1
Adrian
As the door creaked softly, its sound echoing across the storage room, I gripped the man's hair tightly and shouted,
"Why did you beat your wife!"
The man, in his thirties, trembled before me. I signaled to the two men beside me.
"Bring the bucket of water."
"Hold his head underwater until he comes to his senses. And if he doesn't... well, his last breath will be filled with water."
"Please, Attorney... I beg you, have mercy! I didn't mean to hit her," he whimpered.
I pulled my gun from my waistband and cocked it.
"The attorney is in court. There's no lawyer here. There's only my judgment now. For example... what if I put a hole right in the middle of your forehead, Austin?"
"I swear it'll never happen again. I'll sleep at her doorstep until she forgives me."
"Oh no, it doesn't work like that."
"Tomorrow, you'll go to court, and you'll give her whatever she asks for in the divorce. If she forgives you after that, it's her stupidity. But if you ever bother my client again, I'll find you-no matter where you are-and I'll drink water out of your precious skull. Got it, you filthy bastard?"
I gave a nod to my men.
"Beat him just like he beat his wife... but harder," I ordered.
My right-hand man tilted his head.
"How many bones should we break, Mr. Black?"
They called me Mr. Black.
Adrian was the name on my ID and in my legal circles. But I also existed in a world far from legal.
Not even my mother knew about this side of me.
"Leave the face clean. The rest is fair game."
"I'll report you! I'll call the police!"