After working for what seemed like eternity, it was finally the end of another grueling workday. I checked my phone; the time read 6:30 PM. I sighed, the weight of the city pressing against my temples, before getting into the cab I had called earlier.
When I finally reached my apartment, the silence was a welcome relief. I kicked off my shoes, the heels hitting the hardwood with a satisfying thud, and turned on the lights as I sank into the sofa. I was exhausted. Between the internship, the move Zane was forcing upon me, and the constant hum of "protection" surrounding me, it had been a nerve-wracking day.
I had just concluded my bath, the steam still clinging to my skin, and was about to have dinner when my phone rang. I checked the caller ID. It wasn't Zane. It was a familiar, strange number—one that existed on a secondary, encrypted line Zane knew nothing about.
I picked up the call. "What's the matter?"
"Young lady, we found another culprit," the male voice at the other end said. I sat up straight, the damp towel around my hair forgotten.
"Oooh. Send over the details via email. I will send the new address," I commanded.
"Yes, boss..." He paused, the sound of static filling the line. "Boss, are you okay?" he asked, his voice laced with genuine concern.
"What do you mean? Is there anything going on I don't know about?" I asked, my hand stilling on the spoon I was using to stir my sauce.
"Nothing, but you do know that Zane is not a man to be messed with. If one day he finds out about everything... about what you really do for the organisation..."
I allowed a small, sharp smile to touch my lips. "Don't worry. He will never find out unless I want him to."
"Okay then. Got to go, duty calls."
"How is the company doing?" I asked, shifting the focus to the hidden assets I managed.
"Great, young lady. If we need anything, I will inform you ASAP," he said, and I chuckled.
"Alright, bye."
I hung up, but the hunger that had been driving me toward dinner had vanished. I walked out onto my balcony, the cool Seattle air biting at my bare shoulders. I lit a cigarette—a habit I strictly hid from Zane—and took a long, slow puff, letting the smoke curl into the night sky.
I opened the email on my phone. My eyes scanned the text with clinical precision.
Target: Maxon I. K.Occupation: General Manager of KL Fashion. Marital Status: Single.
Good, I thought, a few approving nods following the realisation. He doesn't have any family. I wouldn't like to make another child fatherless.
Flaws: Womaniser, loves asserting control over women. Crimes: Harassed four women; released due to "lack of evidence."
I chuckled to myself, flicking ash over the railing. "He is still a fool."
I tapped the number to call my associate back immediately. "Young lady," he answered on the first ring.
"About this Maxon. He is a complete dick, isn't he?"
"Ahh, seems like I forgot to brief you. He is a very crude bastard," the voice replied.
"How so?"
"You know I stated he had been arrested for molesting four ladies but was released? Turns out there was evidence, but it was destroyed by him. But trust me, we are fixing every bit of the fifteen tapes." I could hear the rhythmic whirring of high-end recovery machines in the background.
"Fifteen tapes?" I exclaimed, my grip tightening on the balcony railing.
"Yeah. Turns out something like this happened back when he was working under the big boss—the one we don't name. That was where the sexual assault slanders against the firm came from. Maxon fueled them from the inside, nearly ruining the reputation of the higher-ups."
A cold, calculating fury settled over me. "Alright. Enough already."
"Will he die like Bill and the other?"
I took one last drag of the cigarette, the cherry glowing bright red before I crushed it out against the brick. "Death is too easy an option," I said, my voice like tempered steel. "He must suffer... properly."
I hung up and headed to my bedroom. As I lay in the dark, my eyes closed, but my brain was a hive of activity.
Zane thought he was the only one cleaning up the streets for me. He thought he was the monster under my bed. He had no idea that I was a "Young Lady" of an empire even he couldn't see, and that I was still waiting for the day I'd finally meet the mysterious Boss who had pulled me into this life years ago, before i was found by the Robertson's.
Maxon didn't know it yet, but his world was about to end. And unlike Zane, I didn't need to send body parts to make a point. I preferred to watch them burn from the inside out.