Tenebrosity - Chapter 1
Masterlist
Sebastian's POV
I threw the dirty bloody knife into the sink, taking off my gloves and throwing them in as well. I took a deep breathe, hands gripping the counter. I have a killer headache right now, my head pulsated as if someone was squeezing my head in their hands.
I grabbed the pain killers from the cabinet and threw a couple in my mouth, accompanying the medicine with a glass of whiskey. I hissed as the alcohol hit my throat, just what I needed.
I kicked off my shoes and shrugged off the rest of my dirty clothes before allowing myself to fall on my bed, closing my eyes so my body could finally rest. After today's events my body was exhausted and I could barely keep my eyes open anymore, that's okay Sebastian. Rest.
~~~
The sun shone through the curtains of my windows, my eyes squinted as I sat up from my bed.
"Bloody hell." I muttered, rubbing my eyes. My hands ran over my growing beard, scratching it slightly. My feet padded across the wood floor, walking to the bathroom. The bright light caused me to squint again. I splashed water onto my face, needing to wake up and shake this drowsiness.
That's when I noticed it. Dried blood littered my face, specks sat on my cheeks and forehead.
"Fuck." I muttered, remembering that there was a bloody knife and a bloody pair of gloves waiting for me in the sink. I grabbed the knife and gloves, disinfecting them and the sink to rid it of the blood. I threw the things into my backpack before continuing to get ready for my day.
The sound of my phone ringing sounded through the apartment.
"This is Sebastian." I answered, not bothering to check who was calling me.
"Good morning, sir.." My receptionist, Christen spoke into the phone.
"G'Morning Christen. Is there a reason you're calling me at 6:30 AM?" I sighed, stepping into my closet to grab my clothes for the day.
"Sorry, sir. The new hire is coming today and you told me to call you and remind you.." She spoke timidly into the phone. Right, I forgot I had her do that.
"Right. Yes, thank you. I'll see you later." I responded, hanging up the phone. The new hire, Alena White. My last marketing head jumped ship and quit with no warning, I needed a new head ASAP and Alena seemed to be the only competent applicant.
30 minutes later, I was walking through the doors of my office building, Christen sitting at her spot behind the front desk.
"Good morning, sir. Here's your coffee." She smiled at me placing a cup of coffee on top of the counter. I thanked her with a small nod before grabbing my cup and heading to my office. I sighed, throwing my bag onto my desk and starting up my computer.
I never wanted to be a businessman, but being the son of Viviano Stan... I would've been a disgrace to the family name if I hadn't started my own business from the ground up just like my father. So that's what I did, not the way my dear parents were hoping though. They weren't exactly thrilled with my pitch to start a sex toy company, Dark Cherry, where the sole purpose of the company is to excite and enhance your sex life as much as possible.
They were definitely against it. But here I am, 35 years old, with a multimillion dollar company. Sure, not ideal to them, but it brought money and power to our family name. And that's all good ole Viviano cared about.
I rubbed my eyes, not at all mentally prepared for a day full of work.
My phone rang twice on my desk before I answered it.
"Sebastian, Ms. Alena White is here." Christen spoke through the phone.
"Send her in." I said promptly before hanging up the phone. Minutes later there was a soft knock on the door. "Come on in." I called out, the door opened slowly revealing a young woman, probably mid to late 20's, brown wavy hair down her shoulders. There wasn't anything over the top of super special about the way she looked. But she had me in a trance.
"Good morning, Mr.Stan." She greeted, walking towards my desk. I stood from my chair and stuck my hand out for her to shake.
"Good morning, it's a pleasure to meet you." I gave her a small smile. "Please, have a seat." I gestured for her to take a seat at the chair in front of my desk. "And please, call me Sebastian." I corrected her, I didn't like being called Mr.Stan, I wasn't my father.
"So Alena-" I started to speak, but she quickly interrupted me.
"Oh, I actually go by Lena. (Lee-nuh)." This time it was her correcting me.
"Lena. Sorry." I chuckled. "That's a very beautiful name. Unique. I like it." I nodded. "Anyways.. Lena. Tell me a bit about yourself." I unbuttoned my suit jacket. "I know I wasn't the one that interviewed you, but Jack had nothing but praises to say about you." It was true. Jack, the President of the company, my right hand man, was hard to please. So I was very impressed when he told me the person he interviewed for the marketing head position blew him away.
"Boy do I love that question." She chuckled, "Well let's see.. I'm 26 years old. I've previously worked for-" Lena continued to speak business, talking about all the achievements and credentials that she's got on her belt. I observed her as she spoke, she was quite bubbly. The first thing I've noticed is that the entire time she's stepped foot in my office, the smile on her face never went away.
Once she was done talking I nodded my head, thanking her for sharing a little bit about herself.
"That's great, I have no doubt that you will excel in your position here at Dark Cherry. But tell me something else. Something real." I pushed. "Tell me something that you love to do, something that makes you happy. If I wanted to know your resume I would've pulled out your application." I raised an eyebrow at her.
The smile on her face faltered a little bit, but didn't disappear. She looked taken aback by my request and sat in silence for a moment, her eyes avoiding mine.
"Well.. Let's see.." She mumbled quietly. "I love dogs, I have a golden retriever, his name's Bruce." She grinned. "I like to bake.. I love to read books. It's my dream to have my own little library in my home, I just love how you can be sent to a different world through writing and literature." The smile on her face only widened the more she talked about things she loved. She was starting to ramble but I couldn't find the heart to interrupt her. "My favorite flowers are sunflowers, I just love how bright they are. It's impossible to not feel happy when you see a sunflower. Oh! I really enjoy watching movies. It's a very lazy and bummy hobby but I can't get enough of it-" Her eyes met mine and she shut her mouth before giving me a timid and embarrassed smile.
"I'm rambling.." She said quietly, causing me to chuckle before nodding slightly.
"It's okay. I asked you a question and you were simply answering it." I smiled at her, hoping that I wasn't intimidating her in anyway. "I think you'll fit in here very well. I'm excited to work with you." I nodded at her again.
"I'll have Christen give you a tour and show you to your office." I said picking up my office phone.
"Office?" She asked, a very confused look on her face. "You mean cubicle?" She asked again causing me to let out yet another chuckle before shaking my head.
"You're the head of marketing, Lena. You get an office. Not a cubicle." This time it was me raising and eyebrow at her, very amused by the shocked look on her face. "Christen, would you be a doll and show Ms.White around and helping her get settled in her office?"
After hanging up I stood from my spot and walked Lena to the door, opening it for her.
"If you have any questions feel free to call me on my extension, or just knock on my door. Your office isn't too far anyway." I smiled pointing at the door only a few feet away. Lena nodded her head curtly at me before scurrying off with Christen.
I shut the door to my office, opening my emails, double checking all my meetings today and things I had scheduled for the week. My cell phone dinged in my pocket, a text from Jack.
Have you seen this shit? This isn't too far from the office.
1 Image attachment
My eyes glanced over the news article he had sent me.
Breaking News
An unidentified body has been found mutilated and dumped under a bridge off 15th street and Mockingbird
I groaned, not again. This can't keep happening, get it under control Sebastian. If you don't figure your shit out, you're gonna get caught.
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Poker Face
Mob!Tom Holland x Reader
You get a knock on your door, detectives wanting to use your apartment for a stakeout. Of course you say yes, little do they know you have a secret of your own. Little do they know you know more about their investigation then what they tell you that night
Warnings⚠️: description of injuries, blood
Masterlist
Prologue // Chapter 1
Chapter: 2
The night of the gala, you got ready, did your hair, and took an extra long shower, making yourself feel good. As the time ticked by, you put on the dress and did the finishing touches, waiting for Tom, who said he'd be around to pick you up around 8 pm.
Right on cue, you heard your door open and a voice yelling for you. You got up and walked to the door, a smile on your face, noticing the person waiting for you. He's dressed in a black suit and bowtie, looking handsome, but he also has a mask on, and anyone who didn't know them as well as you did would've thought the man standing in your living room was Harrison, but you knew better. You knew that smile and brown hair like the back of your hand. It was Tom.
You walk up to him, and he extends his hand, handing you a mask also. You'd been to this gala before, but it was always something special whenever he came to get you. Even now, he put on the mask so the detectives wouldn't notice him.
"Hey, Headwick," you heard Chris pipe up from his chair, snapping you both out of the trance. Tom nodded his head to the men, giving them a smile. He may look like Harrison, but he knows they're smart enough to notice the difference in both their voices, even from the few times they've met him.
Before one of them tries to say anything else, you reach for his arm, looping it with yours and pulling him toward the door. "Headwick?" Tom laughs once you're in the hallway.
"What?" you snicker. "I couldn't use Haz's real name."
"Why not? They don't know him," Tom asks as you walk to the elevator.
"Yeah, but if anything goes sideways and they see his name pop up, they won't think to question me about Harrison cause my boyfriend's name is Headwick," you say with confidence throw your voice.
"But Headwick?" he says in almost disbelief, "why not Harry? I find it hard to believe the first name you come up with is Headwick."
"Causeeee," you whine, "then it could somehow lead to your brother."
Tom silently stares at you with a smile. "What?" you laugh.
The elevator gets to the lobby, and Tom shrugs. "Nothing. It was a trick question. I wanted to see what you'd say. You're smart." You laugh and shake your head, following him out to the car and climbing in, both of you taking off your masks once the doors close. After Tom takes it off, he puts on a pair of glasses, bringing his whole look together.
~~
You make it to the gala, Tom getting out first and taking your hand in his to help you out. Tom's face settles into his business look, a natural expression that doesn't show much emotion. He walks with you on his left side, putting his hand around your waist, leading you toward the inside of the building.
It's like any other gala you've been to, having a dark theme, waiters walking with expensive champagne, a large bar with alcohol that reaches the ceiling, tall tables with chairs, and many dangerous people strolling around, conversating with each other. The whole point of these is celebrating peace between families and mobs, showing they can be civil without war. Tonight is the official declaration of peace between the Maguire Mob and Reynolds Mob.
"Mr. Stan, I didn't think you'd be making it tonight," Tom says, extending his hand in a handshake with the man.
"Yes, well, I haven't been to one of these in a while. I thought I'd show up and see how everyone is doing. Never know when someone will end up dead. I'd enjoy having a good memory of everyone before it happens," Sebastion says, a smug smile tugging his lips.
Tom clenches his jaw, his eyes scanning over the man in front of him.
"Will your partner be joining us tonight?" Tom asks.
"No. Anthony has better business to attend to tonight. Excuse me a moment." Sebastion's attention gets pulled by someone a few feet behind you guys, and he walks past you.
Tom squeezes your waist lightly, bringing your attention to him as he leans down near your ear. "Stick close by me," he says lowly. You nod, and he straights back up, looking around the room before walking you guys to a nearby empty table.
Usually, Tom didn't mind you mingling or walking around by yourself. He knew you knew how to conduct yourself, plus that meant you could meet people and get along with them, and he didn't have to, but if the time came, then you could call for people you'd met. Most everyone loved you. You're Tom's charm.
However, you could tell Tom had a bad feeling. He always had a bad feeling with anything to do with Sebastion's partnering mob, run by Anthony Mackie. Tom and Anthony always have had bad blood, so you knew him not attending tonight, but Sebastion suddenly popping up didn't sit right with Tom. So in case Tom needed to leave quickly, he wanted you to stay near.
Like any other mobster, Tom had his inner circle. The main ones are Andrew and Tobey. They'd all been working closely together for years.
"Hey, bro," Andrew said lowly, stepping next to Tom at you guys' table. He, Tom, and Tobey had a very casual relationship. Close to the same as Tom, Harrison, and his family. "Hey, mate," Tom said, turning to him.
Andrew steps closer, lowering his voice so only Tom, and you, since you're standing next to him, could hear. "I heard about Paddy. Everything turn out ok?"
Tom lowers his voice the same as Andrew. "We got him out. He's staying underground for a while until this blows over. Found out there are some other moles in that department too. You should make sure to be careful too if you have any business over there." Tom wished he could find out who the other moles were. He'd take them and their mob down without a second thought, but he couldn't. If Tom kept Paddy in his position, they could've found out, but he wasn't risking his brother's life any more than he needed. They could deal fine without the mole. Call it bias or a soft spot, but that'd only earn whoever said it a bullet in the head.
Tom and Andrew continued to talk about other business, lowing their voices more to make it hard for even you to hear. You could if you tried, but you had no interest, knowing Tom would fill you in if need be. You could tell soon he'd probably slip away to a room for more privacy. That's usually how most of his conversations with Andrew ended.
You could see Tobey in the distance, talking to people and slowly making his way toward Tom and Andrew. Once he did, you knew for sure they'd step away to talk more serious matters, not that you cared much.
You scanned around the room, looking at faces, thinking of names and backstories about their mobs, taking small mental notes of who some people were talking to, wanting to keep it in mind in case anything went sideways in later deals.
It is like something from a movie. Nobody would see anything off. The only reason they would've known is if they knew about the plan prior to coming to the event. But it's almost like you could feel it seconds before it happened. Your eyes were scanning the room, and they landed on a wall. Nothing suspicious about it, nothing off. It was just a wall, like all the others in the room. It would've stayed like any other wall, but you watched as a big boom sounded through the room, the wall crumbling and blowing up into the crowd, also sending people flying.
It happened so fast it was hard to comprehend. You knew there was an explosion. You knew the building was unstable and debris falling from the roof, starting to collapse. You knew there were screaming, lots of screaming, and ringing in your ears, the whole room blurry and your head pounding. The location of your table was around the middle of the room, not too close to where you were dead on impact, but close enough that everyone around you went flying a few feet backward.
You tried to push yourself up, opening your eyes and seeing the pile of debris around you. You tried to call for Tom, but your throat is dry, and it comes out as a weak whimper. Your arms feel like jelly, and you cough, seeing blood land in front of you.
You tried to look around, but everything was moving too fast, and your eyes were too clouded and heavy. After what seems like hours of being laid there, you feel your body move, arms wrapping around you and holding you against a body. Tom. You still can't see anything, and the ringing barely slows down, only helping you hear muffled shouting and gunshots. You hadn't noticed the gunshots.
Your whole body aches, and you weakly hold on to Tom's suit jacket, feeling the roughness and dirt that it's now covered in, leaning all your body weight on him. You couldn't comprehend the chaos around you. Tom's twisting his head quickly, looking around for Haz or Harry, seeing neither. Andrew had ended up in a different area, and Tom found you only a few feet away. He holds his arm around your waist, keeping you up against him as he figures out the best way to leave.
His hand tightly wrapped around his gun, and he looks at you, making sure you're not too injured as he starts quickly to the door. Your lungs feel scratchy, and you cough a few more times. Tom brings his hand up, careful not to hit your head with the butt of his gun, and turn your head into his neck, trying to shield you from the dust and dirt particles in the air.
Tom gets you both out of the door, relief flooding over him when through the sea of people he sees a worried Haz and Harry already standing at the car. When they lay eyes on you and Tom, Harry jumps in the car, and Haz rushes over. "Mate! Thank god. I couldn't find you," Haz quickly says as he helps you guys into the car, jumping in next to you.
Tom keeps his arm around you, tucking his gun back into the holster on his waistband before turning to you. He puts his hands on each side of your face, turning your head to look at him. You force your eyes open for the first time, seeing Tom turned fully in his seat with his body toward you. Before you can say anything, you go into another coughing fit.
"Breath, Love. Breath," Tom says gently. He takes your hand, setting it on his chest and taking deep inhales, wanting you to follow. You try, not able to do deep inhales like him, but still even out your breathing.
Tom leans up, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead. Your eyes start adjusting. The blurriness goes away and gets replaced with the feeling of tears threatening to spill out. You're in pain, lots of pain.
This' the first time you can see Tom and his injuries. There's blood on his head, a long line dripping down his face, reaching his chin. He has what looks like a gash under his eye, probably from landing on a rock. You can see blood on his shirt, and his jacket is filthy.
After looking over for him, you look at yourself, finally seeing the source of your pain. The bottom of your dress' ripped off, and there's a big chunk of your dress missing from your hip area, showing a large black and blue bloody bruise forming. You couldn't even tell your dress was purple anymore, everywhere having either rocks, dirty, or dust clinging to it, and your head was pounding to the beat of your heartbeat.
"Mate." Harrison sits up from next to you, getting Tom's attention and nodding his head to your injury. They noticed it at the same time you did. Tom looks at it, his breath hitching, but he remains calm. He puts his arm around your shoulders, pulling you to lay your head on his shoulder.
~~
Harry pulls up in front of Tom's mansion, and Tom turns to Harrison, giving him a look that he knew what to do, jumping out of the car ahead of you guys. You'd never been to Tom's mansion. He never wanted you to have to come to his home since it was full of his most dangerous men.
The men in Tom's home were all the best of the best. He would've told them to stay away from you, and if they didn't, he'd kill them, but that'd be too many of his men lost just because they think with their dicks. So he never brought you here, but now, he had no choice.
Tom helped you out of the car, gently walking with you inside the mansion. If it could've been any other time, he would've had a tight grip around your waist, but he knew you were in pain and didn't want to hurt you, so he kept his touch soft and moved as quickly as he could.
When you make it into the mansion, there's nobody in sight. Harrison had gone inside, telling everyone to clear out of the area for the next 10 minutes and stay out of the hallway where Tom's bedroom is, making sure you stayed out of sight for the time being.
It seemed like a long walk to his bedroom. When you made it, he opened the door, walking with you inside and sitting you on the couch in the corner of the room. "We'll be down the hall, mate. Call if you need anything." Is what you heard Harry say on the other side of the door before Tom closed it.
Tom strips off his suit jacket and shirt, disappearing into the bathroom for a few minutes while you lay on the couch. You take in the look of his bedroom. It's clean, of course, not too decorative, though, having a theme of black with many red accents. He had a queen-size bed, and you remember the conversation you had with him. He said how there was no reason to have a big king-size bed. If you ever were to stay with him, he'd want you in his arms, plus it made room for other things, things like the humongous flat screen tv that took up almost the whole wall opposite to the bed, plus the long couch next to the bed that you're currently laying on.
The couch is comfortable, and you feel yourself begin to doze off right before there's a warm hand placed on your cheek. "Gonna take this off. Ok, Love?" You nod, wincing when his hands pull at the dress sticking to your body. He peals it off your body, throwing it to the side. Your eyes are heavy and clouded, not paying much attention to what he does. He picks up a towel from the first aid kit he got from his bathroom. He pours alcohol on the towel, cleaning the bruise on your hip.
You jolt on contact, feeling the pain surge through your whole body. Tom grabs your hand, letting you squeeze it, and apologizes roll from his mouth when you begin to bite your lip. He finishes cleaning your hip and moves to your face. You didn't even know what happened to your face, but you knew your head was pounding. He daps around your forehead and under your eye, placing a gentle kiss on your nose when he finishes.
You feel him pull away and turn your head, watching him clean up the medical stuff. It's the first time you open your eyes to look at him again, and you see the blood still on his face, plus the bruises on his chest that got hidden by his clothes.
"Tommy," your voice is quiet but gets his attention. "You're hurt." you try to reach out to him, a sad look on your face when you look closer.
"I'm alright. I need to take care of you." Tom smiles, continuing to clean up and go back to the bathroom. He comes back and grabs clean clothes for you, it being one of his shirts and a pair of his boxers. He would've given you his sweats, but he knows you hate sleeping in anything long.
Tom helps you up from the couch over to his bed, setting you down and getting you under the blankets. You glance at the couch where you laid on, seeing the dirt from your dress, plus some of your blood. "Sorry. I got your couch dirty," you say tiredly.
Tom looks behind him, turning back with a smile and shaking his head. "I can buy as many couches as I need. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're ok." You smile and nod, watching as Tom pulls away again and walks to get himself clothes. "I'll be right back."
While Tom slips back into the bathroom, you melt into his bed. The blankets are soft, and the mattress is as if you're laying on a cloud made from feathers. You were trying to figure out why he always stayed with you on your tiny regular-sized bed.
You want to stay awake, but unconsciousness keeps trying to drag you down. You fall asleep for a moment, waking when you feel the bed dip, warm arms slowly encircling you. You force your eyes open, seeing Tom. His face and chest were cleaned and only had traces of the cuts. He had his sweats on, leaving his chest bare for you to snuggle into, and his eyes are tired, but looking down at you with concern, making sure you're comfortable and not in too much pain.
When you give him a smile, his nerves settle, and he lays down next to you, pulling you to his chest. He holds you on your side, your uninjured side, and pulls you to curl up into him. You're asleep in seconds, and Tom is not far behind you.
Yes, you made it out. It's good you're ok, but not showing up that night back at your apartment made Marcus and Chris wonder what happened to you. Hearing from their boss about the mafia party that went wrong that night went over their heads. Them thinking there's no way you had nothing to do with it. It was a coincidence. But how many coincidences would work on them?
Chapter 3 >>
Masterlist
Ahem: @novaresque @notyourcupofteax @dreamsarecloserwithyou
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