"Rilley, what are you-why are you with a man in-"
Charlotte stopped the sentence-not wanting to continue. It should be nothing new to find Sean with another man on the bed in such an intimate position. Charlotte's sigh sounded harsh. If only he wasn't the bartender at the bar where she worked. Maybe the tightness in her chest wouldn't have been so intense. The three of them had been on a mission once, when Theo was at the bar as bait. Charlotte was in charge of flirting, while Connel was just the main man serving a glass of whiskey for nothing. Really. Charlotte had no idea Connel and Sean's togetherness would go to a different level. It even seems that Sean is far from feeling free to touch Connel's hand directly. What should Charlotte do? Is it this complicated to force herself to just be seen in Sean's eyes? If things like this keep repeating themselves. It seemed that Charlotte would not be ableRunning. Sprinting towards the open door. Every now and then Rose looked back to find Theo's pace slowing down - far behind Rose's current position. Those broad shoulders seemed to rise and fall. Theo's hands were clenched tightly around his chest. The difficulty of breathing with something seemed to pierce the muscle nerves. Theo's movement stopped. One arm reached out, trying to pull out a sharp object-a type of arrow stuck on the right side of his back. Someone, who knows who, fired a 10 gauge dart that was quite wide in diameter and filled with a clear liquid that had diminished. Theo threw the object of origin to the ground, wanting to move on. However, his vision suddenly blurred-almost darkened. If only someone had not prevented his body from collapsing. "Theo." Rose's faint voice was still faintly caught. "Co-come in." Theo spoke brokenly. It wasn't his condition he was thinking about, but Rose w
The Lagos's Mansion. Deepest Forest in Milan.... "I'm coming." "No, Baby girl. I'll only be there for a short while. After that we go to Canada. You take care of your insignificant anxiety first. I told you, didn't I? Rose will be fine. Her cell phone isn't connected, but that doesn't mean you can't see her in person." Xelle quickly opened the car door. Bridgette's pregnancy, which was only discovered after all the troubles they had gone through, only added to her possessiveness. With the mansion's tight security, Xelle would not take Bridgette and Oracle anywhere if it was not for urgent matters. "I'll be going," he excused himself as he looked down, giving Bridgette's flat stomach a light touch. "Don't be naughty while I'm gone, okay?" Xelle gave the woman he loved so much a brief peck on the lips. Then got into the car, starting the engine - occasionally looking at Bridgette with a warm smile. "
I didn't expect you to be my love. ________________________ An hour's drive away. The outer perimeter was filled with armed troops, lined up like the expanse of a battlefield. Every corner was filled with several explosive shots. And on the left and right wings of the mansion, several guards passed by deftly. Xelle pulled himself out of the car. Walked quickly to Lion who was no less agile in approaching him. "Morning, sir." The warm greeting received a slow nod. "What's going on here?" asked Xelle matter-of-factly. Lion's face was highlighted fiercely, as the man looked down not wanting to answer. "I asked you a question. What the hell is going on here?" "A little accident, sir." "What kind of accident?" His hoarse, deep voice sounded cold. Xelle's eye-tails flicked alertly. Searching
One final blow landed as feet clattered into the same room. The sound of falling objects and shattering glass spread out to several points, pausing the emergency that had taken place moments ago. Both Travis and Xelle froze at Rose's presence, who glared at them with a stifled reaction. Her unfocused gaze, accompanied by a flushed face, slowly approached-from slow steps to quick movements. Rose's breath came in harsh gasps. "He's unconscious, and you hit him!" Rose's accusations were relentless. Pushing Xelle as far away as possible-separating the man from anyone's reach. "Unconscious what? He's not there anymore! I'll beat him until he comes back!" "Stop!" said Rose, holding back the body that was about to move. "He's not there? You mean ...." Her sentence hung in the air. Rose's eardrums seemed to be filled with ringing sounds after interpreting Xelle's statement which was full of disappointment. "Yes
"Dara ...." A faint voice from inside the room sounded uneasy. Rose stood at the door. She had just returned from cleaning up the mess of broken glass and wasted pancakes. She had only left Theo for a moment. However, when she entered the room. The slight movement of the body stretched out on the bed, caused a turmoil of feelings that Rose couldn't understand. Theo couldn't stop muttering the other woman's name. Beads of cold sweat broke the surface. Seemingly unsettled, lost in the most painful nightmare. "Dara...," Theo's whispering became clearer when Rose's position was no longer distant. Kneeling with various curiosities. How many women had been in Theo's life, apart from one of them being his ex-wife. Could it be Dara...? "Theo." Not daring to fully pat the bruised face. Could only call out, hopin
Nobody .... With such a weakened condition, it was inevitable that Theo's lie was implied so clearly. Rose sighed, not wanting to discuss issues that would worsen the condition of the man before her. She smiled briefly, as if to emphasize-enough talk until the thick blanket was pulled up, covering half of the large body that drooped on the back of the bed. Whatever Theo's past was, Rose didn't want to get involved, let alone care. "You should rest. Travis will probably be here soon to check on you," Rose said, acting calm. "What's wrong with me?" "What's wrong with you? You've been unconscious since last night. Made everyone here worried, including your silly friend who almost smashed your face in. But I guess it's already ruined." Rose grimaced, noticing the bruises in several places and the tear at the corner of Theo's lip. Wasn't the man in pain after what he had received? He seemed
Wide strides went straight ahead leaving behind a few points of anxiety. The remaining energy was forced into a frenzy, intercepting the trail that had almost reached the exit. Theo swung an arm forward, curling Xelle around him without hurting his opponent-he needed a brace to support his weight. "Stop, damn it. Rose could cut me alive until she finds out what's really going on," Theo said, slowly inhaling, neutralizing the constricted space. "Does my face look concerned? Fuck yourself. I won't stop, if it involves Rose's safety. I hope you haven't forgotten something that happened in your past." "It's absolutelly not your fucking business. You don't need to remind me about it. One thing you should know, Rose's scatterbrained woman isn't as easily touched as Dara. If you're still determined to tell Rose what happened. I'm going to divulge a fact to Bridgette that she doesn't know." "What fact?" Xelle's deep, hoarse vo
Opportunities never come as second chances. Failure that is forced to continue, will only leave a feeling of defeat. Attempts to concoct an antidote with multiple trials continued to show negative results. Travis did not understand what kind of mistake he had made when mixing the additives and plant extracts. The tiny particles that precipitated from the ingredients did not secrete enough enzymes to neutralize the neuronal activity in the bacterial content. Only zero point one percent. Travis needed more compounds, ones that could counter the progression of toxins in Theo's body. Mr. O'Connor's arrival could not be expected. The middle-aged man would consolidate with his business partners in the land of windmills. The only way Travis could utilize it was to create his own antidote before 24 hours passed. Which, unfortunately, has not yet found a bright spot. Nearly six hours in the private lab with Xelle, made Travis fe
"Now how is Theo?" she asked as she scrutinized Lion like he had just breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm not talking to an empty tomb," Rose quipped, thinking how foolish it would be to speak up in the face of something that couldn't possibly give her an answer. And so, Lion understood m—with some difficulty, he positioned himself to rise, though only half-slouching and showing a face twisted in pain. "Sir ...." "Sir is still in a coma, Miss." Lion's answer was a great success in exploding the contents of Rose's mind. So all this time, while Theo had never come to her, it wasn't that the man was unwilling. But there was a wall too high stretched between them. Unconsciousness. A state of sleep that was too deep. Making her husband never present in the nights Rose was always haunted by loss. She took a ragged breath... no longer knowing how to describe the truth that hit her sanity. "Theo is in a coma and why did you have to hide that from me?" "I'm so
The reality was like a volcanic avalanche of vomit in Rose's head. The heat melted everything. Either happy or actually Rose couldn't let go of the so-called euphoria. She lost the ability to distinguish between reality and delusion. Her mind cavity was full, claustrophobic, especially Rose felt lied to in such a way. "How could you do this to me, Lion? Travis, Beatrace, all of you. How could I fall for the role you played?" asked Rose almost in a whisper. Her gaze was half-empty, thinking back to how Beatrace had behaved and the series of sentences the middle-aged woman had spoken. They were all lies. Rose couldn't understand why, they interpreted it as inappropriate to know the extent of Theo's condition. What was the worst part was that they thought Rose was involved in harming her own husband.... She did all that between a sense of urgency and an involuntary impulse. Even if Rose knew Theo would protect her. She wouldn't have let Theo pull the stunt. Rose's ey
From Aiden, the man's phrases today were the worst draining for Rose. She sighed unfocused, as soon as possible—like yesterday she wanted to close her small restaurant a little earlier than the operating hours. Indeed, some of the equipment had already been cleaned by Rose. Next, the corner of Rose's lips curled into a big smile after the last customer waltzed away and left some coin tips. Rose quickly approached the doorway to reposition the 'open' sign in the opposite direction. Quite relieved, she turned towards the table with the remaining dirty dishes. First stashing the tips received into her pants pocket, then carefully arranging the plates on the tray. What a pity what Rose didn't understand... she never expected the door of her restaurant to be suddenly kicked in, until from outside a man threw another man's slumped body right under Rose's feet. Her breath caught as Lion winced in pain, while the still towering perpetrator looked like a lake of thirst.
"You're back again, sir?" Lion was overcome with astonishment at the sudden arrival. The man facing him simply handed over the bag that had once been forcibly taken. "Yes. I don't need this laptop anymore. My work is done. " "What work are you referring to that is related to Mr. T's laptop, sir?" Lion was completely clueless. Everything that had happened lately was enough to keep him silent. Apart from Lion having to take care of George during his detention and outside of Verasco's knowledge. Lion wanted to know what activities provoked curiosity, but it seemed that the owner of heterochromia eyes was reluctant to reveal what was being done secretly. Actually, the decision to investigate something that wasn't 'mandatory,' Xelle should not have made. He interpreted everything Rose told him as an imbalance. About the murder Theo had committed against Rose's parents. According to Theo's records that Xelle had traced, the bullet should have hit the victim'
Two months after the heart—pounding incident all of Rose's lives were exactly the same. She lived day by day as if in an open cage. Rose was both free and trapped. There were electromagnetic waves in the house she had just moved into during that time. Waves that did not record visually. However, sensory movements would send signals to the last man with Rose that day to know every detail of the strange activities Rose was doing. Like if Rose wanted to do something reckless—self-harm or something else. Two months earlier. When they were no longer in the middle of the forest. Rose's silence and fear eventually acted as anger that evaporated completely. There had indeed been a major argument. All Rose's intentions took place almost slicing a kitchen knife into her own wrist. The woman received a series of scathing sentences to really get slapped. Realization. And Xelle then chose to be hands-off in the sense that the man assured full surveillance via the electromagnetic waves in
"Axe, stop your car." The car that had been provided since they arrived in Canada. What Rose had never imagined was that the car she was riding in would drive off into the forest. While the man in the driver's seat really had his heart set on getting there. A cold, sharp, unaccepting gaze met the heterochromia's bead. "Stop your car, Axe!" Rose turned to confirm exactly where they were going to dock. It was too far, and she was again jolted by the sudden stop of the car. "Why here?" asked Rose softly. Her attention was fully focused on a single denizen of the jungle. Firm, large, clawed features mirrored the creature that walked beneath the elder tree. Rose's mind shuddered at the thought of the beast becoming aware of their presence. "Get out!" Instantly Rose glared at Xelle in disbelief. "What do you mean?" "That wild tiger will make you die quickly. Now you can catch up with your dear husband." "Get out!" Rose wanted to inter
One counts first. The next two. Rose held her breath after obtaining the firearm. She froze in place as the instincts of a dominant man turned sharply to digest what had happened in the blink of an eye. Rose realized that piercing expression was not good for her. "Don't come any closer!" threatened Rose, bringing the muzzle of the gun to her temple. "Fuck! What are you doing!" Rose took a step back whenever Xelle tried to get closer. Rose's common sense really wasn't there. Not with her. "Stop your ridiculous behavior, Rose." Rose shook her head violently. She would rather end her life than wander aimlessly, shrouded in emptiness, shadowed by the guilt of having contributed to the loss of her husband's life. Rose couldn't hold on to anything. All was lost in the shuffle. "I'm warning you once again, Rose. Stop your ridiculous behavior!" No! Rose argued with a wet face. Trembling her arm steadily began to squeeze the trigger. A
Rose's fingers fiddled with her black wedding ring with a half-empty stare, she had just put it back on her ring finger. Rose didn't care, really didn't care about the fact that the ring wouldn't come off. In the new room and the smell of the room that was still so new she sank. Not to wait for the man who had said goodbye a moment ago, or because Rose wanted to. The first time she entered her new home. Rose was pestered with various troublesome things, which is why, she unpacked several red velvet boxes containing individual pieces of jewelry. Two necklaces. The first one she received that day. Before the big explosion—when she thought she had lost Theo. Then he'd come back with something surprising. Like a pendant of undulating curves, a form of life that truly gave Theo a chance at life. That's what Rose had hoped would happen to her. But instead, for how long Theo has not returned. Buried and identified by a gravestone. Rose exhaled rough air from her lips. The sec
"Where is Mommy going? Why won't we see each other again?" Knowing that such a question was not what Rose was expecting. "Home." She spoke almost choked up. One of the Oracle's eyebrows rose high at that. "But daddy says we can still see each other often." "Yeah, he's right," Rose corrected. Stupidly she had let it slip a little at first. "But then Oracle must always obey Daddy and Mommy Bridgette. We'll meet at another time. I don't know when." Rose finished the rest of the slump by towering over Xelle who was staring at her in understanding. A moment .... Not brave enough Rose glanced at the little girl beside the man who also offered Rose the distance to step out. She paused that decision, then affected to touch the top of Acampeliaz's head. "Can I have a little of your smile?" asked Rose. The twinkle in Acampeliaz's beady eyes rumbled with doubt. Rose noticed that Acampeliaz's little fingers were tightening. "Just a little. I'm not a