A/N - Heyoo my readers! I know have made you wait a lot and I apologize for it. So here is the first official chapter of this book. This chapter is written in third person P.O.V. 

Also the flashbacks in the chapter are in italics, and are used to reiterate the scenes which took place in Book1 Ace of hearts in order to make things clearer. 

"Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, Blood and revenge are hammering in my head."

The man growled under his breath, reciting the famous excerpt from Shakespeare. Those words seem to perfectly fit the man's emotional temperament and thoughts. His voice was deep yet hollow as it lacked the humanity which distinguishes humans from other animals. But the hollowness didn't seem to affect the middle aged man's actions because he simply didn't care. 

Humans are the most peculiar organisms in existence. The saying that 'Humans are the smartest animals' is no doubt true, but what we don't hear people saying that 'Humans are the most venomous animals who surprisingly wage wars against their own.' 

Ironic right?

But as it is said, this world is full of mysteries. Being curious about what, why and how something happened - is a natural human thing. Truth gives rise to secrets which give rise to mysteries which in turn give rise to questions which leads to consequences.

But the man sitting on the rolling chair, with his hand massaging his temples in deep thought and planning, was not the one to be afraid of consequences. He was ready to claim his revenge. His sapphire eyes were slumped with defeat of something but the burning rage inside him was overshadowing the defeat. 

"I am going to ruin you, Ace Parker. Sadly my dear daughter would have to go down with you too." He said to himself, with malice that could creep the hell out of anyone. 

The dark cabin he was sitting in, was the exact replica of his mood. Few days ago, he was celebrating the best days of life as his perfect plan was in motion. But it was all ruined now. It didn't go as he wanted it to, and the anger of that hadn't faded away even now. 

Zach Johns wasn't the one to think and act. In his fifty two years of life, he had never thought much before acting. His impulsive personality had made an exception for Ace Parker. He was Zach's purpose of life now, his revenge. 

The source of this hatred dates back to years ago. 

The story wasn't that complicated that you can't guess it but it was still something which didn't catch anyone's eye so easily. 

It's a game of perspectives. 

For instance, Zach believes that Ace was the instigator of this revenge war as he started killing his men. But Ace believes that Zach was responsible. 

Why did Ace kill Zach's men? Which men? Which revenge? 

As said earlier, mysteries give rise to questions. 

But not every question can be answered by everyone and anyone. A story is told by the protagonist only, the author can't go around telling the truth - right?

Zach was the leader of the Caprio gang. If you haven't heard that name then you are completely normal because mafias are meant to be underground. This revenge seeking man was not always the part of this deadly gang. It was the year of 2010 when he heard about this gang while gambling in a pub. He was a completely different person back then. 

But when his wife, Liliana Johns, left him the previous year - he was lost. He had loved her and cared for her, no matter how cringing and disgusting these words sounded to him right now. Yet when she left him, he couldn't take care of himself and his actions. Paths changed, people changed and before he knew it - he was a member of the Caprio gang. With time, the gang's placement and value in his life changed. At first the sole purpose of joining it was to earn money because his company had fallen. He hadn't been honest with his wife and he felt guilty about it. But that guiltiness changed into self doubt, confusion, blame-game, carelessness, dislike and finally into hatred. 

His daughter, Eva Johns, had always been on the second place. He didn't want kids at the first place but when she was born, he was happy. But with time, somehow he felt more distant and distant with time with her. By the time he was alone with her, when Liliana had left, he couldn't stand seeing her face. It reminded him of Liliana so much. Her betrayal hit him like rocks whenever he saw Eva. So it would suffice to say that he wasn't fond of her own daughter, he actually wanted to get rid of her. 

By the time, Liliana had returned in 2011, Zach Johns wasn't the same person anymore. What started as a source of livelihood had turned into an obsession as he had started liking the work he did - killing people. It made him realize he was a sadist. A fucking alone sadist. 

And what fueled this was the truth of Liliana not aborting the child. They had talked, she didn't look convinced with the idea that he had given of aborting the child but he never in his wildest dreams thought that she would run away and that too with the unborn child. He thought she was hurt and upset by the abortion and this is why she had to flee in 'search of her lost soul' - as she said. 

But the betrayal he felt was indescribable after he accidently heard Liliana and Eva talking in the kitchen about the child she had not aborted. Aaron.

It seemed like Eva wasn't aware about the whole thing and was listening Liliana talking about Aaron for the first time. But that wasn't the fact that bothered him. What bothered him was that he didn't fucking know about it. 

And that night, all the loneliness he had felt when Liliana left her, all the pain and self blame he went through, all the times he had got drunk in the pub thinking where his love wronged him, the sleepless nights he had when he kept thinking about his love, the times he had to look at Eva and imagine her as Liliana - it all resurfaced and he crossed lines not giving a care about the consequences. 

And you know what they say - you past defines your present.

So there he was, the man who had changed into a monster as he rose from being a novice in the gang to being the leader of the Caprio gang. And now his loyalty rested with his fellow gang members and the contracts he took. 

He was the definition of an emotionless mafia leader who was lot deeper into shit than he thought and it was impossible for him to be retrieved.

Reason? He liked being a sadist he was and didn't want to be saved.

There were six people, including him, after whom Ace Parker was. Jason, Archer, Jax, Tobias, Derek and Zach himself. They all were part of the Caprio gang and worked under Zach. But never had they thought that someone would actually hunt each of them and take his revenge. There was one more person involved who was not in their gang. He was an outsider helping them in a mission. Zach wasn't sure if Ace had hunted him down or not. Ace had started hunting his gang members in 2012 and one by one he took hold of each of them, except Zach. First Jason, who was kidnapped from one of the missions and then no one heard from him. Same happened with Archer, Jax, Tobias and Derek. When Jax went missing, Zach knew what was happening. They were all linked together by one mission. 

So to protect his men, he made sure that Derek and Tobias went underground. But when someone like Ace was the one taking revenge - it was impossible for Zach to protect himself or his men forever. Ace was at last able to find Tobias in 2018 and Derek went missing as latest as 2020. 

'I am next.' Zach thought to himself, rubbing his forehead. 

He was not afraid of Ace, in fact he actually wanted to confront him and kill him with his bare hands. But it wasn't that simple. Ace was one of the most famous billionaires and was constantly surrounded by bodyguards and press. He needed to find a way to torture that man the same way he had tortured his men. He wanted Ace to beg for his life and go down in front of him. He wanted to crush his ego and take something away from him, which was as important as his men were for Zach. 

Years of rivalry with him was the reason why Zach knew each and every detail about Ace's life. His search for something dear to Ace ended when he got to know about Jennifer. His elder sister whom he loved and cared for. So he had started tracking each and every movement of hers. But his plans were crushed when she was suddenly moving out of the country. She was going abroad for studies. His gang was an international gang and one of the deadliest about which very few knew about. But in order to keep his gang underground, he couldn't risk taking this revenge on an international level. He wanted to, he was ready to let his gang get discovered but something stopped him. He seemed to realize that if he took this tracking and planning on an international level - he would have to risk his men's protection.

It was no surprise that Zach was a heartless and cruel person. But his loyalty towards his work and gang never ceased. He had the responsibility of the whole gang and no matter how badly he wanted to capture Jennifer, he couldn't. Not for the cost of his men. If he did that,  there wouldn't be any difference between him and Ace. 

So he had to drop the plan, he decided to wait till she returned. He for some moments thought about targeting John, his stepdad. But soon his sources and research found out that Ace never approved of John taking his dad's place. That somehow made Zach realize that he wasn't the one.

After that, when he was losing hope, and was about to change his way of approach to avenge Ace - he heard about his marriage. Almost an year ago, Ace was suddenly marrying someone. That took Zach by surprise as he wasn't expecting that bastard to ever commit himself. He wasn't the one to do that.

After some contemplation, he finally decided to go on with the plan. Maybe this was his last chance. Zach started his research and tracking of the woman Ace had married.

But the identity of the woman was something which after years of emotionlessness - brought out an emotion out of him - surprise and utter astonishment. 

It was Eva Johns. 

His pathetic daughter. 

The flood of hatred he felt for her resurfaced and Zach couldn't believe the co-incidence. He was not the one to believe in destiny and fate. He thought it was all bull shit. But the fate of the two people whom he hated the most in this world, was unbelievable. 

But he was going to take the full advantage of this co-incidence. 

He was not going to miss the opportunity of killing two birds with one stone. 

So he planned the kidnapping. He tracked their movement through their honeymoon. 

He had sent one of his men, to keep an eye on them. He introduced himself as Jason Smith to Eva.  Zach had sent him there to make sure that Ace cared enough about Eva. And if he did, Zach had planned to kidnap Eva when they were in Barbados. Birthplace of rum, as they call it. Jason even searched through their room to see if he could find anything about the missing men of the Caprio gang. But he found none, but instead ended up messing everything in the room. But thankfully both, Ace and Eva, were unaware of this and blamed each other for the mess.

* 

"It's Jason Smith. But you can call me Darcy only because I am going to call you Elizabeth." He said and Eva showed him a thumbs up.
"So was that your husband? The one who dragged you and made you dance?" Jason asked.

"Oh yeah. That's him." She confirmed.

Jason was about to say something but his phone rang at that very second, and he groaned looking at the caller. He said 'excuse me' and picked up the call.

"I said the deal is off. Just get the fuck out." Jason said in hushed voice but Eva caught the words. She didn't mean to pry but she was able to hear it, even though unintentionally. He then hung up the phone not wanting to continue working for Zach anymore. He was tired of pretending being a friend to this lovely lady named Eva. She was genuinely a good person. 

"Sorry for that. It's just some idiot, work and all." He said but he looked kind of angry and anxious but at the same time he feared what would his boss, Zach, do when he returns to him without completing his task. Elsewhere Eva didn't ask him anything, because it really wasn't her business.

*

Everything was going well for Zach but at the end, Jason wasn't able to complete his task for which he was punished. Now Zach had to look for another opportunity. 

And his next opportunity was executed by Ezra Gerald in Franschhoek town, Cape town. 

*

"Let's follow the ancient etiquettes. The man introduces himself first. I am Ezra Gerald." He said in a hot thick British accent, following all the rules about ball dances that Eva had read about. He bowed down and removed his hat from his head. 

"Pleasure. I-" Eva was again cut off, this time by Ace. 

"This is Eva. Eva Parker, my wife." Ace said coming to Eva's side and putting his hand on the small of her back. All of them smiled at them.

When Ace refused to dance with Eva, Ezra found the opportunity he was waiting for.

"Well, I guess then the lady shouldn't be disappointed. May I have the honor of dancing with you, Mrs. Parker?" Ezra asked again bowing and extending his hand.

"My pleasure." Eva said bending her knees while bowing her head and holding out the skirt of her gown. She gave her hand in his as they proceeded towards the floor just as the trumpet marked the commencement of the ball.

"I hope your husband there doesn't mind me dancing with you." He said chuckling, trying to understand what was the situation between Ace and Eva. 

"I am sure he won't. Plus, I am enjoying myself." She said honestly, really enjoying Ezra's company. 

"Well then it's fine. You look beautiful by the way." He said smiling because in order to kidnap her, he needed to get in her good books.

*

This time, Zach was acting smart and wasn't planning to kidnap her that night. He had all the information he needed. He had now made a well proofed planned and he was sure it was going to work. 

Thus he finally managed to kidnap his pathetic daughter from Six Senses Zil Pasyon , Seychelles, ​Félicité island (Africa).

*

She looked around to see that there was no one in sight. And it was quite expected because this was a private suite. But the growing chillness around due to the onset of the night, was forcing her to go inside and eat something hot. Maybe barbeque? Or pizza? Or something hot and spicy?

She started advancing towards the resort with her head swirling with all the things that happened in the last hour. In the course of this, she didn't notice the footsteps behind her until it was too late. Before she could turn and see who was suddenly present in the deserted area, a sharp and painful stinging sensation enveloped her senses and something was injected into her left arm. Everything happened so fast that she couldn't help herself, she was blindfolded as darkness surrounded her vision. It was so fast that she lost consciousness before she could start screaming for help.

*

And at last, Zach had hold over the famous Ace Parker. He was tracking his every worried movement as he tried to find Eva who was unconscious in Zach's captive. He had kept her in an abandoned building, making sure that Ace reached that place. He was going to capture him. 

Everything was falling into place as his plan was working but the very second Ace stepped into the premises of the abandoned building, Zach got the news that someone had been caught from his gang. He was on the verge of being exposed. Not having any other option, Zach and his men had to flee from the place without Ace. It wasn't possible to take Eva with them, so he had to lose again as he left Eva who was then rescued by Ace. 

The only good outcome of the failed plan was - he now knew that Ace would do anything for Eva. Fucking anything.

And now sitting in his cabin, Zach was planning and plotting to use this fact to take Ace down and this time - he wasn't going stop until he had him. 

He was going to take the revenge from Ace for killing his five closest members of the gang and the other members who were a collateral damage in this raging war between Zach and Ace. 

Zach's sapphire eyes, were now blazing with the rage and determination he held in himself. He got up from the chair, and went towards the window of the cabin as he looked at the infinite sky which symbolized his infinite need to get justice for his men.

Miles away, a woman with the similar eyes was gaining consciousness as the unspoken pair of those who loved & cared for her were finally heard. 

Yes! The first official chapter is published! 

And i am back!

I have my finals in ten days but here I am writing these updates - I know I am going to die. Lmao.

So how was the chapter?

Thanks to my lovely friend and reader - SushFan191918 - for making this beautiful cover which I am in love with! love ya bestie!

I hope it cleared a lot many things which were not answered in the previous books. 

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