Chapter Sixty-SixLana jumped at the sound of that familiar voice. Her eyes flew to the direction of the voice, and she blinked in surprise, when she saw Damien standing at the entrance.He looked huge, his broad shoulders stretching his jacket whose lapels were unbuttoned. The dining room was not small but to Lana, at that moment, it felt like it was, with Damien's huge form taking over the space.Her eyes dragged the length of him, from his legs until it stopped at his face, and their gazes held. He looked amazing, like some kind of Adonis, and she could not help a tiny shiver of relief run through her at the sight of him.She was getting very uncomfortable with Zaire at the moment.However, that relief was short-lived when she saw the dark scowl on his face. It seemed like the room grew a little darker, from the intensity of his frown and angry gaze on her. She blinked once more in shock when she recalled how he'd yelled her name.What was going on? Why was he here and why had he y
Chapter Sixty-Seven As soon as they were out of the restaurant, Lana tried releasing her hand from Damien's grip but he was all too strong. She pulled back, but it did not even have a fraction of effect on Damien. She gritted her teeth in frustration, and dug her heels into the ground, pulling back with all her might. Damien growled low in his throat, aware of what she was doing, "Can you stop doing that?!" he whirled on her and said tightly. She glared back defiantly, and they stood on the pavement, glaring down at each other. "Just let go, already!" She shot back, just as tightly "We're out of the restaurant already. Zaire is not here, so let me go now!" He stared at her and was at a loss for words at the moment. Her cheeks were red with anger, and her gaze was not that dead stare she normally gave him. Her green eyes, which shimmered with unshed tears, was filled with hatred and pain. This did nothing to stop his gut from twisting with guilt. Damien felt his grip on her arm l
Chapter Sixty-Eight"So...you're homeless?"Lana glared at Damien as he walked up to her, his hands clasped behind his back, like a guard. His steps were relaxed and he had a mocking grin on his face as he stood before her.She narrowed her eyes at him in fury, "Seriously? You eavesdrop on other people's conversations now?"He shrugged as though that meant absolutely nothing to him. Infact, he enjoyed the way she was glaring at him, looking all cute with her flushed cheeks and narrowed emerald eyes. The hot sun shone down on her bright red hair, making her look as though her head was on fire.Damien thought he'd never seen anything more beautiful. He definitely enjoyed looking at her.How on earth had he survived his days, after the divorce? Hold up, how come he'd never known she was this beautiful, this tantalizing to the eyes?He knew the answer to that, he thought as his chest tightened with shame. He'd never even thought to give her the time of day.She was the burden brought upo
Chapter Sixty-NineAs the Maybach rolled away from the restaurant with a satisfying purr, Lana let out the ragged breath she didn't know she was holding.She leaned back on the leather seats and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, but it did nothing to calm the inferno that was raging within her.It was a mistake coming back here. She should have thrown Lana's letter and parcel to the blazes, the minute she got them.Her heart clenched with guilt as she thought of that, and she quickly shook her head to clear out the thoughts. She laughed cynically as she leaned back with her eyes closed, resting her head on the headrest behind her. Laura had asked her to help and protect her grandson, but she'd sooner kill him than do any of that.She could not believe that he still had such opinions of her. Worse, the fact that his words still hurt her this much was enough for Lana to punch the seats beside her in anger and disgust."Ugh...that crazy bastard! I swear to God, I'll
Chapter SeventyZaire could barely control his anger as he watched Lana walk out of the restaurant with Damien.Who the hell did that bastard think he was? Storming in here and claiming his woman.His fingers bunched into fists at his side, as he muttered through gritted teeth, "And she went right out with him."This was the main reason why he'd not tried to stop her from leaving. She'd had no choice but to follow Damien but she did not try to stay either.The dark look Lana had given him before she left, had left him short of words but he knew he was to blame for that.He groaned silently, raking his hand through his hair in frustration. He knew he'd messed up big time, losing control like that and lashing out at her.He was very content with showing her the part of him that she was used to. He knew that way, he'd be able to get her eventually, one way or the other.But he'd slip up.And now a single mistake might upset every of the pieces which he'd been carefully putting in place
Chapter Seventy-One"You've got to be freaking kidding me!""I beg your...pardon?"The receptionist looked stunned. Her brows were furrowed with puzzlement as she stared at Lana, and the smile on her face faltered. The gorgeous red-haired woman in front of her, placed her hand on the counter and closed her eyes, blowing out a breath in frustration. She looked like she was counting to one hundred, in order to calm down. The lobby of the hotel was filled with people and guests. Some were travellers, while some were business people and vacationers. True, it was that time of the year, where the city would be flooded with tourists, gushing over its beauty. Diego stood beside her, his shoulders slumped with exhaustion. His expression mirrored that of his mistress when he heard what the receptionist had said.When Lana spoke again, her voice was ragged and it sounded like her temper was hanging by a thread."So you're saying I can't book the penthouse?"The receptionist did a double take,
Chapter Seventy-Two"What the hell do you think you're doing, Lana?!"Damien growled as he marched towards his ex-wife. Somewhere in his brain, common sense trashed about, trying to get ahold of him but he was too angry to listen to it.He knew he shouldn't sound so harsh.He wasn't supposed to sound harsh at all, but goddammit! , the woman was just too infuriating.After he'd driven off from the SK Restaurant earlier that afternoon, Damien had set to chase down Lana, but a call from his assistant Liam pulled him out of that decision."Sir, the investors from Mauritania is here." Liam had said as soon as he picked up the call, "When do you think you'll be able to make it?""Reschedule the meeting." came the terse reply from Damien. He was trying to focus on the road and also on his dashboard, where he could track the location of Lana's car on a panel there. Liam swore silently, rolling his eyes upward, "We can't reschedule the meeting. This people flew seventeen hours to get here tod
Chapter Seventy-ThreeLana was not fazed by the way Damien stormed towards her like an angry bull. Neither did the anger in his eyes or his handsome face which was darkened by a huge frown."Welcome to the club, baby" she muttered under her breath, making sure her own expression matched his furious one.He had the audacity to be angry, after acting like a pest towards her for the whole day?!What a joke!She wrenched her eyes away from his as he approached, and made to brush past him towards the direction of her car.In an instant, Damien's hand shot out and gripped her arm, stopping her from moving further."Ow! Let go, you brute!" She yelled angrily, jerking back her arm furiously but Damien's grip was too tight.Damien leaned down so his face was in hers, "Do not walk out on me!" He said fiercely, his breath fanning her face, "I asked you a question!"Lana punched on his arm hand angrily, tears of anger shimmering in her eyes "Alright, I heard you! Just let go already!"Damien cont
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