The Fancy Pants Club — Chapter 44 - Fancy Redecorating

~ Erik ~

Death had circulated my life since I was born. First was my mother, second were the strangers that Hyde had killed, and third was the Iopata dogs that I killed during our Club operations. I had known of death, too acquainted with it even that seeing a lifeless body unaffected me.

The death of Rohan as expected didn’t have that much impact amidst him being a good friend of mine, but it reminded me greatly about what Daniella, my precious Sweet Rose, would soon face if she continues to get tangled up with the dealings of the Club.

She was already drawn into danger because of Nikola. Experienced a considerable amount of trauma due to what happened in the Iopata Mansion and Rohan. I don’t want those to happen again.

Shit. I don’t want her to suffer or get hurt again.

That exactly is the reason why I kept any news from her regarding Iopata and Nikola. I had instructed Karl, Vincent, and the others to keep everything a secret from her especially my twin’s recent notice of threat.

How he got my number was beyond me but I believe it was because of Luca’s existing reports about me and the Club. He called one day after the incident in the Iopata Mansion and told me about his desire to steal Daniella away, make her his slave and sex toy as a way to make me suffer.

In response to that, I had kept Daniella in the underground hideout, increased security, and kept a watchful eye on her. I had also ordered our Club associates to secure the safety of her mother in New York; discreetly guard her twenty-four seventh so that Nikola wouldn’t get any chances of using her as bait.

All went well to date and so far, I had calmly kept all of these from Daniella. I had acted as if nothing was wrong, but every night, as we lay together in bed, the guilt of keeping her caged like an animal unsettles me.

Although all of this means her safety, still she needed to live her life normally; work, travel, and relax without fear of the dangers ahead.

Vincent’s suggestion of going on a vacation together was approved by all of my Club members while I thought it a good idea. Daniella, of all people, needed the respite since she was the one who saw the heartbreaking final breath of Rohan. Aside from that, I needed to get her away from the Club too while my twin brother remains at large thinking that she’ll be safe away.

However, I have never thought that in a peaceful gathering like bringing Rohan’s ashes in its final resting place would be invaded by him.

When the prayers and the throwing of ashes were done, I turned to return in Daniella’s side who I expected to be standing with the crowd; standing beautifully with her unshed but gleaming tears.

The expression in my face was already cold. When I found her absent in the spot where I left her, it turned even arctic.

She may have gone to some other spot to shade from the sun’s rays, that’s what my mind thought at first, but something in my veins called out an alarm.

I immediately scanned the available area; right to left, the front, and the back of the crowd but she was nowhere to be seen.

That’s when a reflection of a car’s hood caught my eye.

“Shit!” I cursed loudly, my eyes trained on Daniella’s fragile form inside the front-seat of Nikola’s Bugatti Chiron. I saw red immediately and felt a strong craze to slice my twin’s throat.

I noticed Vincent beside me tense. “Daniella!” he shouted and then looked at me in alarm too.

They were parked a lengthy distance away from where we were. Nikola, who stood in the driver’s side saluted me with a grin and then he slipped inside just as I scrambled to my feet and shouted his name in anger, “Nikola!”

“Enrique, the copter!” I heard Vincent yell instinctively.

In the hopes of catching them on time, I pushed and rammed into the mourning people in my way, hissing the whole time when I saw the Bugatti leave.

“Prez! I’ll help you!” Vincent voiced out when he reached my side.

“Take care of Daniella for me! I’ll kill the bastard this time!” I gritted my teeth and willed my feet to take flight towards my Ferrari.

I got there just in a matter of seconds, but it was enough for Nikola to speed out of our sight.

“Fuck!” I cursed again, gripping the wheel tightly just as I stepped on the gas pedal.

***

~ Daniella ~

Crying won’t help me one bit, so I fought back the salty liquid that wanted to fall since I followed Nikola to his getaway vehicle.

The glock he had used awhile ago was lying on his side of the dashboard. I had contemplated many times on snatching it, but many times also I refrained. With him having the upper hand, I knew it wouldn’t be the wisest thing to do.

But.

How I wish I had my own gun right now, my mind had chanted over and over again willing more than ever to kill him on the spot just to end this twisted game, but Erik decided not to arm me with it for the reason that it wasn’t necessary. He stated that it was his duty to protect me but who would have known that his cowardly twin brother would strike in the middle of Rohan’s funeral rites?

My hands curled into a tight fist in my lap as he curved and turned the car towards who-knows-where. I remained silent, refusing to make a conversation with him or to plead my release.

“You are not thrashing, why?” From the driver’s seat, I heard Nikola say. Caring not one bit, I didn’t glance at him. I just positioned myself facing my side of the window. “I hoped you would give me a bit of challenge, mishka.”

I clenched my jaw and ignored him still.

“And you’re not crying, but that’s good. I want you to save it for later. We will go to the chateau directly. Hyde is there waiting for us. It is me and my twin brother’s birthday today you know. I have prepared a special surprise for him.”

By the mention of surprise, I felt blood rush down my face. Nothing is good news when it comes to this man. Nothing at all. And though he used the word surprise and birthday together, I knew there aren’t good intentions in it.

Finally, I decided to drag my eyes on him.

“So this is the purpose of Mr. Startsev’s so-called surprise birthday party huh?” I spat, remembering the time in New York when Hyde discussed with my mother and I the particulars of this said birthday party. I never expected that it was their grand scheme against Erik and I never expected that the second celebrant would be him.

Him. Erik.

Oh, so today is his birthday.

I clenched my hands even more.

He never told me about this. Why? I would have greeted him a happy birthday this morning, would have given him a special gift if I knew.

“Yup, I hope you were able to set-up the venue well, mishka,” my thoughts were cut off when he answered and winked at me at the same time.

I cringed. “I postponed it,” was my immediate reply. “You will find nothing in the President’s Hall except stacked chairs and empty tables.”

“Oh?” Whilst looking at the road, he raised a brow. “But those aren’t needed, Love. Nikolai doesn’t need a grand party for his eventual death.”

By the mere mention of the word, I inhaled hard.

I know he aimed to kill Erik. He had expressed that to me countless times, but with the thought of it now and the possibility of succeeding because he will use me as bait made me strengthen my resolve.

I will not let that happen and I am willing to sacrifice my life to ensure that!

With great courage, I positioned myself to launch into him. Two scenarios were inside my mind when I did. First, if I grab a hold of the steering wheel, I will steer the car to any solid material - a wall, a lamppost, or a building - anything, just so our ride to the chateau would stop. Second, if I swipe his gun, I would shot him point-blank in the head.

Or I could just improvise and mix the two if worse comes to worst.

But my plan was all forgotten when I saw Nikola hiss and turn to look at the back of the car. I felt the car sped in triple then. Without any seatbelts on, my hands scrambled to hold the sides of the seat in response.

“Blyad!” I heard him curse just as he swerved the car to the right of the coastal road.

My lungs felt like it had jumped out of my chest when he did. I gave him a glare, but my brows changed into that of confusion upon seeing his apparent distress.

Why was he in distress?

When I glanced at the back window of the Bugatti, relief, and happiness bubbled up inside me.

I recognize the red Ferrari car tailing us behind and although it had a black tinted window, I was sure that Erik was the one driving it.

Speeding next to Erik’s side was a silver sports car. I couldn’t see who was driving it but I can confidently bet he was one of the Club members.

A car chase, just like people see in a Fast and Furious scene, that’s what I am in right now. Although the thought of each car ending badly in those scenes, I was still happy that I was within Erik’s reach... within the safety of his arms.

“Don’t celebrate just yet, mishka,” Nikola, who was gripping the shift knob, remarked. Anger and the evil look of any murderer were etched on his face. “Nikolai won’t be able to catch up with us, I assure you that.”

I eyed him then, sending enough hate that I could muster up in his profile. For the first time since he captured me, I see a ray of hope, but then again, I refuse to be a damsel-in-distress. Although I needed the rescuing, I am determined and set to help ease the process.

My safety be damned.

“They won’t if I won’t do this!” I shouted and then made true with my plans earlier. I launched at him, one hand gripped at his steering wheel while the other reached for the gun. Nikola, judging from his frantic shift of the wheel, didn’t foresee my actions. With that, our car made an abrupt turn to the left of the road bridge.

Tires screeched at first, followed by white smoke surrounding the back and sides of the car. We were spun many times and in one moment, I felt the car floated. Then, slam after slam of both the roof and the belly of the car occurred. I felt sick and aching the whole time. The last thing that registered in my dizzy mind was how forceful the car’s hood rammed into a metal barrier.

The series of blunt blows to my chest, back, and limbs were ended with a strong impact of my head against the dashboard. Nikola experienced the same too, but the events were so fast and fleeting that I wasn’t able to determine which got the worst treatment: me or him.

My head throbbed like hell though and my consciousness faded in and out. The last thing I remembered before I blanked out was my fingers loosening the hold of Nikola’s gun.

***

~ Erik ~

To my horror, I saw my twin’s vehicle wildly turn a hundred and eighty degrees onto the opposite road just as they were nearing the middle of the coastal bridge. It spun, it rotated and it flipped, every motion uncontrolled and powerful that I felt the surge of fear knocking out the wind in my lungs.

My worry for Daniella’s safety increased a hundredfold.

“Daniella!” I shouted with force; my feet stepping on the breaks immediately.

My hands went cold and clammy upon seeing the Bugatti’s hood collide against the metal barrier that marked the boundary between safety and death. It was a good thing they were thick and bolted securely else the car along with Daniella would have been plunged into the rocky beach below.

But it didn’t lessen my worry as I watched the scene through my windshield.

Curling my hands into a tight fist, in haste, I stepped out of my car and ran towards the smoking crash site. My focus was on Daniella alone, but once I was inches away from the car, I turned heels directly on Nikola’s side of the door, planning to beat him to death.

I didn’t need to open the car door to get the bastard out for it was already detached from the string of slams earlier. I too didn’t need to pull my silver gun out as I expected him to be weak and most likely bloody, but once I reached him, Nikola’s snickering face met my stern expression.

I cursed inwardly. The mother f*ucker.

He was sitting in an awkward position in the driver’s seat, panting. One bloody arm was on his stomach while the other held a gun that was pointed at Daniella’s forehead - my precious Sweet Rose - who was unconscious, leaning against the dashboard with her soft curls partially hiding her face.

“Say goodbye to your woman, brother,” he hoarsely spoke. I didn’t have enough time to pull my gun out or punch him in the face when I saw his finger move in the trigger.

“No!” I shouted with dread etched in my face.

The fire of a gun resounded in the air, but as I watched with my fingers trembling, blood didn’t trail down from Daniella’s forehead.

Nikola’s hold on the gun loosened. It fell on the cracked floor of the car with not a sound.

How? How?! my thoughts cried out.

Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw Vincent holding his revolver; its mouth aimed towards Nikola.

Relief washed through me, but it was just brief.

In one move, I pulled the limp Nikola out of the car by the collar of his shirt. I threw him on the sidewalk where I poured out my rage and punched his fucked up bloody face again and again.

He didn’t fight at all. He didn’t so much as lift his arms to block my knuckles.

“Prez! Stop it!” Despite my vengeful state, I heard Vincent speak loudly. “He is dead. Daniella isn’t. Let’s get her to the hospital. NOW!”

He was already holding Daniella in his arms, standing a couple of feet away from the now-flaming car.

I nodded but before walking away, I took out my silver gun and released five bullets in Nikola’s head without caring that random drivers in the bridge would witness it.

Contentment washed through me.

I can finally say that Daniella is safe now. From danger. From Iopata. From my twin.

In the same hospital where Suri was in, Vincent and I brought Daniella. I would have wanted to stay and wait for news regarding her status but Karl arrived and informed me of another problem: Hyde.

Apparently, he was able to slip inside the chateau while we were at the funeral, together with a number of goons at his side. Surveillance cameras showed that they had been there waiting since mid-morning.

I had a feeling that this was his and Nikola’s plan all along. The surprise birthday party project that Daniella was in was meant to bring the Club down, but no. They got it all wrong. They had underestimated what the Club can do.

I stood up from the hospital bench with my hands itching for a fight. A small smile grew on my lips then. Vincent saw it and I knew from the way he smiled back that he understood what I was thinking.

“Prez,” both he and Karl spoke in front of me; their faces waiting expectantly for my orders.

“I guess it is time to change the carpet in the President’s Hall, huh?” I asked, thinking of something crimson red and sticky staining it soon.

“Yes, Prez. I believe so,” was Vincent’s reply.

I nodded. “Then, let’s go and do some fancy redecorating.”