Chapter seven: Coldheart.
Caesar and his men pulled up to an abandoned warehouse. “Silent, take your positions.”, he commanded. “They have him and any mistake could make them harm Julian.” His men followed orders diligently. Some snipers taking positions at the rooftops, some men breaching the back entrances. His phone rings. He picks it up. He knew who it was. “There is no need to that, you know I would tear you into pieces” Caesar goes through the front, unbothered, a pistol in his hand. He hears Julian scream echoes from a distance, his vision turning red. He races inside, flashbacks of Julian's smile and his promise to Patrick to protect Julian in his mind. _____ Julian is tied to a chair, bruised and bleeding from his lip. The man tries touching him saying. “Your lover is so arrogant. Imagine, hanging up my call when I could easily kill you. Let's see how this pretty one can scream though” Julian spits at him, holding back the tears in his eyes and trembling. “You stupid p*ssy”, he hit Julian across the face twice. Suddenly_ Gunshots spiralled in different directions, men getting hit and falling one by one. Julian's chair tips over as he moves, and tries to crawl away. Caesar comes in breathing fast and hard. “You are surrounded, put your gun down, Paul”, he stared furiously at his rival. Paul immediately grabs Julian, pointing the gun to his head. “Let's make a deal, I walk out of here and your toy lives” “YOU!, Don't get to make a deal with me. Your life is already in my hands, Paul. You have done something unforgivable, touching what's MINE!” Bow. A bullet hit Paul by his leg. “AH!” Caesar launched at him, grabbing the gun. “You fool”, Caesar punched him. Immediately shooting him through his head without blinking, staring directly at Julian who watched in fear. He sees Julian on the floor, trembling in fear but also relief. Caesar kneels beside him. Gently touching Julian cheeks, cups his bruised face. “Shhh…It's over. You are safe with me” Julian flinches, immediately pulling away, terrified of how this man in front of him just killed someone like it was nothing. .. “You…you're a monster.”, he whispered. “I can be whatever you want me to be. A monster or your shining knight in black armour” Caesar lifts Julian in his arms as he walks out of the warehouse. “Boys, burn everything down and make sure nobody gets out alive” “Yes sir” the guards echoed. The warehouse burns behind Caesar. In the car, Julian is shaking violently, looking the other way and refusing to look at Caesar. Caesar takes his coat off, wrapping his coat around Julian. Pulling him closer and placing his head on his chest. “Why?”, whispered Julian. “Because you are mine. Nobody touches what's mine. It won't happen again” Julian feels a twisted sense of safety knowing even though Caesar traps and controls him but would burn the world down to keep him safe. Tears stream down his face as his head lays on Caesar's chest unable to pull away. Caesar carries Julian in his arms to his personal bathroom. He already had a maid prepare a bath. He undresses him gently like he was going to break. “I can't ju..”, Julian tried refusing but Caesar ignored him, forcefully having Julian sit in the bath. The bath was warm. Julian sobs quietly as Caesar washes him like a baby. Cleaning the blood and dirt off his body. The tension was thick with longing. Julian couldn't deny he enjoyed the attention and desired this man he feared. Caesar kisses him gently and kisses the bruises on his cheek. “You broke a rule by going out without me, my boys or my permission.” “What do you think I should do to you, pet?”Caesar whispered. “Punish me”, Julian mustered looking away. Caesar grabbed him by the chin tightly. “You should say that while looking at me.” “How do you feel after doing what you did today?”. He pins him to the bathtub. “I..I am sorry”, he gasped as Caesar deliberately poured water over his face over and over. “Don't stop talking”, Caesar commanded with every of his words ringing and asserting dominance. “Would you do that again, my love?” “No…no, I…promise”, Julian said between short gasps as his hair clung wetly to his face. He stopped. “Turn around, arch your back.” Julian obeyed immediately, his words controlled his movement, thoughts and everything. Caesar slides into him, his stretch filling him up from inside. Julian gasped softly, jerked in a way that made water spill over the edges of the giant bathtub. He moved in a way that made moans, whispers escaped Julian's lip. “You say I'm sorry till I'm done with you” “I..m sorry”, he said between choking moans. His hand has a tight grip on the tub making his knuckles turn white. Caesar groans as he pins down Julian with his hand and body. Shallow breath, kissing, water splashing. The atmosphere was filled with passion and arousal. Julian shut his eyes. Muscle tensed. “Fuck, I'm sorry. I would never do that again!”he yelled as he climaxed. It was wild and he felt vulnerable. Caesar came after him. “It's time for bed”, he lifts him up and takes him to his bed. Gently placing Julian on it. Tucking him in, it didn't take much longer when he heard soft snores. He stares at Julian in his bed. Soft, delicate like a porcelain doll. He knew he was falling in love. ____ Julian wakes up, in very soft white. This wasn't his bed, it was Caesar's. He looks to his side, empty. He finds his phone by the nightstand. Caesar walked in with a tray of breakfast. “Sleeping beauty, I got you breakfast”, he sits by his side on the bed. “I'm not hungry, keep it away”, Julian turned his back on him. “You are not allowed to leave me, Julian. Ever” “You cannot keep me here forever”, Julian weakly replied. A buzz, it was Julian's phone. Unknown number: “He lied to you, every time.” Julian looks at the message, his heart pounding heavily in his chest. Before he could hide the phone, Caesar snatched it from his hand. Reading it with a sarcastic tone. “Do you know who these messages are from?”, Julian demands. “I don't, I don't think you need to know”. He tossed the phone towards Julian. “What are you hiding from me?. Do you think Patrick is alive?” “You are so naive, aren't you?”, he whispered with deadly calm. Suddenly, the phone rings. Julian answers with his hands trembling. Caesar eyes sharp on him, intimidating Julian to put the call on loudspeaker. A voice crackles.. “Julian .. It's Patrick. Run away from him” Julian's eyes widened in horror as Caesar's jaw tightened, eyes with possessive rage. Caesar grabbed him by arm, dragging him down to the underground toward the Truth room. "Let go of me, Caesar. You are hurting". Julian cried. “AFTER ALL I HAVE DONE FOR YOU AND PROMISED…”Chapter Sixty Six: The Serpent Kiss Peter pushed the door open slowly, the soft creak slicing through the heavy silence of the office. Ryan stood by the windows, his broad back turned to Peter, rigid like a statue carved from anger. “Close the door, Peter.” Ryan’s voice was low, quiet…but every syllable carried a weight of command that brooked no argument. Peter obeyed, the click of the door closing sounding unnervingly loud. “You saw the news, I assume? The laughing stock of the city. My task force… humiliated by novelty fish,” Ryan said, voice tight, clipped. Peter kept his tone even, careful to stay neutral. “It was a strategic blow, sir. But we’ll recover. We’ll find whoever did this.” Ryan spun around like a coiled serpent, slamming his hand down on the desk with a thunderous crack. Peter flinched, caught off guard by the raw fury blazing in Ryan’s eyes. “Recover?!” Ryan’s roar shattered the room, his face twisted with something savage, feral. “They didn’t just stea
Chapter Sixty Five: Meeting With The FoesThe air in the VIP room was thick with the smell of old money and new lies. Peter felt his uniform tighten around his throat like a noose. Every step behind Ryan Graves felt like walking the plank.Arthur Bryan sat enthroned in a leather armchair, a glass of brandy in hand. His smile was a polished weapon. "Peter Davis," he said, the name rolling off his tongue like a verdict. He stood, his grip crushing Peter's hand. "I knew your father. A man of… inflexible principles." His eyes, cold and assessing, scanned Peter's face. "It's a relief to see his son understands how the real world operates."Peter’s stomach churned. He could feel the ghost of his father in the room, a silent, disapproving presence. I’m sorry, Dad. He forced a smile that felt like a crack in his soul. "I believe in getting things done, Senator. My father admired efficiency. I suppose I do, too." The lie tasted like bile.Ryan clapped a heavy hand on Peter’s shoulder, a p
Chapter Sixty Four: The Devil’s Bargain The lounge was too quiet, the kind of silence that felt expensive and dangerous. Peter’s skin prickled under his uniform. It felt like a costume here, a pathetic disguise. “There you are. I was beginning to think you got cold feet.” Ryan Graves didn’t smile. His eyes did all the talking, scanning Peter like he was a piece of evidence. “Sit.” Peter sat, the leather chair groaning under him. He felt like a kid in the principal’s office, if the principal was a shark in a tailored suit. “You look tense. Drink.” It wasn’t a suggestion. Ryan pushed a glass of amber liquid across the polished wood. “It’s good to have ambition, kid. Serve me well, and you’ll rise fast. Faster than you can imagine.” Peter’s fingers curled around the cool glass. He forced a smile, but it felt brittle on his face. “It’s not about the position for me, sir. It’s about serving the country. Upholding the law.” The words tasted like ash in his mouth. Just like Dad. Ry
Chapter Sixty Three: Blood and Thrones“Are you really afraid a major strike could hit us, Father?” Caesar’s voice was calm but sharp, like a blade slicing through the tense silence.Julian, Peter, and Enzo sat close by, the weight of Don Alessandro’s presence hanging heavy after Ryan’s press conference. The room was thick with unspoken threats.“Oh, son,” Don Alessandro sighed, voice low but laced with something like tiredness. “You know me. Fear is a stranger to me.”“But the police crackdown,” Caesar pressed, “it’s not just smoke. It’s a real threat…one that hits the family where it hurts the most.”Don Alessandro’s eyes narrowed, dark and unreadable. “If you want to be part of this fight, you step back.”“No more using Julian like a pawn, no more half-trusts. I lead. You don’t interfere. Otherwise, walk away and let us rot.”Caesar cut him off, ice in his glare. “Don’t push me, Father. My life isn’t the Mafia’s. You’re the one who stands to lose everything if this empire crashes
Chapter Sixty-Two: Rings of Fire“You think that bastard just offered to mentor you because he likes your face?” Enzo’s voice cracked like a whip, sharp with fury. “He’s already sizing you up.”Peter stood still, arms folded, jaw clenched. Enzo wasn’t wrong. But he wasn’t exactly right either.“His walking in on you at the recruitment office wasn’t some random coincidence,” Enzo continued, pacing now, like a storm building. “You’re walking into a den of wolves. They’ll eat you alive.”“I’ll make them think I’m a sheep,” Peter said, calm and cold. “Let them circle. I want justice for my father. And this is the closest I’ve ever been.”“Peter, in as much as this is a good idea,” Julian cut in, his eyes soft but voice strained, “this is dangerous.”“Peter is the best shot we’ve got to plant someone near Ryan,” Caesar added, arms folded. He sounded more like a strategist than a friend. “He just has to make Ryan believe he’s on his side…make him think he’s taken the bait. Meanwhile, we g
Chapter Sixty-One: The Villain in Uniform“I don’t think you should stay at the hospital anymore. We don’t know who’s going to walk through that door next…someone who won’t hesitate to silence you for good.”“You worry too much about me, Doc,” Sebastian chuckled, trying to lighten the tension.“I’m serious.” Aiden’s voice was firm as he adjusted his glasses. “You don’t have anyone to take care of you if I send you home. You should stay at my apartment.”Sebastian sighed, heavy with reluctance. “I don’t want to be a burden or put you in danger. You’d understand if I refused.”“I’m a doctor, Sebastian. My job is to keep you alive. And right now, the hospital isn’t safe for you.”“At least in my apartment, I can watch over you every second.”Aiden’s calm and unwavering tone did what it always did…he convinced Sebastian.*****Snap! Snap!Hundreds of camera flashes exploded in the hall.A neatly dressed, well-decorated officer climbed the stage to speak.“No one is above the law. Not the