The wet cloth in Rose's hand swept away the last of the dried blood on Theo's chest. She had done the same thing many times before. Washing, then making the thick red liquid wash away with her actions. While cleaning Theo's body, Rose went to the kitchen three times to change the water tainted with her own husband's blood. She had also helped Beatrace clean up the mess Theo had caused in the room where they currently resided.
It had taken a lot of effort to break free from Theo's embrace after the man was fully affected by sleeping pills. Rose didn't want to remember it and didn't think it was worth revisiting. She focused on the long gash on Theo's chest, convinced it wasn't just another claw wound. Rose assumed that Theo took off his plain white T-shirt before slashing it with the sharp part of the glass. Then put the shirt back on, while anger made him forget—red was clearly visible on anything white. It was a moment Rose couldn't get over. Half exasperated, she appliedRose was not wrong. It would never be wrong to simply distinguish between Theo and Zever. But she didn't say anything since then, because Zever's silence to the face that looked down for a long time watching the circumference of her arm made Rose retreat very regularly. Orderly quietly approached Lion and sat down beside the man. "Why didn't you say it was Zever." "I almost said it but you held me back, Miss." That's right. Rose should not have stopped Lion before she got to Zever. Rose's eyes glanced at nothing Lion was doing, at least the drink in Lion's hand if he was resting. "And what are you here for, Lion?" But a snicker followed by Lion's face coming a little closer made Rose stare at Lion in disbelief. "Flirting with the master, Miss." "You're endless from yesterday. You think he can't get angry, so you tease him a lot, is that it?" "That's you talking, Miss. Not me." Lion's head shook faintly.
Rose quickly put down the glass in her hand, rather than make the following decision and cause it to spill all over the place. "Why can't I trust anything you say?" Rose muttered, squinting starting to take a step forward. The distance she killed made it easy for her to grab Zever's large arm—then creep slowly to touch Zever's cold fingers that were like lumps of ice when Rose grasped them. "You're very tense about being caught watching a spring movie, aren't you?" Rose stood on her tiptoes to whisper even more vigorously. She almost couldn't help but laugh after witnessing Zever's pale face and completely stiff body, but she liked how Zever did nothing but clutch tightly the cell phone Lion had given him next to his free arm. "I didn't expect you to be such a bad boy, Zever." The smirk on Rose's lips made it clear that realizing Zever's small reaction was a connotation of the hairs on the man's body shuddering. Zever was looking at Rose like he was looking
Tasted a little. A sip or two of the milk was gone. Every movement on Lion's face was a resigned reaction to the last drop of milk that had landed in Rose's mouth. Meanwhile, the woman only smiled after wiping the surface of her lips with the back of her hand. "You don't mind me finishing it, do you? Count it as punishment for pranking Zever." Rose left after putting the empty glass onto the nightstand. Leaving Lion and all the swearing stuck in the back of his throat. Lion reached for his cell phone in his pants pocket, then turned quickly toward the kitchen. "You're dead, Travis! Miss Rose drank your milk!" [And then?] Two words from the other end of the line sounded indifferent. "'And then' you say?" Lion put the phone away and stared at the cheekpiece intently. "Now what?" he asked, busily pouring milk from the bottle into the empty glass until it was filled. He sandwiched his phone between the line of his shoulders and a face tilted to the side. [M
Too sweet and intoxicating. Rose admits Zever is a good starter. The lips lapped deliciously, while the creeping tongue washed away the aridity with a moist intertwining. Slowly Rose's fingers traveled up Zever's face while deepening the increasingly wet and hot embrace. Rose almost ran out of air supply as the two of them still shared a wild, equally passionate passion when the lip link was broken. Zever looked at her for a long time which is why Rose made the choice to roll over to sit on the surface of her husband's muscular abs. The light exposure gave a tantalizing sensation to the scrutinizing face and wordless lips. Rose immediately lowered her head to play a role in the alcove of Zever's neck. Sucking deeply, the occasional meeting of her teeth scraped the surface of the skin which then turned red. Zever's stifled hiss added to the explosive arousal. Rose's touch moved on—lightly caressing the surface of the chest with the bandages still attached, as if Rose was wo
Waking up next to a man straddling her body was routine. Rose smiled briefly then pushed her dark brown hair tousled in front of his face. She lifted Theo's arm briefly, tracing the scratch marks for a moment and moving on to the rough fingers with elongated fingernails. No wonder Theo was able to tear his own skin, which meant Rose had to immobilize that part. Rose quickly got up and grabbed the clothes from last night. Rose's body moved to the side of the bed and pulled out the drawer of the nightstand—the last time she put the nail clippers in there—and pulled it out again. One by one Theo's fingernails dulled as the tips of the scissors were pressed together and the other part served to bite. Rose had to act rather than Theo doing the same thing at unexpected times. Rose's work was almost done on the first hand, occasionally glancing at the man who seemed to be fast asleep—no longer so as the gray bead opened slowly, then closed properly. Sometimes things mad
The clatter of feet scrambling to catch up to the basement was halted by the emptiness they found. George Keneddy should still be there, between the iron bars that were covered by other iron bars, but part of the padlock that had been encrypted with certain codes was destroyed as if it had been bombed and disabled—making whoever, the people behind the disappearance of George Keneddy worked easily unnoticed. They were more like trained experts. Meticulous problem-solvers, people who were certainly used to being in the field. "What is it, sir?" Theo's attention was drawn quickly to Travis with a rectangular box, which the man had just picked up while looking down. Theo accepted the gift of the box. It was a small object with a valve attached to it. The translucent part exactly revealed a disk record and immediately tempted Theo to roughly remove the valve. Theo's suspicion of the object was correct, which was a voice recording when a rough grunt was the beginni
Rose buried her face deep in Theo's firm chest. She climbed up her husband's frozen body quickly, inhaling the intoxicating scent to make herself a little calmer. Theo still didn't say anything. It hit Rose that she was so worried Theo would reject her plea. Rose didn't want that, immediately tightening the embrace of the arm that curled perfectly between the line of her husband's shoulders. When Theo would start talking Rose was still waiting while not daring to have high expectations. She was scared ... but suddenly felt a small movement, a light stroke on Rose's back including a slow crunching step leaving the basement. "Tell the others immediately, don't forget to prepare Esme and all her needs." Rose caught a glimpse of Travis nodding quickly, and by the end of the hallway they had split up—Rose with Theo, Travis on the other side of the building. "You changed your mind?" asked Rose, half distancing herself so she could cup that stern jaw. Theo was staring so intensely th
The trigger contained the deadly wires that Theo had to finish with one hour and one minute left. It was all around him, but perhaps the most appropriate place for him to start was the basement. George was trapped and lost there. Then there was the chip in the corner of the wall that had the potential to blow up the mansion and all the things and creatures inside. After five wasted minutes Theo couldn't let his precious seconds go to waste. He returned to the basement in a real hurry. The conditions in the dimness were still the same as the last time he was there. The chip in the body of the wall and the digital analog continued to show that every moment lost was a very important thing to take into account. Theo scurried quickly through each side of the cellar. At a hidden corner he decided to dismantle some of the stacked objects, some of which were difficult to remove—which although successful did not allow Theo to find the whereabouts of the explosive chip triggers. He
Zever's sudden departure made quite an impression on Rose. At that moment she and Travis silently watched the backs of two people who were moving away. Rose didn't dare say anything as she herself realized Travis was leaving her behind—Travis looked down and Rose hoped he was okay, then followed with careful steps carrying her triplet into the mansion building. Two hours after the incident in the back garden, and after putting the children to bed, Rose soon caught up with Zever's whereabouts. Through the messages given to Lion, Rose certainly monitored whatever was happening outside. This included asking how Travis was doing. The man was behaving as before, but there was one problem. Zever in the living room with a ripple face so cold and gray eyes that stared half-empty arranged miniature joints on the table. Rose repeatedly took a breath just to steady herself sitting next to her husband. "Zever," Rose called out, wanting to make sure he would respond or not. Z
"I'm done, Theo. Now it's your turn—" Rose thought, after stepping out of the bathroom and changing there. She would find Theo keeping all three of their babies in their proper positions, but that big body—in his sideways sleep—seemed to be deeper than the three babies who were snoozing peacefully. Exhausted. That's how Rose interpreted it, because these days Theo was often busy in the middle of the night—looking after their babies, while Rose was forced to rest. Rose smiled slightly as she rubbed the top of Theo's head. It was only for a moment that she turned to her triplets to transfer them to the trolley. Rose would take them for a walk in the back garden. Finished with the transfer she returned to Theo simply covering her husband's body with a thick blanket. "We're leaving first." Rose briefly kissed the corner of Theo's face. She pushed the trolley carefully towards the elevator. Rose already knew where the elevator was, it was quite hidden—and Theo had no
"I got a lot of grandchildren." O'Douglas laughed like a pirate captain who had just discovered a historic treasure. Each of the middle-aged man's arms flanked two tiny babies, while the other was in the arms of Verasco, who continued to hold them, occasionally bringing them closer with a lighthearted joke. There was no telling what Rose would say as she watched her children being swarmed as soon as Verasco and O'Douglas walked into the ward. She had just finished breastfeeding, so the satiated babies would just sleep through the day, and not trouble their two grandfathers. "You never stopped looking at me," Rose said quietly. Most of the time Theo had a glare on his face, but right now the gray bead was shining something different. It was so loving and some of it Rose couldn't interpret correctly. How could Rose stand being shot at so closely. Theo had to, just once, look away from her. "Thank you, Sugar." A gentle touch on the skin of Rose's face made her
Rose didn't expect Theo to take her to the island of Ortogia, the historical center of the Sicilian city of Sirakusa, to enjoy the beauty of the Mediterranean sea. The scents by the sea were soothingly beautiful. Rose had not forgotten that Theo had not once let go of her body on the man's broad shoulders after walking along the old buildings on the islands of Ortogia. "Whose house is this?" asked Rose looking at a sturdy building that looked like it was meant for two people to live in. "Our house." There wasn't much Rose could say, except to bury her face deep in the hollow of Theo's neck. The masculine scent was still very much present, even after they had spent the whole day entertaining the guests, as if the perfume was very much at home on Theo's clay skin. "Want to go straight to bed or shower first, Sugar?" In front of a door Theo stopped and let Rose get on the floor. Between hesitation and the need for something fresh she finally looked up at Theo.
"Ready?" Rose nodded as Theo spoke over the top of her head. She was indeed standing with her back to Theo, holding the handle of a long cookie-cutter knife, while Theo's large fingers grasped each of her knuckles warmly. The multi-tiered cake, or not much different from a fragile tower, was being split open. The blade slowly descended downward to symbolize sharpness. Rose smiled almost melting into laughter when Theo whispered something funny to her, funny but Rose wouldn't tell anyone. Let her keep it to herself and make it an important fun moment. After the first slice of cake Rose and Theo should have been feeding each other. Instead Theo scooped out the cream and immediately applied it to Rose's lower lip. Rose's face was a mess, but that was exactly what Theo wanted. He took Rose's lips like he was taking a delicious cake. The sweetness of the sugar and butter mixture seemed to make Theo insatiable. He licks Rose so intimately—there's no end to it—that Rose
"It's enough. I'm full." Again Rose had to restrain herself as Theo's big fingers tried to push away the bowl of white porridge in her hand. "Just a little more, Theo. You have to finish your porridge." "Come on." Rose brought another spoonful of porridge closer, but that face refused. "Don't make me eat bad porridge, Sugar. It's tasteless." "That's why if you eat while looking at me, you'll get some flavor." "One more bite. I promise after this is over." "I don't believe it. You said that earlier, don't you remember?" Rose's wide grin completely fooled Theo. The man was exactly a child who had lost his appetite. It was very difficult to persuade him to open his mouth. "This time I'm serious about the last one. Ahk... open wide." Rose thought Theo would immediately accept her bribe. Instead, the man moved the elbow of Rose's hand, moving the bow of the spoon to Rose's own lips. "You should eat too." "I ate earlier," Ro
One day after Theo regained consciousness, Rose finally decided to return to her home, the place where she once lived alone next to her small restaurant. At the moment there wasn't much for Rose to do other than prepare to meet Theo at the hospital. Rose immediately drove her father's borrowed car. On the back passenger seat she placed a medium-sized box with several holes in it that was wrapped very beautifully. While beside her sat a cute little dog with curly hair and white color like cotton. Yesterday Rose had just bought the poodle breed at the pet shop. Intrigued. That was all that drew Rose's desire to bring home the poodle named Cocomelo. "We've arrived." Rose prepared a special backpack to carry Cocomelo on her shoulders, so that when she first entered the infirmary Theo would not immediately meet her Cocomelo but Rose would show him. And in her hand, she carried the medium-sized box and walked into the hospital. Not just daring, but Rose had already ob
Coming back from the bathroom, Rose thought she would be faced with the same situation. She had warned against it by waiting longer in the humid room until some of the noises from outside faded away. But everything Rose had expected was not true. The blood seepage on the floor when she opened the door was gone. Verasco's subordinates... even Verasco himself was nowhere to be seen, in his husband's infirmary. All that was left was Lion waiting very quietly, arms folded across his chest as he watched Theo silently. "Are you still here, Lion? Where are the others?" asked Rose as her steps brushed the side of the blanket. "Mr. Verasco asked me to wait here, Miss." Lion's attention was finally diverted. Rose suspected that he had just returned from the police station and helped Verasco and Elijah to execute George. As for George's betrayal, perhaps it was a wake-up call for Verasco to be more intolerant of hidden intentions and whatever else might happen. "Where is my
"On the way home. Their story has a happy ending. Finished." Rose closed the 400 pages book and placed it on the nightstand. Reading sweet stories had become her routine in the past few days. Rose smiled slightly at her husband's face who was lying so quietly. This morning the breathing apparatus had just been removed indicating Theo's condition was getting better after the bloody spear incident. Luckily, they immediately brought Theo to get the right treatment. Theo had to undergo surgery three times. He had lost a lot of blood and needed transfusions as soon as possible. Rose remembered that some arguments happened between them regarding Theo who had very step blood, even Verasco was helpless about it. Just a Wench .... That's what Verasco said at that time with a trembling tone of voice. Like he was so regretful. Really regretful, until finally Travis suggested the few people who were still left in Italy to bring some bags of Theo's blood that were taken two