Hunger

Chapter 26

I stood, staring at the doors in wonder. What just happened? I bit my red lips, giggling slightly as I turned and stumbled to the room. As I entered, I took a shaky breath while my eyes moved over the familiar furniture and colours. Deciding to take a shower, I let my dress fall freely to the floor and figured out the showers settings before standing under the soothing water. It washed over my skin, hot where he had touched it.
I heard the door shut as I stepped out and into a white towel that was laying on the sink. Quickly, I raided the cupboards before finding my toothbrush and some toothpaste. Leaning over the counter with the towel tied round me, I vigorously brushed at my teeth, desperately trying to remove any possible taste and replacing it with refreshing mint.
Happy with the results, I placed the toothbrush on the counter before running a brush through my wet hair.
Slowly, I opened the door, looking around the room. He was silhouetted against the window in the darkness. "Was, uh, everything okay when you went down?" I murmured, cheeks heating. I could feel my heartbeat against my chest like it was fighting to escape the pounding butterflies in my stomach. 

The silhouette turned, something was different but I couldn't put my finger on it in the dim light. "wow, well your very forward darling, I'll give you that." A british accent pierced the darkness.

"Crap!" I opened the bathroom door and the light cascaded out, highlighting the figure in front of me. Eric. I attempted to cover as much of my chest as possible with one arm and make sure the towel was low enough with the other. He looked amused at my reaction. I tried clearing my dry throat, croaking a little as I spoke, "Uh, why are you in, uh, in here?"

His eyes tightened for a moment before he went to speak," Well-". The door swung open and Aldo strutted in, coming to a halt as he saw us. What must he be thinking? Eric's face seemed to flicker before taking on a different, composed look. "Just came to the wrong room, so sorry." Eric finished, lowering his eyes before nodding to both of us and gliding past a disgruntled Aldo, leaving us in the room to stare at each other.

"It was- uh- I" I started before looking at Aldos face properly. There was blood, flowing from above his eyebrow, spilling down the side of a panicked face. 

"It's Marco. Marcos been taken."

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I got dressed in a haze. Fumbling for my clothes, mind swimming. Aldo poured whisky from the cabinet and was sitting on the bed, elbows on his knees.

Marco. Strong, stubborn, seemingly invincible Marco. Just gone, there were no signs of a struggle. Aldo had been called to meet up with him by the first floor elevators. He had waited patiently before seeing Marco arrive at the floor. According to Aldo, Marco had walked straight toward him before Aldo was suddenly hit by a blunt object.

"I was around 20 feet from him, before..." Aldo winced, tentatively touching his wound. "He looked so... so vulnerable, kind of guilty. Before I blacked out."

This was not right. Something else was missing. Marco would have seen Aldo's attacker as he came over. Why had he not said anything?

"What happened next?" I asked, hoarsely, playing with my sleeves as I paced. 

"I woke up under the bar, maybe they thought I died. I couldn't find Marco anywhere. I radioed the other men, his men. Thats another thing, Rose," he said, straightening up with furrowed eyebrows, "They all said they had a call. From Marco. They recognised his voice, his voice directing them to an old, empty button factory about 20 minutes from here. He said it was urgent that everyone went, that it was vital. All of them went without hesitation, when they got there, there was no one there... or so they thought. It was a trap, an explosion went off as they arrived, not all of them made it." Aldo looked down, gulping. "I don't know whats happening."

This was so surreal. It didn't feel that, not even two hours ago, we were in the elevator, his lips on mine, his body moulding with my body. I snapped out of my daze as a figure strolled past the open door. Eric.

Anger boiled up to my stinging eyes. I ran for the door and into the corridor as he walked into a neighbouring room. "Rose!" Aldo called after me, I glanced back, pausing to see Aldo holding one hand toward me, "he is a very powerful man, ragazza"

Ignoring his warning, I stomped toward the door. Slamming down the handle, I threw it open and took in the room. It was dark, darker than the other rooms in Marcos buildings. I didn't register it for too long as my eyes focused on the tall man in the middle of the room. "Eric" I growled, "What did you do with him?!" I half shouted.

He was obviously changing his clothes and was topless, but that only angered me more. What if he was changing tops because Marcos blood covered the other. "Sorry, darling?" Eric looked surprised as I stood at the door, teeth bared like a snarling dog. 

"I know it was you." My voice stayed low as I attempted to be menacing.

"Well, hello would have been nice." He joked. I couldn't handle it anymore, my anger, my guilt, my worry had to be channeled. I lunged at him. Catching him off guard causing him to lose balance and tumble. We sprawled on to the floor. I tried to gain the advantage, crawling on top and pinning him down. 

"Tell me where he is, Eric I am not kidding!" My blood was boiling, eyes alight as they scorched down at him. He surprisingly didn't fight back, but remained on his back, smirking up at me.

"Have you misplaced your BFF?" He mocked. I was about to hit him, I knew it, I could feel it rising. He must have seen this as he rolled, making me fall to the floor on my back, him on top of me. I guess he wasn't as pinned as I thought. He was inches above me, holding down my writhing body with ease. "Calm down, calm down." He looked concerned, eyes burning into mine, "look, your not moving until you regain composure. Breathe deeply, think clearly." Reluctantly, I forcefully tried to regain my breath. For a minute, it was dead silent, his eyes never left mine as I visibly relaxed. 

I sighed, "I'm sorry," my eyes became shiny with tears and I closed them. I felt him release one of my arms. Cooing, he moved my hair out of my face. I opened my eyes slightly, moving my hand I slid it down his hard stomach, down by his hips until I felt his belt. He looked a little confused but amused as he watched my face. My hand moved around his lower back as I kept eye contact, biting into my lip as I focused on my goal. 

Moving my arm back, I regained my stone expression, "Where the fuck is he?"

The gun in my hand pressed into his chest as I waited for a reply.