The Arrangement

Chapter 11: Tess POV

I woke up to a loud crashing sound downstairs. It was a loud bang bang bang. Things must have been getting moved- no, not moved, but thrown- around because the noise was that of deafening thunder. At some point, I heard glass being broken too. I was still half asleep and perhaps not in the best of judgment, but I had to see for myself if I was just caught in a dream or if something terrible really was happening.

I thought about waking Declan, but foolishly decided against it. I made my way down the smooth stairways, the cold stairs meeting my bare feet and sending shivers up my spine. The noise had stopped.

"Hello?" I called out half way down. There was no answer. I continued to the end and made my way into the living room. My jaw dropped when I realized what I had walked into.

Couches were flipped over. The coffee table was in three different pieces. Thousands of shards of razor sharp glass lit up the living room floor like the starry night. "What the-"

I couldn't finish my sentence before a sharp pain racked the right side of my head. A metallic taste filled my mouth and something hot and gooey flowed down the side of my face. It took me longer than it probably should have to realize that it was blood. My blood. The last thing I remember is seeing Declan- shirtless, of course- on the bottom of the stairs, then there was only black.

*****
My eyes strained to open to no avail. My head was throbbing. I groaned as I slipped in and out of consciousness. Eventually, I managed to open my eyes and keep them that way, although, I still wasn't fully conscious. I heard whispers that switched back and forth between English and Portuguese. I only managed to catch bits and pieces of the conversation.

"She's awake..."

"What are we going to do with the girl?"

"We should just..."

"... before the police show up..."

My head spun as I tried to make sense of the voices. They reminded me of a wolf pack circling its prey, formulating a plan for how they were going to take it down.

I began orienting myself to where I was. I could only make out shadows in the darkness. The shadows shuffled from side to side, and one murmured, "look who's up..."

I narrowed my eyes and could just make out that I was in the front room of the house, which was opposite the living room, and the enormous kitchen sat in between the two rooms. I tried to lift my hands but couldn't. They were tied, bound tightly to a chair. My feet splayed on the ground. So this is it. This is how I die, I thought to myself.

A single tear rolled down my face, tickling my skin as it went down when I realized I would leave my mom all alone. She would have no one.

"Good. Then, let us begin," growled a voice.

At that moment, a light switch flicked on. My eyes took a second to adjust to the change in lighting, but when they did, I saw Declan, bound to a chair, in front of me. His chin was resting on his chest and his eyes were closed. He still hadn't woken up yet. There was a large cut running from his throat and stopping a few inches above his belly button. The sight of the blood caked on his chest and abdomen made me wince.

The individual who the menacing voice belonged to- who I could only assume was the leader of the group of men- thrusted a chair directly in front of me. He sat inches away from me. I could smell the alcohol on his breath and cigarettes on his body, and wrinkled my nose. He must've caught my reaction.

"What's the matter, sweetheart? I don't smell as good as your little boyfriend?" His voice was smooth but deadly.

I swallowed and tried to make my voice sound confident. "Husband."

He just bellowed. "In that case, we'll have to treat you extra special then."

He pulled out a knife and the blade glistened. Just as he did so, Declan woke up. His head rose and when he spoke, his voice was scratchy but determined, "You keep your dirty hands off of her, you dog."

The figure whipped around to look at Declan. "Look who's up! Now, we'll have some real fun."

"This is between you and me. She is innocent. Leave her out of this."

"What the hell is going on?!" I demanded to know.

The man turned back towards me and narrowed his eyes. "You really don't know, do you?" I shook my head.

"Seems like your husband isn't the perfect Angel of a guy you thought he was after all."

I peered around him to look at Declan in the eyes. "What is he talking about?"

Declan shook his head. "I-I..."

"Tell me! I have a right to know."

His eyes filled with tears. When I first met him, I truly thought he was incapable of crying. So to see that emotion replace his usually tough exterior shattered me. It must've been hurting him a lot.

"Tess, I can't. I'm sorry..."

The man let out another growl and waved his hand dismissively. He pulled his hood down. He looked even more menacing without it. His eyes were black holes with curly black hair to match. His jawline was rigid and I could trace the contours of it with my eyes.

"I'll explain. I'm Santiago Souza. A few years back, your husband"- he gestured to Declan- "and I met here in Rio. He had run some drugs for me and my boys, then one day, he decided he was too good for us. I did grant him permission to go back home, but I needed one final favor."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I couldn't believe Declan, my Declan, was involved with this. How could he lie to me?!

"Well, him and some of the boys were picked up by the police. He ratted us out and I spent three years behind bars. I just got released a week ago." Just in time for our honeymoon.

He paused a moment, smiled wickedly and then added, "Before the cops found me and came to arrest me a week later, I saw Declan alone on the streets of Rio. I had some of my boys with me, so I tried to kill him." I knew what he was saying was true but also that he was just trying to get a rise out of me. I did my best to keep my cool. 

"So you want to make him suffer because you did," I said bluntly.

Santiago smiled again. "Smart girl." I scanned my surroundings and there were four other guys. Five on two weren't good odds, especially since the two were tied up.

I looked at Declan and was having trouble reading his expression. His head started bobbing up and down and I didn't know what he was doing. Then I saw he was nodding. My eyes followed his gaze to a stray but very sharp piece of glass on the ground. It was just to my right, and if my chair happened to fall down I could reach it. I shifted my weight and toppled over. It definitely hurt when I came crashing to the hard floor but right now I couldn't be picky. "What the hell?" One of the guys said from behind Santiago.

"Lift her."

Before they had the chance, I had already cut the ties off my hands. My wrists snapped free and I whipped the shard of glass around quickly. It met somebody's shoulder blade. "Oooowwww!" Screams filled the air and chaos filled the room.

I shoved the guy backwards.

"Get her!" A furious Santiago roared.

Two of the guys tried to subdue me but little did they know, I was a black belt in karate. I religiously practiced it ever since my dad died. It helped ground me and keep me sane. A foot met one of the guy's jaws, then I whipped around and the poor second guy met the same fate. They both fell to the ground, rubbing their jaws. I ran over to Declan and shoved the piece of glass in his hand.

Santiago realized what was happening but it was too late, because Declan had already cut himself free. Declan's fist met Santiago's nose and blood began trickling down his face. Declan grabbed Santiago by his shoulders and banged his head against Santiago's, effectively causing Santiago to fall to the floor. Some of the other guys were trying to scramble away. All their efforts were in vain, though, as lights flashed and sirens blasted outside.