| Noah |
Her writhing body moved on the ground momentarily before becoming seemingly lifeless. Finally, something had managed to shut her up.
"Are you sure about this, sir?" Samuel said beside me as I looked down at her unconscious form, my face contorting in sheer frustration.
A low grunt erupted from my chest as I threw him a murderous glare. "You think I want to waste my weekend on this shit, Adams?" I asked, before making an annoyed face at the problem lying on the ground beneath me. "What option do I have anyway?"
"But, sir, surely we can-"
"Don't test me, Adams. Do as you're told." I muttered angrily as I dismissed any chance of a reasonable conversation, his resistance irking me further. My hands fetched the cigarette in my pocket as I walked to the edge of the balcony and lit up the stick, the burning feeling helping me calm my nerves.
In just a few days, Amelia Winters had become a grand problem.
I thought I had made it clear to her the first day she had decided to poke her nose in my business, that she was to stay away. But clearly, I had been wrong to think she would listen.
"Sir, she seems to be minding the smoke..." Samuel interrupted, once again, in a slightly afraid voice behind me as I heard small coughs echoing through the air. Turning my head back, a scoff escaped me as I found her coughing weakly in her sleep while she tried to stand still in Samuel's arms.
"Oh, for fuck's sake." I rolled my eyes and reluctantly dropped the cigarette, crushing it with my foot seconds later.
Even in her sleep, she had managed to annoy the living fuck out of me.
Walking over to where they were standing, my teeth gritted as I clenched my jaw and whispered in her ear. Even though she probably could not hear me, I hoped the words would somehow reach her brain. "If you don't want to fucking die, just let me do this the easy way, okay?"
As expected, her face showed no emotion as she stumbled from side to side in her state of unconsciousness. Heaving out a sigh, I grabbed her arm from Samuel's hold and pulled her towards me, the side of her face landing on my chest.
"Leave through the back door." I instructed, making his head nod in understanding. "Meet me at the house, then we can figure out what to do about her."
He turned and walked to the door and opened it, his eyes scanning the room before he stepped out completely. Just as he was about to take his leave, I made sure to mention,
"Don't let Chase see you."
He nodded once again and left.
While I knew I could trust Chase with anything, I was also not unaware of the fact that he would, without a doubt, chastise me for what I was doing.
He had known about the gang and its activities for years now, but even so, he cringed every time he happened to witness something even remotely gruesome or heard things that were, to say the least, disturbing.
Sometimes I wondered how it was that he and I were friends, considering how different we were, but the fact remained - Chase was like my brother, and even though I had no plans to tell him about what I had in mind right now, I was sure he would find out sooner or later.
I was snatched out of my thoughts by a faint whimper coming from the girl in my arms, the sound vibrating through my chest due to the contact as she shifted her head slightly.
Letting out an irritated grunt, my fingers wrapped themselves around her thighs as I lifted her from the ground, supporting her back with my other hand, and carried her to the glass door.
Just as I was about to slide the gates open, my movements were halted by a weak yet prominent tug at the shirt I was wearing. I lowered my head to find her fisting the shirt in her grasp, her face leaning into my chest further.
My head ticked to the side by a degree as I stared at her in puzzlement and increased contempt, until a quiet sniffle from her mouth made me regain my focus. Ignoring the slight tightness I felt inside me, I forwarded my foot to the edge of the door before opening it completely and walking out.
Madison Reed's house was engraved in my mind like a perfectly traced map; considering the frequent visits I used to make here while we were 'dating', it wasn't surprising.
I exited the house through the back door, my eyes setting on the long black car waiting for me by the street. Satisfied that at least something was going as planned tonight, I went over to the vehicle and opened the back gate, lowering her body into it and climbing in myself seconds later.
Her head rested on the window on the opposite side as I sat next to her, motioning the driver to start the engine. As the car speeded away into the night, I let out a long, drawled-out sigh, my hands running through my hair in frustration.
Amelia Winters had completely jeopardised these past few days. Not only had her pretentious show of 'morality' in class that day made me incredibly annoyed, but now, her stupidity could might as well have got her killed, and got me in a lot of trouble.
Given that, I was forced to waste my time doing this shit.
A loud ring distracted me before I could send another glare her way and I took the phone out of my pocket, placing it by my ear as I grumbled, "What?"
The female voice at the other end was evidently not pleased by my tone. "Don't you dare speak to me like that after escaping, in the middle of the night, god knows where!"
A huff left my throat as I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Agatha, calm down, will you?"
"What do you mean, 'calm down'? You can't just leave at midnight without any notice as to where you're going!"
I rubbed my face with my hands irritatedly before groaning, waiting for her to end with her lectures already.
Her frantic rambling continued at the other end for the next few moments before my patience ran thin and I said into the phone with finality, "Agatha, why don't we talk about this after I reach home?"
"Don't you dare-"
I didn't give her the time to respond before cutting the call abruptly, putting it back into my pocket.
I really should have known Agatha would be mad at the prospect of me leaving the house in the middle of the night to do an errand she had absolutely no knowledge of. But then again, I really didn't care either - at least not today.
The car continued to move through the deserted street as I looked out the window, thinking over what I was to do about Amelia Winters.
My head subconsciously turned to glance at her briefly as I contemplated the matter in my mind, but stopped when my eyes landed on her sleeping form.
Something twisted in my gut as I stared at the way her chocolate hair was scattered over her face, her long lashes flittering slightly as the strands tickled the skin of her eyes. An impulse told me to brush them out of her face, but my mind knew better.
By now, I had come to know those eyes held much more than just innocence: defiance.
"Sir, we're here."
The driver's voice from the front made me shake my head of the thought and I stepped out, travelling to her side of the car after slamming my door shut.
Opening her gate, I lowered my hands to the seat below as I slid her legs out of it and carried her in my arms once again, halting mid-way when her lips let out yet another annoying squeaky sound.
Why was she always fucking whimpering when I held her?
I seemed to get my answer the next second as I noticed the tight grip I had on her skin, my rough, calloused fingers a contrast to her thighs. Loosening my grip, I saw her expression calm slightly, making me stare at her in a moment of amusement.
What kind of a person stays calm while they're being kidnapped?
"Oh, you have a lot to answer for, mister! Where in god's name were you?"
A loud voice greeted me immediately as I entered the mansion; I rolled my eyes already knowing who it was and expecting this to happen.
"It doesn't matter, Agatha. I'm back now, aren't I?"
The middle-aged woman let out an angry huff, loosening the black tie she was wearing around her neck. This did not surprise me, as ever since the time I knew her, she would never get rid of the usual office attire she wore as our butler unless she was sure there was no work left to be dealt with.
Her fierce eyes looked at Amelia before they landed on mine, filled with the furious look I was admittedly quite used to by now. "Don't you dare tell me this is the important work you're referring to. Because it'll be a cold day in hell before I let you kidnap innocent girls and bring them into the house!"
I chuckled sardonically before moving past her seething form and walking upstairs to my bedroom while she followed me angrily, mumbling profanities under her breath.
When I reached my room, I lay her in the sheets and took my place in the armchair by the large glass window, knowing I would have to deal with her tomorrow morning.
"What could this beautiful girl ever have done to you?"
Agatha's voice became apparent once again as she entered into the room behind me, her tactic of handling this situation changed significantly as she now opted for a diplomatic approach.
My eyebrow raised in question at the comment she had made, my eyes noticing the way she was now pulling the blanket over Amelia's shivering body, no doubt because of the little dress she had been wearing, not enough to cover her arms or legs fully. As she adjusted herself in the sheets, her face held a graceful, serene expression.
She sure was undeniably beautiful; it was too bad her blatant idiocy was going to be a problem for her - and me - tomorrow.
A bitch, that's what she was.
Remembering all she had done, I threw her unconscious figure a vehement glare before grunting, "She heard something she shouldn't have."
Agatha's face changed into a knowing one before she let out a sigh, understanding what I meant immediately. "Paul's a snitch, and he isn't daft. He won't wait long before informing him."
I nodded as I got up from the chair tiredly, the sole mention of him managing to be the edge that I needed to call this a day.
"Fine." Agatha conceded with a long exhale, finally understanding. "You can talk to her in the morning, but at least give the girl something to wear, she's shivering."
I rolled my eyes before walking over to the closet and taking out one of my shirts and throwing it her way.
'You're...you're cold-hearted!"
Her words replayed in my mind, a sardonic scoff escaping my mouth as I remembered them. She might have been fairly - even obnoxiously - innocent, but her words sure were far from it.
"What?" Agatha asked, evidently having heard me.
I chuckled lowly before signalling towards the girl lying on the bed. "She thinks I'm cold-hearted," I disclosed, walking closer to her sleeping form before towering over it, pushing my hands in my pockets. A dark look came onto my face as I stared at her before stating vehemently,
"But I'll be sure to make her think I'm a monster tomorrow."