At the end of the cigar, the ashes burned a flaring bright orange with every puff he took.
In the distance a owl hooted, it's mournful sound signaling danger was approaching. Settled in his chair of his study, in the darkness, camouflaged by the shadows wrapping around his body, Julien waits casually, one leg crossed over the other. A gun, with a silencer attached to the barrel meant to reduce the sounds of a firing shot rested on his knee ready to fire.
For the last two days he waited. Patiently waiting for the opportunity to strike where he could finally end part of the plague overtaking his family. This night retribution closely approached.
Julien felt it in every bone of his body.
The door handle rattled. Julien eyes zero in like a hawk as the door opened.
It's time.
The intruder entered cautiously and closes the door behind him slowly not making the slightest of sounds. He turns on a small flashlight hovering above the gun he carried and silently beamed the light around the study.
Julien's silver sharp hawk like eyes drift towards the gun in the black gloved hands.
"Took your time." Julien speaks calmly, in a cavalier attitude, studying him in the darkness.  "I've been expecting you."
The intruder whirls, pointing his gun and flashlight at the voice.
Julien's silver eyes gleamed in the glow.
"Who goes there?" Jason says in a heavily laced British accent, his nostrils flaring as he exhaled explosively. A surge of irritation lacing his words.
Julien taps the end of his cigar in the ashtray to his left. The lights in his study come to life by the click of the remote laying on the table beside the ashtray.
Julien flicks a imaginary spec of dust from his sleeve, cocking an eyebrow, his full mouth curved in amusement as he shook his head. His eyes were chips of ice as they met Jason's.
"Who goes there? Are you daft boy, use your brain. Who else could be waiting here in the dark?"
"Ah, yes, my apologies." Jason's responds with a mocking bow, taking in Julien's relaxed stance. "The notorious Julien St. James. The so called man who put my father away and ruined our lives because of a woman."
Julien took another puff of his cigar before resting it on the ashtray and raised an eyebrow. "It's a pleasure, I'm sure."
"And now your daughter will pay with her life for the wrongs of the past." Jason adds, a scowl appearing on his face. "And my father will finally feel retribution. As will I." He adds.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Julien said softly, clucking his tongue at him.
A muscle ticked in Jason's cheek. "You will die today, old man. And when I'm done killing you, your cold hearted wife is next."
"Die?" Julien echoed thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Such strong words from such a weak, spineless man." He spoke softly, with an underlying edge.
Jason's shoulders straightened. His eyes flashed briefly with anger as he moved across the room and closer to Julien's position pointing his gun directly toward his chest.
Jason's eyes take in Julien's gun.
"You are the weak one." He responds, his nostrils flaring. "Surely you can see this vendetta needs to end. I've come to collect on that and leave you with a momento."
"You're the one here doing your father's bidding, just like a little puppet." Julien remarked, with a low, mean little laugh, his silver eyes sparkling like a wintry ice storm. "Not I."
Jason takes out a small white envelope out of the inner pocket of his black jacket. He flicks it toward Juilen who swiftly, with his free hand, catches it before it smacks into his chest.
"Do I dare ask?"
"Think of it as a parting gift."
Julien opens the unsealed envelope. It was a lock of his daughter's hair. Without so much as a flicker of emotion crossing his features Julien replaces the lock of hair back inside the envelope.
"Tell me before I die, is my daughter alive?"
Jason threw back his head and laughed full heartedly. "She's well all right, I'd say. In the hands of a mighty prosperous ruler ready to meet his every beck and call, if you catch my drift."
"What the bloody hell are you talking about?"Â Julien demanded, a muscle twitching in his cheek.
"Have I stuck a nerve?" Jason asks smugly. "Ah well, it will make no difference now. A man paid millions for her head, a mighty sum for such a prize to bare him a legion of sons."
"She was sold as a..." Julien barely contained his rage at the next set of words ready to pass his lips. "...sex slave for the pleasures of a man! You bloody bastards, have you no morals? My daughter is innocent in all this."
Jason's smile widened, revealing straight white teeth. "Exactly. What is the old saying...? Ahhh yes, revenge is sweet."
"Since we are on the topic of revenge...your sorry excuse of a father is dead." Juilen revealed, sitting back in his chair comfortably, having collected himself and resumed acting cool. "So much for his retribution."
Jason blanches as though he was stuck. "That's a bloody lie."
Julien's eyes were remorseless as they met his. "According to my sources, they revealed otherwise. What a sight he made all bloody and beaten. I rejoiced at the news, I must say, It made my day. His death should be made a bloody holiday." Julien's own faint British accent wafted softly like a soft dangerous caress. "Would you like a glimpse? I daresay, this will be the last time you will see him in the flesh and blood."
Julien does not wait for reply and scrolls through his phone and flips it around to show Jason the picture of his dead father.
"You bastard!" Jason bellowed his eyes glued to the screen. "Who did this to him? He's a dead man!"
"An eye for an eye, remember?" Julien mocks, lifting a fine dark eyebrow. "Today's a perfect example of that."
"You're talking in riddles, old man I don't have time to stand here and chit chat all night." Jason says, ready to pull the trigger, his finger pressing firmly.
A shot fires.
The sound explodes, echoing through the walls and into the dark starless night. The quiet that followed was so profound the owl stopped hooting, the crickets hidden in bushes stopped chirpingâthe stillness in the darkness was paralyzed and even more silent than before.
Jason's eyes bulged as he glanced down at the wound to his left arm watching the fresh flow of blood that begun to quickly soak through his jacket. Sticky blood coated his fingers as he held his hand in front of him and stared. He rubbed it back and forth between his thumb and index finger.
"It's a perfect day for a family reunion." Julien responds, still suave and completely at ease. "However, I cannot take responsibility for your shooting..."
It was not from Julien's gun nor Jason's but from Annie who entered undetected, standing four feet directly behind Jason.
She stalked forward.
"A gun shot wound severing the brachial artery will result in severe blood loss and eventually death if not treated. It's very hard to control." Annie informs him calmly. "Just watch your blood spurting out at systolic pressure, you'll be bleeding out in no time."
Jason slowly, noiselessly, glances over his shoulder, cradling his injured arm.
"You....youâ"Â He abruptly broke off unable to form a coherent word and staggers dangerously to the left.
Annie lowers her fire arm.
"That's for my daughter. I made her a promise at one time where I said nobody messes with this family and gets away with it. I never, never break my promises." Annie stated with determination. "When you meet your father in the pits of hell, tell him the Ice Queen says: Checkmate."
A small smile curved her full pink lips. Annie had always known they would come to a crossroad, that one day a choice would be forced upon them. If they were forced into it she couldn't blame herself for the outcome, the choice was taken from them unfortunately when Nathan Diam used her daughter. And now she took matters into her own hands by eliminating his son.
An eye for an eye.
Jason met her eyes. Eyes that showed no remorse and zero regret. Eyes that reflected shards of ice.
He lands on his knees with a heavy thud, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Jason's body convulses violently as he lands on his side, cradling his injured arm against him.
"Well done, Duchess." Julien's eyes gleamed as his lip curled. "You never cease to amaze me."
Julien rises and places his gun on the table. He snaps a picture of Jason's still form and quickly sends the picture through a message with the words: DONE
"Shall we?" Annie suggests, holding out her hand for her husband to take.
Julien strides towards his wife and stopped and smiled down at her, pressing her arm close against his side, closing his fingers over hers.
"The team of cleaners will be here monetarily to properly dispose of the mess. The only regret I have is of the Persian rug. It was a classic." Julien says in dry humor.
"It's replaceable." Annie sighs. "Our daughter is not."
"Stefan will find her, love. I have faith and all will be well soon enough."
"I know he will. He's very much like you. He never gives up."
"Camelia is a very strong resilient girl, just like her mother. Never doubt her strength. Shall we put him out of his misery?"Â Julien asks, nodding toward Jason's body.
"No...he'll be dead in a minute." Anger flashed across Annie's gorgeous features. "Let him suffer, he deserves it."
Julien was thoughtful as he pondered Annie's words. "Agreed. Let us go and discuss the details I've learned from Stefan. Come."
Annie swallowed heavily before nodding, her hand tensed around his as she clasped it with both of hers. Julien bent to brush his lips across her forehead and they silently leave, without sparing another glance towards the study, and hand in hand they go up the stairs.
Meanwhile, Jason lays on his back, sprawled on the floor, his gaze frozen in death, staring unseeingly up at the ceiling.
******
The same night of Nathan Diam's capture.
Stefan eased into the holding room, closing the door and found Gloirana's hands cuffed together as she waited at the long rectangular table in the center of the darkly lit room. She met his angry gaze, then dropped hers to the table.
"How involved were you in Camelia's disappearance?" He asks and seats himself the opposite of her, straddling the chair. "Tell me everything."
Gloriana smiled, a slight closed-lipped smile that held a hint of victory. Her eyes dripped with evil. "I was involved from the very beginning. And I loved every second of it." She replied in a smug manner.
For a moment he thought he'd misunderstood her declaration until she said, "She deserved everything that's happened to her."
Stefan's gaze was steady as he raised his eyebrows. "So you were a accomplice in everything and you regret nothing?"
She laughed hysterically. "Oh yes, if it wasn't for me Nate wouldn't have finally caught her. I wasn't blackmailed! He never forced me to help him if that's what you're wondering. I staged every incident until we finally got her!"
Stefan shot her a look that would have melted stainless steel. His hands clasped the back of the chair to keep his hands restrained from reaching out and twisting her neck.
"Why?" He finally ground out between clenched teeth.
Gloriana sighed whimsically and closed her eyes, tilting her head back, the smile returning. "I've hated her since we were kids. I never showed it, of course. Over the years my hatred of her grew. She had it allâthe looks, the charm, the innocence to capture attention like I never could. She attracts people to her like I've never seen and she doesn't even do anything to try! I never understood it."
"What is it that they see in her? Is it because she acts all innocent? Is it because she's quiet? She's serious all the time! I would take a line of comedians to get her to smile a little let alone laugh! I don't get it! How can someone so boring have men wanting her like some rare diamond?"
Stefan could only shake his head as he listened on.
"She never noticed the attention, as always, but I did. It killed me how she was everyone's favorite. Little helpless Camelia who everyone thought was perfect! 'You should be more like Camelia,' they would say or 'Look at how well behaved Camelia is'. She was the daughter my mother always wanted me to be more like. She was quiet, timid and shy for goodness sake! I'd rather have died than to be anything like her...like a well trained dog! I resented the ground she walked on!"
"That was your motive, jealousy and hatred?" Stefan hissed through his front teeth.
"The women in our family are trophy wivesâwell mannered, smart, proper, and well respected." She explained. "Too many rules, too many restrictions. You have to be a virgin, behaved, proper, blah, blah, blah. My mom was like that, Annie, Camelia, Jasmine, Violet. The girls had to be untouched and wait until marriage for the real fun to begin. I couldn't live like that. I lived my life the way I see fit."
Stefan shook his head in disbelief trying to wrap his head around all she said. This girl had separate issues. She sounded like a teenager rebelling against her upbringing and found someone to blame it on.
"You're Stefan Steel, right?" Cocking her head to the side, inspecting him with her shrewd eyes and bright interest. "What are you doing here?"
Stefan didn't have time to respond.
"I remember you! Playing with us at Camelia's birthday party, I heard you left to be in the army. You were at the auction that nightâthe night I had that measly waiter deliver Aunt Annie the letter! You look great by the way!" She rejoiced in the most delightful, ecstatic tone he has ever heard. "Did Uncle Julien hire you to come and save dearest Camelia?"
"You understand how much trouble you're in, don't you?" Stefan sounded impatient yet looked perfectly at ease, except his hands were balled into tight fists over the back of the chair.
Gloriana acted with a familiarity of ease and informality. As if they were old friends having a nice reunion and she wasn't a criminal in deep trouble.
"I'm free, I'm not in trouble." She answers. "I really hope the best for Camelia now. I have no hard feelings." She adds a innocent shrug. "She's finally out of the way. My problems are over. My family is fine. I'm fine and happy. I can go on and live my life the way I want without her presence." She lowers her arms on her lap and attempts at patting her belly with her cuffed hands.
"You hope the best for Camelia and you have no hard feelings?"Â He repeated.
For a moment he thought she might have dissociative identity disorderâ a person with a split personality that can commit an act with one personality and the other personality would have no awareness of what occurred. Instead he saw a twisted individual who's stacked and built years of hatred and vengeance.
It was difficult to digest that Camelia's own cousin would stoop so low. Where nothing surprised Stefan, Gloriana's admissions baffled him. The possibility of her doing something so horrific and enjoying it was beyond his comprehension. This girl was nothing but a rabid, lying, manipulative, greedy, vicious, sick bitch who lost her humanity along the way.
"My baby and I will finally have a chance to live freely without a threat in sight. I love happy endings."
Baby.
Stefan glanced at her middle with curiosity.
"I'm going to be a mother, silly!" Answering the spark of confusion entering his eyes.
Stefan was skeptical, folding his arms over the back of the chair.
"Wanna know a secret?" She whispers, leaning slightly over the table.
Stefan didn't reply.
"My baby daddy is really Jason not Nate! Isn't that the best news ever?!? I lied to Nate about how far along I was in the pregnancy." Gloriana's eyes were animated with excitement. "I hadn't seen him for the past three months. Jason and I love each other very much and we are planning to kill Nate after everything settled down. One down another to go."
"Nathan's dead."
"Nate's dead? Really?" Her eyes widened, resting her elbows on the table, and Stefan noticed how she began to steeple her fingers togetherâa sign of feeling over confident. "That's the best news I've heard for the second time today!"
Yes, she was definitely out of her mind and completely delusional, he thought. A complete psychopath suffering from some sort of chronic disorder and she need mental help as soon as possible.
"How did you gather information about Camelia and relay it to Nathan?" He asks.
"Oh that's the easy part. I barely had to put any effort to get the undercover guys to spill their guts." She shrugs. "Pressing myself against them had them panting like dogs. I went out with a few of them after their shifts ended for some drinks. I had a nifty little trick at the tip of my finger." Her eyes narrow mischievously and lifted her arms, unclenched her hands and pointed an index finger in the air. "You see I had a little needle that fit over my finger with a sharp curving tip. I punctured a vein, slipping a serum into their blood streams. Later, as the truth serum took effect, they spilled their guts."
"How is it they had no recollection of what you did to them?"
"After they woke up and the serum wore off it made them feel as though they had a heavy hangover. I'd make up a story of how we got hammered by drinking ourselves until we couldn't see straight after some wild sex. The horny idiots never suspected a thing."
Stefan pounds his fists over the steel table, releasing a string of curses. Gloriana jumps in her seat at his physical aggression. If it wasn't for his years of training at acquiring self-discipline and restraint, he would have emptied his gun into her head.
He inhales deeply and exhales slowly. "What about your parents?"
Gloriana collect herself quickly, scoffing and rolling her eyes. "Give me a break. They don't know anything. I'm not worried about what they'll think. Now, with Camelia out of the way and Nathan, I have one less problem to deal with."
"The only problem I see is you." He states. "Your insecurities in yourself has led to your ultimate destruction. You've risked your life, your cousin's life, hurt your parents, your relatives. What you've done is unforgivable and you will pay for everything one way or another."
Since Gloriana had no problem holding back, Stefan took advantage and continued pressing her with questions. "What did you do to Camelia? Where was she sent?"
"Nathan arranged to have her sold to some King in a faraway land outside of Istanbul. They live by the old customs of their ancestors and have harems and things like that. I don't know the fine details but I'm sure the King is having fun with his new addition. She's a good little girl and won't have problems obeying." Gloriana's teeth start rattling and shivered, goosebumps rising on her arms. "I'm cold, can I get a blanket or something?" She asks with a innocent hopeful expression.
He cut her a cold look of brooding silence, his mouth tight.
"What about Kivanç? How was he involved in all this?"
"That self-righteous, pompous, no good back stabber did nothing as I hoped he would have! I expected he'd break from the guilt from sleeping with me, tell Camelia and shatter her whole world that way. But noooooo, that love sick fool kept his mouth shut to save his sweet ass from getting dumped. How pathetic!" Gloriana had the decency to scoff and roll her eyes. "Anyway, time was running out so I had to improvise..." She shrugs. "Vomiting, crying and looking guilty as I claimed to be newly knocked up by her fiancé played out very well. I should be an actress next, I think." She finished with a thoughtful expression.
It was true. Stefan shook his head in disgust.
It turned out Camelia's ex-fiancé was a little pawn in their sick game. Gloriana's confession proved it and backed his claim. The last details he received of Kivanç's interrogation proved his innocence. His men sent him footage of the whole process to confirm he was asked all the right questions and if he had any further use for the man.
After learning of Camelia's predicament, Kivanç was distraught and asked in pure desperation if he could help in the investigation someway, half-crazed with worry. Stefan's response was a 'No way'. He couldn't afford any casualties on such a delicate mission. With a small army of trained soldiers already in the pipeline, Kivanç's presence would only defeat their purpose. The last thing he needed was a inexperienced man on territorial ground.
However, he felt a pang of sympathy for the man. It was difficult to be stuck in the middle of such a roller coaster of events and lose everything in a instant. Stefan was dealt a similar hand not so long ago.
His phone beeps with a new message and Stefan stands to retrieve it out of his back pocket. It was from Julien. Entering his passcode, he scrolled into his messages, in the next instant a triumphant smile lightens his harsh features.
"Can I get that blanket or maybe a jacket, I'm freezing!" She repeats again, a charming smile appearing on her lips after witnessing Stefan's changing mood.
"Looks like you're not getting your happily ever after...."
"What are you talking about?"Â She asked, the smile retracting and panic entering her tone. Her gaze darted from his eyes to his phone.
"Your lover is dead."
"You're not serious. You're lying to me!" She demanded, narrowing her eyes and pounding her cuffed fists on the table.
He lifted his eyebrows. "Why would I do that?"
Stefan slid his phone towards her to view the image of her lover lifelessly sprawled on the floor, a big pool of blood outlining his body and watched her reaction closely.
"Jason...?" Gloriana shot out of the chair knocking it backwards and gasped in shock as she stared at the screen, slack-jawed with disbelief and horror, her mouth twisted in pain. "Noooooo! How?"
"Your Uncle Julien."Â He supplied.
Gloriana paled as white as a sheet of paper and her whole body began convulsing violently. She appeared as though she was having a breakdown. "This...this c-can't be....happening! It wasn't apart of the plan! He was supposed to finish the job and come back for me....He can't be dead...he just can't be!" She screamed, pounding the table with her fists with such force it shook.
Stefan watched her little tantrum occur with pure satisfaction. "Burst your bubble, did I?"
Adrenaline pulsing through her veins, Gloriana kicked the table and managed to flip it over to Stefan's surprise. Next, she turned and kicked the knocked down chair then lifted it, swinging it against the one-way mirror where Liam and a few others were watching and listening.
The glass shatters after she repeatedly bangs the chair. "I know you low life's are watching me! I hate all of you!" She screamed hysterically, turning and pinning Stefan with crazed eyes and dropping the chair. "This is all your fault! No...this is Camelia's fault. I hope whoever has her is raping the fuck out of her! Do you hear me? I hope she dieâ"
Gloriana's tantrum was cut short as a pained expression immobilizes her. She looked down at her abdomen and released a small cry of agony, falling to her knees. She toppled to the ground, her butt skidding on the cold stone floor. Hugging her middle, Gloriana curled into a ball, crying, doubled over in spasms of stabbing sharp pain.
Stefan was by her side in an instant, down on one knee, steadying her with a large, firm hand on her shoulder.
"Guards!" He calls, directing his eyes to the mirror.
A rush of soldiers kick open the door and storm into the room, guns raised, ready to shoot.
"Commander?"
"She's having a miscarriage. Bring the doctor in here immediately."
"Yes, sir."
Gloriana moaned, biting her lip and sobbing, her lanky hair sticking to her face. Stefan lifted her short mini dress and saw blood on her thighs, deep red streaks soaking her legs.
"My baby...." She moaned weakly, drawing her legs up, her head thrashing back and forth as the cramps seized her. She lays there panting, her eyes closed, gulping down deep breaths. Suddenly, her body stiffened, her back arching off the floor, and she screamed.
Stefan took off his shirt and placed it behind her head. More blood oozed from her and soaked through her dress and thighs. Gloriana looked at him, her eyes glazed with pain, then her head lolled back.
She was unconscious.
Stefan rose and stretched to his full height, keeping his steady, earth green-blue eyes full of remorseless wrath on Gloriana's traitorous, unmoving body. A swarm of emotions flitted through him as he simply watched her with his deadly eyes.
"Can't say I'm sorry for you. Karma never forgets anyone. Your fate came sooner rather than later."
Stefan stood back as the doctor passed him while another brought a blanket and covered her.
"What do you want to do with her?" Liam asks from behind him.
"Have them take her to a hospital with guards stationed around her. Make sure they don't leave and inform the doctors of her condition. Once she's stable have her escorted to the States. I want a mental analysis done. She appears to have psychological problems."
Liam nods. "When should we plan to extract Camelia? All the men on are on standby awaiting your orders."
Stefan's gaze remained riveted upon the Gloriana's still body. His eyes burned with intensity, hooded like a snake's.
"What time is it?"Â He asks.
"3 a.m."Â Liam answers, having taken a quick glance at his watch.
"We leave at dawn." Stefan states, slipping out of the room with determined strides, power flowing through him.
All of his concerns, doubts and fears, all of the things holding him back completely faded. The blood in his ears was a loud rush, blocking out nearly all other sounds. A thirst for vengeance, for destruction swamped him.
Nothing mattered now but finding Camelia. Nothing and no one would be able to stop him in his pursuit.
She was all he had.
And she was his.
_______________________________________________________________
Hope this chapter answered some unanswered questions and theories.
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Until next week...or maybe sooner!
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-Shaz