Chapter 5
|| Kiera's POV ||
" Like my gift, Pretty Girl!"
His one line kept reverberating in my mind, taking away all my strength in a matter of seconds. The road in front of me seemed too long to end. Silent tears shed from my eyes whenever I remembered the presents from him. It was all the images from my days abroad. God knows how the fuck he got those pictures of mine when I was fully pregnant with Ryan, walking around the street, or doing groceries. It made my heart skid like a race to think that someone was holding my darkest secrets. Until now, I was pretty sure that my father had removed all the evidence of my pregnancy from the world through his money.
Then...how the hell did he get those from local cameras?
A fearful shudder passed from my lips. I was failing to stay on track on the road because of my anxiety. Azrael De Luca was threatening me to come to the city's abandoned place which people call haunted currently. I didn't even get the chance to tell my father where I was heading late at night. Because all I cared about was those pictures.
After an unknown amount of time passed, my GPS signaled that we were near the building and he told me to come. Forcing myself to stay calm, I hopped down from my SUV, shivering when the cold breeze hit my bare skin hard. Finally looking down at my attire, I was speechless in shame for a second. I was wearing a nearly transparent nightgown. My hair was messy like a birdnest, no makeup or anything as if I was forced to open my eyes from a deep slumber's sleep at midnight.
The building really resembled a haunted house from a movie. The walls had cracks, grey color wrapped the entire exterior. Without lights, it was impossible to look into the house properly.
Did I come in the wrong place?
I bit my lips hard thoughtfully until the lights inside the house began to switch on dramatically as a welcome greeting. I swallowed a lungful of saliva, feeling like a trapped ghost in here. After getting back my rational thoughts, I really regretted my decision to come here to meet Mr.Azrael.
The entrance was pushed open during my hesitation. A man with a wicked expression, and a robotic tone like Azrael came outside. He wasn't even the least surprised to see me here. Instead, his lips curled up mysteriously, opening the door wide before telling me,
'" Welcome home, Miss. Please come this way!"
My thoughts were proven true when I started walking in the leaded direction of this grim-faced man. It was all dark and grey walls outside, giving me the vibe of fear at night. If the black rows of guards didn't breathe frequently, I would have regarded them as robots.
His man walked ahead of me, stopped in front of a closed door to speak to me,
" Luca is waiting for you inside!"
I felt like a wind after entering into the room of the devil. The air smelt like whiskey and cigarettes. Although he didn't turn around to greet me, his powers were already turning me vulnerable. I spoke first before his voice could dominate me,
" How did you..get this? Why are you doing this..to me?"
My voice broke midway, hands gripping the piece of photographs that he sent me. I was born with such bad luck that I had no memories of my pregnancy.
His chair made a cracking noise as he rose up from his back, smoke coming from his sinful lips. He turned to face me, the predator look in his eyes made me squirm like a frightened kitten. Unlike the last time, the wicked gleam from his gaze was long gone. Instead, it was replaced with something cold and bloodthirsty. He didn't smile at me like the last time. Guess, I was on his hatred list.
His thin lips parted, another air of smoke coming through them as he started speaking with a chuckle,
" I thought, you liked my gift since you don't have anything special like that but I must say that.."
He took a slow pause between his words dramatically, continued after running his eyes up to down on my down,
" I am impressed with your body even after you give birth to a child."
I sucked my bottom lips harder after he casually mentioned about the child. Those words promised to my father had returned in a flash to refresh my memory.
'No one will ever know that I have a child already.'
' Ryan will be hidden from this world for forever.'
'Please let me give birth, father.'
I kept standing numbly, unsure about how to get rid of this situation. On one hand, I didn't want Luca to disclose anything to the world. On the other hand, I didn't want to become his mistress. I worked hard to get back to my position. Surely, I wouldn't allow any man to jinx my reputation.
He stopped smoking, resisted his back against the desk to continue casually,
" I hate blackmail but people force me to do it like you, pretty girl."
I opened my mouth to let out some words but got stuck when Azrael brought something up from his desk, pinching the corner of it,
" How old were you when you were pregnant?"
His question took all my self-courage away. My fists clenched aside, self-esteem encouraging me to fight harder in this event. My mind chanted in chorus how should I not let him control me. Hence, I used my immature acting skills to put a stunt here,
" I don't know.. what are you?. Talking about.. This...this is all fake..."
He let out a dark chuckle, and brought his eyes back on me, seeing through my lies in a second. Only I wish that I knew this man well. Years back, I deceived those reporters with my white lies that the pregnancy report was all fake, making up a defaming story to convince their minds. I succeeded but with this man, I had no idea what was I playing with.
Azrael replied, letting out a sigh like a joke on my words. His fingers tapped on the desk dramatically, asking me with an amused tone,
" Maybe...we should bring your son here to make the confirmation..or do you have any better idea, my pretty girl?"
The thought of Ryan was my weakest spot. I assumed that he was merely trying to threaten me. Ryan was safe out there with my friend and my father's guards. In no way, Azrael had tracked his location.
Forcing myself to act unaffected on my face, I trotted on my heels to march forward to him. Our gap became less and he looked amused to see my bold approach. I spat through my gritted teeth,
" Listen to me, Azrael De Luca! I don't fucking care if you are a big investor, or what the fucking hell it is. I am never...ever.. going to become your Mistress. If you want to expose this to the public, go ahead and do it. I will keep claiming that those were photoshopped to frame me. Then we will who will believe your words.."
I paused to take a sharp breath, his lips curling up in mockery. This made me even angrier than before. Inhaling another deep breath, I continued, making sure to keep my words firm and clear,
" If you keep bothering me again, I will go out and tell the public that you tried to rape me, Mr.Azrael. Don't take me as a weak woman. You have money to control everything. Well, I have to.."
I turned around to leave for the exit. I had literally no respect left for this man who wanted me to be his mistress like a sex slave. Just as I gripped the doorknob, the air inside the room echoed with an unexpected gunshot like a horror nightmare.