Carlton ✔

15| The Anticipated End

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"I know everything happens for a reason, but sometimes I wish I knew what that reason was."

~ Pinterest

Carlton's POV

My fingers trembled as I lit the cigarette that I held between my lips. Inhaling deeply, I let the smoke seep into my cells. The comfort I longed for was finally here.

My lungs probably hated me as much as humans hated common sense.

I flopped on a grimy, tattered couch in the center of the derelict living room, which was once a hideout for Breanna and her friends, or teammates, or cult, or whatever the fuck they were.

Damien was examining the wrecked artworks hanging on the walls, sneezing once in a while from the dust that lingered in the anxiety-ridden air between us.

I had been elucidating the whole Breanna-situation to him with careful details for the past one hour. And according to him, it was "bat-shit crazy".

His curious eyes traveled towards me as I inhaled the smoke of the cigarette again. "You smoke too much, it's unhealthy."

Scoffing, I replied, "It's not like I plan on living for too long."

"Huh?"

"I'd rather die at the young age of forty-one, on a chair, alone in a massive Beverley Hills Chateau, smoking a fat Gurkha Black Dragon cigar. Oh, and my cause of death will be lung cancer."

His dilated eyes dug deep into mine with utter amusement. "Are you– Never mind. There's no use trying to explain anything to you, anyway."

A few seconds of pondering later, I met his dubious eyes. His stare coaxed me for answers or directions as to what should be done, now, that our grip on the situation just went downhill.

"Damien–" I muttered, narrowing my eyes and sitting straight up on the couch, "–I think I'm going to Massachusetts."

I didn't look up to see his reaction but I could hear the muddled thuds of his shoes approaching me. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I need to look for her."

He slumped on the couch beside me and I could almost feel his apprehensive stare, "How could you possibly look for one person in a fucking state?!"

I returned the stare. "I don't know, but I have to start somewhere. Augustus Bancroft has something to do with Breanna. And when a Bancroft is involved, you know the situation is way more serious than it seems."

The Bancrofts didn't just play around, they fucking gambled with living things – mostly humans.

Their reputation might be clean to the world, but only people like us knew that they were the real deal.

Damien voiced doubtfully, "Aren't the Bancrofts and Hargraves, good friends? Taking Breanna's side would mean fighting a Bancroft head-on."

"Yes, and that's only because both families make a lot of money, so they partner with each other to make even more money. There's no emotional aspect to our relationship, Damien. So are you in?"

My challenging glare caught him by surprise.

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably, his eyes wandering away. "I mean...it kinda scares me. The Bancrofts are vicious people."