Luc's POV
The guard greeted me as I started to go into my place. He didn't even raise an eyebrow at my appearance. They've gotten very used to me coming home like a drenched rat. The living room was dark and I saw Vincent sleeping soundly, wrapping the blanket cozily around him. I felt mean enough to pour water on his face but I stopped myself. I didn't want to ruin my rug.
"Vincent, we are going out." I said as I pulled him up jerkily and started walking out with him. He stumbled and I held him up by tucking my hands under both his arms.
"Hey, wake up!" I snapped and he rubbed his eyes blearily.
"Luc?" He asked me in confusion.
"Yes. I've decided to share all my troubles with you." I said as I dragged his sleepy body outside into the rain. The rain properly woke him up as he yelped loudly.
"Arrrrghh! Bang..bang..boom..boom..psshht." He screamed and I raised an eyebrow at him as he shivered and then glared at me.
"What did you just say?" I asked him and he glared at me.
"That's me beating you to death." He snapped and I looked at him incredulously as he breathed in and out sharp, angry breaths.
"Why are we in the rain?" He screamed, trying to go back into the house.
I pulled him back and I could hear his teeth chattering. "Argh! Luc it's raining." He snapped in irritation as if I didn't know that.
"Yes. Starting tonight, you are sharing my troubles. Isn't that what you want?" I asked him and he looked at me owlishly.
"Huh? When did I say that?" He asked me, a confused look on his face.
"That was implied when you decided to become my wife." I growled in his face.
"Wait..I didn't see that in the contract and why are we sharing your troubles in the rain?" He asked me back and I stared at him. Why was this conversation sounding so weird? Do I even have to answer? I thought as I just dragged him while he struggled, until I was where I wanted.
"You will chop trees and I will watch. We can take turns." I told him, pulling out the axe from the last tree I tried to chop and handing him the axe. He fell from the weight of it and I stared at him.
"Aren't you ashamed to call yourself a man?" I asked him, seeing him struggle to pull it up.
"Exactly...I am not a man." He said and I raised my eyebrow at that.
"So what are you? A fairy?" I asked him and he laughed.
"Yeah..and I am flying away." He said as he tried to run off and I grabbed him by the back of his pajama collar.
"Oh god Luc! Why? Just why?" He wailed angrily and I was taken aback for a second.
"You know, it's perfectly fine if you love the rain and the trees and rolling in the mud sort of thing. As your wife, I will totally understand that you are a werewolf at heart. No judgements..absolutely no judgements. But that doesn't mean I have to do the same. I am a fairy as you said and this fairy likes a big fireplace and a warm house. Please enjoy the rain and the forest and all the buzzing insects and whatever you like outside at night and..let me sleep?" He asked me as he pressed his hands together in a begging pose and looked at me.
I averted my eyes. "You are not leaving anyway." I told him stubbornly.
"Are you going to bite me? It's not even a full moon night to convert me." He said loudly. What the hell was he saying? I wondered. As I said, my brain just flickers and runs an error code when I have to deal with Vincent.
"Do you want me to bite you?" I asked menacingly, not quite understanding what he was going about but still the idea of biting him was quite appealing.
"If you want you can. But not the neck. You can bite my arm." He said, showing me his arm. I still felt disoriented with my dark thoughts and Vincent's lack of logic.
I decided to bite his arm, just because I was irritated.
"Oh my god! Are you sure you are not a vampire!" Vincent screamed, squirming around and then howling loudly. A slow smirk formed on my lips as I bit hard enough to bleed. The moment I tasted blood in my mouth, I pulled back. Vincent stared at the bite mark in horror as I looked pleased at it.
"My god! I probably need a tetanus shot!" He said as he stared at the wound.
"Where else do you want me to bite you?" I asked him and he backed away a bit.
"Hey, only one werewolf bite is enough for conversion." He said and I sighed. That shit about werewolves again! Who believes such nonsense?
"Come here." I pulled him closer and slapped a handcuff on his hand and linked with mine. Actually, I usually wear a band around my hand that could easily turn to a handcuff when I need it. The stuff I wear on my neck and hands are almost always weapons that I could use when needed.
"Huh? Why a handcuff?" He demanded.
"So that you don't leave." I told him calmly and he sighed loudly.
"I am not going to leave in the middle of our role play." He said in a peeved voice and I stared at him.
"Role..play?" I asked curiously.
"Y-yeah?" He asked me back curiously and my face flushed as I realized I used to pull him out of class during nap time in Kindergarten and I was always playing stupid role plays of cartoon characters or animals with Vincent. Now that I think about it, he always seamlessly went along with whatever lines I said.
"So should I also howl at the moon or something during the conversion process?" He asked me nervously and I barked out laughing. He still thinks that I like childhood role play games. Well, I would always be interested in role playing of a different kind but I doubt he would be ready for it.
"W-why are you laughing? Be serious. You are spoiling my sleep here." He said with a pout.
"You are so weird." I murmured thinking I wanted to give up on trying to figure him out.
"Says the weirder one who likes to sleep out in the rain." He said with a huff.
"So, how does this role play end?" I asked him and he raised an eyebrow at me.
"How about we both go to sleep inside the house where normal people sleep?" He asked me and I stared at him thinking I would probably sleep walk if I sleep.
"I am not going back into the house." I told him and he sighed loudly.
"But I will catch a cold if I am outside." He told me and I was surprised that I actually cared.
"I will go inside and wait until you dress up properly and come out to stay with me. In exchange, you let me sleep on your lap and stay on guard throughout the night. No sleep for you." I told him. Vincent looked at me weirdly.
"Okay." He told me and I blinked. Is he serious? Haah! Didn't he realize I said that only as an excuse to not go back? Since he agreed to a ridiculous proposal, I found myself agreeing to go back inside with him.
I waited only until he changed clothes and came out dressed in a thick waterproof winter coat and pants and a scarf around his face. I chuckled at seeing him so dressed up. He looked like he was going to climb the Everest from the way he was dressed. We walked back again to the tree and I thought my guards even looked at us like we were crazy since we kept going and coming back to the house in the middle of a rainy night. I ignored it though as we walked back to the tree and I rested my head on Vincent's lap. I kept looking up at him in amusement since he still seemed to be shivering.
"How come you are so cold even after dressing up like an Eskimo?" I asked him and he glared down at me.
"How come you look so comfy despite still being drenched in this freezing rain?" He asked me back.
"I like the cold." I told him with a shrug.
"And..I like the heat." He imitated my shrug.
"You are really..weird." I said slowly.
"Just go to sleep." He said grumpily and I found myself grinning.
"Why don't you tell me a story?" I asked, just because I wanted to annoy him.
"Okay..Oooncccee upoooon aaa tiiiimmmee.." He started in that bored voice which I also used to read bed time stories to kids. I realized then that I actually learned that from Vincent.
I found myself reacting the same way my kids did to it. "Wait Vincent! I have to keep the axe far away." I said, getting scared strangely that I would sleep and wake up to a chopped up Vincent in the morning.
Vincent grumbled but did what I wanted and I buried the axe as far away from us as possible. I wasn't going to sleep anyway.
"I think we should do some digging." I said and made Vincent dig with me for a long time until he fell down grabbing his back.
"I am dying." He screamed and I glared at him.
"Okay..let's go chop some wood then." I told him and he scowled harder. I ignored it and realized that I buried the axe earlier.
"Let's just walk around." I said and Vince looked at me like I was crazy. As if I care how he looks at me, I thought with a shrug.
I dragged him around with me for about an hour when Vincent collapsed.
"Why are you so weak?" I snapped.
"Excuse me! I don't have iron man legs." He snapped back.
"Then what do you have? Jelly legs?" I snapped back.
"First tell me what the ackskajung gah..we are doing here in the middle of a rainy night?" He said as if he wanted to strangle me.
"Do you want to climb a tree?" I asked, ignoring him.
"What?" He asked me weakly.
"We can climb the tree." I said with a sigh. Honestly I was running out of ideas of what we could do outside now. I started to drag him to climb up the tree and he kept pulling away.
"Luc, that tree doesn't look like it can hold two people." He said and I looked up at the tree branches. For some reason they looked blurry.
"It's fine." I told him and he gaped at me.
"Hey, we'll both fall and die. I am not going up there with you. Nada. Nope." He said stubbornly, folding his hands on his chest.
"You don't want to die with me?" I asked him threateningly.
"No. Thank you." He said with a snort.
"But you will die with me." I told him smugly thinking that he doesn't yet know his own fate.
"That's so romantic of you but let's kiss first before dying together." He said after blinking at me for a while.
"I hate kissing." I said curling my lips and then was surprised that I told him what I really thought. I usually try to avoid saying things like that out loud. But it was Vincent. I didn't care what he thought. I mean I don't care what anyone thinks either. But I don't care what Vincent thinks more. That's why I can say whatever I want to him.
He kept staring at my face at that.
"What? You are going to do this magical thing that makes me change my mind..like..poof..and then I'd say I like kissing now?" I sneered at him.
"Do you very proudly tell that to everyone you meet?" Vince asked me and I blinked.
"No. It's special treatment for you because I don't care about you. You are like nobody." I told him and he smiled.
"What do you hate about kissing?" He asked me and I frowned at that recalling that disgusting man who used to force me to kiss him or force things in my mouth. The more I tried to suppress that memory and focus on Vincent, I felt like another revolting memory was creeping up in my mind of a man with same eyes as Vincent who abused me sexually. It's weird. I am sure I have kissed Mairi and Emma too but it's like that doesn't even exist in my memory. My head started spinning and I started getting more angry.
"I hate questions like that." I roared at Vince and his eyes widened. I hit my head hard against the tree to stop my raging emotions. I still need to stay awake and do something with Vincent instead of get angry. I tried to remember the last time I slept for even an hour. Was it four days ago? It didn't matter. My head and eyes just felt so heavy and I was worried, Vincent would run away the moment I fall asleep.
"Luc, what are you doing?" Vince's voice sounded worried.
"We have to do some activity." I said weakly. What the hell do I mean by activity? I wondered but somehow I wasn't feeling good and I couldn't care about what words came out of my mouth. I craned my neck and rubbed the back of my neck in an irritated gesture. This wasn't good. My head was just spinning.
"Luc, your head..it's bleeding." Vince said anxiously as he touched me and I reacted like I've been touched by fire.
"Stay where you are..don't touch me." I growled and he bit his lips as he looked at me worriedly.
"Okay..let's do some..activity. How about..hide and seek?" Vince asked me and I looked at him owlishly. I tried to fight the darkness enveloping my mind and desperately grabbed Vincent's hands.
"Let's play hide and seek." I told him getting weirdly excited by the idea of doing anything. I've long forgotten what was mature and not. I just wanted to stay awake and not freak out Vincent. If he wants to play hide and seek it means he isn't freaked out right? I wondered but my brain was no longer responding.
"You have to let go of the handcuff." He told me and I stared at Vincent's hand in the cuffs.
"But this is our marriage binding." I told him and he looked up at me. I was trying to recall why the handcuff was so important. There was something whispering in my head to not let him go but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what it was. So I said the first thing that came to mind.
"It isn't. The marriage binding is in our hearts Luc." He told me very carefully like he didn't want to agitate me. But it did agitate me. Why was he being careful when talking to me? I scratched my head.
"Then why is there a handcuff?" I asked in confusion and then rubbed my forehead. I felt like puking. I was showing such a horrible side of myself to Vincent wasn't I? I wondered to myself but for the life of me all I could focus on was the need to puke.
Someone touched my cheek and I whirled around to face Vincent.
"Luc, I will stay with you even without the handcuffs." He told me and I looked blearily at him.
"You always lie." I found myself replying automatically.
Vincent looked at me for a long time. "I never lied." He told me and my anger peaked.
"You lie..You always lie. Don't try to change that." I screamed at him and he flinched.
"Okay..I won't change what you believe. I won't lie again. Please forgive me. You have to trust me. Trust me this one time Luc. Give me the key." He told me slowly.
I knew I shouldn't but he said to forgive him. You are a forgiving boy aren't you my son? I heard my dad's voice.
"I am a very forgiving person..not boy." I mumbled as I pulled out the key of the handcuff and gave to Vincent hesitantly.
Vincent quickly unlocked the handcuff and I grabbed his arm. "You never stayed with me. So, you have to at least die with me." I found myself telling him. He blinked, looking surprised at that.
"Luc, we are not dying tonight." He told me, patting my hand and trying to touch my forehead with his freed hands. I pulled back immediately angry.
"Why do you want to touch me?" I gritted out and Vincent pulled back, pulling his hands up in the air.
"No touching. I wasn't trying to touch you. It's just..your hair looked soft." He said sheepishly.
"My hair?" I asked dumbly. Where have I heard that before?
"Emma?" I said looking around. Did she say that? I wondered.
"Luc.." Vincent called me as he touched my arm. I glanced at him and then looked around again.
"Hey! It's only you and me here Luc. No one else." He told me and I shook my head realizing I was probably looking insane to him right now.
"Yes. And it better be only you and me here. No one should know, Vincent." I told him, fearing he would spread the word around that I was insane.
Vincent nodded. "Luc, let's play the game. You hide first and I will find you." He told me.
I looked at him. Something in me kept resisting letting go of him but on the other hand, if I didn't want to sleep I had to do something.
"I'll start from ten." Vince told me as he turned his back to me. I stared at his back. I didn't want to go far from where I was as I listened to him count down. I looked around the place to find a place to hide. At first I thought I should climb the tree but I wanted to be easily found and I thought Vincent doesn't like to climb trees. I looked at the wet ground and then knelt down to grab the clay to camouflage myself against the dark blackish plants grown close to the big tree. I laid down near the plant bed and waited for Vince to find me.
He finished counting till ten and to my surprise he immediately ran away from the area where we were. I tried to go after him but my head throbbed and I realized I should have never lied down. I guess once a liar..always a liar is true. I hoped I didn't die here. When I am forced to sleep I find that it's difficult to wake up even when I am suffocating. I was already lying on the ground. What if the rain created a big puddle around me? I would probably choke to death in sleep. I couldn't think anymore and despite how alarmed I felt, I was soon pulled under tumultuous waves of darkness.
Vincent's POV
I ran back to Luc's home quickly to grab a first aid kid. I hoped he was going to be okay until I came back for him.
"Whoa! Hey! Where's master?" The guard grabbed my hand as soon as I tried to go inside.
"Hey! Do you have any kind of first aid box?" I asked him and he frowned.
"Luc needs it. Just don't gawk at me." I snapped at him and his eyes widened as he quickly went inside and came back with a first aid box.
"If master is in trouble, why are you taking this outside? He needs to be inside." The guard said and I shook his head.
"He's going to get really mad if anyone else comes. So, trust me! It's best that I treat him where he is." I told him.
"Ha! Why the hell should I trust you?" The guy asked me arrogantly.
I pursed my lips. "Look I need to hurry. If you have a death wish you may follow me. Luc doesn't want anyone else to be there." I said as I jerked my hands from his hold and ran back to the big tree. I looked around for Luc for a while and was surprised when I couldn't find him. I didn't think he had gone far. Oh god! What if he had gone far? I thought in fear. He looked like he would faint any time. What if he is hiding somewhere completely out of it?
"Luc!" I screamed frantically.
"Please you win. Come out of hiding." I screamed out as I continued to search everywhere. Where was he? I wondered as I grabbed my head. I could feel tears blur my eyes.
"Luc where are you?" I screamed loudly but except for the loud whooshing sound of the wind against the rain, there was no response. I sobbed as I dashed around the area wildly screaming his name.
What should I do? I should probably get help but Luc would be upset if I brought anyone else here, I thought as I chewed my lower lip, tears of desperation falling from my eyes. Urgh! Why did I ask him to hide? He wasn't being himself in the first place. I should have known he wouldn't just hide behind a tree like he did when he was a kid. Even then, his hiding places were difficult to find.
As an adult, I should have known he could hide in plain sight better than a normal person. Wait! Hide in plain sight? I wondered as I ran back towards the tree and looked around the area. Could he use a camouflage or was I thinking too hard? I looked at the area. The easiest camouflage would be the clay on the ground. There were too many dark places but the lightening from the sky was lighting up the place every few seconds and I could see the place clearly. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see anything out of place. Should I look above? I wondered as I looked at the tree. He had talked about climbing the tree. I walked around the tree looking up at the branches.
"Oh god!" I whimpered. It was dark and I couldn't see anything clearly. What if he was up in the tree? I really need help to find him.
I was just about to run off to find one of Luc's phantoms when Jared walked over to the area and grabbed my arm.
"Oh thank god! I can't find Luc." I said frantically, tears streaming down my eyes.
"Hey! Calm down and speak slowly." Jared told me but I found myself screaming back at him.
"I can't find Luc. We were playing Hide and Seek and I can't find him." I blabbered sobbing madly as I looked around again.
"What? Do you think you can fool me with a Kindergarten lie? Hide and seek? I came here because the guard reported something was suspicious with you. Where is Luc?" Jared shook my shoulder.
"God! I told you, I don't know! We are wasting time. He was hurt." I pulled away from him and kept screaming for Luc as I ran around wildly.
"I think he might be up in the tree." I told Jared with wide eyes. He stared at me.
"If Luc is really hiding, nobody can find him." Jared said with a worried frown.
"Please don't say that. Just climb that tree." I screamed at him and Jared looked up at the tree.
"Luc can climb up to any tree. He is a good climber and he makes a habit of sleeping on trees. I think we should get the dogs but in this weather it would be hard. We need a search party." Jared said.
My eyes widened at that. I didn't really want a search party. For some reason I think Luc would be very pissed if I called in a search party to find him. Not to mention, I might be forced to tell everyone what happened between us. I didn't want to talk about it with anyone else. I looked around again and kept running around until I stumbled and fell into a puddle. I sobbed and cleared my face that dripped with wet puddle clay. The light illuminated the ground and I thought I saw something glittery in the blackish tree bed. I ran over to that side and realized that I did indeed see the silver cross on the ground. This was Luc's, I thought immediately as I grabbed for that and felt it was tangled with something. Jared came over to see what I was doing. I checked the ground with my hand to untangle the necklace and was shocked when I touched skin.
"Luc!" I screamed delightedly as I pulled him up on my lap. His camouflage was so good that he had managed to hide so well on the ground within the blackish trees. At first I got really angry with him for hiding in a place I wouldn't even think of looking. But thank god! His necklace gave him away. I was going to shout at him for not responding to my calls but then realized he was out cold.
"Luc?" Jared asked as he quickly pulled Luc's unresponsive body into his arms.
"You sure you didn't do this? If I see any injury on him, I am killing you." Jared growled.
"He injured his head. That's why I got the first aid kid." I started as Jared looked for injuries.
"Hey! He is my husband. I am more worried about him than you. Let me treat him." I snapped at him as I pushed at Jared. Jared looked at me like I was testing his patience.
"Fine! Let me first get him out of the rain." He snapped back at me.
I pulled back and asked him to take him under the big tree where the thick foliage of the leaves sheltered against the heavy rain.
"I am going to take him home." Jared said as he pulled up Luc's body.
"No. You can't. He doesn't want to go home." I told him.
"Why should I listen to you?" Jared asked me and I sighed.
"Please. Just this once. Trust me. He doesn't want to go inside. He wants to stay out. I will stay with him. He wanted this to be between only him and me." I said and I heard Luc groan softly as he scrunched his eyebrows.
"What is between you and him? The last time I checked..he hates you." Jared told me.
"Yes. But what's between us is a bit complicated. Please. Give me this chance to be with him." I begged him.
Jared sighed but he assisted me in getting Luc under the tree. Jared waited even when I asked him to leave us alone to see what I was doing with him. I quickly cleaned the swelling wound on his forehead and applied the ice pack to the bump. Luc groaned from time to time and even tried to grab my hand but his movements were weak. So, I was able to tend to his wound properly. Thankfully it didn't require stitches and I had to just clean and apply some medicine to bring down the swelling and dress the wound. Once done, I kept Luc's head on my lap and pulled him closer to me to shield his body from the rain. Jared went back home and brought a rain coat with him that we put over Luc's body.
"What happened here?" Jared asked me softly as he sat beside me.
"I can't explain." I told him, thinking over what I had seen and deciding it was best to not let Jared know.
"Luc usually sleeps here and he doesn't like anyone near the area. How come he invited you to this place?" Jared asked me.
"I don't know." I whispered so as not to wake Luc. Jared sighed. I gently touched Luc's hair and he nuzzled his face closer against my stomach. Jared looked at that.
"He trusts you." Jared told me in surprise.
"What?" I asked him too, surprised at that.
"No matter how deeply he is sleeping, he had never allowed anyone to touch his hair while he is sleeping. He almost broke Zero's hand once when he touched him in sleep." Jared told me and I gave him a disbelieving look.
"Don't believe me? Let's see?" Jared said as he also reached to touch Luc's hair. He frowned when Luc didn't react and then lowered his hand to his forehead. We were both shocked when Luc grabbed his hand in a death grip and even opened his eyes.
I grabbed Luc's hand, grabbing Jared's arm. "Luc, it's okay. It's me." I said frantically and saw him frown as I gently tried to pry his hand from Jared's arm. He tightened his hand on his arm for a bit before letting me pry his fingers and let go of Jared's arm. He appeared to be looking at me broodingly before he closed his eyes again and went back to sleep. I looked at Jared, quite pleased with myself. Maybe like Jared said, he trusted me.
Just to be sure, I touched his cheek this time and his eyes flickered open at that.
"I..Can I touch your cheek?" I asked him goofily and he looked at me dazedly.
"Hmm..Emma." He whispered before he closed his eyes, making my hopes shatter. He thought I was Emma.
Jared looked at my crestfallen expression. He didn't say anything to that as he sighed and sat up.
"Are you sure you want to stay out? The temperature is going to drop further. It might be best for Luc as well to be inside." He told me.
"I am fine. You can leave if you want." I told him brusquely. Jared didn't reply but continued to stay with me without even saying a word. I didn't know how much time passed as I sat beside a silent Jared.
"Did Luc love Emma a lot?" I asked Jared and he glanced at me.
"I think so." He said and I sighed. Lisa didn't think Luc loved Emma but Jared did. Who was right? I am more tempted to think he didn't love her because he still scorns love. But that might be because he is heartbroken too. Emma was beautiful and I am sure any man would fall in love with her easily. If Emma couldn't win his heart, what chance did I have? I wondered desolately. I had to remind myself once again that I was here to not necessarily start a romance with him. I mean of course I hope a lot for that but the main purpose is to earn his forgiveness and start over our friendship. So, I had no right to be jealous of anyone.
I wondered about the erratic behavior I had witnessed from Luc tonight. He had behaved like a kid who didn't want to sleep with all his actions. I wonder why he did that. He even displayed his anger by slamming his own head against the tree for no reason. Wait! Was there no reason? I asked him why he disliked kissing. I looked down at his pliable lips. They looked very kissable. Indeed, I've always thought he would be an amazing kisser. But he said he hated kissing. He didn't like being touched and he didn't like kissing. Any kind of intimacy provoked violence in him. That was a typical sign of sexual abuse. Was he sexually abused at any point in his life? If he was, would he ever tell me? I wondered. From what I know, he was married to Emma. How did Emma tolerate being with a man who disliked physical intimacy? I wondered.
My time with Luc as a fifteen year old was very short. But during that time, I noticed that he wasn't swayed by nudity or beautiful men or women. Luc liked fast forwarding any intimate scenes when we watched movies. I thought he was shy to watch it with me but even then I thought it was odd because Luc didn't strike me as a shy person. He gets irritated with people doing public displays of affection and unlike other young boys you enjoyed porn and watching naked women, Luc wouldn't watch it even if someone gave it to him free. Also, unlike most boys of the age who gawked when they see really beautiful women, Luc breezes past them without so much as a glance. I liked that about him when I was a teenager. I thought it was very mature and cool. But maybe from the very beginning, it was a sign of something else. Perhaps he was asexual or even demisexual or maybe it was simply a result of abuse.
I knew Dr. Linda said he needs help. Maybe I could help him and by doing that, perhaps he would forgive me and we could be friends again, I thought hopefully. I was still thinking things through when I started hearing the chirping of birds as the sky started lighting up in the colours of dawn. Luc sat up with a jolt at the sound of the birds, almost hitting my chin. He glanced around and looked at both me and Jared. His eyes looked alert unlike the last time he opened his eyes.
"You.." He said to me with a frown and then looked at Jared.
"Why are you here Jared?" Luc asked Jared and I watched Jared stand.
"Sorry. I was just going to watch over you since you looked like you passed out and I thought Vincent was not a person you trusted. If I have offended you.." Jared said and Luc stopped him.
"It's fine. You may leave now." Luc said and I watched Jared incline his head before leaving.
"Shouldn't you have thanked him?" I asked him when he kept looking at me suspiciously.
"I should have. You are probably here because he kept an eye on you. Did he catch you running away last night?" He asked me and I frowned at that.
"Running away?" I asked in a baffled voice.
"Yes. You tricked me quite nicely to give you the key of the handcuffs and then asked me to hide before quickly running away when you got the chance. Too bad you couldn't go and sleep in your bed." He sneered as he stood up.
I frowned at that as I looked up at him. "I didn't run away." I said and tried to explain what happened but Luc wouldn't listen.
"It's fine. I don't care for your reasoning. In the end you were stuck here having to watch over me. I'll have to thank Jared for finding me and punishing you properly by making you stay with me." He said and I gaped at him.
"Why don't you call Jared and ask him what really happened? I was looking after you the whole night without sleep.." I said and he clasped my cheeks in one hand to stop me from talking.
"Good and I don't like to hear lies from your mouth." He said and I couldn't help staring at him as I tried to push him away. He slammed me against the tree and smirked at me.
"You should count yourself lucky, I wouldn't punish you for what you did last night because I feel quite good this morning." He said and I watched him touch the bandage on his forehead.
"Was this your doing or Jared's?" He asked me and I scowled at him.
"I thought you had it all figured." I said angrily and he smiled.
He tapped my cheek at that. "Vincent..Vincent..Play fair now. You should expect to be caught in your lies by now. No need to look affronted because I see through you." He told me and I growled low in my throat as I tried to slam my forehead into his but his reflexes were faster. He laughed at my clumsy attempt at head butting him.
"Aw..you look like a baby sheep trying to act like a grown bull." He said and I glowered at him as I struggled in his hold.
I got so irritated that I started crying. "Why do you always want to believe the worst about me? I was freezing my ass off here because you asked me to but you derive the worst conclusion possible. You could just ask Jared and he would tell you the truth. But no! You prefer to jump to your own conclusions." I complained.
"I don't have to ask Jared because I saw you running away with my own eyes. You duped me. It was very clear. Asking Jared would be like testing his loyalty to me. I don't need him to explain anything to me when everything is pretty clear." He said and I just looked at him aghast.
"Do you hate me that much that you wouldn't even verify what I say? I thought you were a just man." I said in a disappointed voice.
He chuckled at that without humor. "I am just to my family and people I care about. I don't really care about fairness when I am dealing with enemies. Besides, I don't hate you without reason." He said.
I hung my head in defeat. "What will it take for you to stop hating me?" I asked him tiredly.
"Your death." He told me and I looked up at him.
"My..death?" I asked with a troubled look and he nodded coldly.
"Haha.. and I thought you wished to die with me." I said with a dry chuckle.
Luc just looked at me mystifyingly and I wondered if words he had said when he wasn't quite stable could be true. He wasn't suicidal was he? I wondered as I looked at him. Lucas pulled back from me.
"It's up to you if you want to die or run away from me when you get the opportunity. I told you that I am in a good mood this morning. I will be kind enough to present you the opportunity to run away this morning. I hope you take it." He said enigmatically before walking away from me, leaving me perplexed. Is it possible that he just doesn't want to see the truth even when it is staring him in the face? It was still drizzling outside and I walked back home after Luc. I wanted to sleep for a bit before I do anything else and I looked at my quilt longingly.
"Get ready. We will be leaving soon." Luc told me before he walked to his room. The guard standing behind me told me that Luc wanted me to use the bathroom in the room next door to get ready. I knew I couldn't get back to sleep. I frowned at the closed door of Luc's room. Where was he going to take me? I wondered before quietly putting away my quilt and blanket in the cupboard. The guard told me that I would be getting a new quilt and blanket tonight since the previous ones would be taken for washing. I nodded sleepily. I've rarely gone a day without at least five hours of sleep. At Luc's home though, I barely even caught four hours of sleep and with the stress I was taking I felt totally exhausted. The shower invigorated me a little bit but I felt wary of Luc's plans.
I had a bad feeling about what he said. Given how stubborn he was in not believing a single word I said, I wondered if I should really take an out if he offered it. I clenched my jaw at that. If he wanted to behave like a stubborn mule, I could be more stubborn too. I am not running away no matter how much he tries to chase me away. That didn't mean I would let him kill me either. I refuse to suffer in silence playing the tragic wife in distress. I know he is probably up to something shocking but I won't let it play out as he wants, I thought with renewed resolution. If he is determined to not learn the truth, I will stick to him like super glue until he is forced to acknowledge the truth.
If he wants to hurt me, he better be the one to treat me as well. I won't let him do something to me for which he couldn't forgive himself when he finally accepts the truth. In the meantime, what if he really does something I would find hard to forgive? I sighed at that. I couldn't have gotten close to Luc in the first place if I wasn't forgiving and able to look past his penchant for harming the people he really likes. Most people would consider him a horrible kid. Well, they weren't really wrong. He really was like a little demon. What people don't realize is that Luc feels rewarded when he is scolded. He just does worse the next time. But if you go to him and start crying, he would do everything to stop the person crying.
When I was a kid Luc put me in all kinds of trouble. He has a mean streak in him even when he was having fun. There was that one time he put scorpions in my hair saying that my hair looked like a comfortable home. I remember being so panic stricken as I grabbed Luc's arm and started crying. Just like that, I got him to remove the scorpions from my hair and he removed all of them even though he got stung several times in the process and then realized scorpions were not things to mess around with.
"You are okay now Vincent." He told me happily that day even though both his hands were swollen up to twice the size of his hands.
Tears get to Luc every single time. But he is amazingly good at detecting real tears from fake tears. If he thought the tears were fake, he does something worse than he does originally. Most people avoid him for that reason. I sighed. Why was I in love with someone who has such a troublesome personality? I wondered as I dressed up in the suit that was kept out for me. I only realized I was wearing something formal when I was about to wear the jacket. Where was he taking me in formal wear so early in the morning? I wondered to myself. I watched Luc come outside from his room wearing a navy blue suit. I frowned at him.
"We shouldn't keep the guests waiting." Luc told me as he grabbed my arm and pulled me along with him outside.
"I still haven't worn my tie." I protested as we waited outside for the car. I was surprised when Luc pulled the tie from my hands and pulled it around my neck, tightening it a bit with a smirk on his face before loosening it and deftly knotting the tie.
"W-where are we going?" I asked him as the car pulled up in front of us.
"Don't be impatient Vincent." Luc told me with the same smirk as before. I looked anxiously at him as he asked me to climb into the car and followed me inside as well. A guard I didn't know was driving the car and Kronos was sitting beside the driver. I looked outside as I bit my lips with worry. The car drove for a while until we reached the New York financial district with huge sky scrapers. The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach grew as the car stopped next to a familiar looking dark tower building. My face paled as I recognized it as the De Grant Group head office.
"We are here Vincent." Luc said smoothly and I just gaped at him.
"W-why are we here?" I asked him in an almost scared voice. I've never been inside the building in my whole life. My parents never took me to our company and I've only seen it from outside before.
"Why shouldn't we be here? It's your family business." Luc said and I swallowed nervously as he climbed out of the car and waited for me to get out as well. I didn't want to climb out suddenly.
"Hey, if you don't climb out right now, I will throw you over my shoulder and walk into this building." Luc said threateningly and I glared at him as I quickly climbed out of the car. I watched the car leave to go to the parking area.
"Come." Luc told me, a cold smile on his face as he took in the building with a victorious look on his face. He looked like he was basking in the glory of his victory.
A woman wearing a pencil skirt and an older looking man came out to greet Luc at the main entrance. Luc just nodded at them before proceeding into the building like he owned it. More people in suits greeted him and he was escorted away from the security gates to a lift that looked like it was reserved for his entrance. I was embarrassed to be the centre of everyone's attention. The staff at the reception, the guards and even people from the public visiting our office kept staring at us. But Luc was oblivious to the attention as he climbed into the lift reserved for us. I looked uneasily as the lift carried us to the top floor. More people greeted us at the top floor. Everyone just appeared to look past me to Luc. He was soon ushered into a place marked as the board room. I thought I could stay out of that place but Luc grabbed me inside with him while everyone else waited outside.
My stomach dropped to the floor at the hostile stares that greeted us. I looked around nervously to see my furious looking father and brother seated at the massive oval conference table. I kept my eyes down as I walked behind Luc, hoping his big frame would hide me. But of course, Luc had no intention of keeping us hidden. He walked boldly to the vacant head of the table and asked me to take the seat next to him by coldly asking the man in it to move to another chair. I felt my cheeks tinge with pink as the man gave an appalled look but stood up for me and waited for another chair to be brought for him. I really wanted to cover my face in shame. What was Luc doing here anyway? I wondered in puzzlement.
"Good morning ladies and gentleman." Luc said energetically greeting everyone at the table. No one returned the greeting but Luc appeared to be in high spirits.
"As you all know, with a thirty five percent shareholding in the De Grant Group, as of today, I hold the majority share and controlling interest in this company. As we all know 35 percent of the shareholding is divided up among millions of public shareholders and the rest of you are sitting here in this table. Even if you all side together, you can't go against me. Thanks to my partner Vincent Thorne for generously selling his shares which accounted to 20% of the shareholding to me for free. All in the name of love, isn't it sweetheart?" Luc asked me and I blanched. I could feel everyone's hostile stares at me as I looked at Luc incredulously, not understanding what he had said.
"What the hell is this bull shit?" Andrew roared as he slammed his hands on the table and stood up to furiously look at Luc.
"Hey, your dramatics bore me. Sit down!" Luc said in a cold, steely tone of voice. Andrew looked around at everyone and nobody supported him. He sat down grumpily and I still stared at Luc in shock. I had 20% shareholding in the De Grant company? But how?
"Vincent, did you really just sell away your family to the enemy?" Andrew asked me accusingly and I flinched as everyone else also joined in the accusatory stare.
"You know. This family drama could wait but I brought you all here to show you the changes I am proposing to bring up your shitty earnings per share. Well, there are many changes I am going to make but the one that would be most interesting to you is probably that I intend to change the name of this company to "Pietro and Grants Group". As you all know, the Pietro group has been doing better than you for some time now. So what do you think about my proposition?" Luc asked and murmurs of outrage rang in the room.
"Our family name is De Grant..not Grants. How dare you mix in filthy Pietro name into our company? This company is based on the De Grant family name. You can't change that." One man said angrily. He was probably a distant relative.
"The Pietros are lower than the lowest trash compared to the pedigree and ancestry of the De Grant family. We are connected by blood to every royal line in Europe. What would a lowlife barbarian born into a gangster family know of blue bloods?" One man asked pompously and Luc raised his eyebrow at that.
"I have nothing to say to an outsider like you. I just need to speak to Vincent." One woman told Luc scornfully.
"Exactly. If our company is going to be stripped of its glorious name, the culprit, Vincent, should be blamed." Another woman said and I cringed inwardly. How could Luc do this to me? I thought as I stared aghast at him.
"Well, Vincent. Would you like to explain why you begged me to change the De Grant name so much?" Luc asked me and I resisting strangling him at that. I knew I could jump at him and get support from the De Grant family for doing that but it would mean declaring Luc as an enemy and going back to my family. I definitely could not go back to my family. At my continued silence, the guy beside me suddenly stood up and punched me in the face. I fell down from my seat at that, sprawling beside Luc's feet.
The man broke my nose and I heard clapping and cheering in the room for what the man did. I clenched my hands into fists as I stood up shakily. To my shock, Luc stood up and grabbed the man by the collar before slamming his face hard on the table top. Everyone immediately became silent as they looked at Luc with wide eyes. Luc looked furiously at all of them. I stared with wide eyes as Luc announced that the meeting was adjourned and then grabbed my hand as he dragged me out of the meeting room and went straight to the toilet with me. I watched him in confusion as he tried to stop the bleeding from my nose with paper hand towels.
"Why the hell did you not punch the bastard back? Why didn't you just tell them I was lying?" He demanded angrily and I blinked at him owlishly.
"Fuck! I didn't think they would dare to hit you." He said as he scowled darkly at the blood coming from my nose. The bleeding had stopped but it still hurt. I stared at him. He didn't look happy about what had happened.
"It's fine." I said and he looked at me like I was crazy.
"What?" He asked me incredulously.
"Let's go home Luc." I told him as I touched his arm. He looked at me like I was insane.
"What's wrong with your head? Why do you want to go home with me? Your family is there." He told me and I shook my head.
"My family is here..infront of me. Let's go home, Luc." I told him again and he had the oddest look on his face.
"Don't you want to punch me?" He asked me again and I sighed at that.
"I did want to." I mumbled.
"What changed?" He asked me with a scoff.
I stared at him. His anger over someone hitting me was what changed my mind. But if he knows that's what made me back off, he will change his tactic the next time round and I didn't want him to realize that it's his own behavior that was working against his plan to make me leave him.
"You are fucking supposed to storm off in anger." He muttered, running his hand through his well groomed hair.
"You are stupid to not get angry." He told me angrily.
"Yes." I nodded agreeably.
"Aren't you being too damn docile?" He snapped at me.
"Well, it's..okay." I said warily.
"It's not okay." He snapped and then gritted his teeth in irritation.
"Damn it! I totally fucked this up." He muttered to himself and then grabbed my shoulders.
"Look here, doll! This will be your only chance to run away from me. So heed my words and just run. If you don't, I will damage you to such an extent you will regret it. I even think of killing you." He warned me.
"Doll?" I mumbled looking away.
"Yes doll. It's only dolls who don't get what's happening around them. You are too dumb to even be scared. Where's your common sense? Why do I even talk to you?" He asked in irritation.
I sighed at that. "You know, if it was anyone else, they'd balk at being insulted like this. Do you have a kink for getting humiliated?" He asked me and then sighed loudly when I didn't reply.
Well, I can get mad but this was just not the right situation. If I get angry while he is also angry it will only inflame his anger and endanger the situation for me. On the other hand, if I stay calm until his anger blows over, I always find that I tend to get what I want. I looked at him. What did I want out of this situation? I didn't really want him to change the ancestral name of my family's company but I am sure he would not listen to a plea. He likes to make people beg.
"What? You have nothing to say?" Luc asked me irately.
I sighed. "Let's go home. I need to ice my nose." I said and Luc rubbed his eyes like he had enough of me.
"You know Vincent, this attitude of yours will get you walked over on like a carpet. But then you are a carpet anyway." He said and angrily and left the toilet. I gritted my teeth.
"A carpet huh?" I asked with a shake of my head and then followed after him after cleaning my face. When I went out, I saw my brother trying to beg with Luc. The sneer on Luc's face told me my brother would not win any conversations with him. I just stayed beside Kronos to look at the drama unfolding before me. The proud De Grants were actually begging him to reconsider his decision and Luc obviously enjoyed it too much to give in to their imploring. But he was miffed because I could tell he didn't really achieve what he wanted from the drama he created.
"Aren't you upset?" Kronos asked me and I shrugged.
"You are a strange one." He told me and I didn't reply. I saw Luc ignore everyone and walk over to us as he looked at his watch.
"I have to be in another meeting. Your pompous reasoning for why I should reconsider does not appeal to me. Bring a better reasoning next time. Meanwhile, my friend Kei will come in to sort things out here. Don't try anything funny if you really want me to reconsider my decision to change the name of this company." He told the directors on his way out.
I could tell that they still wanted to talk to Luc but Luc's guards stopped them from approaching him as he climbed into the lift with me.
"Don't you want to ask me to reconsider my decision?" Luc asked me in the lift.
"No." I lied.
"Liar." He said and I smiled inwardly as he stared at me.
"It's not a lie totally. I am not going to ask you now." I told him and he frowned.
"So you'll ask later?" He asked me and then I smiled at him.
"I will and you will oblige me when the time comes." I told him and he looked gobsmacked at me just like Kronos and the other men in the lift with us.
"Hey, who do you think you are?" Luc asked me with a frown.
"I am your wife dear husband. It's okay if you manage my company for me since I am very busy these days. I heard you are good at managing. Of course I am the owner and when I want back what's mine I am sure you will give it back. Won't you, darling?" I asked him quietly as I looked up at him.
The "what the hell?" look on Luc's face was quite amusing. I smiled inwardly as I walked out of the lift like a boss. I might have walked in looking like a confused mouse but I definitely imitated Luc's bossy attitude pretty well as I left it. It even cheered me up a bit because Luc looked confused as he followed after me. I had a spring to my steps even when I entered the car and Luc stepped in after me. He kept staring at my face with a disbelieving frown. I didn't say anything and he didn't say anything either as the car was driven home. Well, to be honest, Luc did shock me pretty badly and I was even scared but after being hit and humiliated in the board room I felt it was okay for my brother and my family to struggle and cower in front of Lucas. God knows there's no one else who loves to step on the faces of snobs as much as Lucas. When the timing is right, I will ask Luc for my shares.
"Luc, I didn't know I had any shares in the De Grant group." I said softly and he glanced at me.
"Your grandfather left his shares for you." He said sourly without looking at me.
"I never even saw my grandfather." I said and Luc rolled his eyes.
"He's quite a famous business man. Go and Google him." He said.
"I don't have my phone or access to internet." I said and Luc gave me a trying look before he google searched images for me and showed me my grandfather.
"Him?" I asked Luc in shock.
"Haha! Such a drama queen." Luc sneered and I glared at him.
"Seriously..Mr. Theo was my grandfather? He always called me son." I said in fond memory. I remember him being admitted in the hospital with advanced renal cancer. I was a junior doctor attending to him. I knew he was a billionaire but never knew he was my grandfather. His name was only Mr. Theo in the records. I always wondered why a billionaire like him chose our hospital for his last days. He would always ask me to spend time with him and I grew very close to him. I cried for days after his death. He told me his daughter did not want anything to do with him simply because he refused to allow her to marry her cousin. My mum and dad were first cousins and supposedly in love if grandfather was to be believed. He said my father was a womanizer and not right for my mother. I guess parents are always protective and children are rebellious.
"Mr. Theo..I mean grandfather called my dad a womanizer." I said with a disbelieving chuckle and Luc looked at me.
"Your father is a crude womanizer. It's amazing he doesn't have a few bastards somewhere from how he sleeps around." Luc told me and I blinked in surprise.
"Didn't you know he is getting married to an eighteen year old next month?" He asked me and I frowned.
"What?" I asked in shock.
"Then..mum?" I asked and Luc looked at me weirdly.
"Hey, why am I the messenger of family news to you? Did you run away from your family or something? Even general public knows about your father's upcoming marriage." He said and I frowned.
"Is..that so? Mum wasn't there even in the meeting today." I said and Luc looked away.
"Your mother is admitted in the New York Presbyterian with Leukemia." He said and my eyes widened.
"What? Since when?" I asked him and Luc didn't reply.
"Honestly..why are you looking like you don't know?" He asked me.
"I didn't really know." I insisted.
"Then what did she want with Max?" I asked him and he stared at me.
"What does that question even mean?" Luc asked me with a raised eyebrow and I realized he didn't think Max was really my kid and he looked curious now at my question.
"Luc, I have to see my mother." I begged him but he just raised an eyebrow to that.
"Denied." He said stubbornly.
"Why not?" I asked him angrily.
"You are my prisoner. Don't forget that. I am not letting you pull any stunts." He told me.
"But I'll do anything. Please. If she is that sick I want to see her." I told him tearfully and he ignored me.
"If you are not dead within the next two days, I will allow you to see your mother. I think you should first think of yourself." Luc sneered at me and I blinked. What now?
"You'll try to kill me?" I asked in surprise.
"That's what I said." He told me and I could only gape at him.
"R-really?" I asked in shock.
"You shouldn't take me lightly Casper." He told me and I stared at him as the car stopped and I watched Luc leave to go into the Holden Group headquarters building.
Kronos glanced back at me. "You really should take him seriously Baldie." He told me and I glared at the name he called me as the car drove on and the drive back home started. Should I really be worried?
"Hey, if he tries to kill me, do you think he might do it while I am not aware?" I asked Kronos and he glanced back at me.
"Unlikely. He doesn't like cheap tricks like that. But since you don't look like you could give him a fair fight, it's unlikely that it would be a fight either. Maybe he'll just shoot you in the head." Kronos told me and I laughed dryly. Why was I laughing anyway? My god! Lucas gives me a headache. Why does he want to get rid of me so desperately? Would I ever find out? Maybe I should try to find out what happened between him and Emma first. He called her name last night. There was certainly something that had happened between him and her that still lingers in his nightmares. I cannot win his heart if he manages to kill me before I could reach his heart.
I recalled again that he asked me whether I wanted to die with him. Is he contemplating suicide with me? I thought with a pause. I swear if he tries that, I would give him a nice slap and a scolding too. I am pretty sure I cannot slap him but just wait and see what I do if he tries to do anything funny like commit suicide with me. It's strange though. I felt sort of happy that he even thought of suicide with me. I must mean something after all. Before that, I need to find out whatever I can about Luc's past, I thought as I rubbed Luc's bite mark on my arm. It reminded me that I needed to probably get a Tetanus shot for that. First order of things was to treat my injuries before I do anything else. Someone would think I have a husband who likes domestic abuse if they saw me. Well, he's not quite the domestic abuse type but he is still a sadist and I tend to accumulate injuries around him. Why in the world was I not scared? I was probably just as crazy as Luc.
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AN: Please vote and or comment if you liked this chapter. Pic of Vince on top.