''I followed you to protect you,'' He leans closer, closing his eyes in fear.

''Who's protecting who?'' I roll my eyes.

''Who's there?!'' Someone shouts from afar which causes Dion to shake his head furiously while I continue to pull my arm away but his grip tightens, letting me groan in frustration.

''No, no, no. God, Jesus, anyone please save me.'' Dion mutters under his breath in shakiness, literally begging for a saviour when we both know we dragged ourselves into this situation without forcing anyone else. ''This is all your fault. We're going to die and this is all your fault. I haven't even met my true love yet. No, I haven't even met David Beckham yet, for god's sake!'' He exclaims, causing me to slap his face in order for him to lower his voice.

''You're the one who's going to get us killed, damn it.'' I frown.

''Sir, let's run. Let's just run,''

''You said you have weak legs,''

''Suddenly, I just find them incredibly strong. Let's run out of here before we get ourselves killed and regret it in the afterlife,'' He nods his head a few times, gesturing for me to run with him down the alley and straight back towards where Steven is waiting but I'm more drawn to the voice who called out for us rather than escaping like a coward. Besides, I came all the way here and I would not want to return empty-handed.

''You can run. I'll distract them,'' I lean forward as I slowly make myself known but Dion's pull appears more stronger than it should be. ''What are you doing? Go and get back to the car, Dion.'' I furrow my brows at the sight of him shaking as he loosen his necktie.

''Are you crazy, sir?! You're going to get yourself killed,'' He stutters.

''You, there!'' Someone shouts.

Dion begins to feel the adrenaline rush in his body as he grabs harder onto my arm before pulling me down the dark alley, letting me run behind him in the most uncomfortable way possible. The sight of his legs making a run for it in a very fast motion causes me to turn around, finding a few men running after us; shouting and calling after us while we both continue to run for our lives. Dion wouldn't stop cursing under his breath as he shouts the words out loud, completely forgetting his prayers earlier.

''You made me do this. You made me do this!'' He shouts.

Within seconds, we manage to arrive at the car and Dion immediately pushes me inside before following suit. Steven presses hard onto the gas pedal which causes the car to move forward, leaving the men behind us to stop running. ''We're going to die. We're going to die. We're surely going to die!'' Dion runs his fingers through his hair in different motions before putting the seatbelt on. ''I'm still young to die. No, I'm going to come out of here alive.'' He adds.

''They're following us!'' Steven says.

''God damn it! Oh lord, forgive me for all the sins I have and for all the bad choices I've made in life. Forgive me for not being holy in your eyes and for giving in to satan—Oh, please let me come out of here alive and I'll make a deal to let you in my life.'' Dion continues to mumble under his breath as he grips harder onto his seat, completely going crazy himself.

''Steven, stop the car.'' I say, determined.

''Are you fucking crazy?!'' Dion turns to look at me with wide eyes, as if I've lost my mind.

''No, sir. We have to get out of here. We can't risk anything,'' Steven replies before making a quick turn, finding another way out of here but for some unknown reason, there's just something bad creeping inside me and I feel like we're not going to make it out of here; plus, Dion's prayers might even go to waste.

''Look out!'' Dion shouts, causing the three of us to turn and look up front; finding a man standing in the middle of the road with a machine gun in his hand—immediately leaving Steven in a tough choice. ''Oh my god!'' He continues to scream, turning this situation into something more intense than it should be.

Just like that, the car yelps forward.