All Chapters of The Dancer and the Mafia's Chef: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

"I'm not going to listen to you about Declan," Amara said at the start of her next session with Nyxen. "And I'm not telling you more about my family.""Why not?""Because they're none of your business!" Amara snapped. "And I don't want Lucas getting any more information than he already has.""You do know that he's managed to collect a fair bit already, right?" Nyxen asked. "That he's asked them for bail money as well."Amara paled. No. No she hadn't. They had no idea- She hoped he meant her family in France, though they had undoubtedly informed her parents in Morocco."They don't have the money, of course; but they are worried. Quite a lot.""Why are you telling me?" she asked, voice trembling a little."Just thought you might want to know," Nyxen said conversationally. "I mean, it's not like they can really blame you for not telling them you were dating a member of the mafia.""Don't bring Declan into this!" she said through gritted teeth, not looking at him."... You brought him up.

Amara paced in the room, arms folded around each other. Nyxen had arranged for her and Declan to have some time together, to... talk. The day after talking with Declan. She hadn't been told about what, or even for what, but it didn't matter; she was getting time with Declan. And he'd been having far too much time being tortured by Serenius lately. She didn't hear about everything, but she could guess. There was no way he wasn't occupying his time further harassing Declan. But Lucas had said he'd try to keep things reasonable. Not that she could trust him. Whatever. What mattered was-Declan was late.Why? How? It wasn't exactly like they were allowed to walk around whenever they wanted to."Hello!"Declan waltzed into her room.Relief spread in a smile across her face as she saw him. She quickly went over and hugged him, letting the embrace melt her tension away. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. She smiled and pulled back. "How are you?" she asked. It was a

BAM. Declan jolted up from his bed and yelped when the door opened and a body was thrown in, then slammed shut. He stared at the viciously swearing body lying on the ground, arms tied together, feet kicking as hard as he was swearing. Milo. Declan swore softly and lay back down on his bed, trying to remain calm. Needless to say, it wasn't working very well. When had Milo showed up? Did they find him? Because of the shopping? No, Lucas wouldn't go that far, not yet. Milo had probably tried breaking in. How had he even found the place? Ugh. Milo continued struggling and kicking out at the door, finally kicking it hard enough to kick himself away and turn. Suddenly the swearing stopped and it was quiet. Eventually, one more, surprisingly soft yet still vehement swear came out. Serenius. He did something to whatever was around Milo's wrist. Declan sat up and swung his feet over so they touched the carpeted floor, odd; Europeans didn't often have an entire floor carpeted. "Do your bonds s

Amara was sitting in the damn chair again. It had been five days since Milo had been captured, sent home. She'd been allowed a brief texted picture to see that he was, during the day she'd spent recovering with Declan. She'd had two sessions, or attempted sessions, with Doctor Nyxen since then. The first she'd cowered, cried, swore, accused, and ended up on the floor under his hands again. The second, she'd been compliant and listened to his words, advice, treatments.She wasn't sure what to do now. She couldn't stand being so… non active, easy to deal with. Especially when nothing she did seemed to make a difference to him anyway. She fought; he subdued her. She cowered; he coerced her. She sat there numbly; he prodded her into some sort of reaction. It was ridiculous. Her legs bobbed madly as she looked down, up, around, everywhere. And since when was he late to a session?Suddenly Nyxen was in the room, by the door; apparently slipped in soundlessly. Amara actually jumped when she

The time for the ball had finally, finally, come. Amara hated the fact that Lucas was willing and able to flaunt his power like this... but it was a chance to see other people. Possibly a chance to escape. Although, she didn't want a repeat of what had happened with Milo... She hoped he was recovering alright.Maybe it would be better to just play along and participate in the stupid flaunting Lucas wanted, and maybe he would be more lenient later. Either way, he hadn't asked her to choreograph another piece; that was one less pressure to worry about. Since Declan would be there, she could focus on him, simply dance in the moment, talk with people... forget that she was trapped for at least a short time.Knocking came at her door. "Amara!" Declan. "Amara Amara Amara Amara! The door's open, just open it! Amara!"She was at the door, but hesitated taking the handle. It was always locked, and sometimes shock-enabled. But Declan's voice spurred her to take it, and miraculously it was safe.