Chapter Two

As he pulled me from the chair, I felt my head banging and my head aching, I bled from my hands and legs and cuts littered my body like strokes on a book. He scowled and looked at me like I was trash. He picked me up with his hand and slapped me across the face, I was weak and about to give up when he brought out his whip, I closed my eyes, ready for the whipping sensation

One 

Two 

Three 

Whip! 

"Ahhh" I screamed out from my sleep and took heavy breaths. 

Footsteps hurriedly approached and Lucio showed up at my doorstep. He entered the room and saw me on the bed breathing hurriedly. Immediately, He ran towards me with a look on his face. It looked like he cared about me. 

"Hey, Look at me, Those thoughts and dreams aren't your reality anymore, You're with me, You're safe now, Okay ?" He said in a low voice. 

I felt safe when he comforted me

"I'll lay you down, Okay? Now sleep, I'll stay here for a while "came his gentle voice. 

At first, I felt conscious in his presence but I later drifted into a peaceful sleep. 

Boom! A loud noise erupted from the house and my eyes flickered open to the unlit room, It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen

       

      I didn't want to leave my room yet; What if it was too dangerous? For all I knew, Lucio could be in danger once again. I had to have a full grasp of the situation. If not, I could get killed by the Assassin. I had to shapeshift into something small to go out of the room without being armed. 

  Immediately, I shapeshifted into a wall gecko and I crawled to the Kitchen, Fear gripped my scales and I prepared to meet her worst, But as I got to the Kitchen, I had expected to meet a Crazy Assassin and an injured Lucio but all I met was Lucio standing amid a messy kitchen with a black inedible substance that looked like a burnt pancake to me.

I heaved a sigh of relief and crawled back into my room. After changing back to her human form, I moved into the kitchen and met a confused Lucio for the second time that day. 

"Good Morning, How'd you sleep?" He asked me 

"I slept well, Thanks to you" I answered flustered 

For the first time since I came in contact with him, I noticed his appearance. He was, well, different from all others. He was handsome, not perhaps in the conventional sense, but he had that appearance that could make him stand out in the crowd. He was fair, almost pale white. His unfathomable, golden brown eyes contrasted exceptionally with his light-toned face. His eyes were as deep and expressive, as you could get lost if you stare long enough. His face had that faraway look in it, which cannot be described in words. His smile, which reached up to his eyes and wrinkled them, flaunted his modesty and humility. Often, you could see a hint of pain in his sparkling eyes, which would disappear as suddenly as it emerged. He sometimes spoke too fast, which perhaps revealed how much agony he concealed within himself. Above all were his frame and his stature. He was not extremely muscular, with 8-pack abs or 16 cm biceps. However, he could stand out in a crowd, which was mostly due to his way of carrying himself. At that moment in time, He was shirtless with an apron tied to his neck. He looked like one to always have girls swooning over him.

"I see you're having difficulties with cooking?" I asked 

"Yeah, That's pretty obvious" He answered, Clearly unsatisfied that he had to get help for someone else. 

"Well, Let me help you, I'm a good cook. You can learn from me since we're going to live together for a while" I smiled at him. 

"I, Lucio Delevonte, refuse to learn from you" He huffed loudly 

"Then be prepared to eat takeout for the rest of your life," I said loudly as I chuckled loudly. 

Lucio on the other hand didn't receive me with a th a smile as I did

"Get dressed, We'll eat out and then proceed to buy all the stuff you need, I'll drop suitable clothes on your bed," He said and dialed the receptionist to request three maids to clean up the kitchen. 

Oops!, The joke didn't go down well with him 

After I freshened up, I put clothes on the bed and put The clothes that were female clothes. It was an oversized T-shirt, Palazzo Jeans, and female sneakers. I was surprised that he had female clothes, Maybe a girlfriend or a sister. 

Like yesterday, The car ride was silent and awkward. An awkward air hung in the air and I was itching to get down from the car. The Car finally came to a stop at a five-star restaurant, La Tate, Lucio seemed very important to the staff and owners of the restaurant. 

"Mr. Delevonte, Nice to see you after a while, I welcome you specifically once again to La Tate, and I will do the honors of leading you to your Space" The Executive Chef, Blanco Brown- As written on his name tag- offered to lead us to Lucio's space. 

"What will you be having today ?" He asked if we were ready to write down our order. 

"I'm not getting anything, The lady's the one ordering" He answered. 

I placed my order and once again, We were left alone together. 

"So…" I attempted to start a conversation with him, He averted his gaze from his phone and looked at me with an unreadable expression

"What I said earlier, About you eating takeout for the rest of your life, I only said It as a joke, I didn't mean any offense" I explained 

"I wasn't offended by your words, I only got silent because I realized I was indeed bad at cooking and I'd have to get a teacher pretty soon," He said as he gave me a little smile 

***

On our arrival at the Penthouse after the shopping spree, Lucio called an urgent meeting between himself and me. He seemed serious and I was anxious as to what the meeting was about. 

He took a seat before me. He'd hardly taken a sip of the drink in front of him, So I guessed he was settling for one of the longer conversations. It was two hours past noon on a cloudy Wednesday, The day after my freedom from Cape Dominic. The first rains of the winter were starting to drizzle down and it created a strong sense of expectancy, a tension that tightened every heartbeat in the city. I liked the rainy season: the tension and excitement I saw in others were like the involuntary disquiet that I felt almost all the time. 

"I called you here so we could discuss in detail, Our deal and everything it entails" Lucio Continued 

"Okay Sure" I answered 

"You'll be my Personal Assistant" He looked at me and continued "We have to be together, Especially when I'm at work, You won't be doing any real work, You just have to be my undercover assistant" 

"Then what am I gonna do while I'm at the office?" I replied, Thinking about how bored I'd be if he worked while I just sat in a corner. 

"Well, I could get you some fun activities to try out" 

He paused and took a sip from his glass, replacing it slowly and carefully in the precise circle of moisture it had left on the table in front of him. 

"Activities like ?" I pressed on further. 

"You could stare at me while I worked" He continued, raising his eyes to mine with a hastily gathered smile " That was a joke, On a more serious note, We'll think about that later" 

"Well, I'm excited to go to work with you " I smiled 

"Would you mind telling me about yourself, You don't have to do it if you're not comfortable" 

Dominic Cape had never asked me about myself, He'd never asked me about how I came across the powers I had, I was surprised at the question, No one had ever wanted to know about my background. 

"My father was a Science teacher and he prided himself in the fact that all his Children were geniuses'' I paused to take a look at his facial expression: He seemed calm "My father was seemingly perfect but he only had one exception, The exception was me. I was his only failure. I was useless in science and I had no head for mathematics, I ran away from home when I was nineteen years of age, That was when I met Cape Dominic and I'm sure you have an idea of what happened from there" 

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that" He apologized with a small smile, He then stretched his hands to mine and gave me a small hand rub as If to say, Stay Strong. 

Strangely, A burning sensation filled my stomach and I longed for him to touch me again. I felt weirded out by how I felt and tried to get it out of my mind. 

___

"We passed through the revolving doors with my palms sweaty and his head held high. The confidence he felt reflected through his eyes as he ambled forward. As he came through, The road was cleared for him to go through as greetings of 'Good Morning Boss' and 'Good Morning Sir' echoed from numerous employees. They probably wondered who I was as I lumbered behind him walking inconsistently, Anyone who looked would figure out that the confidence he possessed was missing from me. 

     The office building was very large. Its enormousness awed me as I had never been inside an actual skyscraper. Looking up at the towering buildings, I felt like a miniature ant. It was a bright building thanks to its many windows. 

      The workers all seemed busy, Some moved from one place to another while others did their work sitting. I suddenly felt conscious and out of place with my clothes. Everyone else but myself was dressed in Corporate Couture but I was putting on Wide leg jeans, a T-shirt, and Chunky Sneakers. 

        As we went into the elevator, A woman began running toward us

"Lucio, Lucio" The woman called from the outside. At that moment, I wondered if Lucio allowed his employees to call him by his name. I looked at him and the blank look on his face changed to one of pure annoyance. The woman stepped into the elevator and flung her arms around his neck, She then proceeded to Close in for a kiss but he pushed her away

"Valerie, what do you want?" He asked 

"Is it wrong for me to want to see my boyfriend?" She asked, pouting very visibly. 

Boyfriend! Lucio had a girlfriend?

"Boo Boo Bear, Don't you want to see me ?" She asked

"Yes Valerie, I don't want to see you at work" He replied, Frowning. 

She fake cried and pouted, She then turned in my direction and for the first time since she came into the elevator, She noticed me. 

"And, Who might you be?" She asked me rudely. 

"She's my Friend, We have Business together" Lucio answered for me 

"You have a business together and she's dressed like that" She looked at me weirdly

The Elevator finally dinged and looked at Lucio, Completely ignoring the Bitch. 

"That's your office, Right? Hand over the Entry Card" I asked nonchalantly. He handed over the card and I walked out of the Elevator. 

I used the access entry card to get into the enormous office. At that moment in time, I admitted to myself that Lucio had great taste in furniture and he had an eye for decor. It greatly showed in his Penthouse and office. 

After a while, the doors beeped and Lucio Delevonte stepped in. He looked at me for a while and moved towards me. He cast an apologetic look at me and moved to his seat. 

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend," I said, breaking the silence. 

"Well, You don't know anything about me, So it's not weird that you didn't have any idea that I had a girlfriend" He replied 

"Ouch" I replied from the couch.