5. Surveillance Room

"I won't blink, not like my dad..."

-

The next morning, it was safe for Rebecca to say she was feeling better. Maybe the meal Chase had fed her replenished her body. Clearly, he must had lied about the sleeping tablet.

There was a knock on the door that got her up on her feet. It was more like a bang. "I'm coming!" She rolled her eyes. Who the fuck could that be now??

A slender lady with big round eyes glared back at her. If she was older than Rebecca, it would be maybe with just a few years. "I'm Shanica. And I'm here to assign your duties to you for the week."

Her tone was strict, "now, I --"

"Excuse me?" Rebecca said with a start. "I have no idea who you are or care. I have headache and will like to rest more."

The lady threw her head back and roared out in laugher. "Look at you thinking you have freewill. You're a maid, just like us. And I am your superior so you listen to me you spoilt brat." She spat out.

"You'll make tea for Diego. Five sugars, no milk, black coffee." She said with a smirk. "Then, I'm assigning his room to you. For the next two days, you're the maid in duty. Next..." Her brows arched, "are you even listening to me!?"

Another lady joined them, this one was taller–towering tall!–with short black hair and a sly grin on her face. "This is his new toy? That's fine, I'm Tania, and I'm in charge. Misbehave, and you'll hear from me."

Before either of them could say anything again, Rebecca stormed out angrily. They ran after her, calling her back but she did not wait. Somehow, she found Diego downstairs going through a room and raced after him.

Two guards with hard eyes stopped her at the entrance with arms crossed like statues before she could head in.

"She wants to see him," one muttered into his earpiece.

"Don't," the other warned, voice low. "He said no interruptions."

Rebecca crossed her arms. "Then tell him I'm not an interruption. I'm a complaint."

The first guard hesitated, then murmured into the comm. Seconds later, the deep voice that came through made Rebecca's stomach twist.

"Let her in."

The doors swung open, slow and heavy.

The room was dim, lit only by slanted rays cutting through half-closed blinds. Diego stood near the window with his back turned and jacket off, white shirt rolled to the elbows. His forearms flexed as he adjusted the cufflinks with mechanical precision.

"I don't understand! She's assigning chores to me. I'm a prisoner, and now I have to work for you?" Rebecca didn't think he heard. He didn't even flinch!

The room was dark, with this eerie coolness that almost made Rebecca felt like she was in a graveyard. The hair on her kin tingled. A quiet aura filled the room, it felt creepy because you could almost flinch that something was present right behind you. That was when Rebecca began to feel she had just walked right into a Lion's den.

She took a step forward. "You can't be serious about this chore nonsense. I'm not your maid."

He didn't turn, but said at last. "You live under my roof, you work under my rules."

"Your rules?" she snapped, stepping forward till she was only a few feet away from him. "I'm a prisoner, not staff! Did you not hear me before??"

He finally faced her, and the world shrank to the cold focus of those steel gray unreadable eyes. "You think this is punishment, Rebecca? It's survival. You're useful to me, or you're gone."

Behind him, a young man was dusting a shelf, clearly pretending not to hear.

"I'm not doing your dirty work!" she said, voice trembling with fury.

Diego's gaze flicked to the cleaner, just for a heartbeat. Then he pulled a gun from his holster and fired. Just once was enough to rip a hole right through the poor man's skull. Rebecca screamed at the top of her voice, falling to the ground in terror. The sound cracked through the room like thunder.

The cleaner had dropped, blood spreading across the floor.

"He was useful," Diego said quietly, setting the gun on his desk. "Until he wasn't."

Her voice barely worked. It took a whole until she was able to speak. "You...you killed him." It came out more like a tremble.

"Betrayal," he replied, eyes still locked on her. "Your father tried the same. I don't repeat mistakes."

She stumbled back a step. "I didn't... I didn't--"

"Don't finish that sentence," he said, walking toward her with slow, measured steps. The air changed with every one. "Don't tell me what you didn't do. Prove what you won't do."

Her pulse roared in her ears. His scent hit her, clean and expensive. Damn it, it was fucking dangerous!

He stopped just inches away, voice a whisper edged with steel. "Don't betray me, Rebecca. Not even by accident."

He brushed past her, the warmth of him a cruel contrast to the cold air he left behind.

The echo of the gunshot clung to the air like smoke that refused to fade.

Her pulse thundered. The man's body was still. Blood crept across the rug, soaking deep into the weave, and the sight of it made her stomach twist.

Diego reloaded the gun with quiet precision, click, slide, holster—like he was finishing a sentence, not ending a life.

Rebecca didn't move for a long time. She couldn't. How could she! Somewhere between fear and fascination, she began realize that Diego González didn't just own the room. He was the room.

And somehow, she'd just stepped right into his world.

"Clean this up," he said.

Two guards entered, their movements casual as if rehearsed. They dragged the corpse away, leather scraping against marble. Nothing like shock or hesitation at all. This was routine.

Her throat went dry. So this wasn't the first time. Not even close.

He didn't look back once. And suddenly, she understood exactly how her father had died quickly, without any mercy.

"You..." Her voice cracked. "You didn't even blink."

He turned those gray eyes on her, cool as steel. "Your father blinked. That's why he lost."

Her vision blurred with hot tears from anger and pain. She wanted to scream at him, claw at that unshakable calm!--

The door slammed open.

"Sir!" a guard barked. "It's Marco. He's convulsing! I dunno what to do, Chase isn't around and--"

"--the fuck do you mean by that! Are you all useless that you can't even--!"

Before Diego finished saying or before anyone could even move, Rebecca jumped up, running outside. Her fury became momentum.

"Where?"

"The surveillance room, he's seizing!"

Rebecca was already sprinting through the hall with her lungs burning, Diego's voice cut through behind her. "Bring her back."