Slowly, she slid her hands off his hold, and just like that, he saw her shoulders slumped as she turned around towards the voice.The lights surrounding her dimmed, even darker than the street they were in, the black clouds succeeding in shielding the sun off their gazes.She rubbed her arm, standing before the middle-aged lady who didn't look like a figure wild enough to wreck all those emotions into her, her pleasant face a far cry from intimidating."Hi, Miss Audrey; how do you do?"The woman waved carelessly, "Oh, I'm fine," she let her eyes graze Lily right from the top of her head, even till her toes, "Mind, I say you look good; I was worried about you until Luciano said not to be."He didn't know why Audrey reminded him so much of the chatterbox, and unlike the chatterbox, Lily looked like she wished the ground would open up and swallow her."There's no need to be worried about me; I promise you I'm good," her voice was nearly a mutter. "You look good too, Audrey."Lily was nev
The drive to the manor was marked by silence, the car carrying her quiet demeanor, leaning against the window, fixated on the view outside.They were both in the passenger seat, and he made no move to close the distance between them. If she thought she needed it, then that was fine.Fuck! That was so close he couldn't stop thinking that if they were a couple of minutes early, that could have been their last. If she weren't also threatened, he would have laughed it off. Speak of a narrow escape. But she was pretty shaken; even now, time and again, the shivers came abruptly. It startled her when she least expected it, but then she inhaled deeply and kept herself in check again. It could have been anyone, lying in wait, ready to stick that against the car, that that person had watched his most private moment with her, had him raging.He looked at her; how bad was her shock? Did people need a doctor for this kind of thing, or did they get over it as time passed?Damn, he was terrible a
Athena trailed her nails along the rim of the glass, meeting his gaze, "If you invited me here to stare at my face, rest assured, I do not have complaints. You can look all you want."He felt the need to scoff, but knowing it wasn't her fault sitting opposite him, pretty like a picture all but ready to sink her head into what she had no clue about. His father told him she was doing this on her own will, and seeing her now, yeah, she wasn't forced. She seemed even to demand it. Demand him.Refilling his glass, he picked it by his rim and stood up, "I expect my one-night stands to remain just that. Still don't understand what you are doing here."Her calm had finally simmered, and she dropped the cup on the table, still glaring at him, "You know why I am here? You know exactly why your father...""He said you wanted it." Although his voice came out low, it still cut her off, and there he knew he had hit a point. She wanted this for herself. She averted her gaze to the wall.The raging
"She met godfather, and yup, you guessed it. He wasn't happy with what she was telling him." Kyra nibbled on the cucumber she held in hand, "If I'm being correct, Boss is mad at Adler, but since he hasn't been out of his mum's hole since last night, he has to keep his frustrations in till he sees Adler again."Both men stared at her, the blankness evident in their faces."Don't tell me you both still don't get it,""Maybe if you speak as correctly as you could restrict with a cuff, then we'll have a clue on what the fuck you were trying to pass acc..." She pointed the knife tip at the blabbering soldier, and Rune stopped speaking as quickly as he had started. He glared at the pointed, shiny end of the blade, then at her face.Salvatore stared at them from where he stood with his back against the wall. Although those two hated each other, somehow they found themselves sharing the same space, about to tear at each other's throats.So far, Kyra had the upper hand, all thanks to Rune
I faced the buzzing screen down when I saw it was beginning to annoy her. But after turning it down and seeing her irritation, it was apparent my shocked silence was the problem.So I answered, "I'm sorry, but I can't,"Kyra clenched her jaw, "Took you five minutes to turn me down; see, I'm trying to like you.""Me too," my voice rose over hers, "Listen, Kyra, I do respect you, not fusing over kicking me out, but as you explained, that is Adler's private place. He doesn't want to be disturbed, and you? You're throwing me to my death.""Oh please," the irritation was in her voice, "What are you? Five? I know, and you know, the last thing Adler will ever do is point a gun at you."There was something about being this close to Kyra; she made me feel weak and vulnerable. Speaking to her, I understood that I wasn't the strong woman I lied myself into believing, and I accepted it. Accepted the weakness and admired her from afar.But there was no way. No damn way I was going into the room o
I prayed for darkness, but the lights decided to be steady; I wished for the unconscious, but for the first time, the universe resolved to consider me.The dripping sound persisted, his blood wasting on the white tiled floor.Just like I suspected, the darkness oozed out from him. It was in the intensity of his gaze, his scattered hair, looking slept on and wearing a black rumpled polo shirt. His eyes looked like they had been rubbed countless times.I tried opening my lips, but nothing escaped them; the sound was stuck with the lump in my throat.He poked his head out the door, staring down the empty hallway. A few seconds passed, and his attention was back on me, eyes on my fraying hair I didn't have time to brush down."It's cold out, and you're barely clothed." The deep, hushed voice came from above me, "You shouldn't be here, Lily." Adler let his eyes graze down my t-shirt; although braless, he didn't stick to my chest. He stretched forth bloody hands, "I got a cardigan in there,
"It's owner killed my mother."That pendant still hung over the mirror while I continued to play the deadly version of Spot the Difference and kept on failing. I couldn't lie to myself; this was Dad's pendant.It couldn't be a coincidence that it appeared in the hands of Adler.My lips moved, but the voice refused to form; I felt the warm tears creep to my lids as I swallowed.I thought... I thought I had finally found peace and protection, but all this while, I was not even close to being safe. Instead, In my ignorance, I had settled with danger, danced with it, and let it hold my hand.I was the daughter of the man who made Adler the monster he had become, and he didn't know. If he did...Oh God!I wanted to run, flee the room and even the manor. The death I would meet outside this place would be more lenient than what I'd go through if he found me out.Despite the cardigan, I trembled, and my damn eyes began to fill again; gosh, I wanted to be knocked out, and when I woke up, all o
The more I spoke, the harder she shook her head in denial."There's no way Adler could have dad's pendant if they hadn't crossed paths! Eva, listen to me!"I had picked myself up from my dust immediately she knocked at my door, looking pale and rubbing her arms for warmth as she walked in.Just like me, she wanted it to be a joke so badly; just like me, she was crushed in denial. At one point, she covered her ears, refusing to hear more.All I wanted was to shield her, away from it all; I didn't want to believe I dropped her right in the middle of chaos myself.Right now, she sat on my bed all frozen up, her hair sticking to her face, reminding me of the helpless fifteen-year-old girl who had run to me, excited to see my shoes and puzzled as to why I came alone."I want to see your shoes, Lily. Are they pink? Why are you crying? Where is Dad?""I'm sorry, Evie. I'm so sorry."Seven years later, here we were right with the victim of my father's crime, with the monster my father intenti