Chapter One Hundred And Eleven.Over the next few days, Lana avoided Damien like the plague and he did his best to stay out of her way. She stared past him as though he was nonexistent to the extent that Damien felt he could not stay in under the same roof with her anymore.But then he waited patiently, waiting for her anger to thaw. He never hurried her or inputed anything since that day, although he wanted to apologize for the rest of his days.If apologizing till eternity will make everyhng right, Damien was willing to take it on. He'd walked into her room that day to apologize for his behaivour. She was right for being scared and trying to make sure she did not get anyone else caught in the fray. He was wrong for treating her like a weakling.However, when he'd held her by her shoulders and stared into her eyes, his gust was twisted with something he could not explain.She'd looked so small and defenseless that he'd wondered how she was able to get through what she did five ye
Chapter One Hundred And Twelve"Miss Lana?"Lana jerked as Mandy touched her forearm gently, trying to get her attention. She blinked in surprise, staring blankly at Mandy who nodded with her head towards the front of the hall, where a speech was being given.She sighed and gave Mandy an apologetic smile. She had been carried away with her thoughts that she had not noticed what was going on in her surroundings.The night had been going smoothly so far, except for her thoughts drifting away to a certain somebody and her mood threatening to plummet down to its lowest depth."What's the point of coming out for the first time in a while if you're going to be so distracted, Lana?" She admonished herself, and decided to focus on what she came here for. She shook her head and drew the black fur shawl tighter around her shoulders.She was wearing a long black dress, with straps and a sweet heart neckline. It was made of silk and the skirt flowed all the way to the ground, covering her feet. A
Chapter One Hundred And Thirteen Rina staggered back from the force with which Damien pushed her, to the shock of the onlookers. She gasped and stumbled backwards almost landing on her butt, but a table behind her broke her fall. Before she could get steady herself and call out to Damien again, he had disappeared through the crowd and out the door searching for Lana."Ugh!" She grunted loudly, stomping her heeled foot against the marble floor in anger and frustration. She bit her lip and thought about following them out. She could not believe Damien had pushed her away in public. She had hugged him, thinking he would never push her away in front of guests like this. She'd thought she would still be able to act weak and pitiful before him and everyone else to keep him trapped...She'd not expected him to push her away so roughly, that she'd not even had time to change tactics."Whatever, I came to this stupid event just so I can get you back," She muttered to herself, "so you're goi
Chapter One Hundred And Fourteen."Ow, let go of me! What do you think you're doing?!"Zaire marched through the crowd, ignoring Rina's cries of pain. Instead, he dragged her out of the building, and into the quiet garden by the side of the Hall.When they got to a spot where they could not get the attention of the guests in the hall, Zaire stopped and Rina yanked back her wrist from his hold."You bastard!" She spat out, as she massaged her sore wrists. There were red welts on the delicate skin, indicating where his fingers had dug into it.Zaire turned to her sharply at that word, and quick as lightening, he gave her a deafening slap that threw her to the ground.Rina cried out in pain on the floor, as she reached to touch her cheeks with her hand, trembling all over her body.She glared up at him with hate and fear as Zaire dusted one palm over the other, "You know, I really try not to get angry at you, Rina." He said, then stooped low to glare at her on the ground, his eyes red-ri
Chapter One Hundred And Fifteen.The silence in the Maybach, as Damien and Lana rode down the streets and towards home, was defeaning.Lana was sitting very straightbacked on her seat, willing her heartbeat to slow down, but it continued beating loudly in her ears.She dared not look sideways at Damien, who, surprisingly, was looking very calm and zen considering what had happened just a few minutes ago. She inhaled sharply and clutched the silky material of her dress, as her mind drifted back to what had happened in the garden.When she'd seen Zaire drag Rina out of the building, Lana knew something was very wrong.First of all, why were they together?She'd never thought Zaire and Rina knew each other, and why was he pulling her after him that way?Then, Zaire had slapped Rina and Lana's jaw dropped in shock, her eyes widening at the man in front of her. This was not the Zaire she knew. Zaire Ludovic, who was her friend, rarely got angry and would definitely not hit a woman but h
Chapter One Hundred And SixteenLana went very still as Damien's lips claimed hers. It was like every other thing disappeared at that moment and the only thing she could feel was his firm lips on hers, nibbling and tasting.It was electrifying and desire coursed through her veins when his tongue delved into her mouth, and Lana let out a moan, melting completely into him.Damien growled low in his throat as one hand moved from her face to her hair, while the other grabbed her waist and pulled her closer.She could feel how hard he was already as he pressed against her tummy. Lana felt her mind completely lose control of her body, as her hand wrapped around his waist and another cralwed up his body, tugging at his shirt. Their kiss deepened as their tongues meshed and dueled. Damien moved until he held her gently against the hedge and another moan escaped Lana, as his mouth started nibbling her ear and neck.However, the feeling of his palm fully cupping her breast brought her crashing
Chapter One Hundred And SeventeenWhen the car pulled into the driveway of the Romero Villa, Lana placed all her attention in unbuckling her seatbelt, so she would not look at Damien but strangely enough, the belt was stuck.She jerked at the seat belt in frustration, and Damien turned to her alerted by her movements. "Here, let me help you." He said as he took his off, and leaned towards her to help her with the seatbelt.Lana put up a hand quickly at him, her heart beating loudly once more at his closeness, "No." She said quickly, "I'm fine. I'll just do it myself."A tiny frown furrowed his brows as he reached for the buckle nonetheless, "Relax, Lana." He said to her, carefully undoing the clasp that kept her stuck to the chair, "I'm not going to bite."Lana let out a breath she did not know she was holding as she felt the belt release her but that relief was short lived as she realized that Damien was still leaning close to her.She froze, unable to take her eyes off his face ab
Chapter One Hundred And EighteenDamien stood arms akimbo in front of his desk, looking pissed as hell. He could not believe the news his assistant was giving him at the moment.The police could not find anything in the video linking Aryan to Lana's attack? The video was enough proof in itself, dammit!"Ludovic must have pulled some strings," he muttered bitterly to himself, "He really has a death wish.""That's bullshit!" He swore loudly after sometime, getting more and more annoyed as he thought about it, "What are the cops doing? Do I have to do everything myself?!""No, you don't."Both men turned to look at Lana as she strode into the room, confidently. She gave them a square look as she walked up to them, and stood directly in front of them.Damien scowled and turned away from her, "You're really not supposed to be here, Lana." He said in a cool tone, his expression impassive, his demeanor different from the seething man of a few moments ago, "And besides..." he turned to glare
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty SevenThe men arrived at the room, breathing hard. Pushing the bed aside from the wall, Damien ran his hands all over the wall the way he had seen Lana do in the footage.He let out an erratic breath as the wall opened up in front of him and Paul. It even seemed more ominous than it had in the footage.Takong out his cellphone, he activated his flashlight, illuminating the whole of the passageway."Mother of pearls." Paul muttered in astonishment as they stared into the long dark space.It was a freaking passageway.Why had Lana walked into the wall? No matter how much Paul thought about it, he thought it was extremely brave of the young miss, especially since she did not know what was on the other side of this passageway.Without further ado, Damien bounded into the wall."Romero!" Paul called out after him but Damien did not stop. He kept running down the passageway, till he turned a corner and went out of sight.This was becoming more crazy, Paul th
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-SixDamien stood in the middle of the white little room and looked around in quiet disgust.The fact that Lana had been in this place all along had filled him with so much fury that he felt like tearing the walls down with his fists.That thought was fueled by the fact that she was nowhere to be found. They had arrived Monero a little over six hours ago. Monero was only accessible through a port and when the men had arrived there, it was already quiet late.Rina had finally revealed the locations of Zaire's villa in Moreno and even though it irked Damien to grant her anything in return, he had to fulfill her request for Lana's sake."Your little informant had better be correct, Romero." Paul had said earlier on the boat, "The Young Miss had better be in Monero when we get there or you will face Fernandez's wrath."Damien had been silent, even though impatience hummed in his blood.He knew she was in Moreno.She had to be in Monero.He wondered what he w
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-five "Let's go in, first." Anila said urgently as she walked into the corridor and pressed the button on the wall, watching with bated breath until the shelf slid back into place.She turned to Adrian then, "What about the young Miss?" She asked as she walked past him, "Is she okay?""Screw the young miss." Adrian spat out loudly in anger as they both entered the small room, "What the hell is going on? Who the hell were those men?!"Adrian was clearly frustrated. He did not mean to yell and rarely lost his cool, but he was pissed with what just happened a few moments ago in his own house.Anila sighed, "if you will only let me explain, then I will. Stop yelling at me." She reprimanded him as she walked over to Lana.Lana was huddled on the bed, cowering under the bed covers in fear. She and Adrian had stayed back in the room when Anila had gone out.She had been trembling and whimpering in fear as they heard the men ransacked the room, while Adrian pace
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-FourThe banging on the door continued and silence fell in the room.It took a while for Lana to realize that the banging was not actually on the door to the room.It sounded farther, but that did nothing to ease the trembling of her body or the loud thumps of her heart beat."I said, open up!" Another yell came and this time it was accompanied by a solid thump, like a vicious kick to the door."What the hell? Who knocks like that?" Adrian said, frowning in annoyance. He was about to walk towards the door when Anila stopped him."No Adrian! Don't go." She called out to him, holding out a hand to stop him.Adrian looked from the door to his mother, "What?" He asked, his confusion becoming more apparent. Lana exchanged a frightened glance with Anila, who was calmer actually.She patted Lana's hand then stood up and walked towards the door."I will go out and meet them" She said calmly to Adrian."Excuse me?" Adrian asked, arching an eyebrow at that state
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-ThreeThe words were hardly out of his mouth when the door to the room was pushed open and a middle-aged woman appeared.Lana turned to the door sharply, fear written all over her face as the woman walked into the room silently, and her eyes met that of Lana's. The next instant, they widened with joy and relief."You're awake! Oh thank heavens!" She said as she rushed towards Lana and took both of her hands in hers, "I knew you'd come around! Bless the heavens!"She turned to look at the red haired man, who went about his watering as calmly as before."Look Adrian, I told you she'll be fine." She said as she beamed up at Lana, because she was clearly four inches shorter than her."I know mother," The red haired guy, Adrian replied drily, "I treated her."Lana stared at him, "Treated?" She asked, eyeing the guy in surprise.He was a doctor?The middle aged woman nodded, "Adrian had found you in the forest when he went for his morning walk." She explained
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-TwoShe was in the forest, running with her hands stretched out in front of her as she stumbled over fallen tree logs. Her dress was torn and her knees were scraped. She was limping due to the cuts under the sole of her feet, which the cool damp earth of the forest did nothing to soothe.Yet, Lana ran.She was blinded by a film of tears and terrified gasps came out of her mouth as she stumbled through the dark forest."LANA!"He was close!He would get her and throw her back into that suffocating place. Taking control of her whole life."No, never..." Lana muttered breathlessly as she ran. The moon was hidden behind the huge rain clouds filling the sky now. Now, and then, lightening cracked through the sky, sending a flash of white through the forest.The rumbling of thunder will follow soon after and it made Lana shriek and shudder in terror as she ran.No! No! Stay away, please!Suddenly, a hand shot out from before her and grabbed her throat tightly,
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty-One.Lana turned sharply and looked into the darkness behind her. It seemed as though she'd heard something scream. Or was it her imagination?Imagination or not, it was definitely the cue she needed to open the fucking trapdoor. Luckily, the trapdoor wasn't locked and opened up easily before her to reveal another darkness below.Lana swallowed hard as a sudden rush of cold air hit her face. She shivered uncontrollably and willed her beating heart to calm down.This was just the same as walking into the passageway, she reminded herself, Everything will be fine. There are no snakes waiting down there.The way the wind whistled from below made her wonder how far the drop was.She laid down the trapdoor, and peered down into the hole with her torchlight. The beam flashed on a slab of wood below her, then another and another all connected with a rope.A ladder!She allowed the light of the torch to travel down until she finally saw the ground.It was not ve
Chapter One Hundred And Eighty Zaire was still in his study with Aryan, who was making numerous calls.It really seemed like Romero was on his way to Moreno, due to the tip off that Rina had given them.Zaire regretted ever revealing this place to Rina. He had brought her here as well and a bitter taste filled his mouth, as he realized how her presence must have tainted his precious sanctuary."I really should have killed her a long time ago." He thought to himself as he downed the contents of his second glass of whiskey.Well, there was still time.He could still kill her and also give the same treatment to his beloved half-brother. A slight smile curved his lips as he relished the thought of Damien coming to challenge him on his own turf.He'd be able to come in easily but to go out will not be so easy.He also regretted the fact that he'd brought Lana to Moreno. He could have easily taken her to Italy or Cuba, but he figured they were too far away and he needed to still be able to
Chapter One Hundred And Seventy-NineGripping the metal torchlight to her chest, Lana hurried back into the room and climbed unto the bed once more.She glanced back at the door, her ears picking up every little sound. She expected it to open up at any moment and Zaire would walk in.She'd get caught before she even started anything and faced with more torment than she could imagine."There's no time to waste." She reminded herself as she edged closer to the wall, "Let's get out of here, Lana."Slowly, she reached out her hand to the wall and pushed it. The wall did not budge.Lana swallowed hard as her heart started beating faster once again.What the hell? Why isn't the wall opening up now?She pushed the wall again with all her might and still nothing."Okay Lana." She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Remain calm and think. We have to open this wall."She closed her eyes and tried to remember how she'd had managed to open the wall earlier that day.Her memory was fuzzy w