I was awakened by the distant sound of the television. Immediately I opened my eyes, I saw Maxine cropped up on a chair at the end of the room.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," he muttered. "Where are we?" I croaked, sitting up on the bed and surveying the empty room that had only a bed and a television. Maxine stretched his arms, and sighed. "Home, The Garden." "Thank God." I sighed, before realizing what he meant. "You mean your home is referred to as The Garden?" "Mhmm." He hummed. "Gross." I spat out. "It's a good name." He stood up. "Hollis totally owe me for this." He murmured and left the room, not even saying a goodbye or any other word. My throat felt raw, and my body, emotionally exhausted. I could feel dark isolation seeping through the room like deep depression. I just wanted to go home, to go shopping, boat cruises, clubhouses and the courtroom. I wanted my life back. But even I know I couldn't. Not with the continuous attempt on my life and with my father's life at stake. I wondered what lies in wait for me henceforth. Maybe breaking my spirit and instilling fear in me was part of the preparation. As if in the know, a knock came on the door and Hollis stepped in. "Get off the bed Ugo. Rocco will take you up to our room." He said, voice emotionless. I stood up from the bed, trying to gather my thoughts. Our room, he said. 'Are we going to share a room?'. I wondered. "Are we going to share a room?" I asked out loud when I couldn't keep it in. "You agreed to this, didn't you?" I nodded. "Then move your legs." He said. I looked at him, searched his face for that calm, young man that had been trying so hard to woo me non-stop but saw nothing. Nobody would say he was currently forcing me to do anything per se, I agreed to it . It didn’t matter if I liked the choices, I still made a decision. "I'm not sharing a room with you." I stated, at least I didn't sign away my freedom of speech too. "That is exactly what you are going to do," he insisted. Hollis called me closer with his fingers, "You will do as I say." He told me once I came closer. I avoided his gaze, but stood rooted on the floor. "Which way?" I asked, gaze still downcast. "Are you talking to me or your shoes, Ugo?" He asked such an annoying question. "You." I replied. "Look at me." I shook my head. Looking at him would obviously mean falling into a trap. The drum of tears I've been battling so hard to keep at bay would definitely get broken. He waited, obviously thinking that I would be able to gather enough courage to look at him. But then he gave up when I didn't. "That way," he pointed. "Lead the way then." I told him refusing to give it another thought. He pulled my arm gently and drew me even closer to him. "I am not your warden, Ugo," he said, watching as I blinked up at him through watery eyes. "I am the Boss, he added. "Don't ever forget that." I pulled my hand away from him and saw the smirk on his lips. "I do forget how much you've built your strength and stamina. You might need some taming." "What? I'm not some toy to you, am I?" "I don't think you've fully grasped the deal you signed. But I guarantee that it will all sink-in in a day or two." "Does this deal state that I'm your prisoner too?" He said he wasn't my warden, wasn’t he? Because I was so certain that I wouldn't be permitted to leave the premises. Not without him seeking out and slaughtering everyone I loved. I would never let that happen. I actually felt a little whiplash from the whole thing and It didn’t even help that I’d witnessed a gruesome murder or that I was being used as some sort of white flag to stop the wrath of the so-called Boss on my father. To even realize that if I didn’t let myself be used that way, my loved ones would die made it all worse. With all the thoughts roaming through my head, it was no wonder that I felt a little unstable on my own two feet. And as for my head, well, it kept shooting off in a dozen different directions every second. I needed to focus! I was going to spend several months with this man, a killer, a monster in a man’s clothing. I'll have to endure whatever he's going to throw at me for months. I was fucked up, no matter how I chose to look at it. Even if he was objectively-attractive, darkly-attractive, if that was a thing. He was still a psychopath who used his position, power and money to bend people to his will. That was the kind of evil bastard I just got myself mixed up with. He wasn't an angel. My senses were slowly becoming clearer and suddenly, I was doing all the thinking I should have done before placing my signature on that stupid sheet of paper. "Ugo," Hollis' voice snapped, the sound like a whip cracking in the empty room. I raised my head up to find him looking down at me, those dark eyes unreadable. "What?" "Move," he said, tone impatient. "I'm getting you upset already." I chuckled. "This has always been your plan. You couldn't just handle a simple rejection. So, you had to sit down in that little pissy chair of yours and craft out a plan to get me tangled up in your deadly life, right?" "If only you knew what I'm doing for you, you would owe me your life." I started laughing, I couldn't help it. "Well you're in luck, at least you'll have me in your space in the coming months." "Ugo!" He snapped again. "Move," he warned sternly. "This was all your plan." I reminded him. "Yes," he agreed as his hand grabbed mine. And I could swear that it didn’t leave a strange spark on my nerves. If it did, it was because I was pissed that he was touching me. That was the only logical explanation. "But you are the one being difficult," he added as he moved ahead and pulled me along. "Look who said he wasn't my warden," I grumbled "If you were expecting a soft-romantic man, Ugo, you are very much mistaken. You had the opportunity once and you threw it away." "I don’t want romance from you," I insisted. "Why would I, for god's sake."We were now in an open corridor. Rocco stood like a statue at the end of the room, staring into space. Two other guards stood at a reasonable distance, taking the same stance. I snatched my hand back from him, crossing it over my chest. "Good. Then that's settled. But make no mistake, he turned "I'm going to take my pleasure from you, how and when I deem it fit." He threatened. "You dare not!" I challenged, creating a distance between us. "Really," he mused. "Let's see how that goes." "Every single thing about this situation is disappointing," I corrected him, feeling my jaw quiver. I had a temper. So I try so hard to always remain happy and positive. And that was why I surrounded myself with people that really love and care about me. They all knew and understood how bad my temper used to be. As a form of control, I would always remain cold and calm in situations I have no power over. Until I grab a full picture of the situation. But then, in some conditions, I almost alw
"What time do you even plan on getting here? Are you sure you're still coming?" Daisy listened to Ugo whine over the phone."I'm all dressed up already. You'll see me soon, I promise. I just had a really stressful day at work and I had to make a quick stop at home to get into more comfortable footwear." she tried explaining. Pushing the door of her walk-in closet close, she pulled a black leather jacket across her black singlet, sat on the bed and bent low to buckle her sandals when she heard Ugo's next words."You're changing footwear? Don't tell me you plan on wearing any of those boring flat sandals of yours.""Something wrong with my flats?" "Really, you're going to ask me that." Ugo boiled."We're going out to celebrate for crying out loud. You have to look the part. Put on a pair of those gorgeous Louboutins you got there. Why do you splash so much money on exotic footwear when you don't wear them.""Hello, are you forgetting something? You're forgetting that you made me buy the
Daisy's phone lit up just then with a text from Ugo. "My power went out. Where are you?""Ahhh, yes, I just got alerted to that." Daisy told Brett as she held her phone up before she texted Ugo back. "I guess it's the whole hotel, I’m stuck in the elevator with some dude that is providing me with adequate company.""At least that means they were telling the truth," Brett said, interrupting her. "The good news is, they have generators, so the elevators should start moving shortly.""And you know this, how?""Oh!" He stepped away from the telephone. "They told me," he added.Daisy slid down to the floor, placing her purse and paper bag gently beside her, careful not to break the champagne bottle. Since she already informed Ugo about it, she knew how much tragedy it would bring if it ended up broken. Ugo would report her to anybody worth reporting to, including Daisy's parents. Her black heels used to be relatively comfortable for at least an hour or two before the discomfort a
"I've been doing fine for years now. Please just go back to wherever you're coming from and let me be."Brett moved over to her and crotched down opposite her. "Go on a date with me, over the weekend."Daisy burst into laughter. "Is this guy a joke or something?" She asked rhetorically, loud enough to Brett's hearing. "No.""Come on.....""I'm not going on any godforsaken date with you Mr Lexington. Not in your wildest dream.""Okay." he said, pushing two open hands forward to calm her down. "Go to a fundraiser with me then. Technically, I wanted you to be my plus-one at the fundraiser organized by the Mayor over the weekend and maybe we could go on a date afterwards. But since you said no date, let's go to the fundraiser together." He offered."No.""Daiz. I promise you, if after the fundraiser, you decide that you don't want to see me ever again. I won't bother you. Just this once, please?"Daisy became calm for a moment. She looked up at his angelic face and watched him flash a smil
"Look what I brought you." Daisy said instead of arguing. She pulled the champagne bottle and the chocolates and crackers out of the paper bag. "I'm not quite sure how cold the champagne is anymore, but we still have to drink it. And I heroically saved all of them, including the chocolates and crackers from the guy I was stuck in the elevator with, so we’d better enjoy them." "Well, of course we still have to drink that champagne. Give me that." Ugo grabbed the hotel water glasses as Daisy pulled the foil off the champagne bottle. "I can’t believe you were stuck in the elevator all that time. And why weren’t you texting me back. Was your battery out?" "Okay, there’s a story there, but let’s toast to you first before I get into all of that." Daisy twisted the metal lid open and pulled out the cork with a gentle pop. After she poured a healthy amount into each of their glasses, she held hers up. "To Ugo Chike, the first black female partner at Jade and Judy, in over ten years. To a
A gorgeous hostess led them upstairs to a quieter VIP bar that overlooked the stage and dance floor below. They were shown to a small seating area by the balcony and settled at a table hugged by two half-moon velvet sofas. The hostess propped a beverage menu in the center and said, "Your drinks are on the house. Enjoy your evening." "Wow!" Ugo whistled. "We scored." "I think that hawker recognized you from one of your court cases. Because how the hell are we getting such VIP treatment when we're yet to spend a dime." Daisy said out loud. "Wouldn't that rock." Ugo grinned. "Or it could be the chef guy.... That dude is full of surprises. I've gotten so many gifts that I can't count since I met him. Yet, he's not interested in hitting this ass." "He could be pretending." Daisy fixed in. "Or taking it slow. The good old ways. He might be hoping to win you over thoroughly before making a move. In other words, he wants you to...." "Lose my damn guard. Mmmm, not happening, not gonna h
Brett walked into his sitting room with a file he pushed over to Derin, who had come visiting. "You were scarce throughout Thursday, how much success did you record with your adventure?" Derin asked, picking up the file and flipping through it. "An adventure indeed. Success rate was way better than I'd thought it was going to be." Brett replied, taking a seat. Derin's eyebrows went up and he shook his head. "Of course. Why would I have thought anything less of you. Do you mind telling me how it went though?" "I got her to agree to be my date to the fundraiser tomorrow." He finally replied. "No way! How did you get her to do that? Wait! You are a magician now. You waltz back into her life, get her trapped in an elevator just to have a moment with her and somehow you get to convince her to go on a date with you. Wonderful! You are a genius Lex." Derin grinned. "It's not a date officially, but it's something I guess. I'm gradually walking my way back to her and at this rate, I'm
Saturday morning came with Daisy being dragged out of her room by Ugo. She figured it was no less than she deserved since she avoided any topic related to Brett throughout Friday. After a long, hot shower, she made her way into the living room and was ordered onto a seat by Ugo and a lecture she never knew she needed commenced. With the biggest coffee mug in her hand, she pretended to be paying attention to her friend's rattles in order to let peace reign. "Number 10, do not fall for his seduction.... Number 11, never kiss him, never kiss your ex!" "Ugo, that was number one, four, and nine." "Yes." Ugo replied, pacing the room. "Now it's also number 11. Just so you know how important it is." "O.k.a.y, is there something I'm missing?" "You tell me. You and Lexington seemed cozy last night when you let him kiss you. You sat there and watched him try taking advantage of you." "Oh come on Ugo, that wasn't how it happened." "Really, could you please fill me in, I most definitely rea