Less Than Perfect

{24} A Serpent's Lair

Tanwir Sarker

I gripped Kanza's hand in my own, dark hoodies over our head, taking long strides with her close beside me. An overwhelming fear encompassed my cold exterior, a loud drumming of my heart as the blood rushed through my veins, and a familiar sense of adrenaline poisoned me. The deeper we walked into the compound, the more my memories fell into pictures, no longer fragments of my past.

Daisuke managed to get me some time alone with the boss, not without conditions. I wasn't sure if I could go through with another task as the mafia's enforcer, but if it would ensure my wife's safety, I didn't have a choice. I knew how powerful the boss was. Law enforcement didn't stand a chance.

I felt a tug at my sleeve.

Looking down, my wife's dark brown eyes stared up at me as she leaned up to whisper in my ear. "What is this place?"

"The compound," I told her in a quiet voice. "It was our headquarters."

"It looks so... normal."

I gave her a sideways glance, full of amusement. "It's a house, Kanza."

The bodyguard, Yafeu Gyasi, made an angry growl at our conversation. "Shut up," he said gruffly, a couple steps ahead. "You are not guests here. Don't forget that."

My gaze hardened, jaw clenching as the shadows of my past cloaked me in their darkness. "Gyasi, let's not forget who I am either," I said, voice dangerously low. He stopped walking, daring a look back at me. "I tore this place apart once, and I'm not afraid to do it again. I'm sure you remember that."

He may have been a man made of pure muscles, larger than me in frame, but he lacked the strategic skills that I had. His broad shoulders tensed, hands curled into fists, however Yafeu knew better than to start a fight, especially with someone who outwitted him many times in the past.

For the first time since we entered the compound, he turned to look at me, hurt flashing across his dark eyes, an inky black color that seemed void of any emotion until now.

He was an African man, who fell on the wrong side of the street for petty crimes until the boss took him in. His parents and him immigrated from Ghana, had high hopes and dreams for him, yet he abandoned all that to be loyal to the boss.

He abandoned his home to stay loyal to our mafia. I couldn't blame him for it. There was no way to have the best of both worlds. It was either our family or our mafia. By choosing the mafia, he ensured the safety of his family even if it broke their hearts that he no longer spoke to them.

"We had it all, Tanwir," he spoke softly, his accent thick around the pain in his voice. "And you betrayed us. You lied to me."

"I chose my family."

"We were your family."

"No," I shook my head. "I couldn't abandon my family like you did."

"I can't believe the boss let you come back here," he muttered to himself, continuing our walk. "Let's go."

A part of me felt a pang of guilt, knowing I tricked my closest ally in this wretched place. Yafeu and I did many missions together, protecting the boss with our life. No matter the cost, we had each other's back, and when the time came for me to choose between this place or my family, I chose to stab him in the back instead.

Quite literally.

I cleared my throat, pulling on Kanza's hand as we followed behind him. "It's okay," I whispered to her. "I got you."

She smiled up at me, eyes shining with trust. I swore in that moment I'd always protect that trust, protect that innocence behind her big brown eyes. If the circumstances were different, I wouldn't have brought her here.