Adult-FanFiction.org : Celebrity

Vengeance	By : Tragictales Category: Individual Celebrities > Orlando Bloom Views: 1320 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not know Orlando Bloom. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
A/N2: Thanks Myr for helping me with my Irish! =P

Orlando stared at the gray headstone two days later. The toes of his shoes skirted the freshly covered grave. As everyone mingled around offering their sympathies he found he could scarcely breathe. The memory of the day he’d met Maddox danced before his eyes. Three months after his mother had died and he was already on the streets. Their small home was repossessed to begin covering her laundry list of debts. It was December, from what Orlando could recall, and one bitch of a cold night. The youth centers and shelters wouldn’t take him in anymore. He had worn out his welcome and there were too many new children that needed help. For weeks the shelters had been his safe haven. He remembered hating his mother so much at that time. She was an aspiring actress, who apparently hadn’t an ounce of talent. The only family she had disowned her when she left Canterbury to pursue her career in New York.

The only biological family Orlando had didn’t even know he existed. She had reasons, from what Orlando could remember of her but none of them ever made sense when he came of age to understand her predicament. Lost in the streets he acquired the skills he needed to survive. He had a bad habit of running into the gangs of the area especially those he’d foolishly bargained with, first with whatever he could find of value and then with his own body.

The darkest night of his life was spent in an alley where he let one of the sets have him there. He was freezing, with very little clothes, and by the gang members estimation he should have been dead weeks prior. The problem was, once he let them touch them, he was considered theirs to be had any time, any place. The few times he tried to get away were met with grim outcomes. This was where he learned to fight. He didn’t learn rules or the proper way to throw a punch. He learned to fight to live.

There was a member of the gang named Big Red. He was probably the largest man Orlando had ever seen, with brilliant red hair spiked sharply and huge muscles no one else in the gang could contest with. Much to Orlando’s chagrin the man had taken a liking to him. Orlando could still feel his large hands roughly running over his exposed skin. The sensation brought the hairs on the back of his neck to attention. He remembered being so tired he felt like dropping each time a new member would take a position behind him. He knew he was bleeding and when things finally came to an end he was ready to run. That’s when Big Red stepped up saying he wanted the last fuck of the evening. His voice made Orlando’s skin crawl.

When he felt his big hands probing his already violently stretched hole he reacted out of desperation. He didn’t know where the sudden surge of adrenaline had come from but the moment Big Red lifted him, pushing his body up the wall Orlando turned and drove his elbow into his throat. Big Red’s head snapped back and with all his might Orlando grabbed his neck and slammed his head forward into the concrete wall. He didn’t know if Big Red was seriously injured by his attack and didn’t care. All that mattered that the moment that he’d dropped him, Orlando was running as fast as he could from the alley. He could hear the gang running behind him shoving people out of the way in an effort to catch him.

The one time he looked behind him he ran smack into a solid figure, falling backwards and knocking his head good on the pavement. When he looked up he saw a good looking man in his early to mid-thirties dressed in a grey suit and surrounded by hard looking men, hands moving towards wherever they kept their guns. He didn’t know what came over him but in an instant he’d grabbed a hold of Maddox’s leg begging for protection without knowing he would receive it. He couldn’t imagine what he must have looked like to Maddox with his already tattered jeans slipping down his slender hips and his shirt ripped up. Maddox smiled at him and he couldn’t tell if it were genuine or false but the instant the gang members caught up and pulled at his arms two men were in front of him blocking their way. Mercy, that was what Maddox showed him. Mercy in all its wondrous glory. The next thing he knew he was being helped into a car, his head laying on Maddox’s lap and his lanky body stretched out over the rest of the seat.

Orlando shook his head to clear the memory lest he break down before everyone. To the families tears would be a weakness and he could not afford to look weak. He let out a shuddering breath, the only relief he could have at the moment. He looked down at his hands the events of the night in the basement assailing him as he did so.

It had taken a lot of coaxing from Eric just to get him out of bed that morning and now he stood his hands held out before him, his mind imagining the blood that he felt would somehow always be there. Eric was right. They deserved to die for what they did but he couldn’t get past it. Mixed with the thought of his father lying six feet beneath him he craved more justice than the two bodies he’d left to be cleaned in the basement.

He curled his fingers into the palms of his hands making hard fists. Someone was going to have to pay and he had to have faith that within the faction it revenge would be dealt. They couldn’t count on the police to help. Why would they? They would be as unconcerned as they had been when they investigated the Farrell case. It wasn’t as if he expected help, he just knew that it wouldn’t come from anyone except those who commiserated with the cause. Maddox didn’t die in his sleep like he should have; he was murdered on the street like some worthless bastard who got in too deep too fast. Stabbed in an alleyway and left to die.

The crime was simple enough on the outside. He was an old man who was probably car jacked on his way home. Or at least that was what the police report said. Orlando tilted his head back letting the sun drift over his face and warm his skin. It was too simple and too complicated at the same time. He hadn’t discussed his suspicions with Eric, not wanting to concern his lover just yet. He was grieving as well.

God only knew what Eric was feeling right now. He was worried even as he smiled when he greeted people. The strain was evident. They were both in a very precarious position. They could be out on their asses or dead by the end of the day. He had every right to worry. Orlando stepped forward his fingers gently running across the headstone, tears threatening like they had all morning. And like each time before Orlando swallowed hard and beat back his emotions. He’d had his time to cry, now was his time to survive. He turned around, staring at the different sets of people about him. Though many groups were mixed, some of the core families stood off to the side.

Eric smiled at him; the first genuine smile that had graced his beautiful features all afternoon and Orlando tried to smile back only succeeding in something impersonal, tight-lipped and very hard. Eric still didn’t falter when he walked to him, abandoning the older men he’d been speaking to.

“Who’re they?” Orlando asked only able to pick out the key families as they mingled.

“Not sure, I think they’re some of the men from the docks. They said Maddox had been kind to them when they were in need,” Eric replied.

“Sounds like…,” Orlando trailed off with a shake of his head. He rubbed the back of his neck where the hairs had begun to rise.

“What?”

“Sounds like a story the cops would make up,” Orlando said. “He was a good man, but he wasn’t that good of a man.”

“You’re kidding me,” Eric said glancing back at the men all huddled together and blinked for a moment. He shook his head. “Can’t be.”

“You never know,” Orlando said, coming to a stop when his eyes caught sight of a pair of men walking together from a car that had just pulled up. Both of them wore sunglasses and looked as if they were enjoying the day. The wheels in Orlando’s mind began turning, suspicions building against the weight of the situation. He wasn’t stupid. Hans and Grazer didn’t just up and decide to kill Maddox for nothing. No man was that crazed or that stupid.

“Orlando,” Eric pressed trying to get his attention while the Brit began to walk towards the men. Eric caught him around the bicep and forcibly pulled him back, not caring who was watching them. He pulled him away from the greater part of the families and their scattered faction towards one of the many crypts. There he pushed Orlando against the wall hoping to at least shake him up. Orlando cast his dark gaze on him rooting them both to the spot where they stood.

“We have to start planning,” Orlando said.

“I know,” Eric said straining to keep his composure as he paced. He ran his fingers through his hair ruffling the curls as he did so.

“There’s a lot more going on than we know,” Orlando said.

“I agree.”

“We have to fix things,” Orlando said.

“Exactly,” Eric responded, causing Orlando to nod affirmatively.

“We need to figure out who did this. I already have my ideas as to who but I’d rather have proof than to go off on a man hunt only to be utterly wrong,” Orlando said and Eric’s eyebrows rose in response.

“What?”

“We have to avenge him, Eric,” Orlando said. “You know it’s what’s right, we can’t ignore the fact that this wasn’t done by some small time criminal.”

Eric stepped away from him and rubbed his forehead only lifting his eyes to stare at his companion incredulously.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

Orlando rolled his eyes. “No, last time I checked I was perfectly sane.”

“What?” Orlando questioned and when Eric didn’t answer him he grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled him slowly back towards him.

“What?” He repeated.

“Can’t you stop for a moment and see this as an opportunity?” Eric whispered in his ear.

“An opportunity for what?” Orlando whispered back. Eric sighed, resting his forehead against Orlando’s for a moment.

“To get away,” Eric said. “We have no more ties to this life. What if…what if we just disappeared? We have the money to travel at our leisure. We could live anywhere.”

Orlando breathed heavily, content to just rest here with the feeling of the love of his life against him. His heart constricted at Eric’s words feeling so wrong for not being able to give him what he deserved. Eric’s lips sought his and for a moment they stayed there kissing quietly.

“I can’t abandon him,” Orlando whispered haltingly when they broke apart. He tried desperately to ignore the crestfallen look in Eric’s eyes quickly replaced by a cool understanding.

“I can’t,” Orlando said again the words echoing in his mind as alarm spread throughout him when Eric stepped away from him to collect himself.

He was right. He knew he was right. Maddox had never abandoned him and he wouldn’t leave the business until justice was served.

*****

Jared resisted the urge to yawn the only reason being that he currently stood pretending to pay attention to Bernard Hill’s long-winded assurance that business would resume normally once he was named head of the Maddox faction, or what was left of it. Already he could see the anxious looks on the older men’s faces. They were ready to receive their compensation for their services. It would be interesting, Jared thought, if they actually stayed by Bernard’s side.

It wouldn’t be to Jared’s advantage but it would make things a little more interesting. Then his business side took over and the want for things to not be this easy dissipated quickly. He had eliminated Boss Maddox and as expected Bernard would take the helm. Bernard, he knew had little control over the entire faction and even that would wane as the days went by. He estimated that within a month’s time not many of Maddox’s henchmen would want to stick around. Moreover, there he would have one of the final pieces to his plan. Bernard would be alone and without enough influence over his newly acquired territories. He would be forced to hand it over to the new blood in the wake of new tragedy.

Jared’s delight over his nearly completed plan danced through his mind as he tuned the man out. A few moments later the soon to be leader of the Maddox faction said his thanks again for the Leto family’s condolences and moved on to speak with the small band of men that dared to stand with him. He assumed the younger members, a much larger group, had left upon hearing word that Maddox was dead. It was known throughout that Bernard disliked change and included the newest members of the faction along with that undesired change. Jared lamented on how far the ruthless man had fallen. His father used to tell him stories of Maddox and Bernard’s near tyrannical reign of the city. This was before Bernard left, leaving his friend exposed to damage that he would never fully recover from.

“Look at ya’, yer practically burstin’ with glee,” Colin’s voice drifted through his mind and he didn’t have to turn around to know that he was there with him. His presence was strong enough on its own without the need for physical confirmation.

“Well, lover, how can I not congratulate myself on a job well done?” Jared asked his lips curling into a cruel smile when he looked at where Bernard stood.

“I wouldn’t underestimate ‘im,” Colin said.

“You’re too careful,” Jared said turning around to face the Irishman, shocked at his appearance. He was dressed well enough in an expensive looking black suit and a dark tie but his face was something else all together. He looked tired; the circles under his eyes were proof enough of that. Jared regretted not going to see him since Colin had left his penthouse. He should have gone to see him last night from the looks of things. It looked like he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days as his chin was covered in dark hair.

“What?” Colin asked then rubbed his chin feeling the brush of his hairs. “Oh, I’ve been busy.”

“So busy as to not have had time to shave or sleep?” Jared questioned.

“They’re wrappin’ the investigation, markin’ it down as unsolved. Can ya believe it?”

“I can,” Jared said boldly. “They probably don’t feel he deserved the justice.”

“More than likely,” Colin said shifting so they could walk together away from the main groups. “Where’s yer father?”

“He’s been sick lately. Ever since that night at the club he hasn’t been feeling well. If he’s not better by the time I return to the mansion I’m taking him to the hospital,” Jared said.

“What’s wrong with ‘im?” Colin asked as boldly as Jared had made his earlier statement. Jared shrugged nonchalantly, the motion itself making Colin’s eyebrows raise and his insides quiver.

“Feverish, sweaty, unable to keep anything down. I ought to chalk it up to a cold but I would rather have him brought to the doctor,” Jared explained. The dead grass crunched beneath their shoes as they avoided other graves, and finally came to a stop far enough away that no one could possibly overhear them. From where they stood they could see the faction leaving, probably on their way back to Maddox’s mansion where the will would be read.

The last men to leave were Maddox’s own enforcers and often bodyguards. Two of the most dangerous men Colin ever had the pleasure of having an audience with. They had been ordered to pay him a visit when his father died to ensure that peace would ensue between the Farrell family and the faction. Eric and Orlando, those were their names as he recalled them. From that meeting on he regarded them as honorable men. They had no fear and in watching them work it was easy to see why Maddox entrusted them to keep things running smoothly.

“Sad isn’t it?” Jared said when he noticed Colin’s eyes resting on the two men walking slowly towards the line of parked cars that had followed the funeral procession.

“What d’ya think they’ll do now?” Colin asked. It was common knowledge that Bernard would never allow the two to work for the faction again. His hatred of Orlando’s relationship with Maddox was too firm for that gesture.

“Doesn’t really matter, does it?” Jared asked. “They’ve been dedicated soldiers for far too long.”

Colin sighed while they watched the two men enter a car then drive off, the rest of the families beginning to do the same.

“Are you free for the evening?” Jared asked finally able to allow his crooked smile to escape. Colin swore beneath his breath stepping as close to Jared as he dared. The sight of the man should have repulsed him, instead he felt himself being drawn to him.

“If ev’rythin’ falls inta place I’m sure I will be,” Colin answered. As shameful as it was for him to admit it to himself, the mere thought of Jared made him feel both helpless and strong alike. He was startled when Jared stuck his hand out as if to strike a business deal with him. The gesture was so alien between the two of them that Colin hesitated unsure as to what it meant.

“Take my hand,” Jared said well aware of the need for an explanation to their proximity. No one could hear them but they were still in plain sight. Colin’s hand encased his own, thumb dragging slowly across his skin. Jared took that instant to pull him into a crushing embrace.

His lips came dangerously close to Colin’s ear the feeling of his breath spreading down his neck set his heart beat to a thunderous pace.

“Whatever happens,” Jared said. “Meet me at my penthouse.”

“I’ll need you tonight,” Jared said. “Please.”

Jared did not often beg.

“I’ll be there.”

*~*~*~*
Bernard Hill watched his former friend’s two right hand men walk slowly towards the front entrance of the house. They didn’t speak to each other or even look at one another. Their feet moved the gravel of the driveway as they walked. Here were two men he loathed and respected all at once. Gifted killers as Maddox had wanted them to be but dead men as far as he was concerned.

Forty years ago when Maddox began his endeavors Bernard had been his rock. He was his business partner, his body guard, his hit man, his confidant, and most importantly his friend. Never in his life had he met a man like Maddox, someone who was cold and deadly then light and vibrant at the drop of a hat. He remembered his friend telling him once, that he only trusted him, his only true friend with the divine intricacies of his business and his life. Once upon a time it had filled Bernard with such pride to know that this powerful mind only trusted him, a common man that hardly belonged in his presence. Bernard grew up in New York City making his way as a petty criminal while along the way Maddox immersed himself in culture and any bit of education he could grasp. He dove head first into learning about the world, convinced that if he didn’t he would be considered lower than low. Being an immigrant meant for Maddox that he had to try twice as hard. Being an impoverished immigrant meant that he would have to force his way into society. And so he did, working his way from bottom to top taking his old friend with him.

Bernard met Maddox on the streets one evening as he tried to hustle a handsome looking man and his pretty wife out of some money for his supper. Maddox approached him, dressed less elaborately than the couple but neatly enough to be considered somebody important. He invited Bernard to dinner. With his stomach grumbling the way it had been Bernard could hardly say no.

He walked with the strange young man, no older than he, to a restaurant called Lilies. While they ate Maddox asked him question after question testing his street smarts, his abilities, and his intelligence. By the end of dinner he wanted to know if Bernard would like to come to work for him someday. Without knowing exactly what he meant Bernard had said ‘why not’.

Bernard’s lips ached when he smiled and he closed them back together in a tight lipped expression. Maddox had been the best man he ever knew and he would be damned if he let his legacy be tarnished.

Orlando and Eric passed by Bernard not a word passing from either of their lips. Bernard found it strange that the two weren’t speaking to each other at all. He doubted it was from shock and then it hit him. Was there finally a wedge being drawn between the dangerous duo? He chuckled when they entered the mansion together. The fact that they had succeeded him in Maddox’s ranks during his absence made Bernard’s insides twist violently. After tonight he would see to it that they got what they deserved.

*~*~*~*

“I beg your pardon?” Eric questioned angrily at Maddox’s lawyer’s assistant’s firm tone.

“I said, I’m sorry sir but you’ll have to wait out here.” The striking blonde woman standing before the study’s door tried once more to push him back. Her fingers stretched across the fabric of his shirt, a flirtatious laugh escaping her lips. Eric caught her wrist in his large hands, squeezing harshly to get her attention.

“And I said, let me see the list,” Eric said coldly.

He could scarcely breathe at this new development staring him right in the eyes. Maddox’s lawyer, Harvey Oxendine was ever a foolish man if Eric saw one. His assistants usually went in and out of the front desk of his office that there had to at least be a new flavor every week. This week, Eric decided, had to be the color idiot, accompanied by a slight twinge of moron. She was a bombshell, too atypical for belief and with a fondness for touching his chest and staring at him for far too long. She actually giggled the first time she told him he wasn’t allowed inside of the study, where Maddox’s will was being read.

“Explain this to me again,” Eric said.

“There were specific instructions left for the reading of the will, by law we’re bound to--”

“I’m supposed to be in there!” Eric thundered. “I don’t understand this.”

“Obviously you weren’t meant to receive anything,” the woman said and Eric huffed loudly and stepped away from her releasing her wrist in the process. She felt over the bruises his fingers had left when he turned around.

“Obviously you’re mistaken,” Eric retorted and in an instant he snatched the list from her fingers holding the clipboard and the paper attached farther away each time she moved forward to retrieve it.

He skimmed through the names once then went through them more slowly when his worst fears were confirmed.

“She was right,” Eric said in disbelief.

“Of course she’s right,” Bernard’s voice cut through Eric burning him to his core. The list slipped from his fingers clattering against the carpeted floor. His shoulder began to throb again and suddenly, he felt very light headed. Not once in the past few days had he paused to feel what was happening around him. He hadn’t stopped to grieve.

“You never stop do you?”

“When it comes to keeping trash like the two of you out of our midst no, I’m completely tireless,” Bernard said.

“Figures,” Eric snapped.

“Although, why you would believe you’re entitled to anything I don’t know,” Bernard said.

“Gee, I don’t know, years of service, injury, and constant companionship,” Eric said sarcastically.

“Obviously you weren’t worth it,” Bernard said enjoying the way Eric kept himself in check.

“You’re just jealous of us,” Eric muttered and Bernard laughed aloud. “You can’t bear the fact that when you left, you were easily replaced.”

Bernard’s eyes narrowed as he approached Eric, staring him down, unfazed by the fact that even though Eric was visibly shaking his dark eyes still bore into his light blue ones. He bared his teeth in a vicious smile.

“I thought you would have figured it out by now, Eric,” Bernard said lowly. “You were never anything to Maddox but a good man with a gun and a plaything to appease Orlando.”

“That’s not true,” Eric said his own voice sounding skeptical in his mind. His heart hammered and mixed with the throbbing of his shoulder until he felt light headed. He kept himself standing, clenching his jaw tightly. Under no circumstances would he ever let Bernard Hill, bastard that he was, see that he could inflict pain on him.

“Then explain this,” Bernard said bending to pick up the list from the floor where Eric had thrown it earlier.

“Absolutely worthless,” Bernard said pushing the list into Eric’s chest.

“He loved me like a son, you know this,” Eric said sounding more and more as if he were trying to convince himself rather than to burn Bernard like he wanted to. “You just can’t handle the thought.”

“Tolerance has its cruelty, doesn’t it?” Bernard said coldly. “Perhaps you shouldn’t be here when we finish.”

Mr. Oxendine signaled to his assistant that they were ready to start and she motioned to Bernard to hurry inside. Without another word Bernard turned and stepped inside the study. The assistant closed the door behind him winking at him as she went. Eric was too riled to notice her. Angrily he hurled the clipboard against the door not caring what the men inside thought, not even Orlando at this moment. He ran his fingers through his hair as pain ripped through him as it had only once before. It was true wasn’t it?

Tears slid down his cheeks and he furiously wiped at them, his hands becoming damp in the process. Nine years…this couldn’t be true. He gasped at the feeling of everything swooped down upon him. He hadn’t slept in two days, not daring to do so with Orlando as torn up as he was. The thought of breaking down at the same time as Orlando terrified Eric. Plus, his dislike of painkillers meant he would have to feel his own way through his injury. His breathing quickened and he inhaled the full smell of the house. Maddox’s scent and his hard voice echoed off the walls. Orlando’s eyes appeared before him when Eric closed his eyes making it impossible for him to find peace in any shape. He had to leave, if only for a little while.

The last time he’d felt pain like this was 23 years ago.

Damn, it would be 23 years ago the following week.

Eric heard shouting from inside the study and he inched forward, his fingertips lightly touching the wall. It was a place he didn’t belong where he wasn’t wanted at all. Without another thought to the study and as to what was being said, Eric made his way back to the foyer and upstairs to pack a bag.

He had to get out.
- 3
- 4
- 5
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Vengeance