Chapter 265 - I AM DEAD

"So you're saying that you don't want to hurt either of us?" Brandy asked uncertainly as she eyed Jero.

"Why would I want to hurt your sister? I love Candace. I love her with every part of me, and you know that," Jero said, making Brandy roll her eyes.

"I don't know anything. I don't trust you. Especially not after everything you did to us. I'm not telling you anything. You've caused her enough pain," Brandy said defiantly, while Cassidy watched her from the rim of his wine glass as he took a sip from wine. 

"And I'm trying to make up for it..."

"No matter what you do she is never going to have anything to do with you. The mere sight of you repulses me!" Brandy spat out, more angry than scared now.

"I'm sorry for all I did to you. I just want to see her and Jamal. I owe them both an apology. I want to let her know that I am not mad that she testified against me."

"We don't need your apology, and trust me, she doesn't care whether you're mad at her or not. She did what she had to do to be rid of a monster like you!" 

"You can trust him. He only wants to apologize to you and your sister," Cassidy cut in making Brandy scoff.

"I don't even trust you, so why should I listen to you and trust him?" She asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Because I'm the one who let him go to jail. I did that to punish him for hurting you. I'm also the one who helped him escape from jail just to keep you safe. I'm still punishing him even now," Cassidy promised, making Brandy frown in confusion.

"Hurt me? What are you talking about?" Brandy asked, and Cassidy jerked his head, giving Jero the go-ahead to answer Brandy's question.

Jero swallowed, "He found out that I forcefully gave you to other men."

"And so? What has that got to do with anything when he was also one of the men who forcefully had me? It's only okay when you're the one doing it?" Brandy asked Cassidy, boiling with anger at the memory. 

"Make no mistake, Andy. I'm your first, and you're mine even though you may not admit it to yourself yet. I don't like other people touching my stuff. I had to punish him for being greedy. I paid him a lot of money just so that he wouldn't give you to anyone else in my absence."

Brandy wanted to hiss at him and tell him that she wasn't his. But her curiosity got the best of her so she ignored that and focused on something else, "You paid him not to give me out to other men?"

"Yes. He paid me," Jero responded.

"You can imagine how furious I was when I found out that despite my instructions he went on to pass you around to the other lords like you were a slut," Cassidy said in anger as he stood up and smashed the glass of wine in his hand against the wall.

"I am sorry," Jero said with a bow, taking a step back when Cassidy stepped forward like he wanted to hit him. Brandy who was comfortably seated was surprised to see that Jero was actually scared of Cassidy. Who would have that the monster was capable of an emotion like fear? 

"You gambled away all of the money I paid you and used her to generate more money to fund your dirty habit, and you say you are sorry?" Cassidy asked in a low tone.

Brandy cleared her throat, "First of all I'm not some sort of toy that you pay for..." The rest of her sentence trailed off when Cassidy turned to her and she noticed how his jaws were clenched in anger. 

Cassidy took in a deep breath to calm himself "I will keep this simple. Just so you know, I'm aware that three persons are currently listening to this conversation" Cassidy said, making both Matt's and Jade's hearts skip beats as they looked out of the car to see if someone was watching them.

"Three people? What are you talking about?" Brandy asked in surprise, and Cassidy smiled.

"Matt, the lawyer girl, and her boyfriend. You should know that I'm not sloppy. I'm not like the other foolish lords," Cassidy said with distaste as he approached Brandy.

Brandy tried not to flinch as he came close to her even though her heart was beating really fast as he stopped in front of her, "It would be an error to underestimate me, Andy," Cassidy said as he reached for the pendant of her necklace, making her heart skip a beat.

"Do you know who owns Sodom & Gomorrah? The club where you and your sister have been working?" Cassidy asked with a slightly raised brow, and Brandy swallowed as she looked up into his intelligent blue eyes. 

Since she worked at just one of the branches which were scattered all over the country, she never really concerned herself with the owner. All she knew was that the S&G club in each city was managed by different people. 

Cassidy smiled once again, "Imagine my surprise when I learnt that you were a stripper at my club?"

"Your...club? You own the club?" Brandy asked in shock, and he chuckled softly.

"It's a secret though. Many people do not know that. Especially the cartel. I like to keep my business private. I don't want it tainted," Cassidy explained.

"Anyway, that's beside the point. I was at your apartment last night. I looked around and found this jewelry in a box in your drawer amongst other things. Also, while you were performing last night your phone was bugged, so I listened in on your phone call with someone called Matt," Cassidy explained, and Brandy's eyes widened in surprise, while Jade and Matt exchanged a surprised look.

"I don't understand," she said in a small voice.

"Yeah, you won't. Although I don't like talking too much, I will try to explain it all to you while Jero cleans up the mess," Cassidy said, indirectly ordering Jero to take care of the shattered wine glass on the floor. Jero immediately went out to get the items he needed to clean the floor while Cassidy poured himself another glass of wine. 

"After my father's death five years ago, I was forced to take his place on the table. Hence I became the youngest amongst the lords of the cartel. Because I didn't want to be involved in the production or distribution of the drugs, my major duty was to look out for anything that might bring trouble to the cartel, and clean it up. By this, I mean that my duty was to tie up every loose end. This is why until Jero's case came up, the police had no evidence which they could use against the cartel."

"You have something against drugs, yet you see nothing wrong in killing people?" Brandy asked with a burst of humorless laughter, and Cassidy's lips twitched slightly.

"This may come as a surprise to you, but I've never pulled a trigger my whole life. I've never had reason to."

"Because you have people that do your dirty work! Murder is murder! What difference does it make whether you're the one pulling the trigger or you ask someone else to do it on your behalf?" Brandy asked with disapproval.

"The difference is that my hands remain clean, whereas the person that pulled the trigger has blood on his hands. Do you know why? Pulling the trigger was their own decision regardless of my order," Cassidy said with an indifferent shrug as he raised his wineglass to his lips and sipped from it.

"You can believe whatever makes you sleep better at night. So are you trying to say that Jero went to jail because you intentionally failed to clean up his mess?" Brandy asked, returning to the discussion.

"As you must know, I was away at the time. And I had only just found out about you giving your favor to other men the previous day. I was still very mad at Jero and the other lords that touched you. So I asked my men to leave clues that would reveal to the police that the kids were testers. And they left enough proof that would lead them to Jero."

"You exposed the cartel because of something like that? What about the other lords? Didn't they..."

"The bunch of old fucks. They have no idea that I was behind it. They assumed it happened because I wasn't around to take care of it, so they kept trying to buy off every prosecutor that took up the case. They kept doing that until the stubborn lawyer girl took up the case. I convinced the lords to let Jero take the fall as that was the only way we could save ourselves and the cartel," Cassidy said with a smile that told Brandy that he was pretty impressed with himself.

"Your sister made it easier for them to nail him by testifying against him. Can't blame her though, can you?" Cassidy asked Jero who had returned inside to clean the floor even though he didn't think there was any need for it.

"You didn't earn your lady's loyalty, so it's what a piece of trash like you deserves after all," Cassidy said, but Jero said nothing as he continued to clean.

"So why then did you let him out?" Brandy asked curiously as she glared at Jero's back. She wished she could hit him or do something horrible to him for all he had done to her and her sister.

"Bill got into some sort of trouble with the kingpin, and they found out that he contacted the lawyer girl, wanting to expose the cartel. That was the first case I was handed once I returned to the country. I was supposed to kill him and make sure he doesn't meet with the lawyer, so I hid him instead."

"Why? Why didn't you kill him?" Brandy asked curiously.

"Because I returned to the country for only two reasons. First, to get you. And secondly to put an end to everything. By everything I mean the cartel included. He will come in handy in my plans," Cassidy explained. 

Brandy ignored both reasons since she didn't want to dwell on the first, "And Jero? What do you need him for now if you were angry enough to get him arrested?" 

"The cartel tried to get rid of him in prison because they believe that he might testify against them if the lawyer girl offers to reduce his sentence."

"So you couldn't save his life without helping him escape? Why did you even bother saving his life? You should have let them kill him. Everyone would have been better off that way."

"Let me put it this way; the lords wouldn't hesitate to kill both you and your sister even after killing Jero. You wouldn't have known that the cartel was out to get you had I not saved both Bill and Jero..."

"You are not making any sense!" Brandy said with a shake of her head. 

"Jero's first job the moment he got out was to intercept the private investigator before he revealed your whereabouts to the cartel. Only Jero could have helped me find you without the cartel's knowledge of my involvement. And now he will be the one to expose the cartel. He knows that is the only way his son and your sister will be safe."

"Find me? What for? And what happens to you when the cartel is exposed?" Brandy asked, wondering what was going on in his head. 

"Are you worried that I might go to jail?" Cassidy asked with a grin, and Brandy rolled her eyes.

"You can rot there for all I care. Why should I be worried about you?" She asked incredulously.

"I will give you a reason to worry soon," Cassidy promised as he picked up Brandy's phone from where he had left it and dialed Matt's line.

Matt turned to look at Jade when his phone started ringing, and he showed her the phone's screen. Jade took the phone from him, "I suppose I'm the one you want to speak with?" Jade asked immediately after she received the call and placed it on speaker.

"You have some really good men working for you. Unfortunately, I'm way ahead of them, hence they couldn't tail Jero or find Bill. I made sure of it," Cassidy said smugly.

"You must be proud of yourself," Jade said dryly, trying to conceal the fact that she found the criminal impressive.

"Yes, I am. This yacht is going to explode in a couple of minutes. The moment it does, I AM DEAD. You can tell Candace not to worry about Andy. She will contact her when I believe it is safe enough to do so."

"You mean you want to take Andy hostage and fake your death..."

"I'm not taking her hostage. She is my woman. I already gave Bill all the evidence you will need to bring down the cartel. He will bring it to where you are once the yacht explodes, and then you can get an arrest warrant. Jero will lead you to the place where you can arrest all the lords at once," Cassidy said.

"You must have thought this through," Jade said, surprised at how organized his plan was. 

"You wanted to bring down the cartel, I'm helping you achieve it. In return, help Jero see his son and Candace one last time before he returns to jail. I hope you don't try to find me after now," Cassidy said before disconnecting the call. 

"It's time to leave," Cassidy said as he reached out a hand to Brandy.