Theo ran back up to the streets to get his car, his heart almost leaping out of his chest. Once on the road, he tried to call Desiree's phone but there was not answer. "Fuck!"
He honked his way through the other vehicles, receiving shouts from pedestrians and drivers alike. In just under three minutes, he managed to escape the busy streets and was heading straight to Vernier's residence.
His phone rang and he answered, "What?"
"In case you forgot, I decided to be your backup," Richard's voice said from the other end. "I'm right behind you."
He threw his phone on the dashboard and stepped on the gas. At the rate of his anger, he didn't think he needed backup. If Vernier touched one hair of Desiree's hair, Theo will make it his job that the man would not live to see his grandchild born.
*****
Desiree was shaking with fear. She couldn't help it. She knew it was time for her to send Theo the signal but her phone was out of sight. And even if he hadn't done anything yet, she would have sent the fucking signal anyway.
The moment they stepped inside his house, she knew right there and then that she was in the company of a crazy man. The shift he took was so sudden, so alarming. The gentle manner on his face and posture was completely gone now as he stared at her, looking her up and down.
"You know, I was half afraid Theo grew attached to you that he would not consider my offer. But alas, he is still the man I thought he is. Just like his old man," he quietly said, his voice echoing around the big, dark and empty house. Heavy curtains blocked the moonlight from outside and the lamps from the corners around the place barely managed to help her do what she needed to do which was to escape. "I think you know that you will never leave this place again, don't you?" The moment he asked the question, Desiree whirled around to run to the door but the man was fast to grab her hand and roughly pull her back. "Now, now...don't make this difficult, Desiree, my dear. I am not going to do whatever you think I am going to do," he said above her, his voice menacing and evil.
"Let go of me. Theo will hear of this and he is not very forgiving—"
His laughter boomed around the place. "Theo doesn't care, my dear. Do you think that after giving him as much orgasm as he wants will make him do whatever it takes to save you? He's a businessman. All he will care about when I am done with you is to be compensated for the damages."
She felt blood draining down her face at his words. "You're wrong. He is going to kill you if you as much as hurt me, you bastard!"
Vernier made a tsking sound against her ear. She leaned as far away from him as she could but that only made him grip her arm harder. Wincing in pain, she spat on his face. "You don't have to get dirty, bitch," he rasped against her ear. "I only need one thing from you and it is right..." his hand roughly ran through her thigh, "here," he said.
"You are not going to get anything from me." Her voice shook with rage and fear. In her mind, she was blaming Theo. He should have known better, made plans. He should have known he was dealing with a psychopath. But first, she had to survive and escape before she could wring Theo's neck herself. She had to be calm and think of a way out. Find a weapon, impale Vernier whichever way she could and get away.
"You don't have any idea what I want from you, do you? Why don't I show you instead?" He pulled her away and into a dark corridor. This time, Desiree didn't struggle. But she took her time to memorize the way, her eyes scanning for any possible exit. Vernier stopped at the farthest door to the right. The door was protected by a passcode and she watched as he punched six numbers. The hidden locking mechanism clicked and Vernier swung the door open.
Her breath was snatched out of her lungs when he swiftly pushed her inside. He left the door open and she wanted it to stay that way so she stayed quiet as her eyes adjusted to darkness. Vernier flicked on the switch and the room was suddenly filled with light.
There was an empty chair with straps on both arms sitting in the middle of the room. Her heart rammed harder against her chest and she forced herself to look away. Only the sight that greeted her was worse than what she tried to escape from. Before her was a white wall lined with black frames of the same size from wall to ceiling. "You are looking at my life's work, my dear," Vernier's cold voice said behind her. Desiree's knees weakened when she realized what she was looking at. "Years and years of searching, making transactions and hearing women scream...Aren't they beautiful? The art of it is amazing, isn't it?"
She wanted to throw up but it seemed that whatever contents she had inside her were frozen cold in horror. There was no denying why Vernier wanted her here now. She had something that he could add to his collection. Despite the disgusting display before her, she couldn't help but stare at the different designs of tattoos on the wall—dragons, birds, words, names and every other imaginable ones. The skins were well-preserved that they looked like framed canvases.
She had forgotten how to breathe for a few seconds as she continued to stare and imagine her own butterfly tattoo in one of the frames.
Vernier's fingers played with her short hair, tucking some behind her left ear as he said, "If you promise to be a good girl, I won't have to kill you."
Biting her tongue to stay quiet, Desiree stood very still, staring at the wall of tattoos but not really seeing. Her senses were too focused on Vernier's fingers dangerously traveling across her shoulder blades, teasing the hem of her dress.
"In fact, some of them discovered something amazing in my process. Do you want to know?"
An angry whimper escaped her throat but she did not open her mouth.
His whisper was too close to her ear. "They discovered they enjoyed it. They liked the pain when I skinned them with my expert fingers."
"I will never—"
"Wrong answer," his voice uttered coldly and before she knew it, he was dragging her to the chair. "Don't fight the inevitable, Desiree. Theo is not coming. He's waiting to pick you up, isn't he? Don't disappoint him by fighting me. If you just stay still," he pushed her to the chair, using his body to weigh her down and started strapping her right wrist, "you will only get away five inches skin shorter."
She tried her best to shove him away with her free hand. He had pinned her legs in between his. She had underestimated the man. He was stronger than she had thought.
When her wrists were both finally strapped to the arms of the chair, the reality of the situation became clear. She could not get away from here even if she could fight. But she tried anyway. She shouted for help and kicked Vernier when he stepped away from her. He only chuckled, saying there was no one else in the house to help her.
He was strapping her left leg to the foot of the chair now and she tried to reach him with her right but failed. What she got from all her struggle was mockery.
She was frozen with fear when he finally stood before her with his hands on his hips. He looked like someone looking at a mound of clay he was about to sculp. The evil spark of excitement in his eyes was very clear as Desiree stared at him in anticipation. His eyes traveled down toward her thighs with hunger that she almost felt his gaze sweeping down her body. She squirmed in her seat. She was trapped.
Desiree discovered that things would get even worse when Vernier took the remaining steps forward and bent to his knees to crouch before her. His hands planted themselves on her knees and moved higher, taking the fabric of her dress with them.
His eyes widened when he saw the butterfly tattoo in her right inner thigh. "What a beautiful little thing," he whispered, his voice filled with wonder and excitement. "I've never had a butterfly before." He took a deep breath as if he finally found the missing piece of a puzzle. He ran his thumb over the butterfly tattoo saying, "The moment I saw this in that auction, I just knew I have to have this."
"And it will stay where it is." Theo's voice from behind caused her head to whip around. She couldn't even voice out the relief she felt. The tears just started crying, blurring her vision of him standing so relaxed in the doorway, his hands in his pockets.
The hand on her thigh froze. "Theo," Vernier snarled before he pasted a smile on his face. He straightened and tilted his head to the right with a look of confusion. "I thought we agreed you pick her up at six?"
"And I thought we agreed I pick her up unharmed? From what I heard, you are not planning to do that," Theo retorted calmly but Desiree could hear the hidden anger.
Vernier chuckled, stepping away from her. "There was no talk of such. We only talked about money, Theo. And I paid you in full. If you would please see yourself out of my house, I will be very glad to let this one pass. I prefer to enjoy the eight hours I paid for."
Desiree held her breath, doubting for a second if Theo would fold. What he did was step forward, hands still inside his front pockets. He was still wearing the same clothes from the party. "Your money is being wired back to your account as we speak, plus thirty percent in apology for the failed...transaction," he said, his voice full of power.
Vernier bared his teeth and started to storm toward Theo but another voice spoke up, "And if we don't leave this house in five minutes with that bitch unharmed, Mr. Hong will be very glad to talk about your unique collection, Vernier."
Richard. What is he doing here?
The old man laughed, looking at Theo and Richard in turn. "You think your father will care what I do on the sideline? Take a look underground, boys. Nothing will surprise the old man anymore."
"Well, that might be true," Richard said, not leaving his spot in the open doorway. He looked bored as if he would rather be elsewhere. Desiree met Theo's gaze for a split second as Richard spoke. She gulped and nodded, understanding what his eyes told her. You're safe now. "But," Richard continued, "I think he will be interested to know about the owner of one of those." Theo's brother motioned his head toward the wall of tattoos. "I saw something familiar that one and only time you bragged about that wall."
Vernier's face went from the color of red to white in a matter of seconds. "I don't know what you are talking about."
By the look on Theo's face he was also as lost as her, having no idea what Richard was talking about.
"If I remember, her name was Ceshiley. Beautiful, fun woman that one. I can't think of any other woman who had amused our old man the way that one did." Vernier's nose was flaring with anger now as he stared at Richard. His fists formed into a ball beside him as he fought for control. "But she disappeared like a bubble just after Tatiana's wedding."
By that time, Theo looked like he understood everything and he cut in, nonchalantly speaking, "The old man looked for her. Ordered me to check out her place two days after the wedding."
Richard nodded from the doorway, studying his nails dryly. "I was also forced to join the search. Checked everywhere but she was gone. We all thought she just sort of ran off to somewhere being a free-spirited woman that she was. I guess it was the only time I really saw Mr. Hong being...shall we say, for the lack of a better word... heartbroken."
"But I do remember one thing that had always reminded me of her," Theo added, now starting to walk toward Desiree. Vernier knew he was losing the game and it was showing on his face, thus the rage in his eyes.
"Ah, yes, the Big Dipper tattoo on her nape. Everyone was surprised to see that one at Tatiana's wedding. Who would have thought she was a tattoo kind of girl. And I'm sure you were too, weren't you, Milo?"
As Richard spoke, Theo had started to unstrap Desiree from the chair, starting with her wrists. When her hands were finally free, she threw herself at him, breathing in his scent as complete relief dawned on her. He continued on to free her legs as she hang on to his shoulders with shaking arms.
"I'm giving you five minutes to get the hell out of my house," Vernier roared. "Get out!"
"My pleasure," Richard said with a curt bow before turning around.
"I hope that next time we meet, Vernier, it will be under pleasant circumstances," Theo said as he pulled Desiree out of the chair, holding her close to him. "If you will remove the Big Dipper tattoo from that wall, I'm sure our father will never have to know."
Desiree was desperate to walk out of there because it was hard to gain control over her shaking limbs. Theo's strong arm almost dragged her out of there with Vernier shouting after them, "My doors are still open for you, Desiree my dear. All you have to do is knock!"
She didn't know the tears were still flowing and that she was sobbing until Theo stopped her outside Vernier's house. His hands hurriedly wiped her tears and whispered, "Stop crying. You're safe now. Des, do you hear me?" He shook her by her shoulders once. Her single nod caused more tears to fall. In desperation, she looked at Theo, the vision of him still blurred by her tears. "Let's go." Another car, Richard's, was already pulling out of the driveway. Theo pulled her toward his, guided her head as she climbed in the passenger seat.
Desiree expected gunshots to follow them as they drove away. That did not happen.
*****
The intensity of his fury could not be put into words. He gripped the steering wheel tightly until he could no longer concentrate. Hundreds of images of Desiree hurt in different ways ran through his mind before he reached Vernier's home earlier. The effort it took to act calm when he found her strapped to a chair, just minutes away from being skinned alive, was even worse.
Richard's car was long gone, driving away into the night and back to the city. The eerie silence inside the car was no help.
Without warning, Theo swerved the car to the side of the road until it screeched to a stop. Desiree almost flew to the dashboard if not for the seatbelt across her body.
"Theo, what's happening? Why are we—"
"Are you hurt?" he snapped, his jaw clenched. She blinked, confused for a second and that infuriated him further. Her face was still wet with tears though she had stopped crying. "Did he hurt you?" he asked again.
Her eyes watered again as she shook her head. "No. No, I'm okay."
He reached out a hand so his fingers lightly run down her cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't know—" he stopped, clenched his jaw again and swallowed. "I didn't know." He wanted her to punch him, to blame him for what happened because he was very close to hanging himself at the very moment.
What she did instead was ask, "Why didn't he come after us?"
Dumbfounded, Theo blinked a few times to digest her words. "He would not dare go against us. He knows we don't attack without a plan. Only this time we did and he did not know that."
A ball of tear dropped from one eye down to the hands tightly clasped together on her lap. She would not meet his eyes. Honestly, he believed it was better if she yelled or worse, demand that she be set free because at that moment he might just say yes to anything she wanted.
"Desiree—"
"I don't want to talk right now, Theo," she interrupted without batting an eye, her gaze focused on the dark road ahead.
Giving a curt nod, Theo drove his car toward home.
*****
Khaye lay on the mat, heaving for breath. Her arms were spread wide to her sides as she closed her eyes. She was drenched her sweat but she felt like she had more energy to spare.
"We can stop now, Khaye," Marco told her, picking up the glass of water from the table, his eyes on her.
"We can practice some more," she breathed out, getting up with a grunt.
"Jesus, woman, you are learning to defend yourself not kill someone."
"It is better to be prepared than sorry." She was back on her feet, ready for more.
Marco just stared at her without moving a muscle. Finally, he shook his head. "You've had enough. Your wound is not even completely healed yet."
"We just had sex and now you're getting soft."
He walked toward her with a grin. "No. It's because I'm just awfully tired right now." He leaned down to plant a kiss on her lips. "We've been quite busy earlier. It's time to shower and get some sleep," he said before turning around.
"Do you think it's going to be alright?" she asked behind him.
Marco stopped but didn't turn around. "Let's keep our wits and try to be one step ahead of the game. I think we'll come around alright by then."
She absently nodded.
"Want to share a shower?" he asked over his shoulder, a smile creeping up his face.
"I'll be right behind you," she replied with a chuckle.
She rolled the mat on the floor and carried it back to her room. She heard Marco turn on the shower from the other side of the wall and she smiled. On her way out the door, she saw her phone and paused. The blue light flickered in the darkness, indicating a message. Her hands reached for it and before she changed her mind, opened the message.
We need to talk. Meet me at the park two days from now. PM. I'll be waiting. Come alone.
Khaye swallowed. Her eyes went to the wall that separated her from Marco. Weighing everything, she decided to delete Gian's message. There was no point telling Marco about it. She knew which park he was talking about. They had spent most of their childhood there and she was not going to taint the memories. She had no intention of walking into a possible trap just yet, even if it meant she could clear things out with Gian.
Her thoughts ran around Gian and what her brother was up to as she joined Marco in the shower. What was he working on? Everything about her that cared for him wanted him to be doing the right thing for the both of them, but she knew that what her brother was up to was far from that. She just knew it—her instinct was telling her so. She had been around him too long not to notice that he was up to no good.
As Marco helped her undress and kiss her under the warm shower, Khaye thought how much it would hurt her if Gian would do what she feared the most.
*****
"You don't have to keep sleeping there," he said in the darkness. It was the first time he spoke after their short talk in the car.
"I have to."
Desiree was aware that her short answers and deafening silence was starting to rub him the wrong way as he said, "It's not because it's fucking more comfortable, is it?"
"It's because it reminds me that this is not where I am supposed to be," she answered, the longest sentence she had said thus far. Her voice was laced with enough anger and fear that she was once again reminded of the events from earlier. "This way, I will be reminded that I am here because of you and that I still hate you for that. I hate you for being so stupid. I hate it that I trusted you enough to hand me over to that man. Didn't you know what he was capable of? Or maybe you just didn't fucking care." Everything she had been trying to bury inside her, every thought and word she wanted to throw at him, suddenly seem to have burst inside and rolled out of her lips.
He did not answer and Desiree thought he was angry or fell asleep. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep in her wooden coffin, biting her lips to keep her mouth shut. She was only embarrassing herself. Maybe Vernier was right and Theo didn't really care as much as she at least hoped he'd be.
"Come here," his quiet, gentle voice said above her. She almost jumped out of her wooden box in surprise. The hammering in her chest continued and she clutched her chest.
"What the fuck, Theo! You scared the shit out of me!"
His hand reached for the hand on her chest and tugged. "Come here," he repeated gently, his voice almost breaking.
"What?"
His hand blindly found her face in the darkness and his lips claimed hers, his gentlest kiss yet. "I'm sorry," he whispered against her lips. "I'm sorry..."
A new batch of tears escaped her lips as she whimpered against his mouth, kissing him back. She was safe. He came for her and she was safe. Vernier was not going to her hurt.
"What are you doing?" she asked weakly when he took her in his arms and stood up.
"Taking you to bed."
Her hand rested on his nape, caressing it without protest. He gently placed her on the bed where she sank in the mattress and quickly followed to lie on his side, half his body covering her. Theo's lips trailed gentle, butterfly kisses across her lips, her jaw, down to her neck. She grasped a handful of his hair, desperate for him to go on. Though she hated the fact that she found safety in the arms of the man who brought her danger in the first place, Desiree couldn't bring herself to push him away.
His hand found her breast and he followed it with his mouth, sucking on it through her shirt. Desiree's body woke up, not an ounce of cell asleep. Her breathing became short as Theo worshiped her body with his hands and lips. The way he was doing it, the equal amount of gentle and rough, was not like anything he had done before. It was as if his mouth and hands wanted to erase everything Vernier instigated earlier.
It was different from the previous ones they had. This time there was no rush. There was just feeling and giving.
Her eyes watered when she realized he was doing it for her. Or so she thought. Or so she wanted it to be true.
She returned his touch and kisses in the same sensual manner.
When he finally entered her ever so slowly, tears streamed down her face. Theo buried his face in the junction of her neck and shoulder, his lips against her racing pulse whispering, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry..." over and over again until she believed him. Her heart wrenched in wonder, like it had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time since Jamaica's death, Desiree felt something close to being loved.