Chapter Six.

Mister Stone had been at it for minutes with no change. Operatives were supposed to be resolute; he understood that. But Jason was something else entirely. He sounded convincing and refused to crack, despite the torment. However, getting him to talk hadn’t been the priority; having fun was. Mister Stone pulled away, flinging his hand in disgust, and adorned his lipless smile. He then raised his iPad to Jason’s face.

Jason cringed at the blinding close-up light but blinked away the blurs in his vision to see a familiar hospital room. Then, he saw a familiar girl with a beanie who seemed to be making what looked like anniversary gifts. Jason's chest tightened, and he began to hyperventilate. That was his sister, in her Rothschild Hospital ward. They had brought his sister into this. His anguish morphed into adrenaline, and he thrashed against his restraints, shouting anything that resembled pleas.

Dominic, witnessing the scene, transformed his expression from maniacal to mournful. His eyes sparkled with tears, which he brushed away with the heel of his hand. “Are you in pain, Jason?” he asked, softly. Jason was taken aback. What was with the change in attitude? Seconds earlier, Dominic had shown he intended to exploit his sister's innocence, but now he appeared remorseful. Dominic crouched before him, their eyes locking. “I truly sympathize with you, Jason Clyde. Your suffering resonates deeply with me,” he said.

A dreamy look then crossed his eyes. “You see, I wasn't born this way,” he gestured to himself. “I was born out of wedlock, and unfortunately, into the powerful yet conservative Stone family. As if being a bastard wasn't bad enough; the family doctors claimed my brain was defective, and I was a psychopath.”

Defensively he laughed, “Can you imagine that? Just because I didn't let morality hold me back, they called me insane. When I was perfectly fine. Anyway, after the psychiatrist's diagnosis, my grandfather , who didn't want a crazy person around, had me detained in an asylum, while my baby half-brother, the perfect child, was being groomed to become the next heir and Capone of the family's syndicate. I was abandoned there, but.” his face brightened.

“Surprisingly, the place they left me to rot wasn't that bad. It actually felt like home, being close to those serial killers and people with liberation. It was nice, in its own way. But I couldn’t stay forever. I had to reclaim what was rightfully mine. So, pretending to have the flaws that hold you humans back—selflessness and all that rubbish. Plus charming a few nurses, I was acquitted.” he sighed longingly. “Do you know what I did when I got out?”

He smiled. “I humbly worked as the chauffeur for my grandfather and ran minimal errands for the syndicate. For twenty-eight years, that’s all I did. I patiently reduced myself, and stayed close to the old man, waiting for the right time. When that time finally came, do you know what I did?” Dominic gestured his finger across his neck. “I liberated him, blamed it on someone else, and forged documents. Voilà, I became the heir to the Stone empire,” he faced the sky and shouted, “I had become a billionaire. I now had houses, cars, jets, yachts, and the country’s most powerful syndicate at my disposal, but,”

He looked down, saddened. “It was all for naught if they didn’t acknowledge me. The Five Families served as the board of directors for criminal syndicates, and gaining their recognition—or even becoming their head—would mean total consolidation of power over the ‘Black Outfit’ syndicate and potentially the world’s criminal organizations. I begged for them to acknowledge me. But they called me a joke, a deceptive person who’d gained power through questionable means,” he quieted, but then snapped. “I killed somebody to get what I wanted—what’s deceptive about that? He was old, and I liberated him.”

“Anyway, after spending billions on buying alliances and a few blackmails later, they considered my membership. But—and there's always a but—I had to secure backing from a prominent family. I picked the Rothschilds because, well, Rachel.” He blushed. “She’s so fine. Lucky you—you used to hit that. Anyway, all I had to do was marry Rachel, the most gorgeous woman in Greystone City, and then finally take a step toward all I’d waited twenty-eight years for. What could possibly go wrong?”

A dark line flashed in his eyes. “You. What could possibly go wrong was you. I tasked my half-brother with discreetly eliminating the supposed pauper son-in-law. The drunkard brought along ten men, including Mister Song, but failed to land a single hit. In the end, eight of the men were killed, he was disfigured, and Mister Stone was crippled. To make matters worse, after embarrassing my syndicate, you somehow infiltrated the engagement party and punched me in front of the Five Families, shattering my chances of recognition and respect. You see, Jason, I also know pain,” he yelled. “Because you caused it!”

Jason couldn't believe it. The man was insane, but worse, they had conspired to kill him. That's why Madam Regina said he'd escaped from armed men. But it was impossible for him to have single-handedly taken down eight assassins. With his malnourished physique, he wasn't capable of such a feat. Why couldn't this psychopath and delusional man understand?

As if on cue, a mobster brought a vent strapped with wires and forced it onto Jason.

Dominic grinned, relishing Jason’s horror-stricken facial reaction to the situation. He pulled out a remote detonator with two buttons and dropped it on Jason’s palm. Standing he said, “Why don’t we play a simple game, Jason? A game of choice.” He gestured toward the vent. “On you is a live vent with an electrocution mechanism. Push the blue button on the detonator, and a thousand volts of electricity will fire through you, liberating you. Push the red button, however”—he inched the iPad closer—“and the hospital goes kaboom. What’s it going to be? Your life over hers? Or her's over yours. Choose fast, or I might make the choice for you.”