Chapter Two Hundred and Five
The rope creaked as Demir shifted, the chair legs scraping faintly against the concrete floor. His mouth still curved: crooked, and defiant.
"What do you want to know?" he asked, voice steady, almost bored. His gaze dragged lazily over Aht, as though he weren’t the one bound.
"At least I told you, you’re playing with what’s mine."
The words hung there.
Aht stilled.
For a mont, it wasn’t the ropes, or the chains, or even the lie beneath the man’s tone that pressed against his chest, it was that word.
Mine.
Sothing cold slid into his expression.
Asli’s face flickered in his mind; her sharp eyes, sharper tongue, the way she stood as no one could ever own her. Not even him. Not anyone.
Certainly not this man.
A quiet breath left Aht’s nose, but there was no calm in it.
Demir’s confidence irritated Aht the most. How cocky could he get? To be tied in a chair inside an enemy’s Cell and still be claiming sothing that wasn’t his.
Demir leaned back as much as the ropes allowed, the chair protesting beneath him. A low chuckle slipped out. It was rough but certain.
"You chaining here..." he tilted his head, eyes glinting, "that’s not a mistake you walk away from."
He ignored Aht’s questioning gaze and continued. "I’ll give you a few days," he went on, voice gaining weight, each word placed with care. "My people will co looking."
His gaze sharpened.
"I doubt Asli will be much use to then." A smirk tugged at his mouth. "She seems... occupied."
The air shifted.
"But my uncle?" Demir’s eyes flickered with sothing darker, sothing almost eager. "He won’t ask questions. He’ll skin you alive." A pause. "You already gave him enough reason when you tore through our warehouses."
Aht’s lips curved.
Slowly.
It was not wide. Not loud. Just enough.
"You know..." Aht said, voice almost thoughtful, like he was considering sothing, "I could sit here and listen to you."
He took a step closer. Then another.
The dim light caught the edge of his face, sharpening the angles, hollowing the shadows beneath his eyes.
"But I have more important things to do."
Demir’s smirk didn’t falter but sothing in his gaze shifted, just slightly.
Aht stopped in front of him.
Close enough.
"You ntioned your uncle," Aht continued, his tone soft now, almost conversational. "Interesting man. I thought he should know what you’ve been doing behind his back."
The words landed lightly. Too lightly.
Demir’s brows pulled together, just a fraction.
Aht watched it happen.
"I sent him everything," he added.
Silence. The kind that pressed into the ears.
For a second, nothing moved.
Then...
Demir’s fingers twitched against the rope.
It was small. Almost nothing.
But the smirk... it slipped completely. Just enough to crack.
Aht saw it.
Saw the way his shoulders tensed. A sheen of sweat began to gather along his hairline.
Aht’s smile deepened, just slightly.
"He wants you back," Aht said, almost gently. Not to save you. To finish you."
This ti, Demir’s eyes betrayed him.
"But then... that’s not how we roll in here. That’s not how I roll in here." Aht’s voice cut in, low enough to slip under the tension, and sharp enough to slice through it.
Whatever trace of amusent had lingered in his face was gone now, stripped clean, as it had never been there to begin with. What remained was quieter. Heavier.
Deadly.
Demir watched him, brows tightening slightly, trying to read the shift, trying to find where the ga had turned.
Aht stopped right in front of him. Close enough that Demir had to tilt his head just a little to keep his eyes on him.
"You know..." Aht murmured, almost absently, like he was bringing up sothing that didn’t matter to him. "Asli is pregnant."
The words dropped. He didn’t force it.
Just... dropped the news to see whether he actually knew or not.
Demir blinked.
Once. Then again.
The confusion ca first, slowly, and unguarded. His face didn’t move much, but it was there, in the slight furrow of his brows, in the way his lips parted like he almost said sothing... then didn’t.
"She is?"
It ca out quieter than anything he’d said since he’d been dragged into that room.
Either he didn’t know or he was good. Good enough to let it sit on his face like that.
Aht’s gaze didn’t leave him. Not for a second.
He watched the confusion linger, stretch, settle, waiting for it to crack, to slip, or to reveal the truth beneath it. But Demir held it just long enough to make it uncertain.
Too long.
Aht’s eyes narrowed, just slightly.
"So..." His voice was still quiet, though stripped of the earlier edge, but heavier for it. "Why did you give her the water then?"
This ti, the silence didn’t feel empty. It thickened and pressed. If he didn’t know she was pregnant, why then did he give her the water? Why did he sound like he knew the water had caused sothing?
Demir didn’t answer imdiately. He was looking past the mont, past the room, running through sothing only he could see.
Counting.
asuring.
The ropes creaked softly as his fingers flexed against them, once... then stilled.
His jaw shifted. A breath in. Slow and careful. When his eyes lifted again, they didn’t carry the sa careless arrogance from before. Sothing had changed. Like a man recalculating his next move.
The cell door opened with a low creak, and Markus stepped in, already expecting the worst.
He slowed. Sothing was off.
Demir sat restrained, yes but not ruined. Not even close. No bone looked broken, no slackness in his limbs, no signs that the n had pushed him to the edge and back.
Markus’ gaze shifted.
Aht stood a few steps away, composed... almost idle, like this was just another conversation and not a man who should’ve been screaming by now.
Markus’ brows drew together.
"What did you get out of him?"
Aht didn’t answer imdiately. His eyes lingered on Demir for a mont longer, as though weighing sothing unseen, before he spoke.
"Just got here."
Markus blinked once, thrown off by how easily it ca.
"He talks. But not the information we tied him up for," Aht added, tone even. "He says Asli belongs to him." A slight pause. "He hinted he knows about us. I’m not sure if he knows she’s pregnant."
That snapped sothing tight in Markus’ chest.
"And when I asked again," Aht went on, "he acted like he didn’t."
Silence pressed in.
Markus stared at him, searching his face for sothing; anger, urgency, or anything that made sense.
"Why are you calm?"
The question slipped out, edged with disbelief.
Aht’s lips curved, slow and deliberate.
"I’m suddenly in a good mood."
Markus let out a sharp, disbelieving breath.
"That’s bullshit." His voice echoed, louder now, filling the space with sothing raw and unfiltered.
"Soone almost killed your child and you’re standing in front of a suspect like this?" He took a step forward, anger sharpening every word. "You went after your father like you were ready to tear him apart because you thought he had sothing to do with it."
Another step.
"And now you’re calm? With him?"
Aht didn’t flinch.
If anything, the faint smile on his face deepened, stretching into sothing darker.
That was when Demir leaned forward slightly, also realizing Aht could be planning sothing deadly.
"Your father and my uncle go way back."
Aht’s head snapped toward Demir, the shift instant. "Shut up."
Demir barely reacted, only tilting his head slightly, like he was adjusting to the tone.
"Oh, co on," he said lightly. "Not you, Aht." His gaze slid to Markus, sharp now. Intentional. "I ant his father. That man should have been dead by now."
Markus moved before the words fully settled.
His fist connected with a sickening crack, snapping Demir’s head to the side. The chair scraped harshly against the floor as Markus grabbed him, dragging him forward despite the restraints.
"Say that again."
The words ca out low, tight, and threaded with sothing violent.
Demir’s head lolled for a second before lifting again, a thin line of blood trailing from the corner of his mouth.
Markus didn’t wait.
He shoved him back hard, then surged forward again, hand locking around his throat. Fingers pressed in, cutting off air, forcing Demir’s head back against the tal fra.
"Don’t you ever..."
Demir’s breath hitched.
His body strained against the restraints, veins rising under his skin. Then a sound broke through.
A laugh ca. Rough. Strangled. But unmistakable.
Markus’ grip tightened for a split second before sothing in that sound made him pause.
Demir coughed as air forced its way back into his lungs, shoulders rising with each breath but the smile didn’t disappear.
It stayed.
Like the pain ant nothing.
Markus released him with a sharp shove, stepping back, chest rising and falling as he tried to shake off the urge to finish it.
Demir straightened slowly, rolling his neck as though working out a minor ache. "You know..." he rasped, voice rough but steadying, "I could share sothing useful."
Neither of them responded.
His gaze flicked between them, asuring.
"In exchange for my freedom."
Aht moved then.
Not toward Markus.
Toward the table.
tal whispered softly as his fingers closed around the tool. When he turned, the faint light caught against it, glinting just enough to draw attention.
He walked back, unhurried. Each step deliberate.
Demir watched him.
And there it was.
A flicker. It was quick and barely there.
But real.
Aht saw it and sothing in his expression shifted, satisfaction curling beneath the surface.
"Okay," Demir said, a fraction too quickly. "Fine."
Aht stopped just within reach. Close enough for the tension to breathe between them.
"Markus’ father worked with my uncle," Demir continued, voice steadier now, like he’d forced it back into place. "He wanted this empire. He needed help taking it. That’s why my uncle thought Markus would follow the sa path."
Markus didn’t move.
Didn’t react.
Didn’t give him anything.
"He realized you weren’t," Demir went on. "That you and Aht were playing him. Your father promised sothing in return. I an, he helped my Uncle take sothing instead."
Aht’s grip tightened, just slightly.
"He killed their daughter."
"What daughter?" The question ca sharp, and overlapping.
Demir smiled.
"You didn’t know?" His eyes locked onto Aht. "Your sister."
The air in the room shifted. Everything stilled.
Aht didn’t move or didn’t blink.
"I had a sister?"
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