Chapter 2

TWO 

Lucifer, adorned in an immaculate white shirt which was opened at the collar, sat at the edge of his desk with his legs crossed at his ankles, eyes dark and droopy, his presence alone oozing power.

He twirled a large Havana cigar between his index finger and thumb as he watched Katherine's sleeping body. His eyes ran through her perfect body as she lay on the couch and he unconsciously imagined her tied to a bedpost.

With a slight tilt of his head, he silently ordered the guard standing by the couch to wake her up which he did by splashing some water on her face.

Katherine muttered something in her sleep and blinked many times as she slowly sat up.

A corner of Lucifer's lip curled up in a smirk, displaying his dimpled left cheek, as he watched her childish reaction to the disturbance.

Katherine rubbed her eyes and yawned as she tried to recall everything that had happened and why her room seemed so different, but when her eyes landed on the blurry figure of a tall man staring intently at her, the yawn was cut short and she became fully awake.

The events from a few hours ago began to play in her head and she remembered how she had been betrayed by her own stepfather and dragged away from her house.

"W-where am I? Who are you?" She asked shakily, trying to mask her fear by putting on an aggressive facade. Her eyes darted across the large room with so many bizarre paintings and floor-to-ceiling windows that showcased the city's stunning skyline.

As soon as her eyes landed on the pen knife lying on a small glass table next to a large bucket filled with cold rum and gin, she didn't think twice before running to grab it.

The guard took a step forward to stop her but Lucifer raised his palm, stopping him. His smirk grew wider as Katherine shakily pointed the knife towards him yet he was unfazed. 

Her courage stimulated something within him. Not many people had the audacity to threaten or oppose him, yet here she was, pointing a knife towards him without even thinking twice of the consequences.

"I'll use this on you if you don't let me go, and I'm not bluffing!" Katherine said in a stern voice.

"Katherine darling," Lucifer started and stood up straight. He liked the surprised look on her face as he mentioned her name.

"It displeases me that you think I'm holding you against your will," he paused and slid a tall bottle of wine towards himself.

"But I won't stop you if you intend to leave. The doors are unlocked," he added as he poured some of the wine into a glass.

Katherine looked from Lucifer to his guard with confusion.

Was he just giving her the opportunity to leave? She asked herself.

She gulped and tightened her grip around the handle of the knife, hoping that she would not have to use it.

"Don't move," she said to Lucifer who shrugged nonchalantly and took a sip from the glass, running his tongue over his lower lip afterwards.

Walking backwards, Katherine shuffled towards the door and took hold of its handle.

Feeling victorious, she flung the door open with a small smile and quickly turned around to run but was instead greeted with two vicious looking armed men staring back at her.

She staggered back into the room and swallowed hard. The knife was quickly pulled out of her hand by the guard who had woken her up and when she turned sharply to get it back, she realized it was no use. Whoever this man was, he was powerful, and he definitely was not going to let her leave so easily.

Lucifer smiled as she walked back to the couch dejectedly and Katherine wished more than anything that she could slap that condescending smile off his face.

"Good girl. Now that we've established the fact that there's no running away for you, why don't we get to the introductions?" Lucifer said and dumped his half full glass on the table.

"You already know my name, what other introductions do we need?"

"I'm called Lucifer Cain."

"I don't care if you share names with the devil," Katherine snapped.

Lucifer's brows raised slightly with fascination at the harsh tone of her voice but he waved it off with a chuckle.

"What do you want with me? And what business do you have with my father?"

"We're going straight to the point now, aren't we? Well here's the deal, you'll work for me for as long as I want you to until your father pays up what he owes me."

"Work for you? After you forcefully brought me here? Why would I want to work for a man as heartless as you are?"

"Because you have no choice, dear Katherine," he replied and smirked in that way that showed his dimpled chin. Katherine swallowed hard when she found herself taking in this ungodly detail about him. His smile was charming yet there was something unnerving about it.

"And if I'm not wrong, he has a bad heart, doesn't he? And he gets this occasional seizures from time to time, that's why he has to take medication. I'm sure you don't want to imagine what it would look like to watch him convulse to death, do you?" Lucifer's smile was gone now as he spoke.

Katherine stared at him warily as her heart pounded against her chest. She still felt the sharp sting of her stepfather's blatant betrayal and she was extremely pissed at him, but she couldn't ever bear seeing him convulse. The memory she had of those moments when she was younger had been etched to her mind so deeply that she was ready to give anything to make them go away.

She pulled her gaze away from him and sighed.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked exasperatedly.

"I run one of the largest strip clubs in the country and those long legs of yours look like they'll be perfect for dancing. You will pole dance at my club and entertain my esteemed guests until your stepfather repays his debt," Lucifer explained as he slowly paced around the room.

"Pole dance?” Katherine looked horrified. “I'm sorry but I have no idea how to do that.”

Lucifer began to chuckle softly again and pace around the desk.

“It's not an option. It's an order.”

“Okay okay, mister, I think we need to strike a bargain here. I should be allowed to stare my own terms and conditions, right?" Katherine opted boldly and Lucifer looked impressed for a split second but his indifferent visage soon took over his look of surprise. 

He advanced slowly towards her and when he was just a few feet away, her breath seemed hooked in her throat. His presence was overwhelming and extreremely intimidating. And when he bent slightly to her face level, she was too dumbstruck to even move an inch away. Her whole body seemed to turn to mush as she looked into his dark mysterious eyes, eyes that seemed to see even to the innermost parts of her being.

"Get yourself ready for tomorrow night," he added quietly, not caring to listen to her terms before lifting himself up and then dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

The guard who had been watching the whole exchange then ordered her to leave.

"Don't touch me!" Katherine shrieked when he held her arm.

Lucifer watched until they were both gone and then he sighed.

Katherine's feisty behavior did not sit right with him and he reasoned that she might end up causing trouble for him at the club where he wanted her to work.

He needed his girls to be calm and submissive, and even though Katherine seemed the exact opposite, there was something about her that still excited him.

"She'd be better off with Señor Castello," he said thoughtfully and picked up his phone.

Castello was an Italian business man who had made a name for himself in the construction sector yet his major income came from his trafficking of foreign girls and Lucifer knew that he would be more than interested in a young American girl who was good looking.

"A call from you always means a good thing, Cain. How are you?" Castello asked.

"Business, Castello.” Lucifer said, cutting out the niceties.

“I have a good looking American, young, promising."

"Ah! Sounds good already. What's the price?"

"Thirty thousand,” he replied flatly.

"Thirty! What the..." Castello paused abruptly and Lucifer narrowed his eyes. 

Even though Castello was over twice his age, he knew better than to cuss around Lucifer, especially when talking business.

"Forget about it then, I don't have a second to spare..."

"I'll take you up on your offer, Cain,” Castello said quickly.

“My consigliere will come down there tomorrow to finalize things."

"Good," Lucifer said and ended the call.

Seeing that it was nearly midnight, he took off his suit and locked his doors through the invisible button on his desk before walking towards a private elevator that led to his room.

His room was a palatial space that could even make for an art gallery. He loved the silence, the solace, the dim lighting and most of all, he loved that his home and office was just an elevator away.

As he walked into the bedroom, he felt too tired to even change into his nightwear so he just took off his shirt and collapsed on the bed and was dozing in seconds.

The nightmares soon came again. And this time, they were worse. The sounds were clearer and the images were more vivid.

He could hear his mother's voice screaming for help and his father's grunt as he swore to Giovanni Ivanovo that he would pay for what he had done.

It all happened when he was just ten years old but the memories were fresher than any other.

The image continued to replay in his head, faster, louder, making him clutch the sheets as he watched from the small opening of the closet as his mother and father were both killed by Giovanni Ivanovo in cold blood.

The guttural sounds of his mother throwing up before finally giving up the ghost was what jerked him out of bed while screaming out her name.

"Mother!" He screamed out from his sleep, his face wet with tears and beads of sweat trailing down his body. 

As he sat up, he realized that it was morning already and he had experienced yet another sleepless night.

He pulled out five tablets from the bottle on his bedside table and swallowed them raw, not minding that he was taking one extra pill everyday.

His phone rang from the bedside table and he sat up with a grunt to get it. He hoped it was Castello's consigliere who had arrived.

"Boss?" 

Unfortunately it was Antonio, his capo.

"What is it?" He asked distastefully.

"The girl from last night, boss. She's escaped!”