Chapter Two Hundred and Six
Markus didn’t speak imdiately. The words sat heavy on his tongue, like saying them would make them real. His eyes flicked to Aht, searching, almost cautious before he finally forced them out.
"Don’t listen to him." His voice ca out tighter than he intended. "My father would never do that."
Aht didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at him.
He just stood there, gaze lowered slightly, his jaw set, not in anger, not yet... but in sothing quieter. Sothing deeper. He was thinking.
Markus took a step closer. "Aht..."
"Why did he leave then?" The question didn’t co from Aht. Demir’s voice slid in, smooth, and deliberate. "Your father," he continued, shifting slightly in his restraints, "was spared. Aht’s father couldn’t bring himself to kill his own brother... so he banished him instead."
"Shut up!" Markus moved again, faster this ti.
His fist drove into Demir’s face with a dull crack. The impact snapped Demir’s head sideways, but his body barely followed. No recoil. No resistance.
Markus hit him again.
And again.
Each punch sharper than the last, driven by sothing rawer than anger. Demir’s head jerked with every strike... but he didn’t fight it.
Didn’t block. It wasn’t that he could even try it.
When Markus finally paused, breathing hard, Demir slowly lifted his head back into place. Blood clung to his lip, but his expression, It hadn’t changed.
"You can ask your father," he said, voice rough but steady while he turned to Aht.
Then back to the other. His eyes locked onto Markus. "When was the last ti you heard from yours?"
The words landed hard.
Markus’ hand tightened at his side. For a second, just a second, sothing flickered across his face. Sothing that didn’t belong in a man like him.
Then it was gone. It got replaced by anger. But it was too late. Demir had seen it. A faint smile tugged at his lips.
Across the room, Aht still hadn’t moved.
The voices around him had started to blur. Markus’ breathing, the faint rattle of chains, even Demir’s voice... all of it fading into sothing distant.
Pieces were shifting. Clicking.
His mother’s face flashed in his mind. It was pale and shaken. No wonder her hands were trembling in a way he had never seen before.
"Asli’s pregnant." The mory hit harder now. It was not joy. His mother should have been happy to have a grandchild. But instead, she showed fear.
Real fear. Aht’s jaw tightened.
Asli’s voice followed next. It was calm, distant, almost detached the day she spoke about her past.
Her biological father and Marco were best friends.
His chest rose slowly. Then fell.
If that was true... If any of this were true, then it would explain why his father killed her family. The thought hit, sudden and sharp.
Aht’s head lifted slightly, like he was trying to pull himself out of sothing too deep. He had a sister he had never known or t.
His hand flexed at his side. His breath hitched, barely noticeable, but enough.
Why hadn’t his father said anything? Why didn’t anyone tell him he had a sister? Was it before he was born?
Why were they hiding it? Did they bury that news because his father had avenged her death.? More importantly, why deny even knowing Asli?
Aht’s eyes darkened. Nothing was lining up. Nothing made sense. And yet... Everything did.
The room tilted slightly.
Or maybe it was just him.
His thoughts ca faster now, colliding, overlapping, and refusing to settle into anything solid.
His father’s silence. His mother’s fear. Asli. The baby. Demir’s words. Markus shouting sowhere behind him...
Aht dragged a hand over his face, exhaling slowly, but it did nothing to steady him.
His head throbbed.
Spinning.
He had heard too many truths.
Or lies.
He couldn’t tell which was worse. Demir leaned back as much as the restraints allowed, like the room belonged to him and not the other way around. Blood still clung to his lip, but it didn’t dull the confidence in his eyes.
"I need to know exactly what you told my uncle," he said, voice steady, almost conversational. "So I can prepare for his rage."
His gaze slid lazily between them.
"You and I both know you can’t kill ." A faint tilt of his head. "And you can’t keep here forever either. This?" He gave a small, careless shrug against the restraints. "I’m willing to let it slide."
Sothing in Aht stilled.
Demir’s lips curved, just slightly.
"But you’ll still need to be punished... for touching what’s mine. Asli is mine."
The air shifted.
Aht moved before the sentence even finished.
The first punch landed hard enough to snap Demir’s head back against the tal. The second ca quicker and sharper, driving into his ribs. A third followed, then another, each one heavier than the last, as sothing long held back had finally found a way out.
This ti, Demir reacted.
A sharp hiss slipped through his teeth.
His body jerked against the restraints, muscles tightening as the blows kept coming, each impact dragging a strained breath out of him.
Aht grabbed him by the collar, yanking him forward despite the chains.
"Don’t." His voice ca low. Dangerous. Shaking with sothing barely contained. "Don’t you ever..." his grip tightened, knuckles whitening, "...talk about her like that."
Demir let out a rough breath, his head dipping for a second before he forced it back up.
Aht’s eyes burned into his.
"Keep her na out of your filthy mouth."
The words weren’t loud.
But they hit harder than the punches.
A second passed.
Then another.
"And if I find out you had anything to do with what happened to her and my child..." Aht’s grip tightened further, enough to make the tal creak faintly, "I won’t stop at killing you."
His voice dropped.
"I’ll make sure you feel it first."
For the first ti, Demir didn’t speak imdiately.
But when he did, the confidence slipped right back into place.
"You wouldn’t dare, what if I tell my Uncle?"
Aht stilled.
Markus did too.
It wasn’t because they feared him but it was because of what he could do to Asli.
This wasn’t the ti for Marco to find out.
Not yet.
Demir watched the shift, the understanding passing between them, and smiled.
"You do realize capturing was already a mistake," he went on, voice regaining its ease. "But feeding my father information about my dealings?" A soft chuckle left him. "That’s worse."
His gaze sharpened.
"If you don’t fix this... I’ll sing like a bird."
The threat lingered.
Markus’ patience snapped first.
The sound of his gun being drawn cut through the room. He stepped forward, arm steady, the barrel aid straight at Demir’s head.
"How about I kill you right here," he said, voice flat, "before you figure out what kind of bird you are?"
Demir didn’t flinch.
If anything, the corner of his mouth twitched.
Aht saw it and saw sothing else too.
The weight behind Markus’ voice.
He ant it.
Aht stepped in, his hand closing around Markus’ wrist just enough to stop him.
"Don’t."
The word ca quieter this ti but firm.
Markus’ jaw tightened, his grip on the gun unmoving for a second longer before, slowly, he lowered it.
"Wise man," Demir murmured, exhaling through his nose. "And for that... I’ll give you sothing else. Not now."
His eyes flicked to Aht, sothing calculating settling behind them.
"That’s my insurance."
Aht’s gaze hardened.
Demir leaned back again, as much as the restraints allowed.
"A guarantee you’ll find a way to convince my uncle I’m innocent."
Silence stretched.
But Aht’s mind didn’t stay in the room. It moved, quickly, sharply connecting pieces. Aht thought about it. Telling Marco Demir was selling his lands behind his back was sothing that let Asli off the hook.
Aht’s fingers twitched.
Then he reached for his gun.
The click of it being drawn echoed softly as he raised it, pointing it straight at Demir’s chest this ti.
"Or," he said, voice steady, "I kill you now... and save myself the trouble of whatever damage you think you can cause."
For a split second...
Just one, Demir’s eyes sharpened not out of fear but awareness.
Then it was gone.
Aht knew that the reason Marco hadn’t sent his n over was that now he knew Demir was betraying him.
Though Marco wasn’t exactly the man to make a deal with, he found himself doing one. He was to hand over Demir to him and he’d let go of the fact that they destroyed his Warehouses as long as he returned the evidence and items he took from there.
Those were Marco’s terms and Aht had listened... and made it clear, in his own way, that whatever retaliation Marco thought he deserved for the warehouses ant nothing to him.
So he gave him sothing else instead. Sothing far more valuable. And in doing so, made an offer he knew Marco wouldn’t turn down.
"Aht." Markus’ voice cut in, pulling him back. A step closer, like a reminder.
"You said it yourself. We can’t kill him."
Aht didn’t lower the gun imdiately.
His finger rested against the trigger, his gaze locked on Demir like he was weighing sothing far more dangerous than a life.
Then, slowly, he exhaled.
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