Koruna

Confronting Demons

Chapter 29
Confronting Demons

Ati’s eyes narrowed “Do not push me, Runa”

Koruna frowned at him “Who is Runa?”

“You are. It suits you well, it is part of your name and it means mighty strength in Japanese” He grinned at her, she scoffed at that.

“If you need anything, you can just ask me instead of doing whatever it is you are doing.” He shifted closer to her and she stood and sat on another chair.

“Am I supposed to trust you?” She crossed her legs, his eyes followed her movements and she smirked.

“Why not? I haven’t given you any reason not to.” He mimicked her stance.

“Okay, do you know anything about human and sex trafficking happening in the club?” She tested the waters to see what he would do and how he would react.

He poured himself a drink and lighted another cigar “That was what Buhar was into, when he died; I inherited his empire and that included the sex trafficking business. I have been trying to shut it down, I am not a saint but I do not relish selling another human being especially since I was sold by my father. It does something to your self-esteem.”

Koruna stared at him and could not read him, he might have talked about his past in an indifferent manner but she could tell it hurt him more than he was letting on, she figured that his past was not easy and it wasn’t something she wanted to explore.

“So I hear.” Koruna answered quietly.

“It brings out enormous profits and there are too many people who want the business to continue and so my efforts so far has been futile. Some of my men are still loyal to Buhar and Jonathan wouldn’t allow anything jeopardize his gold mine, any more questions?” He put out his Cigar and downed the glass of drink.

“Why are you so honest?”

“I meant what I said to you and the information given is something you can figure out yourself, for me to be able to actively do anything; I have to make sure that my house is clean and it is not. In this business; respect can only be earned through fear which was something Buhar did well and it is what I would eventually do but I am stalling for now. What exactly do you want? I do not believe that you are some kind of hero so there is something you want from this, what is it?” He sat upright and stared critically at Koruna.

She sighed “Why are you very certain that you know me?”

“My apologies then.” He stood “When you are ready to trust me, come find me and I suspect that our desires are aligned. Have a good night Runa and you should know, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have by now.” He left the room.

Koruna thought about the entire conversation in her head and decided that trusting him would be her last resort. He was a part of the entire business process, whether he could shut down the operation or not was not something he could solely do, he was a new leader, people don’t fully trust him, she imagined he must have his own difficulties but as long as he continued smoking like that, she figured the cigars would kill him before anyone else could.

She left the room and saw that it was close to the rendezvous, she wasn’t paying attention when someone slammed into her. She apologized but got a whiff of the perfume and it was familiar to her, the person was drunk and still had their mask on, it was a girl who was being dragged by a large man. She was about to walk away when she remembered who had that scent, it was Mariam. She wondered if she was in danger or not, she looked back at them and decided to mind her business when she changed her mind and ran in the direction they went. She lost sight of them as all the rooms in that scope was closed, she started to open each room slowly to search for them. She got to the second room and saw that the large man was topless with Maria unconscious on the bed.