Seeding doubt

Kinn's POV

"The bastard hit me right in the ribs. Go ahead, Porsche. I'll reach you."

"Okay"

Porsche leaves the elevator first.

Before entering room 1004, I pass in front of room 1005. The half-open door catches my attention.

If Pete is somehow tied to something, that situation makes me suspicious about his safety.

I take my gun out of my holster and open the door slowly. It's all dark and silent.

In the living area there is no one.

The bedroom door is also slightly open. I approach calmly. I go inside. I turn on the lights.

"Pete"

I see Pete tied to the headboard by handcuffs. He does not answer. He seems to be unconscious. Before I get to Pete, I walk calmly to the bathroom, gun in hand. There is nobody.

I check the whole room and it's all clear.

"Pete!" I reach the bed. Pete is unconscious. I try to shake him, but it's no use. "Why are you like this...Pete! Wake up! Pete!"

Why Vegas left him handcuffed alone in the first place? Why does Pete allow him to do whatever he wants?

There isn't a day I don't wonder if this is love or pure illness...or still some sort of revenge. And I blame myself for that.

Tankhun does a great job of not letting me forget about that too.

Deep down, doesn't Vegas really do what it does to you to get to me? After all, you've always been my most trusted bodyguard. I can't believe that someone changes that much...even if it's supposed to be out of love.

Besides, does Vegas think I don't realize how much time he spends with Porsche every day until late at night? Do you realize this, Pete? Has Vegas really abandoned his old plans to conquer Porsche for you?

I wouldn't have the position I have if I was not attentive to my surroundings. Can we trust him? Can you, Pete?

Does love hurt, my friend? I caress Pete's face.

"What are you doing??" Someone yells furiously. "Don't touch him, you bastard!" It's Vegas.

He points his gun at me.

"What have YOU done, Vegas? " I feel a huge anger building up inside of me.

"Pete? PETE!" Vegas retracts his outstretched hand and hurries toward the bed.

"You are a selfish madman!"

...an anger that explodes amidst my sense of guilt and distrust.

I try to land a punch to Vegas' face, who quickly deflects.

"Kinn! Stop it" I hear Porsche's voice and I slightly distracts myself.

"You bastard!" Vega tries to seize the moment to hit me, but I dodge too. I grab him around the waist and we both go to the floor, where we start to fight.

Our guns fall to the ground and someone kicks them away.

I hear several desperate voices in the background, in particular Tankhun's voice resounding in the room calling for Pete.

People try to push us away from each other, to no avail.

Perhaps unresolved feelings and emotions between us, dormant by a period of relative peace, weigh on our fists now. The fact is, neither I nor Vegas wants to retreat.

Pete's POV

Sounds of people talking or rather screaming make my brain wake up...

My eyes twitch to open.

I feel a stinging pain in my cheeks.

"SLAP, SLAP"

"Khun Noo, you're hitting him too hard!" I hear what seems to be Pol's voice. "I can see your fingerprints on his face".

"Don't worry, Pol!I know what I'm doing! Wake up, my Pete!!Wake up!"

"SLAP"

"Ouch!Fuck!" The pain is so intense my eyes open, but my vision is still blurred. I can't touch my face because my wrists are still cuffed to the headboard.

Suddenly, as my vision clears, I see Tankhun and Pol looking at me.

"Oh my God, What are you doing here, Khun Noo? Ouch! Why are you punching me, Khun Noo?" I ask, between startled and embarrassed.

"Calm down, my poor Pete, you were out. What did they do to you?"

I start to reason again. They who? Tankhun means my damn husband, who cuffed me to headboard, or the weird guy who gave me some drug to put me out?

"Vegas! Where's Vegas?" Let's start with my damn husband.

"There" Tankhun and Pol point to the corner of the room where Vegas and Khun Kinn appear to be being pulled apart by Porsche, Arm and Macau.

"Why is Vegas trying to beat up Khun Kinn?" I look at the scene, puzzled.

Tankhun and Pol look at each other.

"Actually... it was my brother who tried to hit Vegas before he could get to you. And then they started fighting. Pol, go there to help Porsche!

"W-why?"

"I don't know. It was expected that it would be the other way around, when your husband found Kinn in bed with you."

"Khun Kinn?!"

I scan the room with my eyes looking for traces of the weird guy. Did Khun Kinn see who was here with me before?!

I involuntarily pull my hands away to massage my face, which is sore from Tankhun's slaps, but it only makes my wrists hurt from the handcuffs.

I realize again the shameful position in which I find myself.

"Pete, what is that?" Tankhun points to an object under my half-open robe.

I see a piece of chess over my belly. It's a white king.

I look again at the crowd inside my room.

That weird shadow said everyone I think I know, respect, admire...and love...every one of them lies to me.

Should I be influenced by someone who claims to know me, but I don't?

It doesn't matter whether I believe him or not.

The seed of doubt has been planted. And before it grows, I need to dig up whatever truth lies beneath the surface.

And, for one reason or another, of all the people around me, the only one I can trust for now is Tankhun.

"Hide it" I whisper to him.

Tankhun glances at Vegas and looks at me, not understanding. I stare into his eyes.

Tankhun nods slightly at me and hides the chess piece inside his pocket.

"VEGAS!VEGAS!" I call out to Vegas, to get me out of these damn handcuffs. Vegas, hearing my voice, drops his guard and takes a punch from Khun Kinn that makes him fall to the ground. "Oh Fuck! Vegas!"

Khun Kinn leans over Vegas on the floor to deliver another punch.

"Khun Kinn, STOP!"

...

White King's POV

"You took the recording device out of the room..."

"Yup." I hand the device over to Sanya.

"Why don't you take Pete with you?" Sanya looks at me with a puzzled face.

"I don't need to do this. He will come to me... willingly."

"He will come to me first, you mean."

"Don't worry, Sanya. Just point to the right place."

"Vegas will come after you too."

"Haha...sure he will."

"I'm glad you're calm."

"You don't win a game of chess by being nervous. It takes patience."

"Can I consider the delivery order executed?"

"Sure. Your role ends here. Your business will be protected. Pete won't be able to cause much trouble now."

"Don't make the same mistake I did. He's a sly bastard." Sanya smirk at me.

"I won't" I smirk back at him.

"By the way, the assassination order is just suspended. It's out of my hands now."

"I know."

"Have a nice flight, sir."

"Khun Sanya."

I get in the car towards the airport.

...