CHAPTER 3 BREAKING CEREMONY
The light of the new day in Blackhaven was not gentle. It was as bright as an operating room lamp.
Evelyn woke not to the sun, but to the sound of heavy boots on stone and the smell of cold metal in the air.
Her eyes were no longeblindfolded, but her wrists were still bound, the restraints having been transferred from the headboard to a metal bar along the wall, holding her upright, back arched, head tilted back.
A position not for protection… but for display.
She took a deep breath. Not out of fear, but out of an instinct to preserve what little dignity she had left.
"You're up."
Diego's voice was the first to reach her.
He was leaning against the marble counter, still wearing his trousers, his shirt sleeves rolled up, buttons undone to midchest. His hair was still damp, the smell of expensive shampoo mixed with the smell of alcohol from last night wafted into her nose.
There were other people in the kitchen.
Two guards stood guard at the door, and at first glance she thought she was a rock.
A chef in a white coat was preparing breakfast of cold cuts, black bread, and steaming hot coffee.
No one looked at her as a person.
Their eyes swept over her, as if they were looking at a sculpture in an auction house.
Viktor appeared from the back hallway.
Black shirt, buttons still undone. Perhaps he hadn't slept last night, or didn't need to.
"Good posture," he said, his eyes scanning her body with a lustful appraisal. "I thought you'd be exhausted after last night."
"I'm not as weak as you think," Evelyn replied, her voice hoarse from dehydration.
"If you're this early, things will be boring," Diego smirked. "We don't need a breathing corpse."
She turned away, not wanting to give any further reaction.
Viktor stepped closer. Not quickly, not hastily, but in a commanding manner.
One hand cupped her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.
"Last night," Viktor said slowly, "to make you understand that you're here because two empires need a reason not to fight each other."
Diego interrupted: "Today is to make you understand… your body must also know its role."
A chill ran down her spine.
"What do you two want that has to do with me?" Evelyn said, her voice low but sharp.
Diego laughed slowly, stepping behind her. He pulled the rope that bound her a little higher, forcing her to lift her leg.
"Don't ask what you want," he whispered in her ear. "Ask how much."
Evelyn inhaled, trying not to lean back as his breath fanned her neck.
Viktor stood in front of her, his gaze fixed on the sliding neckline.
"You think we need to force you?" he asked.
"You're doing something very close to coercion," she growled.
"No," he said, "this is the deal."
Diego tightened the ropes. It didn't hurt, but it was a loss of control.
"Muñeca," he whispered, "coercion is when someone doesn't react. And you…"
He looked down, where the silk hugged her body, and even as she tried to keep her back straight, her breathing grew heavier.
"…reacting too much to this."
Evelyn gritted her teeth. "It's called a shock absorber."
"A shock absorber doesn't shake from a voice," Viktor said, as calmly as if he were talking about the weather.
She opened her mouth to protest, but the sound of chair being pulled out echoed.
Diego pulled a chair to the dining table, motioning for her to kneel beside it.
"The dining table is also a negotiating table," he said. "Do you think the terms are only signed on your chest?"
Evelyn didn't move. "I didn't have your breakfast."
"I didn't serve," Viktor said. "I witnessed."
He pulled a chair and sat down across from Diego. The two men ate breakfast as if it were a company meeting.
Coffee was poured into cups, the clink of gold cutlery. Voices discussed port logistics.
Evelyn was still tied up, standing right next to them, like a newly brought piece of furniture.
No one touched her, no one touched her without thinking. That was what made the atmosphere so suffocating.
They didn't need to use force.
They just needed to exist.
A bodyguard stepped forward, placed a cup of espresso in front of Evelyn, but didn't untie the ropes, just held it up to her lips.
It was a cruelly polite gesture.
Diego looked up, watched her drink, then said, "If you're good… we'll just use our mouths this morning."
Viktor put down his knife and leaned back in his chair. His eyes moved slowly to her lips.
"And if you try to be more forceful than necessary…" He lowered his voice, almost whispering.
"…your mouth will do something else."
Not a growl or a threat of violence.
A convincing threat, where the choice is in the victim's hands, but all choices lead to the same destination.
Evelyn swallowed her coffee, the bitter taste tickling her lips.
She didn't cry, nor did she tremble. But somewhere there was a thin crack not of fear… but of their calm.
She raised her head, looking straight at Viktor.
"You need me to keep the peace," she said. "But I never forget why this city bleeds."
Diego rested his chin on his hand, smiling slightly.
"You're the reason, muñeca."
"No," she replied, her eyes cold. "You chose me to create that excuse."
A heavy silence.
Then Viktor stood up, stepping closer to her.
His hands were on the wall, trapping her between the cold wall and his body, not touching, but close enough for his breath to brush against her lips.
"You think you're here to suffer?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. "No. You're here to pay back what you did."
"What if I refuse?" she asked.
Viktor smiled a small, unwarm smile.
"You no longer have that right."
Diego stood up too, his hands on the ropes behind him, lowering them down a single knuckle.
Enough for her to breathe, but not enough to run away.
His voice echoed just behind her ear: "The breaking of you…hasn't begun yet."
The rear window opened, and the sea breeze blew in, carrying the distant whistle of a ship and the lingering smell of last night.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
She didn't know what was scarier: these two Mafia factions wanting to possess her… or the part of her that wanted to understand why they had chosen h
er, out of all the people in Blackhaven.
Tomorrow, they wouldn't use words. They would teach Evelyn the unfalsifiable body.
If she were still human.