Lines between Prey and Savior

"Your cousin. What the hell Daniel? Reid or what's his name, is your own family. Why would you want to sabotage him like that? If he gets the money, isn’t it the same as you all getting it?"

"It's final. You're going to do it. I'll drop you off." All of this is happening so damn fast, too fast for me to comprehend. "You'll drop me off where? What the hell is going on Daniel?"

"You seem a little too slow for me sometimes. Here is the deal. The business is being finalized tomorrow morning so you need to seduce him tonight. Just keep him locked up till ten am tomorrow. That should not be too hard."

"You did not tell me all of this before. I don't know anything about seduction, what to say or do. Come on Daniel, you can't just push this on me tonight."

"And you can't go back on your words either. You need to do it. You have the dress already, I know you carry around basic makeup in your purse so that should be enough. I think you should do a smoky eyed look, you know, the kind of intense makeup that draws a man's eyes to not only your eyes but to you and your whole body, make them interested."

"Do you even hear yourself Daniel? I should do so much intense makeup that he won't be able to draw his eyes away from my body? Your wife? Me? Where is the respect you had for me? You're..."

"We're here. He's staying here for the night. It's barely even evening yet. You just need to stay here till around nine pm, get prepared. At nine pm, get dressed and go down to the bar. He'll be there tonight, he absolutely will."

"No. I am not doing this anymore." I half yell, anger flaming my eyes.

"You will do it or I will divorce you."

In hindsight, why did that sentence scare me so much? Why did it give me such a fright that I agreed to seduce a man that all I knew about him was his name and his family relationship with my husband?

"I will divorce you and you'll go back to the family you abandoned. Maybe you'd like it better there after they welcome you very warmly.” He was being sarcastic and I knew that, “All you need to do, is keep a man mute for thirteen hours. Who do you think I will shower a trillion dollars on if I should get the deal? Don't be unreasonable Raees. I'll take care of you and no one will ever know what happened tonight."

I had stayed silent for a minute.

"I'll have a driver bring your car over by eleven am tomorrow..."

Divorce. Seeing my family. My worst nightmares in one whole sentence.

"How will I recognize him?" I found myself asking.

Daniel's face bursts into a wide smile, lip to lip, grinning ear to ear, before he pecks me on the cheeks. "Thank you, you're the best wife in the world. As Cook said, wives like you are so rare to find. I have intel that he'll be there by exactly nine thirty pm. He has a meeting down there so you'll just need to keep your eyes on the door for when he comes inside."

Nine thirty.

Just keep him in place for thirteen hours... With no knowledge of seduction, this will be a long night.

"Fine. After this, you owe me."

"Yes, I don't mind baby. Get going before anyone sees me around and recognizes me."

I open the car door and step out, the five star hotel looming largely above me.

Skyline Hotel.

It really is touching the skyline so the name is not an exaggeration.

Behind me, Daniel zooms right off without even the slightest byes.

I take one deep breath before proceeding to the doors. Whatever I choose to do, I'll do it well, for my husband's sake, for my marriage's sake...

For my own sake.

"Room 7702 ma'am. Here's your key."

I accept the key and take the elevator up to the seventh floor where my room is located. It does not take long to find and when I do enter, I collapse on the bed.

All I have with me is my bag, and the shopping bag with the dress.

My shoe would do thankfully and makeup is settled too. I have till nine pm to know what I am doing.

I go online on G****e and search the keywords "How to seduce a man with successful results."

And I spend the next three hours prying the Internet, laughing at some things and noting some things down...

Time passes quite fast and soon enough, it's already eight pm.

I freshen up and having my wits around me, I get dressed, do my makeup and steps into my heels.

I give my hair a little up-do and deciding otherwise, I let it down, falling around my shoulders in its soft curls.

Blonde and blue eyed.

The intense makeup around my eyes certainly make my eyes pop out and the contrast between the black dress and my hair makes quite an impression.

I'm out for blood...

I exit my room and make my way to the elevator down the hall. Then takes the same elevator to the sky bar.

When the door opens, the deep ambience of the place hits me like a brick. It looks so good and just as I step inside, it's nine pm.

Not a minute late.

I smile. I am pretty good at this. I make my way to the bar, not oblivious to the stares I am getting across the room, male and female alike.

"Can you please give me vodka shots, one by one please, not altogether... Just keep them coming."

They call alcohol liquid courage and right now, that's what I need.

As soon as I get the first shot, I down it in one gulp. Eyes on the door, very aware of everyone that's coming in.

My phone vibrates with an incoming message and I dig it out of my purse. It's from Daniel.

At least he remembers me.

"Wish you luck tonight, you've got this, my seductress."

The message does not make me smile. It only makes me grab the second shot of vodka and take it in one gulp as well.

When the third one slides my way, I take it in sips, I can't afford to get drunk or tipsy while on the job.

"What's a pretty woman like you doing alone?"

I shift slightly to see a man standing on my left. "Would you mind if I buy you a drink?"

"I'll mind. My date is on the way so no, thank you." I respond stiffly, hoping that my tone will tell him I am in no mood for chatting.

"That's very ungentlemanly of whoever he is. No one keeps such a beauty waiting, looking alone and bored at a shady place like this. Let me buy you a drink while you wait, maybe you can tell me about yourself." His hands, audaciously, rest on my thighs.

I snap my head his way, deliberately catching him in the nose. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize your head was so close. See? I told you my date is on the way. Please leave me alone."

He steps back furiously, his fingers on his nose, a suspiciously red liquid flowing down from his nostrils. Some people were looking our way and that only made me shift uncomfortably. I don’t want to be a hooker attracting useless attraction here.

I glance askance at my phone only to see nine thirty pm. Exactly.

Reid should be walking in at any time...

The doors open and a man enters, and soon after, another man does.

Two men.

Nine thirty pm.

Who the heck is Reid amongst them both?

That bastard had made me lose my sight on the door and now I don't know who is who anymore. I am so done here.

Just behind me, the man with the cracked nose returns and grabs a glass of wine off the table and tilts his hand my way...

"You slut!" He exclaims as I turn around to see what's coming my way.

Just then, someone grabs him and flips his hand around, pouring the wine down his body instead, twists the hand behind him and pushes him to the ground.

"Ah!" The man yells in obvious pain as I jump off my stool, startled by everything that's happening so damn fast.

"Are you okay ma'am?" The man, with his face down, asks.

"Yes, thank you very much sir."

He looks up and his eyes meet mine. I hold back a breath. He is breathtakingly handsome in an effortless way, with a face that has been sculpted by god himself, the collarbone visible through his shirt, every muscle in every right place and the eyes, the one looking at me.

Then he smiles and my world crumbles.

"Don't call me sir, I am Reid. I could not possibly see a man like this assault you, behind your back. He's a coward."

Reid... He just said his name is Reid.

Oh shit. My prey is my savior...

It is going to be a long, unforgettable night.