Kill Me, Kiss Me

Christmas Special!

A/N: Hi everyone! For the Christmas special, I've written a small snippet from an alternate universe where Keir is a mafia boss and Theo is a debtor. Apologies for the teaser, I wanted to try writing something new? But tbh I realise that I haven't really gotten into the mafia boss vibe. What do you think? For me I still feel like the Keir in the original story felt more like a serial killer than a mafia boss.

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Theo bit down on the back of his teeth and tried not to make a sound.

He tried.

But when the men threw him onto the cold, hard ground of the warehouse, he could not help but give out a muffled half-cry as his kneecaps hit concrete. Narrowing his eyes at the black pants and black belts of these men, he clenched his fingers and turned his gaze to stare into the murky depths of the surroundings. The grey concrete flooring stretched out beneath him into the shadows, he could not guess how long they carried on for, 10m? 20m? All was hidden in the madder gloom. All he knew were the rusting shipping containers he had gleaned on the tarmac outside and the distant crash of waves. They must have taken him far south down the West coast, Port Bierron? Were there other ports? He had no idea.

"Sir, we've brought him." A man's voice resounded from behind him.

Theo scoured the darkness ahead, but there showed no sign of anyone emerging from deeper within. Seconds ticked past his ear, tick, tick, tick, as if counting down his very life. They needed him alive. Of course they needed him alive. Or, at least, until they decided to cut him open and sell his organs. A sharp stabbing pain streaked through his temples, and Theo shook his head, spots of perspiration darkening the chalky grey before his knees. It was no use, the bitter bite of fear still clung as heavily on the crown of his head as it did the past month.

A brutal force collided into the middle of his back, and he fell forwards, hands straining uselessly behind his back. His chin jarred against the floor, and a fresh bust of salty iron washed over his tongue from the deep gouge in the muscle where his front teeth had sunk into.

"Keep still." A man in black reminded harshly.

Theo growled through the duct tape, swallowing the blood pooling in his mouth. He could feel the raw heat scraping though his chin; he'd probably broken skin in his fall. His brows furrowed instinctively. He'd at least wanted to be presentable, and now that could go to shit as well. In the end, he should've been more stern with Lily. He'd been too careless, no, too preoccupied with the office to have noticed what that damned sonofabitch boyfriend of hers was doing.

Closing his eyes, Theo took a deep breath of the cold and pungent air - one, two, three, the numbers rolled off the tip of his mind. It was better, infinitely better than Lily doing this. She'd signed his loan without knowing, she was still young.

"When are you going to let her learn from her mistakes?"

Theo's eyebrows flinched downwards. His eyes fixed on a spot of dark red rust marring the ground. Red, red, red - his vision swam. You're going to die, he heard. You'll never be able to return the 10 million, you're going to die. Darkness crowded his vision, and he drew in ragged breaths uncontrollably.

These were loan sharks.

This was the mafia.

Once you fell into their pit, you'll never get out. If only he'd been able to get to the police before they'd caught him! He could only pray that they'd not gotten a hold of Lily. But. That nagging 'but' hung over his head like a guillotine.

A rough hand grabbed onto the back of his collar, thick, calloused fingers scuffing against his neck, "The line's down."

"Are you absolutely sure?"