The devil knows my name

Elina POV

Rough fingers fisted into my hair from behind, yanking me backward with such force I stumbled and fell to my knees.

Pain seared across my scalp. I cried out, desperate, clawing at the grip as I was dragged across the dirty floor like a ragdoll.

"This bitch, she needs to have a nice beating. Did you think you could run from me, huh?” He yanked me back by the hair.

“No! Let go of me!” I cried out as my knees scraped the floor.

“Since you want to act wild, I’ll show you how we tame wild girls.” His voice dropped, full of cruel promise. “I’m going to enjoy breaking you all over again.”

My knees scraped the dirt as he dragged me forward like a captured animal. I tried to fight, but every tug of my hair shot pain down my spine. No one stepped in, no one cared!

Then I saw it as he pushed me to the tent. He shoved the flap aside and flung me forward. I stumbled into the thick, musky air, landing hard on my hands and knees.

Eyes turned to me now…sharp, hungry, amused. The tent was filled with men.

Gangsters. Thugs. Killers. All of them seated around crates turned into makeshift tables, smoking, drinking, tossing cards, and now… watching me.

The gangster announced, puffing out his chest like he’d won a prize. “The little whore tried to rebel, tried to escape, can you believe that…? But don’t worry, she’s gonna learn her place tonight. I was going to take her home but now I want nothing but to share her with you all.”

What? S-Share…?

My knees trembled, was I going to get gang-r*ped now?

There was no escape. I had run once, fought back. But now? Now I was just a broken thing.

“You worthless little puttana,” he spat, grabbing my chin and yanking my face up to meet his.

“You made me a clown, hit me on my nose.” he hissed. “Let me fix that.”

I didn’t have time to flinch.

The slap came hard. My head whipped to the side, stars bursting behind my eyes. The sting was sharp, but it was the humiliation that burned deeper. The sound of it echoed around the tent.

“Stand up!” he barked.

More laughter, louder now, crueler.

Hot tears streamed down my eyes and I tried getting up. So this is how I die?

My legs shook, barely obeying. When I was upright again, he grabbed my arm and twisted it painfully behind my back, forcing me to face the others.

“She wants to play?” The gangster said to his men, “Let’s show her what playing costs.”

All the men circled me like vultures, their boots heavy against the dirt floor, their eyes full of things I couldn’t even begin to say out loud.

“No, please.” I pleaded but my voice was swallowed by the low murmur of voices, laughter and casual chatter, as if my suffering was just background noise, something to be mocked and shrugged off like entertainment.

One of them crouched low, grabbing my chin between his fingers. “She’s pretty for a runner,” he sneered, tilting my face toward the light. “Bet she squeals nice too.”

“Let's take a turn. Shall we?”

“She has three holes, why don't we stick it all in?” Another laughed.

No. No. Please.

Hands grabbed me.

I choked on my sob, tried to fight, to crawl away but they held me like I was weightless, laughing as fingers tugged at my torn clothes.

And then..a single shot rang out. A gun shot!

“What the fuck is all this noise?”The voice sliced through the chaos like a whip. “Fucking screaming pigs, you're pissing me off.”

And my eyes went to him…Aziel Valerie King.

He walked into the tent like he owned the world. The air suddenly seemed to change. The laughter died immediately as soon as everyone saw him.

Aziel King radiated such pure menace that even the gangster stumbled back, eyes wide.

He looked…bored, irritated and utterly dangerous. “I swear, if I hear one more pathetic squeal from this tent, I’ll start slicing tongues.”

Everyone stiffened, even the gangster holding me. My heart hammered against my chest, my breath caught.

Aziel’s eyes flicked over the room, landing on me last and something in them shifted.

There was something unreadable in his expression. His jaw ticked, his brow twitched but his eyes, cold and depthless, stayed locked on me.

He saw everything.

The bruises, the blood on my lip, my torn blouse, hanging off one shoulder, my arms scraped raw from being dragged.

He saw me on my knees, broken and humiliated.

“Apologies, Mr. King. Didn’t mean to cause a scene,” The gangster said, his voice tight with forced calm. “Didn’t know you were nearby. My boys got a little excited, that’s all.”

Aziel didn’t reply.

The gangster glanced at his men, then gently reached for my arm again. “We’ll take our leave, yeah? Quietly. No trouble.”

He reached out again, timid now, trying to pull me toward him, but then Aziel’s words sliced through the tent like a blade.

“Oh, I do insist you all go but…you're going to leave her here.”

The gangster froze mid-motion. He stared at Aziel, blinking like he hadn’t heard him right. “What..!?”

“I said you should all fucking leave this tent except her. What? Don't want to?” Aziel said coldly, voice low and lethal.

The man looked irritated. “You don’t understand. I paid for her, twenty million dollars. She’s mine.”

“So what you're the one who bought her…?” Aziel repeated, voice soft like silk over a blade. “Now that I put my eyes on her, she's going to be mine. I'll pay you double.” His eyes narrowed, gleaming with cruel amusement. “Do you have a problem with that, Pedro? Go ahead. Say it.”

A deadly silence followed, broken only by the wind rustling the tent. The gangster hesitated, clearly unsure if the girl he’d bought was worth the bloodbath that might follow.

Aziel’s hand hovered near his gun.

“She stays with me,” he said again, this time darker and final. “Walk away before I decide your life isn’t.”

The gangster gave a stiff chuckle, glancing at his men like he needed backup.

“You don’t want to make an enemy out of me, King,” he growled, his voice brittle behind the forced bravado. “You might be a big name out there, but this is my world. You’ve crossed a line—”

Aziel looked at him coldly, “Are you done?”

“I’m warning you!”

“No,” Aziel cut in, deadly calm, stepping forward until the space between them felt suffocating. “I’m warning you.”

“If you ever lay a finger on something I’ve looked at twice, I’ll carve your name into concrete and drop it in the ocean, then I’ll pay your mother to watch it sink. Understood?”

Silence stretched like a noose.

The man shrank back a fraction, lips parting, but no sound came out but his pride couldn’t handle it.

He snarled, “You arrogant f*ck. You think I can't kill you here and now? I wanted to kill you from the very beginning when your father gave you the position. Now you dare come in my way..? For a mere girl?” He signalled one of his men to aim the gun at Aziel. “Aim at his fucking head. Now.”

But Aziel didn’t even blink. There wasn’t a flicker of hesitation, not a moment of fear.

Before the guard could even raise his weapon fully…

BANG.

The shot rang out like a crack of doom. Blood splattered across the tent wall. The gangster’s guard’s body slumped, lifeless, to the ground.

Aziel still had his gun raised, arm steady, smoke curling from the barrel like a serpent.

He’d pulled the trigger without a single blink. Without breaking eye contact.

“Anyone else feeling brave?” he asked coldly, his voice like the chill of death.

I stumbled back, a scream caught in my throat, but I couldn't take it out. Blood splattered across the ground, warm and real and far too close.

The gangster shrieked, “What the fuck!? You’ve made a mistake, King. You touch me, and—”

Aziel stepped forward, slow, deliberate. “And what? Wouldn't it be fun if I kill you here itself? I too wanted to do this from the very beginning you see?”

The man paled.

Aziel didn’t give him a second glance. He turned slightly, eyes shifting to one of his men standing behind him.

“Kill him. He dared to aim at Valerie King's only heir.”

“Wait!” the man stumbled back, hands raised. “You don’t know who you’re messing with! If you kill me, you’ll bring down hell. You don't want to make an enemy out of La Negra.”

Aziel paused mid-step, turning his head just enough to glance over his shoulder. His smirk was slow and wicked, the kind that promised ruin.

“Oh, as much as I want to....” he said, voice like poison wrapped in silk. “But…who will be alive to tell all this?”

The gangster’s breath hitched.

Aziel smirked, “Wipe out everyone present here. Each and everyone.”

What..?

That was the moment I knew.

I hadn’t begged a man for my life, I had begged a monster cloaked in human skin.

And now…

The devil knew my name.