Lawless – Episode 21&22

 

RECKLESS 2

Lawless – Episode 21&22

→ Chain•Of•Obsession ←

[Book 2 in The Untamed Duet]

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, or reposted in any form, or by any means without a BOLDLY written permission from ME.

Copyright © 2026

Naomi Cindy B.

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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

 

The words hung in the atmosphere, refusing to reach the ears of everyone else as if it didn’t really happen, and that’s right.

It didn’t really happen.

It’s all in Thiago’s head—his sick imagination as he’s now glancing at Stacy through his peripheral vision.

Stacy and Jeremy are eating silently at the other side of the table.

Kazuma is still pointing the dish of beef at him.

Thiago smirked at himself.

Has his unrequited obsession really gone worse to the point of him making up scenes of her in his head?

“I fuckin hate meat,” he told Kazuma.

“Hmm,” the man nodded, dropping the beef plate before picking his own chopsticks. He began eating too.

—

[Monroeville Hospital]

Since Kehlani is spending time with Louis at Stacy’s place, and Trinidad is busy, Tasha is the only one here with Tania, but not in the bed ward.

They’re in the exercise ward, and Tania is standing on her feet with clutches in her underarm.

She’s practicing walking, and Tasha served as her guide with two competent nurses.

Each step is calculated before she took them, and she’s doing it so happily it’s sweet to watch.

“I’m doing it!” She laughed, unable to hide the excitement.

“I’m telling you!” Tasha responded, laughing too. “Papa and Mama will be shocked when you walk into our Canadian mansion with your legs.”

“I can’t wait to see that,” Tania nodded, proceeding.

“You girls are always plotting something,” Remo appeared with Frank by the door.

Tania’s smile instantly widened.

Tasha snickered and wiped her sweaty face with an hanky.

“Good to see you walking again, bitch.” Frank smiled.

“It’s good that you both are here. I really need to pee…be her guide till I’ll be back!” Tasha took Remo’s hand and placed it on Tania’s clutches, then she rushed out.

“I need to pee too, seriously…” Frank followed her.

“Not again,” Remo muttered.

“Not again what?” Tania rolled eyes.

“I hate being stuck with you in case you dunno. I’m a club owner, not a clutch guide.” He glared.

“Swear that you didn’t enjoy when you stayed with me yesterday,” Tania smirked playfully. “You told stories of when you travelled to Africa with your mother and shit, especially when she…”

“Zip it,” he cut in, removing the clutches from her underarm.

He threw it away, and she nearly screamed,but he held her, securely by the waist, so she’s facing him.

“Place your foot on top of my shoes,” he told her.

She tried hard before she was able to lift the legs, but she did.

She placed her foot on his shoes, and he helped her balance before starting to move slowly around, using his skating skills on this.

She held his shoulders, smiling as it felt like she was flying.

“This feels good, surprisingly….” She muttered.

“Of course it feels good, it’s me Remo Lane.” He said.

Her smile disappeared immediately, and he rolled eyes again.

At the restroom, when Tasha came out, she jumped and held her chest, seeing Frank outside.

“What the…this is the females!”

“I honestly didn’t want to stay in the exercise room with Remo and Tania. Tania has a sharp tongue and she’d surely say something bad. Now you’re done, can we go back together?” He said seriously.

Tasha shook her head, walking past him. “You’re funny, are you the same guy who sells hard drugs?”

“Man still got humanity, yunno…” He shrugged, following her.

“Silly,” she grinned as they exited the stalls together.

“By the way, there’ll be a show at the reunion, make sure you don’t miss it…” He suddenly said.

“What show?” She faced him.

“Remo is cooking something,” he winked at her.

“Remo and trouble are like sweethearts. What’s that fucker planning again?” Tasha frowned.

“Stay in anticipation,” Frank smiled meaningfully.

—

[JeMira Haircare]

Anita is still at work only because she wanted to receive a visitor, and when the visitor arrived, she sent all staffs home so she had her own time alone with him….

Mr. Brown.

He’s in the office with her, guffawed largely in front of her desk.

“Why were you so eagar to see me?” He asked casually.

“I told you Stacy is in Vogue too! I’m sure your daughter told you about it too and in fact,her first photoshoot will be out online tommorow morning, and I’m telling you if the US Beauty Panel starts noticing her, she’s going to win Miss America even without submitting her profile! She has to be stopped!”

“She’s the only one in possession of her father’s expensive media houses. She’s the only one who has the ability to start rerunning her mother’s chemical industry cos she was tutored by her mother about chemicals. She’s the best female ice skater in this country, and now she’s gonna become a model and snatch my daughter’s place in the industry? Not on my watch!” She snarled.

“I tried speaking to Kaylee about it, but she’s probably busy with her son’s upcoming engagement. I haven’t received an answer.” Mr. Brown said.

“Then handle it yourself!” Anita slammed the desk. “Call the Sniper from six years ago and let her die the way her father died!”

“You want me to rehire Mio?” Mr. Brown scoffed.

“Do it!” Anita spat.

—

[Back At Roxy’s Art Skyscraper]

The meal is still ongoing.

By the door, Zendaya and Roxy look like defeated warriors. They badly wanna fall on their knees, but they wouldn’t dare.

The only thing keeping them standing is the thought of Kazuma in this room.

Their visions are still wide, and Zendaya eventually lost the composture she’s desperately trying to keep.

She staggered back on her heels, stumbling on a guard who quickly held her down.

Lifting a brow, Kazuma spoke.

“Throw her out,”

Without waiting further, the guards dragged Zendaya out, and Roxy’s breaths caught on her throat again.

She iced up.

The dinner continued in procedural silence, just the soft clatter of chopsticks on dishes.

Thiago’s eyes kept secretly going to the other side of the table to check Stacy out.

She’s eating as slowly as she always did, constantly picking on the food. The chopsticks feel very uncomfortable for her.

And Jeremy noticed that too.

He picked a fork and gave it to her, taking the chopsticks.

“Thank you, I was so lost…” She smiled at him.

“Do what you like. If Kazuma is gonna talk, he’ll scold me instead of you.” Jeremy whispered in her ear.

She chuckled.

“I heard that,” Kazuma looked up.

“You know you can’t touch her. She’s off limits.” Jeremy said.

“Of course I do,” the man nodded at Roxy by the door. “She asked to hurt her, but I declined cos of you. Because of my pact with you, I even sent men to shoot Thiago and his rogues when they were assaulting Stacy and her son at the mall.”

Thiago dropped his chopsticks, looking up. “It was you,”

“Yeah, it was me,” Kazuma responded, dropping his chopsticks too. Seems talk time is now. “I know of your family heritage, Thiago. I was your late father’s one and only friend, so it’d be odd to not know, but none of your family heritage says you should threaten a mother with her son….your son.”

“He’s not my son! I don’t have a darn son!” Thiago slammed his palms on the table.

“That’s right, not his son.” Stacy cut sushi into her mouth. “That’s why he’s Louis Montana, not X.”

Below the table, Jeremy held Stacy’s second hand, stroking the knuckles to help retain her boldness.

“And it’s all my fault,” she continued, drinking wine as if she’s talking about something trivial. “I’m the whore who came to the cemetery house yo find you, the bitch who opened my stupid legs. The idiot who was ok after you went on your knees. These reasons are enough to make him my dear sweet son. Son of a whore, very beautiful.”

“Stace,” Jeremy muttered.

At the other side of the table, Thiago is staring so deep at her as she said those words without holding back.

She drank a sip of wine again, nodding. “Hmm, good.” Then she faced Kazuma. “And thank you for the shot at the mall. I was able to escape with my son cos of you.”

She faced Jeremy with a warm smile. “Thanks for telling Kazuma to protect me. I’ll pay you back bountifully one day for everything you’ve been doing for me, I swear.” She whispered.

Jeremy just continued rubbing her knuckle under the table.

She took a sip again. “Can I know more about you, Kazuma?”

The man sighed, nodded and lowered his hat before taking his wine glass too. “Kazuma Ryuzaki. A Japanese by birth. Boss of the Yakuza since I was 30, and I shifted my base from Japan to Macau just last year cos of personal reasons.”

“Yakuza?” Stacy’s brows pulled.

“Japanese Mafia is called The Yakuza, just the way Russian Mafia is called The Bratva.” Jeremy whispered.

“Oh…” She nodded before facing Kazuma again.

“Wife? Children?” She asked.

Now, Jeremy’s stare has met with Thiago’s across the table.

They’re both sipping wine, but there’s venom in the way their stares collide.

“I had two wives. First one was Japanese like me,” Kazuma continued. “She birthed a girl, but she didn’t want to stay in my harem at all. She hated the sight of blood, and on the day she birthed the girl, we were attacked at the hospital, and I got her out through tooth and nail…she got angry and decided to leave. I allowed her cos a girl child in the Yakuza was useless anyways. I let her go after making sure she and her daughter would never suffer for life.”

“Then I got married to my second wife…an Italian wife who was a ticking time bomb. She was infertile, but she sought help, and she eventually birthed a baby boy for me, but on the day of her putting to bed, the hospital was nearly attacked by enemies. She got angry like my first wife and decided to leave…I didn’t hold her down. I let her leave, and….”

“And?” Stacy blinked,too interested.

“When the child clocked 5 with her, he went lost in this Los Angeles, but nothing happens without reason yunno. ” He smiled, but the smile looks like a threat. “Six years ago, she found my boy back, but she insisted he must only take over her business empire. He’s supposed to be the next Yakuza Boss, but she’s against it.”

“Why is this sounding like….” Stacy’s eyes thinned. “Trevor?”

“That’s him,” Kazuma shrugged, dropping his wine glass.

“OMG this is huge!” Stacy gasped. “Trevor is so lucky!”

“But I’m not even allowed to introduce myself as his father,” Kazuma gave her the threatening smile again.

“You’re a mafia,” Stacy frowned. “You could just kindap him like you people do and introduce yourself as his father, then let him go without hurting him.”

“I respect women, so… I’ll continue respecting his mum’s decision till I lose my patience. I still have lots of patience.” He said.

“You’re….one of a kind…” Stacy smiled at him.

“Told you he’s not scary unless you provoke him, that’s why he’s unpredictable, and that’s why they fear him cos no one knows when next he’ll get angry. That’s why he has lived this long.” Jeremy said.

“I was tight friends with the late Nathan X, and many expected our personalities to be a mirror reflection of each other, but it never happened. Nathan was a heartless women hater. He seduced women who offended him and impregnated them for fun cos he knew the consequences. He knew his gene was poisonous.” Kazuma narrated simply.”

“He enjoyed watching them suffer during pregnancy. He did that to almost thirty women, and they all didn’t survive their pregnancies. They committed suicide with their pregnancies. Only Shelby’s mother and Thiago’s mother were able to endure and give birth before they committed suicide.”

“He hated Shelby cos he was a female, and he was blind. He nearly killed Shelby at so many occasions, but he loved Thiago cos Thiago grew strange wickedness since birth, and Nathan loved wickedness.”

As Kazuma told the story, Thiago remained still on the other side of the table, but he’s staring at Stacy.

Whatever Kazuma is saying, he’s probably not listening.

“Thiago definitely got too angry when you sent that get well soon note to Jeremy, so he got you pregnant cos he wanted to enjoy watching you in agony during pregnancy just the way his father enjoyed watching those women who offended him in their pregnancy pain,” Kazuma continued, and this time, Thiago’s eyes went from Stacy to him.

He listened, his hold on his wine glass became so tight.

“I didn’t even receive the get well soon note you’re talking about,” Jeremy talked shockingly.

His words hung uselessly, and Kazuma continued…

“But maybe after Stacy got pregnant, he realized his silly mind couldn’t take it if she suffered, so he proceeded to giving her the abortion syrup. One of his rogues actually diluted it, reason why the effect wasn’t very strong and your baby survived, but you ended up getting your womb tampered with.” Kazuma was looking at Stacy as he talked.

Stacy nodded.

By now, her hand already slipped away from the cup she held, and she’s staring at the wine inside the cup as if the wine is the one talking.

Jeremy is still holding her second hand under the table, and now she’s holding him tight too, almost crushing his finger bones with how tight she’s holding him.

She’s shivering too, but inwardly.

“And Jeremy?” Kazuma continued… “His mother Anita took bribe from Zendaya and her father, and she was the one who told them the easiest target point at the public manifesto where your father was killed.” He said.

Jeremy’s eyes widened.

Stacy instantly removed her hand from Jeremy’s, and her inner shaking turned to outward shaking.

She trembled.

Her eyes went from Thiago’s to Jeremy’s, a thick dash of betrayal crossing them.

“I didn’t know, I swear.” Jeremy said. “I suspected her, but I never knew she was involved in this way.”

Stacy gasped, hot tears falling from her hot eyes.

“Zendaya’s father worked with Kaylee Wesley. They hired a Sniper from Australia…” Kazuma continued…

“Mio, she turned out to be the the daughter from my first wife. She’s the world best Sniper, and she works only for Shelby, but Shelby sent you too many notes, warning you about Thiago, and you ignored them all. Shelby hates being ignored, so she got angry, and when Mr. Brown reached out to Mio for the assassination, Shelby was happy to let Mio go do the job just to punish you. Mio shot your father….” He landed.

Stacy immediately stood from her chair, her legs shaking, foot sweating in her heels, sweat crawling down her forehead.

Her organs were ballooning inside her, about to actually burst out.

She stumbled when she slid out from between the chair and table, and she looked at the room again which now feels suffocating.

She looked at Kazuma who she’s now seeing as a Lion licking the blood of a cub hungrily from it’s mouth.

She’s now seeing Jeremy as a cat licking the blood of a rat from its teeth, and Thiago?

She’s now seeing him as an anaconda, swallowing a Lion and a Cat.

When the truth hits you unexpectedly, you not only get dizzy, but your life flashes before your own eyes.

Why did anyone not tell her this before???

The room blurred in her eyes, all shapes and forms blending into one unending slur….

She quickly grabbed the table so she won’t fall as she staggered again.

Her breaths is terribly hot.

“Stace!” Jeremy held her.

She looked up at him, her eyes spitting fire.

“Don’t touch me!”

She pushed him off, not bothering to grab her purse before rushing out.

Jeremy made to grab the purse, but Thiago was faster.

He grabbed the purse and dashed out right behind Stacy.

She was already at the park when he got out, and he quickly opened his car door for her…

“Get in,”

She ignored him and opened her car door, wanting to get in.

Thiago closed it, then pointed at his own car.

“Get in,” he repeated.

Stacy’s palm travelled to his face, and the impact of the slap made his hair scatter on his forehead.

“You intentionally impregnated me? So….my punishment for sending a note to Jeremy wasn’t the hard sex, it was the pregnancy. You wanted to teach me a lesson by watching me in agony during the pregnancy? Why!!!! What did I ever do to deserve that!!!! Why!!!!” She screamed, holding her hair with her two hands.

Thiago was wordless.

“Was it a sin that I loved you back then? Why am I even asking?” She bit her lip painfully. “Of course it’s a sin. My only sin was loving you when I was 20! That was my only fuckin’ sin in this life, and because I ignored Shelby’s warning notes, that was why she agreed for Mio to do the assassination? Basically, I killed my father for love….”

She laughed out dementedly, punching her car body. “I need an award as the stupidest girl living, at this rate. I need an award!!!!” She screamed again, throwing herself at the car painfully.

“I wasn’t thinking,” Thiago’s first word formed with difficulty, and she looked at him through her hair that has scattered on her face in a web.

“I was mad mad when you sent the note to him, and I wanted something that’d leave a scar on you to make you realize you’ll never belong to anybody else, so the pregnancy was the first idea. I thought I could punish you by making you go through the pregnancy curse and watch you in pains like my father did to his first thirty brides…”

“But after I saw you using the insta-test strips in your mum’s lab through OBSCURE lens, and I saw how genuinely happy you were to carry my baby, i realized how foolish I was, and I realized you really loved me, so I cancelled my idiotic plan and concluded you didn’t deserve to be punished with the pregnancy, and i—”

“And you got the syrup and poisoned me!!!” Stacy yelled, crying more. “You impregnated me when you felt like it, and when you felt like it again, you poisoned me cos I’m your hen….I’m your pig, right? I’m your dog!!!”

She held her head again, going crazy as the tears rushed out hot, pained, hurtful, crushing her soul.

“Agghhhhhhh!!!!!!” She screamed like she’s about to lose her mind.

She threw herself against the car again…..

^

Inside the Skyscraper, Jeremy is still in the dinner with Kazuma.

Though, he’s standing with pained tears on his face, and Kazuma is sitting dignified.

“Why didn’t you tell me first?” Jeremy muttered, sniffling. “You could have told me of my mum’s involvement first, and I could have prepared her to tell her privately instead of how you crushed her with the truth tonight.” He continued.

“Seriously?” Kazuma looked up. “You think you would? You think you can?” He scoffed. “You wouldn’t. Yes, you’re plain with her, but you wouldn’t tell her of your mum’s involvement if I told you first. You’d be so scared she might stop giving you the little space she was giving you in her life. And don’t act like you hadn’t suspected this…”

Jeremy hiccupped, tears falling torrentially again.

“Your mum suddenly started a haircare line after Albert’s death, and she grew hate for Stacy too, why else would that be? Tell me….” Kazuma sighed. “What else would birth that if not bribe? You knew she was deeply involved, and you knew why cos you’re smart, but you’ve been deceiving yourself that you didn’t.”

Jeremy wiped his tears, sniffling. “How did you know all of these info that shattered everybody?”

“Before becoming the Yakuza Boss, did you forget I ran an anonymous info hub in Japan?” Kazuma scoffed.

Jeremy’s sweaty palm went behind him slowly, and Kazuma stood slowly too, facing him.

“Face your truth, and only after that will you be able to face the coming war, Jeremy. Stacy has her wars to fight, Thiago has his cos Shelby’s retaliations are always destructive. You have your battle too against Kaylee, his son and your own mother, and I have my battle too. It’s only the start of the blood, I hope you’re physically and mentally ready. It’ll be bloodier than you expect.” He patted Jeremy’s shoulder and walked out.

Jeremy sniffled again.

^

Outside, Stacy is still crying bitterly.

Thiago is still in front of her, face dry like harmattan sand.

“And I could have stopped your father’s death if he used OBSCURE, but he wasn’t a user of it. Zendaya was a user but she didn’t insert her plan to kill Albert in the app, so I was in the dark about it. I was—”

“Stop talking!!!!!” She yelled.

Jeremy came out, and she shifted back, closer to her car. Her tears already wet her dress completely in the front, and her face is also completely soaked.

“Stace—” Jeremy started.

“You knew about your mother’s involvement, but you kept it from me? You kept it?”

Not wanting to deny any fuckin thing in this situation, Jeremy nodded. “I’m so sorry, I was selfish…I know I was selfish…I was….”

“I don’t wanna hear it!” She snapped, shaking her head, blocking her ears with her palms. “Here I was, thinking you were different, but I’m done being stupid…I’m done being used! I’m done!!!”

With that, she entered her car, slammed the door shut and grabbed the wheel to move…

Jeremy covered his face with his palms, starting his tears afresh.

But Thiago jumped over to the front of the car, and his frame bended when he fell heavily on his knees in front of the car.

As he fell, a little, cold tear crawled out of his left eye.

At the same time, Stacy heartlessly moved the car, driving forward…

Jeremy saw the move between his fingers on his face, and his eyes widened. He moved…

Running forward…

“Thiago!!”

TBC.