REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 1 – 10
By Presh Alicia Daisy
The universe can be unpredictable. Sometimes it gives, other times it takes away. But if the universe operated solely on wishes, the world would be a different place.
PROLOGUE
Tesiera and Roman, her father, were walking home from a day’s outing in the park on a Wednesday evening. The weather was beautiful, they enjoyed the feel of the wind around them.
“Enjoy your lollipop, sweetie,” Roman said, handing the candy to his cheerful daughter. She smiled excitedly, taking it and immediately popping it into her mouth.
“Thank you, daddy,” She said with a bright grin. Roman lifted his daughter up to sit her on his hip, but she wasn’t his little girl anymore – the eight-year-old was getting quite heavy to carry and he groaned as he lifted her.
She giggled in childish delight. She always loved it when her father carried her.
“You know, I’ll do anything for you Tesiera. You’re my beautiful, smart, and strong angel,” Roman stated matter-of-factly, and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Daddy, why don’t we see Uncle Dam anymore?” Tesiera questioned out of the blue, pulling away from the hug and staring at her father with curiosity.
Roman panicked a bit at the unexpected question, but didn’t let it show. He didn’t think Tesiera would notice the drifting relationship between him and his brother, but the smart girl always seemed to know everything.
“Your uncle Damian is a busy man, Tesiera. I know he misses you too,” Roman lied through his teeth. The truth was, his brother wasn’t a good person by any means. Although, he wasn’t sure about the part about Damian missing his niece, considering the fact that he was the one not returning his brother’s calls and keeping his distance away from the only family he had left.
But, he didn’t want Tesiera to get involved with Damian, or worse, the family business. Which was why he walked away years ago.
“You’re lost in thought again.”
Her voice pulled him back to reality. “I’m right here, sweetheart,” He dropped her to the ground, took her soft hand into his, and led her forward.
He had walked away from being the Godfather of the Mafia, thereby being disowned, and the mantle of leadership fell to Damian. Roman does not miss it.
Although he was barely financially capable of taking care of his daughter, they were happy, and that’s all that mattered. Besides, his brother was more than capable of holding that position too.
Father and daughter continued to walk hand-in-hand down the deserted alley that led to their rural neighborhood. Everything was going fine until a gunshot was heard, and immediate fear was ignited in both of them.
Roman instinctively grabbed Tesiera and shielded her, while the frightened little girl burst into tears as she hid behind her father.
He picked up crying Tesiera with urgency, turned around and was about to bolt backdown the alley, but there was suddenly a man in all black and a ski mask behind him.
Roman let out a startled yelp and a chill ran down his spine at the sight of the rifle in the man’s hand, menacing and dangerous, a trigger pull away from shooting him.
Footsteps.
Three more men, dressed in the same all-black outfit and ski masks made their presence known, and Roman’s fear heightened to its peak, seeing that their numbers had now increased, and the guns in their hands.
“We do not have time for this, Jaden, the police is already on our tail!” One of them hissed, glancing fanatically behind him.
“They might have something we want, don’t you think?” The one referred to as Jaden responded, before he smirked at Roman. “Drop the girl,”
“Please just let us go, we don’t have anything you’d want, I just went grocery shopping.” Roman pleaded as he dropped Tesiera to the ground, hiding her behind him. The crying girl shivered in fear and held onto the hem of her dad’s shirt tightly.
The guy, Jaden, seemed like the leader, his black outfit was different from the rest, and he held two more sophisticated guns than the others. Beside him was a slightly smaller boy, who had the build of a young teen.
“Take everything they have,” Jaden instructed. The armed man in front of them eyed the bag in Roman’s hand and cocked his gun.
That was the only message needed, and Roman quickly surrendered the bag of groceries in his hands to him, fear trembling his being, and he was sweating profusely.
The armed man collected the bag and emptied it on the ground, vegetables and fruits were all it contained. He tossed the bag away in disgust, “It’s just food!”
“Please, that’s all we have. We don’t have any money. Spare our lives!” Roman clasped his hands and begged the men. The process of bringing his hands together raised the long-sleeve of his shirt and brought to light a golden locket on his wrist.
Jackpot.
“But you have that. Give it,” their leader said, pointing at the locket Roman didn’t even know was exposed. He gasped and quickly made to cover it, but it was too late. It had been seen.
“I said give it!” He repeated seethingly.
“No!” Roman refused, an action that shocked the men and even Tesiera. What gave him the impetus?
The leader stepped forward and took an intimidating stance, the teenage boy followed. “You dare refuse my orders?”
Roman didn’t know when he began to cry, “Please, this is the last thing I have that belongs to my dead wife. Don’t take it from me. I beg you.” He pleaded.
He held that locket with high esteem, he couldn’t give it up. It was the last memory of her, it was the thing he would gaze at at night and reminisce, remember all the lovely times between him and his wife.
They can’t take that away from him!
“No daddy! Let them have it!” Tesiera screamed in terror, tears streaming down her eyes.
At the sound of that terrified voice, Roman was more than ready to let them have it. His hands trembled as he reached behind his neck and started taking it off.
“Shoot him,” the leader commanded.
The teenage boy didn’t hesitate, he pulled the trigger.
Tesiera screamed at the top of her lungs as her father’s body dropped in front of her. Her father was not breathing. He pointed the gun at her face when all of a sudden, the sound of sirens filled the air.
“Shit! Let’s get out of here!” another one shouted, already running away. The boy who killed her father shoved his gun into his pocket and ran away with the rest.
“Daddy…?” Tesiera cried and fell to her knees, shaking her father. Why isn’t he opening his eyes? Why isn’t daddy looking at me? “Daddy!” She screamed.
Tesiera screamed her father’s name until the police arrived and pulled her away from his body. She screamed his name when the ambulance arrived, all through the ride to the hospital, and when he was pronounced dead on arrival.
She screamed his name over and over again, until her voice went hoarse and her eyes were as puffy as a winter coat.
And night after night, the face of his killer played itself over and over again in her mind, until the image of him – of them – was embedded in her soul.
.
REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 1 – 10
.
The universe does not have a way of working things out. Sometimes it gives, but this time, it took away the most precious thing in Tesiera’s life. Her father.
REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 1 – 10
CHAPTER 1 & 2
MESMERIZINGLY BEAUTIFUL. LETHALLY DANGEROUS.
TWENTY YEARS LATER
The door to Vicker’s lounge opened and his assistant, Oliver, stepped inside. Vicker had been pacing around the room, lost in thought. He was particularly worried that the informant he had finally managed to capture after years of searching had refused to talk, even after being kept in the basement and tortured for four days.
It seemed he had reached a dead end.
“Good evening, sir. I wanted to inform you that—”
Vicker had no time for small talk or whatever Oliver had to say at this point. All he wanted were results. “Has he started talking yet?”
Oliver shook his head in disappointment. “No, sir. He still refuses to say anything.”
Vicker slammed his fists on his desk in frustration as anger surged through his veins. His impatience and annoyance reached new heights upon hearing that the informant had still refused to talk.
“That son of a bitch in there knows what happened to the drugs and who stole them. He knows! Why is he refusing to talk?” Vicker seethed in anger, his rage overwhelming him. Vicker wanted answers.
Oliver chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry, sir. He will talk.”
Vicker turned to Oliver with a confused glare. “What are you talking about, Oliver? He’s refused to talk for four days. What could possibly make him talk now?”
“The Torturer.”
The Torturer. A name known by all, feared by all, and one that commanded the highest level of authority. The mere mention of this particular name always produced a sense of mysteriousness and a sinister aura, and instilled enough fear to send chills down the spine.
All of this, and more, is associated with one name: The Torturer.
The woman who knew how to get the job done effortlessly.
Vicker’s eyes widened as though he had seen a terrifying monster, or heard of one in this case. “The Torturer? She’s here?” He whispered her name as if it were a taboo to be caught speaking of it.
As if on cue, a scream that spoke volumes of immense pain erupted and shook the atmosphere. It was coming from the basement of Vicker’s house, where the informant was being held.
It didn’t take a genius to know that she was indeed here and was already doing what she did best. To instill pain.
“How did you get her, Oliver? Where did you find this woman?” Vicker questioned, bewildered and unable to understand how The Torturer was right there in his house.
Despite the fact that everyone knew her name and knew the terrible harm she was capable of inflicting, she was rarely seen and rarely accessed. If you were able to lay your hands on her, or see her with your eyes, then, you had struck gold. Where the problem laid was, if you would be alive to tell the tales.
Oliver smiled smugly. “I have my ways, boss. No need to worry about it.”
“But Oliver, you have to tell me where you—”
The sentence was cut short as another horrifying scream, even louder than the first, erupted, so loud that it shook the two men and sent goosebumps down their spines. They were terrified.
Oliver and Vicker shared a look.
“Let’s go see,” Vicker stated and walked briskly out of the lounge, with Oliver following closely behind. They both walked down to the basement and, just as they were contemplating whether to knock and go in or wait for her to come out, the door opened and she stepped out.
Their jaws dropped.
The woman before them exuded a unique beauty, one that could only be described as otherworldly. Her looks were so ethereal, that it was almost as if she were an angel sent straight from heaven. But, her actions were those of a woman who inflicted pain, almost as if she were a fiery demon from hell.
Her hair was dyed to a striking burgundy-red color that shone like molten lava and flowed down her back in a sleek ponytail. Her olive-colored skin was silken and smooth, perfectly complementing the fierceness of her hair. She was dressed in black leather and a matching leather boots. A tattoo on her upper left arm had letters that wasn’t written in English.
But, it was her eyes that truly captivated anyone who laid their gaze upon her. They were a pair of glassy brown orbs that seemed to radiate their own light, like two eternity jewels that projected their own beams of light. They were mesmerizing, yet also dangerous. One could see the beauty in them, but one could never truly touch it, as they gleamed with a menacing glint that suggested danger for anyone who dared to come too close.
Her brows were always furrowed, and her plump coral lips were permanently set in a scowl, as if she had never smiled in her entire life. She was a woman of endearing beauty, yet also savage and dangerous.
“Water,” she simply said, paying no mind to the two men visibly admiring her poise and beauty.
“Water?” Vicker asked, looked down at her hands and was taken aback by the sight of blood staining them. His eyes shot back up to her, and he couldn’t believe how unbothered she seemed by the fact that she had just murdered a man.
“Yes, water. To wash my hands,” she replied, her voice crisp and stern, yet ethereal and silvery.
“Yes, j-just a moment,” Oliver said, scurrying off to get some water for Tesiera while Vicker was left alone with her, feeling a bit scared of her. A frown marred her brows as she looked at her perfectly-manicured fingers, stained with blood.
Oliver returned with a bowl of soapy water and a towel, and Tesiera washed her hands and dried them off.
“Is he dead?” Vicker asked, the question that had been on his mind since he saw her hands.
She paused in her towel-drying, looking up at Vicker with her glassy brown eyes. He felt a bit frightened and took a step back.
“He’s alive. It was not in our deal to kill him or he would already be dead.” she stated, and handed the towel back to Oliver. “Vladimir, a Russian gang boss attacked your ship and stole your drugs. The man in there is one of his men. Vladimir went back to his country, currently hiding from a rival.” She finished by giving him the exact address of the gang leader’s hideout.
Vicker was happy for the first time in a long time. Finally, he would get the bastard that thought he could get away from stealing his drugs worth billions of dollars. But how was this woman able to get that man to talk? They had kept him in the basement for four days, with no food or water, and tortured him with various forms of electricity, yet he refused to say a word.
But this woman, in less than twenty minutes, had made him talk and reveal everything. What kind of woman was this?
He liked women like that. Exactly his type.
“My payment?” Tesiera asked, pulling out her throwing knives from her leather boots and completely ignoring the way the two men stepped away from her. She flipped them around expertly before slipping them right back where they came out from.
“Already paid in full. Please check,” Oliver delivered instantly.
They waited nervously like reprimanded children while she confirmed the transaction. It was the longest two minutes of their lives, and when she gave a curt nod, they released audible breaths of relief.
She turned to be on her way when Vicker’s hand shot out and touched hers. “Please wait,”
Pausing, she swiveled her head and scowled at his hand holding her arm. Vicker let her go immediately, clearing his throat. “I was…uhm…hoping we could…uhm, you know, eat dinner sometime. What do you say?”
“No.” Was all she responded.
“Oh, alright. Uhm,” he cleared his throat again, “okay, then.”
But Tesiera didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she walked back to him threateningly, until she was standing in front of the trafficker. “Let’s get one thing straight. The next time your hands, or any other appendage of yours touches my body, I’ll cut it out.”
The frosty tone sent a chill down Vicker’s spine. He hated that a boss like him cowered for a mere woman and his ego was in tatters, especially since it was happening in front of his men; Oliver and two of security guards.
He wanted to say something to save face, but Oliver rushed forward, stepping in front of him. “Please forgive my boss, Torturer. He is still in distraught about the news he got. He’s not thinking straight. Is there anything else we can assist you with—”
She was already out of the door, leaving the door to slam shut behind her.
Outside, Tesiera withdrew her cellphone, tapped the screen several times and dialed the number that popped up.
**************
REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 1 – 10
“Please don’t kill me! Please don’t—” the scream was suddenly cut short when Rex pointed his gun at the man’s forehead and pulled the trigger. He watched in satisfaction as the man’s head snapped back and life left his eyes.
“Eishh, he got blood on me.” Rex muttered angrily as he stepped back, giving room for his men to take care of the body. He hated it when blood touches his body. Damn thing is a nuisance to clean.
He was still murmuring about that when his cellphone rang. At the sight of the caller, Rex quickly moved to the other side of the empty house to make sure he would not be interrupted. He cleared his throat as he pressed the answer button. “Hi, Siera, it’s been four months since I saw you! You stopped taking my calls and I don’t even know—”
“Where are you? Are you far away?” She asked crisply. Always the same question. Tesiera was not one to make small talks.
“Hell no, I’m not far away. I can get to your house in two hours.” Rex was quick to answer.
“Not fast enough.”
“An hour! I’ll be there in an hour.” He added desperately, hoping she hadn’t already hung up. He would break every fûcking traffic rule out there but he’ll be damned before he passed up on this opportunity.
Silence. Then, “I want to see you in my house in an hour. Not a minute late, Rex.”
“I swear it. Not a minute late.” Rex could already feel the excitement building. “Should I get a condom—” the beeping sound he heard cut off his words. She already hung up.
Rex grinned, “Alright boys, wrap things up here, I gotta go see my lady.”
“You only smile like that when it’s one woman. The caller was The Torturer right, boss?” One of his men, Dorn, asked.
“You got that right, Dorn. I’m outta here.”
Dorn pursed his lips and shook his head, “You might be a killer, boss, but you hold no candle to that woman. I don’t know how you can sleep with a woman like that. She might be beautiful but when I think about who the devil would be if he were a woman, it’s always her image that comes to mind.” he shivered, “That woman is all iron. All ice, I’m surprised your dîck hasn’t frozen over.”
Rex snorted and strode past his second-in-command, saying nothing. He couldn’t tell them the truth between his arrangement with The Torturer because it would only hurt his pride. Dorn was right about one thing though.
Tesiera Rinderson, also known as The Torturer, was made of iron. She was all metal that nothing—no man or woman—can ever penetrate her defenses enough to reach her.
He would know because he has been trying for three years. And failing woefully.
REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 1 – 10
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