5

KATHERINE

The first thing I could register was the constant pounding in my head. My throat was dry, and breathing could be considered as an exercise.

The darkness behind my eyesight was enough to send me into panic. With the way my bones were screaming in protest.

There was absolutely nothing that I could do about it. I'm never laying my finger on another bottle of alcohol ever again. Don't lie to yourself. You know you're going to pick it back up at the slightest chance that your sense recovery.

The surface of my bed felt so warm. I wasn't sure that I wanted to stand up. Not if I could help it.

From the looks of it, I was going to remain in it for a long time. It took me a moment to register the silence before I heard footsteps. My brows furrowed in confusion. Nobody was supposed to be in here apart from me.

Maybe I was plunged into some sort of dream. My delusions were beginning to get the better of me.

The effects of the alcohol might not be waving off after all. I closed my eyes tighter. If I could pinch myself. I definitely would get myself back.I closed my eyes and sighed.

The more I tried to ignore it, the louder the footsteps became. It took me some time to realize that I wasn't dreaming. Someone was definitely in the room with me.

Without thinking, I quickly adjusted into a sitting position. My eyes widened with alarm.

“Silas?” The name unconsciously fell away from my lips. Except it wasn't Silas. Memories from last night rampantly ran through my head as I stared at the man towering over my bed. Him.

He was the one Davis mistakenly snatched off the street yesterday. Now, my heart was suspended in a state of horror as our gaze met and held.

Why did I have to be the one to pay for Davis' mistake? How did he follow me here? What the hell was I supposed to do? I considered raising alarm.

Yelling for a neighbour, maybe. But I hardly spoke to anyone, and no doubt, I had won the biggest ‘’snub’ of the century without working too hard for it.

The second option was to head for the phone, but I had no idea where it was. It could be anywhere, and I was too drunk to care earlier. Stupid alcohol.

Now, I was stuck with an intruder with no way to get myself out of this mess. He wasn't exactly an intruder, considering the fact that I had him kidnapped. Mistakenly. Emphasis on ‘mistake’

“What are you doing here?’’ The words escaped me without me thinking. I had convinced myself that I wasn't really going to say anything that I wasn't supposed to say.

I didn't know who this man was. Speaking too much won't be such a great decision. My eyes fluttered closed as I tried to gather my thoughts together.

“How did you know where I live?” I said again. I hated the way my voice trembled a little. Fear was evident. I didn't want fear to be evident. It was the last thing I wanted him to use against me.

“For a moment, I was thinking a thank you would be in order,” he finally spoke. His dark hair was tousled, and a few buttons of his shirt were undone.

For a brief moment, I could see the tattoos creeping from underneath and trailing up to his neck. My eyes lingered on them for a moment.

There were eye bags under his eyes, but even with that, it was interesting to look at him. He was a beautiful man, and from the looks of things, it was like he knew it.

“Thank you for what? Intruding into my home?” I raised an eyebrow at him as I shot him a look.

Somehow, his cocky aura was enough to skyrocket my mood into rotten. I could perceive the arrogance radiating over him.

It was almost like he was mocking without verbally needing to, and it set me off.

“Well, considering the fact that you had your men snatch me off the streets without my permission, this would definitely be double standards, don't you think so?” He tilted his head to the side slightly as he observed me.

Whatever words that were on the tip of my tongue disappeared almost immediately. His eyes held me by the jugular, and he knew it. I was tempted to plead with him, explain to him that I made a very big mistake but, for some reason, kept silent.

A lot was going on, and I didn't know exactly how to pinpoint my thoughts.

My heart was pounding in my ears. Was he going to kill me? You're thinking too far ahead, calm down, Katherine.

But I couldn't. The panic was welling up in my chest, and it was spreading. Fast. There was nothing that I could do about it.

“Anyways I made you coffee,” he pointed at the tray that he placed on my bedside table. My brows rose in surprise as I tried to process what was happening.

So not only was he in my bedroom, he also went into my kitchen too. He infiltrated every corner of my space and my privacy, and there was nothing that I could do about it. I narrowed my eyes on him.

“You need it. You were a mess yesterday. You literally threw up all over the place, and then you made me clean it up” he said casually.

I cringed because at the back of my head, I knew it was something that I could do.

“I didn't make you ‘do’ anything. You were the one who barged into my house,” I snapped.

“And for the one hundred and third time. You snatched me off the streets. I came here because I needed to know why,” he snapped back. I swallowed nervously.

The air became heavy with tension as silence lingered between us. My shoulders flinched at the sound of the abrupt knock on my door. Oh God, not another intruder

“Katty, are you there?” My face paled, and I went ice cold.

Silas.