NOVEL NEXT Chapter 296: Free.
"Say Mike." James looked at him with the same expression, that same calmness on his face, in his eyes. "Don't you think that this all is just bullshit?"
At that moment, Mike didn't know what to do, how to feel about the questions… James didn't look terrified, nor the questions sounded threatening… it was just different on another level, like, what is this?
The feeling of it, his eyes, that faint smile on his face, this calmness, the whole situation, was something terrifying yet calm.
"Like, what do you mean—"
"Dad?" Charlotte's sudden sweet voice came from the door as she was peeking in with her innocence… she once again showed up like a light in the darkness, just projecting this warmth to everybody.
And she truly changed the atmosphere. Mike put on a fake smile, and even Arine did, to show her that nothing bad was going on, to signal that everything is alright… though she knew pretty much that everything was wrong, of course she did, because she was witnessing it too.
Witnessing that face of James, that nothingness on it… she saw through it. All her life, she was surrounded by people who faked themselves, and now seeing that James too is faking it… no, he wasn't faking anything… he was more like just looking lost… looking tired.
"Charlotte, come here." He said as he opened his arms for a hug, and she did, slowly, like she was thinking about something, as she looked deep into Joseph's eyes with her blue eyes… like she was a wave of water going against a wall… but that hug felt so indifferent to the others.
It wasn't a warm one, it wasn't a hug that was just comfortable or a good hug… it felt more like a need… a hug that Joseph needed in that moment. His head slowly fell on Charlotte's shoulder and his hands wrapped around her, like they switched places… it wasn't Charlotte who needed an anchor at that moment but more like James… like he wanted to anchor himself down with Charlotte, that light in his life was her, a light that shines in the darkness.
Just a comforting hug for a minute, just the reality of their worlds.
Then a sudden noise broke their silence. It was a clink, like a metallic sound… the coin fell out of his pocket, and Charlotte immediately reached for it with a smile on her face.
"Heads or tails?" She asked, looking up at him with a wide smile.
"Something comes before the coin toss. Do you know what that is, Charlotte?"
"Before?" She repeated, genuinely thinking, tilting her head as she tried to figure it out. "Oh… the bet?" she guessed.
"Exactly, darling. The bet." He reached out and gently petted her head. "You need to know what you're betting on before throwing the coin, or else the coin decides for you."
"But… doesn't the coin decide anyway?" She asked quickly with confusion in her voice.
She didn't fully understand it, of course she didn't. A little girl, protected from the things James and the others deal with every day.
She didn't need to make bets, or decisions, or carry the weight of the world. Not yet. And James… he understood that. That's why he let her be just Charlotte, just a child, just a light in a world that was too dark most of the time.
James smiled down at her, his hand still resting on her head. "It's not about winning or losing, Charlotte. It's about knowing yourself, even in a small moment. The coin doesn't care what you want, but the bet… that's yours. And sometimes." James added. "even if you lose, it doesn't matter. You made the choice. That's what counts."
"I think… I think I understand." No, she didn't understand it, but she at least had the bet in her mind.
"So?" James asked as he poked her belly.
"You buy me whatever I want!" She said and almost tossed the coin, but James poked her belly once again, which resulted in her starting to laugh.
"Yeah, but heads or tails, darling?"
"You said it doesn't matter… which side it lands on!" She said, still laughing a bit and once again confused.
"Forget it. Charlotte, it's just a coin toss, so if heads, I'll buy you whatever you want, yeah?"
She nodded to it and already saw the gifts, the cookies, the toys in front of her, as she tossed up the coin in the air, but… well, she didn't catch it, she let it fall to the floor and it landed on… either side.
"Now that is… surprising." Arine spoke for the first time and even laughed at Charlotte's face as she looked at the coin.
"You see, the coin sometimes tricks you." James laughed too as he looked at the coin.
The coin landed on its edge and didn't pick a side… it tricked them. But the one it tricked the most was Charlotte, who, well… got petty-angry about it… and he immediately started stomping the shit out of the coin.
"This… fuuuuck!"
"Hey, Charlotte…" James laughed even more at her patience as he poked her side… he laughed so much that even his tears came out, as she truly lost all her sweetness and innocence in a moment… she was stomping it like it personally offended her.
"But it is impossible!" She shouted, even pointing her finger at the coin, with eyes that just resembled those sharp eyes of Lucian… and, well, his anger issues.
"Nothing is impossible, darling. There was a small chance and it happened, be happy you see something rare." James said as he still laughed a bit about it, but he noticed it. "Though it is heads, no?"
Indeed it was. She didn't even notice while she was stomping it that it was heads.
"But isn't that cheating?" She asked, though the excitement was in her eyes, and that mischievous smile.
"Well, sometimes to get what you want… you need to stomp it a little." Well, it was not the best to give to a child… though it worked, and Charlotte's eyes immediately lit up as she picked up the coin.
"Then tomorrow we're going on a shopping spree!" She shouted as she spun around. "I'm going to tell grandma!" She gave a quick hug to James and immediately ran off to Erica, while James was thinking about… what he had just said to Charlotte.
Stomping…
"Mike, call up Hector and tell him that he can do whatever he wants." He looked at him again, changing like going straight back to being a Don. "Tell him to kill everybody who even dares to raise their voice, I give him freedom about it."
Mike felt it as much as Arine… that now there were truly no walls, no fine lines… that this actually finally was what everybody feared James to become… to become a real motherfucker in the underworld.
Not just threats, not just words… but action, that he finally taking on the family itself, finally, reforming it in a way.
"I do it right now—"
"Not just that." His voice was deeper, more calculated, and he didn't even look at Mike, he was thinking about something. "Everybody in the family who has no work, or does nothing all day, they can go the fuck away, and if they resist, then kill them, also the housekeeper and the cooks." He looked up now. "Interrogate them thoroughly. If Albert was a rat, then there's got to be more, and if they knew about something or even for a night the loyalty shook… kill them."
Yeah, it wasn't just about that… the thing about it, that fucking chef… the one who cooked for them was the one who betrayed him… the one who could have killed them with poison or with some other shit… what if the housekeeper is the same, what if Alda is the same?
It's not paranoia, no… it's just making sure that those who are close to the heart of the family are checked and are not fucking rats.
"Oh, and Hans' daughter." He looked up at Mike. "Transfer her here, Maraci, so she will be safe too, and Charlotte can have a friend her age."
He didn't forget about her, nor Hans, and the promise he made… he was going to take care of her… and finally take care of the family in a way that actually the best thing to do almost strategic one.
The one who does the cleaning is Hector, and he will do it for a reason. He is the one whose name is feared, for the things he has done, the tortures, the bodies, the beheadings, skinning alive, all of. He commands respect, the people feel deep fear in it the moment they see him.
And when he shows up, when he starts asking questions, they will bend, they will tell the truth, because in their minds, those stories about him will resurface.
Hector is free to do whatever he wants.