"Hello there, beautiful."
Would I stay here just because Darius told me to? Hell no.
I started to get up when he grabbed my hand.
"No, sit back down. My name is Nicholas. Yours?"
"Go away," I snapped, trying to pull my hand back.
He smiled, the kind of smile you wouldn’t trust. "Now, now. Don't be that way. Sit."
"Actually, I better be –" I stopped as I saw Darius walking back with Richard. I watched them say something before they both gave each other a handshake and half-hugged. He turned and his eyes met with mine, and then looked to the guy on the other seat.
I felt the guy’s grip on my hand loosened as he stood up and left.
Oh god, please don't start a fight. Then I remember, Darius 'doesn't fight'. Oh please, don’t bash up my husband.
I saw Nicholas walk up to Darius. They stood facing each other and talked; my heart skipped a beat. Darius smiled. What was going on?
Nicholas looked over his shoulder and Darius patted his back, nodding toward a door. What the hell?
The other guy left while Darius walked up to me.
"Ready to go?" he asked upon reaching my seat.
"Eh, uh, yea?" I was scratching my head in confusion.
"Good."
He walked ahead to the direction of the back door. We slipped through the back door, where I saw Nicholas go through and I knew it. Darius was a mafia leader after all. Was he going to sell me?
"You have something on your face."
"Huh?"
I looked up to see Darius motioning and pointing to my face.
"I do?" I asked as I stepped outside, the cold air hitting me in the face.
He nodded. "Go wash it off. I'll wait here."
"Okay," I said. Still confused, I watched him walk around the corner. Why didn't he just tell me earlier? I turned around to walk back in when I saw my reflection on the window.
Might as well use this as a mirror. Saves time, plus I won’t have to lose my way to the wash room.
I looked at my face. There was nothing there!
What on earth was he talking about?
With a groan, I turned around, ready to lambast him for tricking me.
I rounded the corner, ready to give him a piece of my mind. "Dari-" Then I froze at the spectacle in front of me.
I blinked, hard. On the ground sprawled Nicholas, with blood pooling from his mouth.
And then I heard Darius's voice.
"Speak about my wife again, and you won't have a tongue to talk with."
CHAPTER TWENTYSIX
I ducked behind the wall and leaned against it.
I don't think I was meant to see that. I could hear my heart beating so loud I was surprised no one else heard it in the night. I heard footsteps and I quickly stood up, opened the door and stepped back inside.
Did I really see what I saw? I racked my brain, trying to determine whether what I saw was real.
I thought he said he didn't know how to fight? I didn't know whether to feel happy or scared. I had never seen him like that. I didn't see his face but his stance, his behaviour, it was something I had never seen before. It scared me, just a bit. This only made me realise that I didn’t know him at all.
Yep, he was a mafia leader. That was settled.
Who would have ever thought that he would stand up for me like that? Something in my stomach churned and it wasn't the smell of alcohol this time. When I touched my cheek, my hand came away wet.
I was crying because of this? I wiped my face quickly. Damn it, Ivory, get a grip.
I opened the door to see Darius leaning against the wall, as if nothing happened, like he had not a care in the world. He looked up as I stepped out and I looked at everything but him.
The fact that he did that, for me, it was something that I just… I didn’t know what to say. He did that for me.
I thought he hated me.
"You washed your face but you didn't dry it."
Shit.
I wiped my cheek with a hand, hoping he wouldn't notice my eyes.
I started to walk ahead when he grabbed my arm and spun me around.
"There's a dead cat that side," he reasoned out, taking me in another direction. My eyes searched for his hand holding my wrist. If anyone saw us, it would seem like he was dragging me. Once we reached the main road, he dropped my hand and suddenly I missed the warmth. I hurried to keep up as he walked in front of me.
"We left Adrian back there," I reminded him, after debating with myself whether to break the silence or not.
"What?" he asked, looking over his shoulder without stopping. I was taken aback by the look in his eyes that I stopped walking.
"Um-"
"Oh." He looked away. "Richard will drop him off once his shift is over." He turned around to face me, putting his hands into his pockets. By this time we were already outside the house. I could see his shoulder tense, and then relax, and I debated whether to say something or not. Should I say what I saw or should I just keep quiet?
Just as I opened my mouth, I saw the guard open the gates. Darius turned and entered the gate.