GOLDEN HEART 17

The man she was calling a petty gang leader was the leader of the strongest gang in the country. He was feared everywhere and by everyone. Even the police.

However, the only person he bowed to was her. Annalise Wright, the ruthless unforgiving bitch. She was the one who made him, and she was the only one who could turn him into ashes. ‘Is that how you reward me after giving you a free piece of meat. I’m disappointed!’ She exclaimed, in mock hurt.

The man tensed some more when she mentioned the redhead they had fun playing with. There’s no way she mentioned it out of nowhere just for the fun of it.

There’s something about that case she has that could point it was their dead. The lady was out of her mind because of the shock of what she went through, so she doesn’t really form any kind of danger on them. The manipulative bitch in front of him, however, was another story.

‘Stop acting so high and mighty, you’re nothing but a manipulative crazy bitch!’ He exclaimed angrily, but mostly because how defeated he felt when it came to the lady in front of him.

Jürgen was about to beat the hell out of him when Justine stopped him.

‘This manipulative crazy bitch is the reason why you have a name to begin with’ She stated calmly, way too calmly for anyones liking.

She was in front of him in a blink, holding his throat in a tight grip that left him gasping for air. He tried to pry her hands off of him but in vein, she blocked each of his movements. She was the one who trained him after all, the one who taught him every single trick he knew. ‘So be a good little dog and stay loyal to me, bark when I tell you to bark, lay when I tell you to lay, and die when I tell you to die.’ She hissed the last part still holing him in a death grip. His lips beginning to turn purple. ‘Am I understood, Zeus?’ Her calm and refined self resurfacing once again.

The whole room fell silent, scared of the all too familiar faces of the snake in front of them.

The man nodded frantically, silently begging to be set free.

She finally let go of his throat, and extended her hand to Jürgen to hand her the bag he was holding. She threw it at a still gasping Zeus. ‘I’ll be nice this time and let this go seeing you’ve being loyal to me for quite a long time.’ Zeus examined the bag only to find it full with money, how did she know he was in need of money was beyond him.

‘Don’t ever think for a second that I owe you because of your loyalty. I own you, your loyalty is for your sake not mine. You betray me and The Crawlers’ next leader will be sitting on your place.’ She threatened.

He knew what she meant by that, it’s a custom that the gang’s new leader has to kill the previous one after winning a fight but before that the new leader has to drink from the previous one’s blood while still alive. Those rules were made by the real leader and founder of The Crawlers. The person that everyone want to know his identity but couldn’t so far.

The Großer Bruder.

‘One more thing, disrespect me one more time and I’ll personally slice your heart open.’ She warned.

His eyes bulged out of their sockets. He knew she wasn’t bluffing. She doesn’t bluff, especially not when she’s disrespected.

Besides she never threatens of killing people herself, so for her to say it herself means that she was greatly offended. However his loyalty must really have meant something for her to let is slide despite being this angry.

Zeus felt bad for doing it, it was a fifty - fifty chance gamble. He needed the money, but he also needed to prove his theory.

And he did.

He knew exactly what he wanted to know. He thought while watching Justine and Jürgen exiting the rundown building to their awaiting car.

Justine saw Adam sitting on the sofa next to the fire place, typing something on his laptop. She was quite hesitant in approaching him, especially since she can predict what his reaction would be when he knows what topic she wants to discuss.

However she gathered whatever little courage she could and went to his side. She sat next to him, and put her head on his shoulder.

Adam moved slightly to kiss her forehead as a sign of greeting when he felt her leaning into him before his focus to whatever he was doing on his PC.

To others, this scene may seem quite odd, seeing their relationship was going through a rough patch just few days ago. However it is rather normal for them to reconcile this quickly and normally by a simple touch from one of them.

Justine’s gesture of leaning into him was a sign for him to know that she wants them to start anew and forget whatever past arguments before their wedding which was to take a place tomorrow, and Adam understood and went along with her wishes as they were also his.

‘How was your day?’ She asked after a while.

‘Tiring. How about you, do you feel better?’

‘I am. The pain subsided yesterday, so I was able to sit and walk without feeling anything.’ Said Justine.

‘Great, that means we can proceed with the wedding tomorrow without any delay.’ he said.

She nodded and stayed quiet, thinking whether or not to say what she wanted.

‘Say it, Justine.’ Urged Adam.

‘Huh?’ She asked, confused.

‘I know you have something to say, so say it.’ He clarified.

‘Promise me you won’t get mad?’ It wasn’t supposed to sound like a question.

He shifted his attention from his laptop to her, carefully studying her before speaking.

‘Is it that bad of a topic, what you want to discuss, I mean?’ He asked, looking at her.

‘Not necessarily.’ She replied.

‘Go on then.’

‘About our marriage tomorrow.’ She trailed off, Carefully gauging his reaction.

‘What about it?’ He questioned calmly.

‘Do you really want to proceed with it?’

He stopped typing for a while before closing his laptop. He turned around, and observed her for sometime.

‘What is that supposed to mean?’ He finally asked.

‘I mean if you really want to go through it after everything you found out?’ She rephrased.

‘What exactly did I find out?’ He raised an eyebrow.

TO BE CONTINUED...