The heavy door clicked shut behind Leo with a soft, final sound that seemed to swallow the noise of the club outside. The private room was dim, lit only by a few low wall lamps and the cold blue glow of a security monitor mounted in the corner. The air smelled of leather, expensive liquor, and the faint metallic tang of tension.
Leo's amber eyes moved slowly across the space as he stepped inside — not rushed, not cautious, just… looking. He took in the two broad-shouldered twins standing like statues behind the chair where Adam was tied. He noted the way Adam's wrists were bound to the armrests, the gag hanging loose around his neck, the nervous flush still clinging to his friend's face. His gaze lingered for half a second on Adam, calm and unreadable, before drifting onward.
Victor Kane filled the far side of the room like a storm cloud in a tailored shirt. The man's long black hair was tied back in that loose ponytail, ice-blue eyes already gleaming with something between amusement and hunger. He looked like he was barely holding himself back from standing up again.
And then there was Mia.
She stood near the monitor, one hand resting lightly on the back of a chair, her posture perfect. The deep burgundy of her hair caught the low light in rich, dark waves where it escaped the high bun. Those thin gold-rimmed glasses framed eyes that were already dissecting him. Black turtleneck, tight skirt, sheer stockings, long coat draped open — she looked like she belonged in a boardroom that occasionally doubled as a war room.
Leo stopped a few paces inside the room.
Adam's face lit up with raw relief.
"Leo… I knew you would come—"
Leo kept walking, unhurried. The twins shifted, ready to intervene, but Mia lifted one hand without taking her eyes off him. She wanted to see what he would do.
Leo stopped in front of Adam. He reached down, took his friend's face in one hand, and turned it left, then right, examining the lack of bruises with clinical detachment.
"No beatings?" he asked quietly.
Adam let out a shaky, nervous laugh. "I'm quick when I need to be. If they hadn't trapped me, I wouldn't be here."
Leo gave a low, dry chuckle. "Big words for a man tied to a chair."
Victor's jaw tightened as he ground his teeth on a cracker, the sound loud in the quiet room. Leo didn't spare him a glance. It was as if the larger man simply didn't register as a threat — just background noise while he spoke with his friend.
"Alright," Leo said, straightening. "Take a break. I'll finish this."
Adam's brows rose. "Wha—"
Leo's hand moved in a clean, precise chop. Adam's eyes rolled back, and he went limp, unconscious before the word fully left his mouth.
Leo turned away from the chair without a second glance and walked toward the two people who mattered.
"Mia Ito. Victor Kane." His voice was quiet, almost conversational, yet it carried clearly across the room. "So. You want to know what happened to that Sin Triad branch."
Mia's pulse kicked hard against her throat. Everything about this man since he walked through the door had been unpredictable. He moved like he already knew how the next ten seconds would unfold.
Leo stopped in front of Victor's desk, lifted one leg, and rested his boot on the polished wood exactly where Victor's had been earlier. He leaned forward slightly, arms loose at his sides.
Victor's carefree smile vanished. His ice-blue eyes went flat and dangerous.
"I must say," Victor rumbled, voice low, "you've got some balls talking in my place like you own it."
Leo's gaze flicked to him, then back to Mia. When he spoke, his voice remained quiet, almost lazy, but there was steel beneath it.
"There's no need for games. Tell me what you want."
Mia stepped up beside Victor, her expression cool, her eyes sharp enough to cut. "Your friend keeps claiming you know who wiped out that Sin Triad branch. Is it true?"
Leo looked at her for a long moment. Damn. She really is really hot, he thought, the observation flickering through his mind before he buried it.
"Maybe I know," he said. "Maybe I don't. Tell me what you want."
Victor's legs came off the table. The last trace of amusement drained from his face.
"I guess we entertained you long enough," he said, voice rough. "Just because you've kept still until now doesn't mean you get to show off, kid. Answer the question. Did you know or not?"
Leo nodded once, like he was agreeing with the weather. He reached into his hoodie, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it with a flick of his thumb. The flame briefly lit his face in the dim room. He took a slow drag, exhaled a thin stream of smoke toward the ceiling, and finally looked at Victor properly. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
"Let's set that aside for a moment," he said. "Let's talk about why I actually came here today."
Mia's lips curved, but there was no humor in them. "You came?" She shook her head, clearly amused. "That's cute."
Leo removed his boot from the desk and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, cigarette burning between two fingers.
"It's up to you whether you believe it or not," he said. "But there's only one reason I'm here."
"I want both of you to submit to me," he said without hesitation, his gaze unwavering. "Name your price. I'll buy your loyalty. Money is not a problem."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Even Mia's composed mask cracked for a split second. Victor's hand flexed at his side like he was physically restraining himself from reaching across the desk.
Victor's signal was small — just a flick of two fingers.
The Russian twins moved.
They came fast for men their size, one going low, the other high, trying to pin Leo between them. The first twin's fist whistled toward Leo's ribs. The second reached for his shoulder, looking to drag him down.
Leo didn't even look like he was trying.
He slipped the first punch by shifting his weight half an inch, caught the reaching hand at the wrist, and twisted. The sound of the twins' shoulders popping was wet and ugly. Before the man could scream, Leo drove an elbow into his throat and dropped him to his knees, gasping.
The second twin swung again, a heavy, looping haymaker meant to cave in a skull. Leo stepped inside it, drove two precise fingers into the man's solar plexus, then brought his knee up into the same spot. The twin folded with a choked wheeze and hit the floor hard enough to shake the table.
It took less than four seconds.
Leo stood there in the sudden quiet, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve as he'd just dealt with a minor inconvenience. He took another slow drag of his cigarette, the cherry flaring in the dim light.
The two Russian twins lay on the floor in a heap of broken limbs and choked breathing. The room had gone utterly still.
Victor's smile was gone. His ice-blue eyes had gone flat and dangerous; the earlier amusement burned away. Mia's fingers remained white-knuckled on the back of the chair, her expression unreadable behind the thin gold rims of her glasses.
Leo took another slow drag of his cigarette, exhaled a thin stream of smoke toward the ceiling, and looked at them both like they were the only two people left in the room.
"So," he said, voice quiet and almost lazy. "Now that we've cleared the air… let's talk business."
Mia's eyes narrowed. Her voice was cold when she spoke.
"It seems we underestimated you. But if you think you'll walk out of here alive after laying hands on our men, you're delusional."
As if on cue, the doors burst open. A dozen armed guards poured into the room, hands already on their gun belts, eyes locked on Leo.
Leo exhaled a slow breath of smoke. Fuck. I really do suck at negotiations, he thought. Taking the twins down was supposed to make them wary. Instead, it had made them treat him like a genuine threat.
He took another lazy drag and looked directly at Mia.
"If you want to know who reported your drug shipment," he said, voice calm, "tell your dogs to wait outside."
Mia's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Her voice came out tight.
"You're bluffing."
Leo's mouth curved into something that wasn't quite a smile.
Victor's face twisted. He took a step forward, his voice a low growl.
"I'm going to kill this fucking guy—"
Mia's hand shot out and caught his arm. She didn't look at him.
"We can kill him anytime," she said, voice low and controlled. She gestured sharply at the guards. "Out. All of you."
The guards hesitated for only a second before filing back out, the door clicking shut behind them.
Leo walked over to the nearest chair, sat down without asking, and crossed one ankle over his knee. He smoked slowly, watching them both.
Mia turned back to him, her expression colder than before.
"I won't bother asking how you knew about the shipment. Clearly, you've done your homework. So tell me — who reported it?"
Leo exhaled a thin stream of smoke and looked at Victor instead of answering.
Victor's jaw clenched. "Why the fuck are you looking at me?"
Leo chuckled, low and dry.
"Because it's your mistress, you moron. The milf you've been fucking on the side? She was an undercover cop. And you walked right into it."
Victor's face went pale. For a second, something raw and ugly flickered across his features — disbelief, rage, and the sickening realization that it might actually be true. His hands curled into fists at his sides.
Mia closed her eyes for a brief moment, her face tight with fury.
"I told you to keep your mouth shut when you were working with your dick," she said, voice low and venomous.
Victor didn't answer. His breathing had gone heavy. Somewhere behind his eyes, a single thought burned: I'm going to butcher that bitch.
Mia exhaled slowly and looked back at Leo. Her voice was clipped, professional, and final.
"You can take your friend and leave. The debt is closed with this information. We're done here."
Leo chuckled, flicked the cigarette butt into the ashtray, and stood up.
"Didn't I already say I want to buy you both?"
Victor's neck veins stood out. He moved fast for a man his size — one moment he was standing still, the next he had grabbed the heavy table and hurled it aside like it weighed nothing. The wood crashed against the wall with a deafening crack.
Leo whistled, genuinely impressed.
Victor stormed toward him, face twisted with rage.
"Fuck off before I mess up that pretty face."
Leo didn't flinch. He simply straightened, hands loose at his sides, and met Victor's glare with calm, unflinching amber eyes.
"I guess the donation didn't buy much goodwill after all," he said quietly. "Either way…"
He took one step closer, voice dropping even lower.
"Either you join me now… or I drag your dead bodies out of here. Your choice."
**
/c/DevilsWhisper