She had just parted with Haruki outside the mall, shifting the bags she held from one hand to the other, when she noticed a familiar figure by the curb. His back was to her and his dark hair was blown about by the wind. Before him was a polished black sedan, and surrounding him were men in black suits.
He was chatting on the phone in a familiar language. Then, his call ended and he turned to speak to one of the men.
Oh, no.
Her feet took her a few steps back. She spun about and walked in the opposite direction, going as fast as she could manage in her high-heeled boots.
Of all places!
Her heart thumped noisily as her lips pursed. Her shoes made loud clack-clacks on the pavement as if highlighting her escape.
Of all places for Juan Gonzales to be at!
'Hana?' a voice called out.
Oh, no.
She increased her speed. She was sure her escape would be more apparent by now. Couldn't he leave off? She didn't want to see him.
'Hey!'
A hand grabbed at her shoulder, jerking her to a stop.
'Hana?'
She spun about and her brows shot up in mock surprise.
'Oh, hi!' she exclaimed a little too brightly.
'Remember me?' he asked, his lips spreading into a wide grin.
'Yes, yes,' she gushed as pin pricks rose from where his hand had been on her shoulder.
He gestured to the bags she held.
'Look at all that! Let me help you,' he offered.
'Oh, no, it's alright,' she said, holding the bags away, but he had grabbed onto her wrist and was now forcefully separating her bags from her.
You can't be serious! she thought, her eyes wide at her bags now in his hand.
'Let me drive you home!' he went on, seemingly oblivious to her discomfort.
Hana stared as he marched to his car, her bags getting further from her.
Home! No way!
'It's alright,' she hurriedly said with a weak laugh, trying but failing to grab her bags from him. 'I'm meeting Leon.'
'I'm meeting him at La Reve,' she lied. 'We're having dinner there.'
'La Reve! Why didn't you say so?' he said with a sigh. Then he jerked his chin at the car. One of the black-suited men had opened the door, allowing her a view into its comfortable interior. 'Go on, then. I'm going in that direction.'
How could anyone be so impudent? Her energy drained as she estimated the number of men with him. Her knife would be insufficient to take them all out if need be.
'It's alright,' Hana said, this time her tone more firm. 'I don't want to trouble you.'
With a laugh and a shake of his head, he turned to set her bags in the car.
Damn it.
'Right,' she muttered, her displeasure now clear in her features. 'Thanks.'
He shot her a lopsided smile before climbing in after her.
'My pleasure.'
~
'How's your husband? Very busy?'
Hana didn't know how to answer him. She knew little about how the bratva worked, and Leon never explained his work to her. Besides, even if she knew, she wouldn't be revealing it to his enemy.
Her bags were thankfully on the floor between them so she didn't have to sit beside him. Awkward tension had begun to rise ever since the car started and had multiplied ten-fold into a suffocating embrace when he had placed his arm along the back of the car seat so that his hand dangled by her face.
'He's fine,' she muttered, keeping her eyes focused on the back of the driver's head rest. 'Busy.'
'How's his wounds? I apologise for that, really. I didn't mean to cause him so much trouble,' he went on glibly. 'But he broke my wrist so we are more than even.'
He slid his right sleeve up to reveal the edges of a white plaster, then shot her a grin.
'Still hurts like hell.'
Serves you right, she thought with a burst of anger. But she was annoyed with herself as well. That's right! Leon had told her he'd broken Juan's wrist, didn't he? If she had remembered, she would have used that to her advantage and run away. But that would mean leaving her shopping behind.
He suddenly reached forward to grab a bag and peer into it. A frown creased her brow as he began rifling through the clothes.
'What's this? Men's clothes? For Leon or for yourself?'
'For Leon,' she muttered darkly. What's wrong with him?! He was distracting her. She kept her gaze to the window, hoping they would reach La Reve soon. In truth, she still didn't know her way around, and so she had spouted the name of the first restaurant that came to mind.
'So he's got you shopping for his clothes now, is he?'
She shrugged a shoulder. She had in fact been looking out for something as an apology for that time when her vomit landed on his shirt. It was simply an apology; nothing more.
'Can't a wife buy clothes for her husband?' she muttered under her breath.
'Oh,' he drawled. 'Aren't the two of you the sweetest?'
As he prattled on about something or other, she resigned herself to staring out of the window. She wanted to engage with him as little as she could; her annoyance clear on her features.
~
Hana recoiled when a hand grabbed hers. She made a small yelp at the same time as blood pounded through her veins double-time and small hairs stood on her back. If Juan noticed her reaction, he wasn't letting it past his calm facade.
'You didn't hear a word that I said, did you?' he asked, his tone tinged with hurt.
She would have felt guilty had her hand not been gripped in his.
'Sorry,' she muttered grudgingly, 'but what are you – '
He brought her hand to his face, slowly, meaningfully, his playful green eyes on hers. His eyes fluttered shut, his eyelashes were long on his caramel skin, and he took in a long inhale along her wrist.
Her eyes widened in alarm.
Pleasure was written on his features as his lips curled into a smile.
Hana tugged her hand back forcefully, glad to finally have her hand back to herself. But his eyes were still on hers, burning holes into her skin and leaving pinpricks wherever they roved. She swallowed hard and looked away.
Her palm was damp with sweat and she surreptitiously wiped her hand on her jeans. What hope she had of making her way out of this situation alive dwindled the longer she remained in the car. She remembered the blade she kept in her handbag and her fingers itched for the comforting metal in her hands, but she could only imagine that Juan's guard would put a bullet in her brain faster than she could get her knife out.
Childhood memories of her parents warning her against talking to strangers emerged in a taunting merry-go-round in her head.
She wondered what Leon was doing. Would he have to look for her dead body?
'I have a proposition for you,' he said abruptly, drawing her out of her thoughts once more.
Hana remained silent.
Did he want her to spy on her husband too? Like how her Uncle had done?
'I would like to propose,' he went on loftily when it was clear she would not be reacting to him. 'A dalliance.'
'What?' she blurted out, before silently cursing herself for speaking. The word seemed familiar, but she couldn't recall its meaning. Time to read more of Leon's English books, she thought, that is if I make it out of this car alive.
'Dalliance,' he pressed again, enunciating the word. 'Rendezvous, date, tryst, whatever you'd like to call it.'
His features were calm. She wondered how he could say something like that without a hint of anxiety in his face. Maybe such was the underworld, where difficult words could be said without real intent in them.
'You've been in my mind ever since I saw you,' he went on, his voice low. 'You infatuate me.'
There was some emotion, some tension, in the way his eyes remained fixed on hers. Hana had no idea how to respond. It was clear in the way his eyes roved her frame, taking in the slim legs, the soft skin, the inky black hair. She knew what he wanted. Of course that was what he wanted. He had made it explicitly clear in his gaze.
His fingers crept to hers again but she was too mentally exhausted to make herself retrieve her arm. Then a tongue flicked out to taste her skin and a shiver ran down her back in horror of his action.
The car jerked to a stop, throwing them out of the trance that had held them in place. One glance out of the window and she recognised the white-brick walls of La Reve. She hurriedly grabbed her things.
'I must decline,' she mumbled, one hand roughly snapping at the handle to open the door.
Freedom! Fresh air!
Then a cream-coloured card was held out in front of her nose.
'If you change your mind.'
'I don't think I – ' she snapped but before she could complete her sentence, the card was dropped into her bag.
~
Leon followed her movements out of the corner of his eye. In his hands was a book, its pages left unturned for the past fifteen minutes or so, ever since she emerged from the bathroom in a haze of Peaches and Cream.
He had her nightly skincare routine more or less memorised and found it amusing to watch her. She was so meticulous in her actions, so unaware of his gaze, that she went through with it silently, her face in front of her mirror.
Tonight, she seemed distracted.
She had bought clothes for him, the last thing he expected her to do. While getting over his surprise, she had forced him into their walk-in wardrobe to try every piece on. Apparently, the clothes were an apology for that time when her vomit had landed on his shirt. She didn't have to, of course, but it was a nice gesture all the same.
She climbed into bed beside him and pulled the sheets over herself. He badly wanted to reach a hand to her, pull her to him, and though 'barrier pillow' no longer made its appearance, he knew better than to rush her into something she did not want.
'So,' he started lightly as he smacked his book shut and put it away. 'Are you alright?'
Her eyes flew to his.
'I'm fine.'
'No, you're not,' he went on. She could read him, and sometimes he could read her too. 'Something's on your mind. I can see it on your face.'
Hana tugged the quilt to her chin and rolled over to face him.
'I'm really fine,' she said. 'Just thinking.'
'Yeah?' He left his bedside light on even as he dove under the quilt and turned to her. He'd get to the bottom of this, he thought. 'And whatever you're thinking about has gotten you into a knot.'
A chuckle left her but there was no humour in her eyes.
Finally, reluctantly, breezily, she said, 'I met Juan today.'
'You what?!' he exclaimed, tumbling into her side with such ferocity, she drew back in alarm.
'Relax! It was just a coincidence,' she muttered. 'He recognised me when I was coming out of the mall.'
'Hmm,' he said, his eyes narrowed at her.
'And I got a ride from him,' she added.
'You got into his car?!' he nearly yelled.
Her eyes were wide now, more from amusement than from actual concern. How could she be so calm?
'Yeah, I got into his car.'
He fought the urge to grab her by her shoulders and shake her. Did she not understand the danger she had been in? Why had he not received any news?
'Did he say anything?' he asked, the words rushing from his mouth. 'What did he do? He didn't do anything, did he?'
'He didn't say much,' she murmured quietly, her eyes alight with amusement. 'He asked about your injuries.'
'That bastard,' he hissed.
'His hand's injured,' she returned.
Leon rolled onto his back.
'That bastard.'
The next time he set his eyes on Juan, he thought, he'd wring that little neck.
'You were the one who broke his wrist!' She had propped herself up on her elbow and was leaning to him.
'Still. A. Bastard.'
'And he asked me to be his mistress.'
He jumped up.
'You're kidding.'
Hana remained silent.
'Why didn't you tell me?' he exploded. 'Who does he think he is?'
She looked on as he raged, waving his arms as he gesticulated. Finally, she tugged on him arm and scooted over to him.
'I said no to him, obviously.'
'Obviously!' he scoffed. 'I can't believe he said that.'
'Oh, calm down!' she muttered. 'I'm still here.'
He gazed down at her and sniffed.
'Of course you are. You can't get enough of me.'
'I can't get enough of you?' she countered, her tone sharp in surprise.
~
'We're getting a divorce after this, aren't we?' she teased.
In the darkness of the room, he slowly turned his head to her.
'If you say so,' he murmured, dragging the words from his throat. He could hardly breathe as she studied him, her dark eyes carefully on his.
'Oh? Your answer changed.'
'Did it?' he muttered nonchalantly.
Of course it did, you little fool, he thought darkly. I'm not the blind one anymore.
~
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