"For one, you're all going to die. But I suppose I could let you suffer less if you're willing to just give up,"
Ethan said with a smile.
"You're a coward, Ethan. You're going to stand behind Stella like that?"
Varys dimly remembered that one. She hadn't been as important as Hope. No one was important as
Hope, ever. "Can't you just fight man to man? Winner gets the women, over and done." Not that Varys
ever thought he'd lose. Ethan would fall easily by his hand.
"You think I have to play fair? What kind of family are you in charge of?" Ethan chuckled. "No, you're a
damned idiot for thinking I'd ever just give up my advantages. I'm going to have fun slitting your throat
in front of Hope. I want you to die fast while I take my time with that other one. It'll prove to her that she
can never get away from me."
"You're never going to get close to Hope," Varys replied. "Even if you cheat your way to a win here,
you'll never get her."
"Yes, to do that, I might need an upper hand of sorts. Maybe even my own guy sent into my enemy's
base." Ethan continued.
"Lies, my men are loyal. They'd never choose to work for a piece of shit like you, Ethan."
"Money is a far more important factor than loyalty, Varys. Did you wonder why it was so easy for me to
clear out the men you sent here? Think about it."
Varys wasn't about to believe this excuse for a man. No, Hope was perfectly safe. None of his men
would turn on him. "Shut up, Ethan. There's no way any of my men took your blood money."
Ethan shrugged. "Believe what you want. I'm going to enjoy breaking in Hope again. It's been awhile.
Oh, I forgot, you both should be congratulating us early."
"Congratulating you?" Max demanded as the chair squeaked again. He grunted as more blood flowed
from his wounds.
Who was the dumbass in this situation? Varys has a feeling it wasn't him. "What the fuck are you
talking about now, Ethan?"
"We're going to have a baby," Ethan replied. "Hope and I are going to be parents."
"You're lying," Varys scanned the room again. Why was he keeping them here? Ethan was planning
something, he had to be. "Hope would never have a kid with someone like you."
Ethan grinned again as he leaned forward. "And who said I was giving her a choice? It's about time she
becomes useful for me, and an heir? That's very useful. Imagine, a whole houseful of them. She'll be
chained to me, forever."
"Fuck you," sneered Max.
Varys wanted to join in on that, but he still couldn't shake the sensation a trap was laid out. He reached
into his pocket and caressed the switchblade he had stashed. Ethan was distracted, focused on
beating Max into submission, which was perfect timing.
He jerked the knife from his pocket, flipped it open, then tossed it straight at Ethan's chest.
Ethan used the chair to glide to the side and the blade thunked against the wall as it sank in to its hilt.
"Is that it?" Ethan questioned. "I must admit, I'm getting tired of this game of ours. You didn't think I
came here alone, did you?" He snapped his fingers and a wave of men entered the small room.
"Maybe if you weren't led by your dick all the time, you would have noticed something was wrong. Men,
capture him, be as rough as you want, but don't kill him. I want to see Hope's fact when I slit his throat
in front of her."
"Hey, Ethan, did you really think I was that stupid? That I'd just come in here to confront you without a
solid plan?" Varys smiled. "Max, you might want to brace yourself, you too, Vincent." The other man
was silent, just staring off into the distance. Not a good sign at all.
"I know you're that stupid," Ethan replied as he nodded for his men to attack.
Varys hand vanished into his pocket and he pulled out a remote and jammed the button down. A shrill
scream erupted from his pockets and Ethan and his men stopped in place before clamping their hands
over their ears and howling.
Vincent and Max weren't in much better positions. Their bodies were twitching wildly to the side as the
sound reverberated through the small room. He would have shown mercy, if given the chance. But for
now, he had a scumbag to handle. He brought his hands to his mouth and whistled and like an ocean
of black, his men flooded the building and took out Ethan's without a scratch.
The only one left when it was over was Ethan on the ground, twitching as Varys put a heavy shoe
against his chest. "It looks like your confidence was over wrought. As you can see, Hope is staying with
me."
Max grunted from his spot as the screaming alarm continued to go off. By this point the man was
foaming at the mouth. Varys motioned to his men and they slipped protection in both Max's and
Vincent's ears as they undid their restraints.
Varys pulled Ethan to his feet with his arms bound behind him. "I need a new punching bag, and you
look perfect, Ethan. I'm looking forward to splitting you open."
"Sorry," Max groaned as he got closer. He pitched forward, losing his balance and running into Ethan's
back. The other man tried to throw him off before he went still, and fell forward. He hit the ground with a
thump and Varys didn't have to look far to see his very own knife plunged into the asshole's back.
"That wasn't enough to kill him, you know."
"I know," Max replied. "But this is," He stepped on Ethan's neck as the restrained man squirmed. "This
is for everything you put that woman through. You'll never be around to hurt anyone, ever again,
Ethan."
Varys watched and smiled. This was a beautiful sight, but there was just one niggling issue. "What
about Stella?" he pointed out.
Ethan's eyes were wide and this point and rolling up. "Yes, Stella," he whimpered as Max moved his
foot just enough for him to speak.
Max chuckled. "Lucky for her I'm a private investigator. There's no reason for me to let you live. You
wouldn't tell me the truth anyway. Goodbye, Ethan."
Varys shrugged. He was losing a punching bag, but watching the life drain from Ethan was worth it.
That bastard needed to die, and Max was doing a good job, he'd give him that.
The moments stretched and Ethan's body stopped twitching. Varys smiled. "I'll leave Stella's retrieval to
you then. I'd suggest you not go near Hope again until you've managed that."
Max snorted. "You think you can stop me? I'm not leaving before I let her know I'm okay," he paused
and held a hand to his knife wound. "Relatively speaking anyway."
"You killed Ethan, I'll grant you that one request," Varys agreed and waved his men away. "Now come
on, Hope is waiting for us and she's going to be excited to hear how our little adventure turned out in
the end." He smirked. And he'd carried out his end of the deal, so it didn't matter what either of these
men said. Hope was his, and he was going to get to marry her.
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