Chapter 11
I jerk awake, patting myself down instantly, ears still ringing from the phantom sound of the gunshot. I’m not wounded.
Did I really faint? Who wouldn’t in that scenario?
My head feels like an elephant sat on it. Calm starts to seep in, my recollection aligning with reality. All my clothes are still on. I’m not shot. I’m unharmed. For now. And I realize I’m not in the dungeon of hell anymore.
Oh, no. I’m embraced by an extravagant bed that’s so plush like it’s made from the fluffs of cotton. Perhaps goose feathers. I look around at the spacious and sumptuous bedroom with tall walls, bearing the luxurious interior design of an olden day, French chateau. A beige-coloured room with many black iron windows that herald in a wealth of light, along with open glass doors leading out to the tiled balcony.
Cautiously, I rise from the bed. My bare feet meet with the furry, cream carpet. I walk to the balcony, passing the limestone fireplace. Emerging outside, wincing at the spears of sunlight. Once the intensity dissipates, horror and awe war within me. I stop at the railing.
Well… wherever I am it’s far from home.
I must be on the second or third landing of a villa or a manor house because from the balcony, it exhibits a prime view of the estate from the front. Verdant green vineyards consume a vast swath of the land, rows upon rows with a backdrop of silver-tipped mountains rising in the distance. A landscape painting come to life.
The most intriguing aspect is the military squad of black-clad men milling around the estate. Even from here, I can see the patrolling guards carrying heavy-duty weaponry.
“You’re awake.”
Before I can even think of turning. A powerful presence sweeps over me. A diamond-hard chest presses against my back, veiny hands lock on the railing, trapping me between his arms.
“You caused a lot of trouble, Sakura.” His voice edged with menace. The sheer baritone of his voice reverberating through my bones. “And you’re going to answer for it.”
With just enough leeway, I whip around. My rear against the railing, his face too close to mine. His whiskey-scented breath on my cheek. Overwhelmed by his all-consuming cologne that I would happily drown myself in—focus.
“I answer to no one.” I’m even stunned at the steady and undaunted delivery.
Orian’s eyes are abyssal voids, dark and depthless, pools of ink that swallow the light.
“You will answer to me,” he says in a way that commands submission.
I lend myself a moment to steel my resolve. “You kidnapped me.” I draw my head away to create some kind of a flaccid gap between us. “I think I’m the one entitled to answers.”
“It was not my choice,” he says hollowly.
A fresh swell of anger rips a hole open in my chest, flooding it with a maelstrom of emotions. “Yes, because if it were up to you, I would be breathing through my forehead.”
A smile splits his face. And it’s the most terrifying thing I have seen him do so far. His face is remarkably chiseled, with each pronounced feature meticulously crafted to embody devastating perfection.
“Let me go,” I say too softly. I clear my throat. “You both know that my disappearance would raise a lot of questions. The few perks of being a public figurehead.”
He shakes his head slowly. “You’re not going anywhere, Sakura.”
“My name is Hadassah.” With full force, I shove him away. He allows himself to take a few steps back. “And you’re not going to stop me.”
Midnight strands cascade down his forehead and his hand back pushes them back. I head to the door. His arm chops down in front of me. I knock it aside. With a clenched hand, I swing it backwards at his face. The back of the hand makes contact, and the momentum garnered in the swing makes this a potent strike. The spinning backfists are a knockout punch which Orian easily evades. He sidesteps, giving me a maddeningly slow, once over.
“Sakura likes to play rough.” Advancing to me with a shark-like grin. “I do, too.”
He throws a knifehand. I block with my forearm—the impact nearly shatters my bone. With a single liquid movement, he seizes me and spins me around, pulling me to him. My back hits his chest, my arms caged by his ironbound grip.
His breath tumbles down the back of my neck, and the hair erects.
“I would advise against resisting.”
“Oh, I’m sorry if wanting to escape my literal kidnapper is upsetting to you.” I thrash violently, but to no avail. His hold endures effortlessly. “You might as well finish what you started because there’s nothing I have that I will give you.”
“You should really know your place, Sakura,” he warns acidicly. “To listen and obey.” He tightens his grip, a thrill of pain lancing through me. “Or be punished otherwise.”
A wobbly laugh escapes me. “Punished?” I repeat scornfully. “So you’re that kind of guy.”
He releases me abruptly and I stagger out of his grasp. I swivel around and in nanosecond he has me in his grasp again, chucking me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, returning to the room. Squealing like a wrangled pig, I beat and claw at his back, my efforts rendered futile.
“LET ME GO!” I scream, my voice filling the room. “LET ME THE—”
He drops me on the bed. I shoot up but he captures my wrists, pushing me flat on my back, pinning my wrists beside my head. My heart thundering in my chest so fast, fear obliterating every trace of defiance. Holding me down, he glares down at me, his eyes rake over me, stripping off every piece of clothing.
“I speak, you listen. What I say, you do,” he whispers with lethal calm.
Engulfed by fear: I don’t move, I don’t blink, I don’t breathe.
He looks back at me as if expecting an answer. “Yes sir,” he prompts.
Still in shock, I can’t say anything—dread clogging up my airways.
He frees one wrist. His hand snakes down to my neck, holding it gingerly but warningly.
“Say it,” he booms. “Or I will fuck it out of you.”
Overcoming both pride and abysmal dread. I drag the words out. “Yes… sir.”
The bedroom doors burst open and Torin waltzes inside like he’s late for a board meeting. Orian finally relinquishes his hold, rising to stand upright. He looks at his brother.
"Anata ga hitsuyōdesu,” he says to Orian.
Orian snaps a curt nod and walks out of the room whilst adjusting his cufflinks.
Still flat on my back. I straighten up carefully.
Torin strolls over to me with a casualness that verges cruelty.
“Someone looks like they’re on the brink of tears.”
I glower back at him, skewering him with a sharp look.
He feigns a questioning expression. “What?” Smirking. “No smart-mouthed retort?”
Unable to say anything, my scowl persists. He exposes his concern, letting out a heavy sigh.
“Look, I wish I could say that Orian wouldn’t hurt you. But he would,” he says bluntly. Something shifts in his tone to the semblance of sincerity and determination. “But I would never let that happen.”
“What do you want from me?”
“You know the answer, Miss Moor,” he says with a hint of a chide, his smirk returning. “It’s why people you wouldn’t want after you, are hunting you down, so you’re welcome.”
I spring to my feet. “I don’t remember saying thank you.”
He cocks a brow at me. “You should. We’re your only defense against a bunch of mindless goons with guns that really want a mill. And don’t mind killing a meddlesome investigator to get it.”
“You want the book?”
He gives me a ‘duh’ look and nods. “And you’re going to tell me where you hid it.”
“Orian—or should I say* sir*—mentioned my mother. Is she safe?”
“Who do you think is guarding her?” he asks rhetorically. “Your life and hers depend on your compliance. Where is it?”
I can’t tell him. Not even if he threatens my mom or me because that’s the only leverage I have. Once I tell them, they’ll cut their losses and kill us both. I need to stall for time, just enough to figure out how I can get a message out to Calum. From there, he’ll know who to contact. We made a contingency plan for something like this after the... Sidorov incident.
“I’d love to tell you where it is—”
He claps his hands. “That wasn’t too difficult, was it?”
“—but I can’t.” I shrug helplessly. “I burnt the book.”
His face falls. “Why the hell would you do that?”
“Just in case Gaza’s men ever caught me.” I tap my temple. “But I remember everything. Now, I am the book.”