Fatal Alliances: Chapter 5

Running out the door at the side, I dragged myself down into a sitting position when I felt my face becoming damp.

No, no. Juliet Greene does not cry. Yet, she knew she convinced herself of that statement way too many times than it was true.

I just hated this feeling. I hated feeling powerless and weak. No man had the right to keep me locked up in his place no matter how gorgeous he was. His personality was the worst of it all, how dare he just demand me like that? I’m not some object he could buy, nor am I a dog he could command. I had to get out of here.

I tried getting up but realized that I was on a balcony, I’d be dead if I jumped off there. And I couldn’t just walk out the door, those other men would stop me. What on earth did I do to get myself in a situation like this? I just shrunk myself back down on the floor, resting my head on my knees, hopelessly wishing this was a bad dream I’d wake up from.

I had dozed off, but it wasn’t morning yet. The dark blanket still covered the sky above. It was almost as if it was taunting me. Urgh, when will this night end? The icy wind grazed my skin almost like it was scraping my flesh off. Maybe I should go back inside. I’m only torturing myself with my stubbornness out here. Quietly, I opened the door. No one was there. It was so quiet that you could hear a needle drop. I smelt the thick rich aroma of coffee. I hated coffee actually, it was so bitter and tasteless. Even though I knew I could have sweetened it to my liking, it was still never my thing. Besides, I loved my sleep, why would I want to deprive myself of it? Strangely, I hated drinking it, but I actually liked the smell. It was intoxicatingly alluring. I sat at the window seat in the living area and looked out.  The city was so pretty at night. The lights were so radiant.

My body suddenly ached so badly, I wondered if I had some kind of internal bleeding going on. The pain kept intensifying and I just felt so shriveled and dried up. I needed water. I sure wasn’t going to suffocate myself in this place. Standing up, I went to the kitchen, pouring myself a big glass of water. It almost looked like something so unfamiliar to me, it just felt like forever before I drank it as well. The liquid slushed down my throat as I was desperately in need of it. As I walked back to my window seat, I bumped into someone.

“Do you walk with your eyes closed?” I heard that icy voice stab at me.

“Would it kill you to be nice to me?” I shot back, ignoring his warning from before.

He simply ignored me and walked into the living area. I wasn’t going to be captive here with some sort of sociopathic maniac.

“Why do I even have to be here anyway?” I muttered as I walked behind him.

Turning around, he aimed a wicked smile towards me, “Because I want something from you.”

“Excuse me?”

“In that pretty little head of yours,” He said as he pointed his finger to the side of my head.

“I’m not giving you anything.” I firmly stated, inhaling for composure.

As he neared me, I fell back onto the sofa. There was such a menacing look on his face. He suddenly leaned in on me, caging me in with his arms on either side of the couch. For a moment I didn’t know how to react, I felt like I was frozen. No one ever came so close to me before. And to think it was over, to think he reached his limit. He didn’t. Taking his right hand off the couch handle, he trailed his long elegant fingers along my face, slowly yet so artistically downwards. I felt this odd sensation at the pit of my stomach as he did that. My heated blood twisted into a tight knot. I almost felt breathless. Everything about him was graceful in appearance, elegant yet torturing. My body tensed as he touched my chest, still, he kept dragging his fingers downward until he reached the button on my shirt- his shirt.

Oh God, what’s he doing? Suddenly, I felt even stiffer when he undid it. Run away Julie, kick him off you. But no matter how much I wanted to kick him, I couldn’t. He caged me in, pinning me down. I was unable to move. Or maybe I could move, but all this was so new to me I didn’t know how to fight it off. I tightened my eyes as he undid the second button. God. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain from my neck. He stood up from me holding out my chain I had around my neck. No, that’s the last thing I had to remember my entire family by.

“Give it back!” I shouted at him as I got up and tried reaching out for it, but he held it out, opening the locket, studying my family; my birth parents, and my sisters, along with me.

“These are your sisters? Jenna and Nina, right?” He said, almost as if he had won a prize.

For a moment I felt dumbfounded as to how he knew their names, but then I reminded myself that he wasn’t any ordinary man. These guys knew all about me and my family and I wasn’t even that important to them, so I couldn’t even imagine the things they knew about that they did find important. I felt a chill just thinking about how someone had done research into my life.

“Look, please, I’m begging you. Give it back to me and let me go back home.”

I’ve never felt so helpless in my entire life, I never begged anyone for anything, but this was just going too far. Juliet Greene has limits.

“I don’t know what you take that makes you so stupid, but whatever it is, it works. You really are an idiot.” He said, putting back that smug yet serious look on his face.

“You- you……” I said as my voice broke.

Damn it, Juliet, don’t cry. Don’t show him you’re weak. Don’t let him win this. Don’t cry.

I couldn’t help it, I literally broke down. It was one thing being locked up in this place, being scared and helpless. Having a rich sociopathic man that looked so hot he could evaporate lava yet so cruel and cold. I wanted Jenna, I wanted to hug her and tell her I was sorry for all those crazy jokes I pulled on her. I just wished I could be on an episode of Scare Tactics right now. Hell, I was that battered. Strangely, what really hurt the most was that that man kept calling me dumb. I am not stupid. Only Jenna has the right to call me those names, everyone else thought I was quite intelligent. But this guy…..he did something no one could get me to do, no one, not even Jenna could make me cry. I wasn’t weak like that. But…this was just too much. I shrunk myself down on the sofa sobbing like I never did before, those tears I held back since my parents’ death, I felt them slip out as well.

“What’s wrong with you?” I heard him ask in an annoyed yet unconcerned voice, “Stop crying.”

I tried to suck it all up, not because he said to, but because I didn’t want him to see me like a weak, broken doll. I was the Lara Croft girl, I wasn’t any damsel in distress.

“Like I said,” He continued, throwing the locket carelessly back at me, “I need information from you.”

“What?” I harshly asked, wiping away the tears.

“I want you to tell me what the man that pushed you off the bridge looked like.” He said, staring out the window.

“And what makes you think I’ll tell you anything?” I replied bitterly as I walked up to him, “All you’ve been is cruel and nasty to me. You’re the most despicable, cold-hearted man I’ve ever met. You won’t know what nice is if it bit you in the- “

Abruptly he stopped me as he raised a finger towards me, “-Don’t. I’ve had enough of your drama. Maybe this cold-hearted despicable man shouldn’t have jumped into the pond to save a fool like you. Those masked men are dangerous, you should be grateful that I’ve given you a place in my home for the time being. I could have left you out there for them to kill you and your family as well. But I didn’t. Maybe I should have though.” He seethed angrily.

It was official, I pissed him off. Way to go, Juliet.

There was something about him though, a part of him that didn’t mean what he said. He didn’t save me because he wanted to, he saved me because he needed to. He was actually taking me for a fool.

“You wouldn’t have left me.” I stated boldly, possibly inflicting more anger within him, “I knew too much already, didn’t I? I saw the folders. You really take me for an idiot, don’t you? You saved me because you needed the information from me as well, not because you thought it was the humane thing to do.”

If I could get a dollar for every time I pissed him off, then I’d be a billionaire by now. Walking away from me, he tried to calm himself as he made the coffee. Although he gave the impression that he was difficult and a cruel, heartless dictator, it didn’t change the fact that he did save me. Because of him, I’m alive right now, I’m safe and my family is as well. I thought being here was a punishment to me and my family, but was it actually protection? I owed him something. I had to tell him what I saw, he deserved at least this much, didn’t he?

“Adrian…..” I began softly feeling a bit weird I was trying to speak to him politely, “I’m sorry.”

I did it. Juliet Greene took her wrong. Score for Greene.

Turning to him, I realized he hadn’t been looking at me. Well he was listening to me, wasn’t he?

“It finally took you long enough to realize what a pain you are to me.”

Oh yeah, he heard me.

“He was Korean I think, well he looked like Korean, maybe Chinese? I don’t know, I could be wrong. It was dark. But….I do remember he had an odd accent. That’s all I know” I said, turning my back on him.

As I turned back around, he startled me as he was right in front of me.

“That’s more like it,” He said, sticking a cookie in my mouth, “Now hold this for me.” He continued as he gave me his coffee cup. His hands went up to my chest again, smirking as he buttoned my shirt, “There, little puppies get rewards when they listen to me.”

Damn, it was open?

He looked me in the eye, plastering that smirk on his face, and within a moment he took a bite off the cookie that was hanging from my mouth. Taking back his coffee, he walked towards the sofa and sat down, leaving me in a confused yet unexpected manner, “Keep doing as I say and I might even offer you my bed.” He chuckled.

This was it. What was wrong with him? This was the type of man I hated, treating a woman like she was a dog? Rewarding her with treats? I was right about him from the start, he was just a pretty face with a nasty attitude.

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