This Wicked Sin

It was Friday night and I was blitzed out of my mind. The music was loud, the drinks endless and people were rubbing on me in a horny mass; just the way I liked it. I picked out a tiny voluptuous girl and brought her close to me so we could grind on each other. Her dark skin was covered in a sheen of sweat that made her glow prettily in the seductive lighting. Our breaths mingled in the warm air and I got a slight whiff of her scent. Omega. A sweet airy scent that clogged your nose just so. I didn’t mind the heavy petting and flirting that usually happened on these nights because we all knew I wouldn’t be taking any of these people home. I was something unattainable that you only got a taste of but never fully owned. Also just the way I liked it. I was so drunk and high that I could vividly imagine my uptight brother looking at me with unimpressed cold eyes and a face set in clear disapproval and disappointment. Knowing how he was, he’d probably tell me to get a hold of myself and stop these childish exploits. Stop throwing your life away, he’d say. If I listened closely, I could almost hear him calling my name. “Gabriel!” I whipped around in alarm when it hit me that the voice was too clear to be my imagination. Fuck. He really was here. Rowan stood in front of me, towering over me with an impressive scowl on his face and his arms folded in clear displeasure. His hair was shaved in the sides with his tight curls tied back into an artfully messy bun while a few curls were free, hanging loosely around his face. His face was granite hard, made of angles that contrasted with his smooth, dark skin. He looked more like a model straight off the runway than what he actually was; the first son of one the most powerful and dangerous men in the country. Not that he wasn’t powerful and dangerous himself; Rowan exuded an aura of power and menace so strong you could feel it as soon as he walked into a room. Case in point, the once crowded dance floor now held a comfortable space between where he stood and where the revelry began. Two huge men stood slightly behind him on either side. “Brother!” I said louder than I planned in my head. His scowl impossibly deepened. I walked up to him and brought him into a sloppy hug, “Glad to see you! So nice of you to drop by,” I rambled drunkenly. I don’t think anyone alive on this earth would have dared pull Rowan Corvin into a hug without his express say-so. To everyone else, he was a cold, unapproachable bastard, but to me, he was everything. The idea of my brother dropping by his own club was so funny to me that I let out a tiny giggle. There was a palpable moment in the club where everyone seemed to be waiting for him to get violent and put me in my place for daring to be so casual with him, but all he did was sigh in exasperation. He nodded to one of his guards, “Get him some water.” To me, he said, “You need to get sober.” “But I’m having so much fun, Row,” I slurred. He looked at the other goon who wasted no time in wrestling me out of my brother’s arms and up over his massive shoulder. It was a testament to how common this occurrence was that it didn’t phase me one bit. Rowan led the way upstairs to a sectioned-off area where only a select few were allowed to hang out. It was the VVIP section that overlooked the entire club. Currently, there were already a few patrons littered about the couches. They didn’t bother to look up when we passed by but continued what they had been doing; drugs and lewd acts. We passed through a secure door in the back to a hallway that branched off into a series of private rooms. At the end of the hallway, Rowan opened a solid-looking door and let the bodyguard pass through with me. The Raven's Wing was one of a string of clubs owned by my family around the city. I shouldn't have been surprised that my brother was here since it was his favourite place to do business. He usually let me do my own thing and never interfered when I was here with my friends. I shouldn't have come here in the first place, but the drinks here were simply too good to ignore. With a snap of Rowan’s fingers, I was dumped unceremoniously onto a couch in the room. The room spun around dizzyingly. It was an office that doubled as Rowan’s centre of operations when he was here. It also doubled as a lounge spot for the other top members of his circle. I felt my brother crouch before me. Slowly, I turned my head to watch him through bleary eyes. His piercing amber eyes held more sadness than I knew what to do with in my current state. He pressed a gentle hand to my face. “I wish you wouldn’t do this to yourself,” he said quietly. He had a bottle of mineral water in his hand, a clear sign that the other goon had come here in the time I’d been spacing out. He handed me the bottle and I drank from it slowly. I saw him walk away towards the door, clearly on his way out. “Make sure he doesn’t leave the room. Not for anything,” he instructed. My Friday night was officially ruined. “You’re such a bastard!” I cursed. I groaned as I turned into the couch. He paused before he quietly closed the door behind him. I passed out not long after. A hard slap jerked me out of my sleep. My eyes sprung open and widened when I saw who stood in front of me. “What the fu-” I slurred, my voice heavy with sleep. “Don’t take that tone with me,” Hunter Corvin said right in my face. He held my face in his hand painfully, forcing me to look at him. “I need you awake and I need you f*****g sober,” he hissed out. “Let me sleep, jeez.” His fingers squeezed my cheeks painfully. He smacked me again, promptly slapping the sleep and leftover high right out of me. This one felt closer to a punch than anything else. I groaned and forced myself not to retaliate because I knew the psycho would wipe the floor with me in my current state. “f**k you,” I spat out. He raised his hand to hit me once more- “That’s enough,” I heard Rowan growl from somewhere in the room. He sat behind his huge desk, lounging back in his expensive chair, a glass of top-shelf whiskey in his hand, “He’s awake now so f**k off him.” This is why he was my favourite brother. Hunter scoffed and roughly shoved me back onto the couch before getting up to walk away. I was tempted to spit on him but I resisted the urge. Hunter was my other brother. He was only two years older than me, yet he acted like he owned my ass half the time. He was a total cunt; two hundred pounds of mean and crazy. We had absolutely no love for each other. Before I could ask what the hell I was supposed to be awake for, I heard a whimper from a corner of the room. I turned my head. Oh. It was going to be that kind of night. Blood and pain. There was nothing I hated more and yet here I was, just like always, at the scene of the crime. I can't believe I was wasting a good Friday night witnessing what was essentially torture disguised as an interrogation. If I was lucky, the most I'd be doing is witnessing this. But I knew how this night would end; how such nights always ended. The interrogator would have to be me. A man sat chained in what I liked to call the torture corner. Sat was too nice a word for how he was positioned. His wrists, neck and ankles were chained to a chair in a way no one would ever describe as comfortable. His head was lowered as if in supplication. He looked passed out. That might have had to do with the injury making blood drip steadily from his hair down his face. The torture corner was outfitted with ceramic easy-to-clean tiles and a drain for this very reason. Things tended to get… messy. Hunter stood by a table to the side that held an assortment of tools and knives specially designed to get a person talking. I felt bile rise up in my throat, but I’m sure my brother was in his element. “I don't… I don't think I can do this,” I said as I slowly got up, hoping I could get to the door without interruption. That was unrealistic though, as it was clear the reason Rowan had decided to interfere with my life tonight. He wanted me to work. Hunter let out a cutting laugh and said, “Of course, the pampered p***y princess wants to leave. You’re allowed to f**k off doing god knows what with Dad’s money, but god forbid we ask you to do a simple task for us.” There was a bitterness in his tone that cut me just as much as his words. I ignored him and kept walking. I just wanted to sleep all this away. I wanted to sink into the earth until no one and nothing could get to me. “Gabriel,” Rowan called sharply. I stopped. My eyes snapped to him. He was watching our brother with an unreadable look on his face. His light brown eyes, so similar to those of a predator, turned slowly towards me. “Sit,” He gestured to the chair opposite him, making it clear where he wanted me. Hunter scoffed and went back to whatever he was doing, knowing he could never win against Rowan. None of us could. Honestly, I was tired, feeling a hangover coming over and I felt gross staying in the party clothes I’d just passed out in. Not to mention my cheek stung from the abuse a few moments ago. This was the last place I wanted to be. This was the last thing I wanted to do. I sucked it up and walked to him, sitting down heavily in the chair. “We need to discuss something, you and I,” he said in a voice only the two of us could hear, “I need your full attention for this.” He stared me down with a cold, hard gaze until I gave a short nod. I said nothing and waited for him to continue. “Like it or not, you are part of this family. You reap the benefits of it every day. I want you involved. And not only that, but I know you’re capable of it. You’re very good at it actually. This I know for a fact.” He held up a hand when I tried to cut in. He took a slow sip of his liquor and continued, “However, you have made it clear to me that you don’t want anything to do with this. You dream of leaving this, leaving us behind while you retire to the islands.” He sighed, “It’s been difficult watching you spiral down the last few years. You’re not okay, I can see that. So no matter how much I really wish you’d reconsider, I want to respect your wishes.” I looked at him in shocked confusion. He couldn't mean… “Three months. That’s all I ask for. I’ll make the arrangements for your extraction by then. After that, you can leave and you can do whatever it is you want, wherever you want. You won’t get any interference from a single one of us. You can disappear like you’ve always wanted,” he said. He didn’t look happy giving me this news. The offer was so good as to be unbelievable. “What about Dad?” I asked before I got too excited. He took a long sip this time and sighed deeply. He stared at the table unseeingly, “Don’t worry about our father. I’ll take care of him and all the details.” He was silent for a long moment. “You know I never agreed with how Father treated you. His cruelty knows no limits, but I never expected him to direct that cruelty towards his own blood. I want you to know that, more than anything. You don’t have to be ashamed of who you are.” I lowered my eyes and tried to stop the rush of tears about to hit me. I never knew such simple words could mean so much. Just when I was about to lose the battle with my watery eyes, Rowan continued. “I have conditions though,” he said. My eyes met his as I waited. I didn't care what he asked for. I was sure whatever it was would be worth the price of my freedom from this wretched life. “What are they? I’ll do anything.” He raised an eyebrow in scepticism, “I only need a few things from you, Gabriel. First and most importantly, I need you to cut back on your wild lifestyle. I know you think I’m too busy to, but I do keep tabs on you. You haven’t been to a single class in three weeks, Gabriel. And I’m more than aware of where you’ve been spending your days and nights.” I sat in the chair in shame and mortification as he continued. “The parties, the raves, the drugs; you need to stop. They aren’t a long-term solution to dealing with your problems. In fact, they’re not a solution at all. You’re ruining your potential and I won’t have that. This comes to an end. Either cut back, or this deal is done. Are we clear?” “Crystal,” I said in a quiet voice, “Does that mean no parties at all or..?” I promptly shut up at the look on his face. “You will attend all your classes and you will pass all those classes. When you leave, I’ll have your credits transferred to a college in the place you choose to settle down in. I'm asking that you finish school and get your degree. You’re free to do what you want after that. Is that also clear?” “Yes sir,” I said sarcastically. It’s not like I hated school, I was quite good at it if I paid attention. It was just finally being able to disappear from this family, yet being forced to attend college classes was lame as f**k. “The other things are to stay in line and behave. Don’t cause trouble. Shouldn’t be that hard, should it?” he said with a knowing look in his eye. “I’ll try my best not to ruin this chance you’ve given me,” I said sincerely. “Another thing-” his phone suddenly rang, cutting him off abruptly. He eyed his phone as he looked at the caller. Usually, he’d ignore it and finish a conversation but he didn’t even hesitate, he answered it. “Yes?” he said as he got up and walked away. Rowan’s voice faded in the background as I contemplated my fate, still disbelieving that I was this close to escaping this reality. My father had no love for me and it spilt into every interaction we had though we barely had any, to begin with. One of the reasons I wanted to get out was his constant look of contempt and the anger that always simmered within him and was never quite far from his fists. Though to be fair, the asshole hadn’t laid a single hand on me in years. Younger me had mourned the loss of even that little bit of attention he had deigned to pay me. Yeah, the younger me was dumb with glaring daddy issues. Not that I was much different now. “Gabriel,” Rowan said. Something in his voice made me look up at him sharply. “A meeting of the Syndicate has been called.” What in the world? Rowan continued, “And you’re coming with me.”