Plan

Fred POV

I snapped my head up, heat rushing to my face. My fingers dug into the arm of the cheap couch, the fabric rough against my palm. This filthy room, this disgusting smell of cum and smoke, and now this lowlife mocking me.

I wanted to grab the nearest bottle and smash it across his grinning face.

“Spineless?” I hissed, leaning forward. My voice came out sharper than I intended. “Watch your fucking mouth before I make sure you choke on your own tongue.”

He just laughed again, that low, raspy sound that made my skin crawl. He took another drag from his cigarette, eyes half-lidded with amusement. “Look at you. All dressed up in your fancy clothes, driving your expensive car yet one name and you’re shaking like a little bitch. Pathetic.”

I stood up slowly, trying to keep my breathing steady. The image of Damien’s cold eyes still lingered in my head—those eyes that could peel skin without blinking. I hated how real it felt. But I couldn’t let this idiot see my weakness.

“Enough of your bullshit,” I said, my tone ice-cold now. “You failed the job. I paid good money for Elias to disappear permanently. Instead, he’s still walking around my father’s company like he owns the place. And now Damien is involved? Explain or I swear I’ll find someone else who can actually do the work.”

The idiot leaned back, crossing his arms over his broad chest. The deranged prostitute he’d been fucking earlier had already slinked out of the room, probably counting whatever little cash he threw at her.

Good.

I didn’t need extra ears.

“Your boy Elias was supposed to die clean in that hotel. My men had everything set but Damien was an uncontrollable factor in it. One of my guys had drugged him ready to humiliate him beyond anything. We were all set to hit two birds with one stone, but who would have thought that the birds would meet each other?"

My stomach twisted. “Bumped into each other? What the hell does that mean?”

He shrugged, ashes falling onto the floor. “My man pulled his 'gun' too fast. Damien saw through my conspiracy and acted fast. He grabbed your prey like a pie from heaven and ate him in his own suite like a fucking prize. The boy spent the whole night in there with him, perhaps it was better to sleep with a boy than anything set up by your enemy.”

I felt bile rise in my throat. Elias… with Damien. That monster who treated people like disposable toys. The same Damien who had built an empire on blood and fear. The thought of that beast touching what should have been mine to destroy made my blood boil.

“He’s not dead,” I muttered, pacing the small room. My expensive shoes stuck slightly to the dirty carpet. “Not only is he alive, but now Damien has marked him. If that devil starts digging into why Elias happened to be there and your plan for him…”

The idiot smirked. “Exactly. Damien is tearing the underworld apart looking for whoever ordered the hit. He’s offering rewards, breaking fingers, and burning warehouses. Word is he’s treating it personal. Like someone touched something that belongs to him now.”

“Belongs to him?” I stopped pacing, my hands shaking with barely contained rage.

“Elias is my half-brother. That illegitimate bastard has been sucking up to my father for years, stealing contracts, making me look bad. He doesn’t belong to anyone—especially not to that devil. My father’s company is mine. Mine! Elias was supposed to be gone so I could finally take what’s rightfully mine.”

The idiot crushed his cigarette on the table, leaving a black scorch mark. “Well, your plan backfired beautifully. Damien fucked him raw that night. Multiple rounds. The boy left the hotel limping, covered in marks. And Damien… he’s hunting now. Not just for the ones who drugged him, but for anyone connected to Elias.”

My heart hammered against my ribs.

Damien had Elias’s information, which meant he knew who Elias was. He knew about the company. About me, possibly.

I swallowed hard, forcing my voice to stay calm. “How do we fix this? I can pay more. Triple the original amount. Just make Elias disappear quietly. Make it look like an accident. A car crash, a robbery—anything. But it has to happen before Damien connects the dots to me.”

The idiot tilted his head, studying me with those bloodshot eyes. “Money won’t buy silence when Damien is asking questions, rich boy.”

“Then what?” I snapped, stepping closer. “You’re the expert in this dirty world. Give me a solution or I’ll find someone who isn’t a complete failure.”

He grinned, yellow teeth flashing. “There’s one way. Create a bigger distraction. Something that will pull Damien’s eyes away from Elias and that hotel night. Give him a new prey to chase. Something bigger than revenge.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of distraction?”

His smile turned darker, hungrier. “You give him something he wants even more. Or… you make him think the real threat is somewhere else. Maybe point him toward your father’s competitors. Or better yet—”

He leaned in, voice dropping. “Feed him false information that someone else ordered the hit on Elias. Someone Damien already hates.”

My mind raced thinking of this plan's possibility. I could shift the blame and buy time. Let Damien destroy someone else while I regroup and finish Elias myself.

But the risk… if Damien found out it was me…

I straightened my jacket, hiding the tremor in my hands. “Fine, tell me the plan. And if this blows up in my face, I’ll make sure Damien knows exactly who to come for first—you.”

The idiot laughed rowdily, the sound echoing in the dingy room. “Sit back down, Master Fred. Let’s talk real business. Because once Damien starts moving, even your father's voice won’t save you.”

I sat down slowly, my heart still pounding. I had started this game to remove Elias from my path. Now it felt like I had awakened something far worse.

And Elias… that weak, pathetic half-brother of mine… was somehow at the center of it all. I wouldn’t let him win.

Not now. Not ever.