Jack inched closer to her, his hands clasped tightly together as he recounted the unsettling events that had been unfolding in his life. Belle listened intently, her eyes narrowed in concentration. "You need my help?" She asked silently. "Yes, babe. I received a warning from my stalker sometimes ago," Jack said, his voice filled with unease. "They told me to leave what belonged to them alone. But I have no idea what they're talking about. I haven't taken anything from anyone." Belle leaned forward, her expression serious. "That's puzzling," she said, tapping her fingers on the table. "It seems like this person is trying to intimidate you into silence, but their motive is unclear. Have you made any enemies recently, or stumbled upon any sensitive information that could have triggered this?" Jack racked his brain, trying to think of any recent events that could have led to him being stalked by a wanted criminal. "I can't think of anything," he said, frustration evident in his voice. "I
Jack shook his head, and said, "What the fuck? I didn't say that. You don't even know Bianca." Belle threw her head back for a while and pointed at him, "I got you good. I was teasing!" Jack sighed, his confusion fading away. She leaned in, her breath warm against Jack's ear as she whispered, "You seem tense." She muttered, her words sending shivers down his spine. "Don't worry about anything, baby. You're safe with me." Jack's heart raced as he looked into her eyes, captivated by their intensity. In this moment, she was offering him comfort in the most unexpected way. "Why do you look so startled?" She asked, looking closely into his eyes. "Nothing...you just reminded me of her." He said, shaking off the memory of Bianca's brutal murder, "She used to tell me the exact same words." "What words?" She asked warmly, breathing onto his neck. " 'You seem tense'. Those words." He said, peering briefly into her opened laptop. As Belle moved closer, his worries began to fade away. He felt a s
"Fuck you." Mario gagged, the martini cocktail trickling down his reddened face. The rather youngish waitress gave him her middle finger, as she strode away with an empty glass in her hands. "Fuck you, you dirty big thing." She yelled back in a strong French accent. "What did you say?" Wait, Did he hear right? 'You dirty big thing?'He stood there, trying to understand what just happened to him. He instinctively went after her, split second later, but was pushed back by some unfamiliar faces in the bar. For starters, Mario was a six-foot-five, broad shouldered, well-chiseled slithering god. Slithering was Jack's way of qualifying him, because for one, he always had a way with women, plus he had some sexual appeal to his person, more than his best friend ever would. "Slithering." Mario chuckled again, savoring the sound of the words in his dirty, gorgeous head. His smile soon disappeared as he watched the girl swing her finger again in his direction. No one had ever called him
Belle was awfully quiet when he helped her down his plush Porsche, and she was even quieter when he told her, "You are welcome to my humble abode."He wondered what went on in her pretty mind. Maybe she still harboured that fear. His sumptuous penthouse was not exactly humble, as it was indeed fancy, not a billion-euros-kind-of fancy, but the moderately-but-unbelievably fancy. In fact, it stood out in the neighbourhood, and if anyone didn't know Mario as the chronic alcoholic around, he was known as the sexiest man on the street, with the finest house being the icing on the cake."You are sweating." Belle cut him out of his silly daydreams again, staring at him with her huge green eyeballs. Mario touched his forehead and felt a pang of embarrassment, that quickly disappeared when she said, "Well, I'm a little hot too." He could swear she had a hint of smile playing on her lips, but he was not too sure. The dazzling orange-red lights at his entrance usually hid or altered facial
6:45am, next day Mario shielded his eye from the lights seeping in through the blinds. His alarm clock rang at the same time, and he yawned shamelessly. "Wake up, queen, it's morning." He grumbled sleepily. "I've not woken up feeling this good in years, you know." He waited for for answer before slowly turning around. "Belle?"Without touching his side, he knew she was already gone. "Fuck me." He cussed, above his breath. If only he had not fallen asleep immediately after, he would have at least got her number. For a second, he wondered why he had done the opposite of what he should have done. And it was only after he woke up that morning, that he realized- she had completely given him her innocence. "She must have hated the domination." He found himself second-guessing. Did she let him only because he said it was a comfort? Had she felt tricked by him?He rubbed her spot on his bed, and smelt it. Her rose-scent cologne still hung on to it like a second skin. It was heavy in
On his way to the Aubert's residence in Le Marais, just a three-hour drive from town, Mario tried to get his mind off things. But it was fucking hard. Every now and then, he would let his mind drift back to the brief meeting he had, with twenty two-year-old sexy Belle. He got smiles playing on his lips in all those moments, but the thoughts would not even stay for long. What was he thinking running from home to live by himself? He had thought that he would find peace, after years of living under his parents' control. Now that had even been manageable, as he could well take a vacation all the time they upset him. But not anymore, not after his mother canceled all his credit cards.And when Annette's parents started to join in, forcing him to obey his parents and marry their daughter, he had had to take a hike, away from all of them. "I hope Aurelia is safe." He thought to himself, despite it. He knew that even Annette's parents did not mean well for his family. He parked his c
Roughly two hours later, Mario jerked awake, drenched in his own sweat. It was getting dark outside. He tried to get up, but he fell back on the bed. His neck was hurting, and he did not know why. "What am I doing here?" He soliloquized, and helped himself off the bed. Then, he slowly began to remember why he was here. Annette had called him first, and then Caroline. And he had driven all the way from Rue de la Folie.."Bad news..." He thought, flipping off the bedspread from his body. He walked out into the living room, and shouted Caroline's name. But, no one answered back. "Caroline!" He shouted. He had a mild headache that rested in his forehead. "Caro?"He heard footsteps walking in through the door, and when he turned around, he came face to face with his own mother, Aurelia. She was holding a bag, and dressed in a white jumpsuit. She had two maidservants by her sides. One of them was Caroline, and..she looked different. Faintly, he recollected that she had been wearing a
It was already effing dark when Mario arrived at his apartment in Rue de la Folie. It had drizzled for a while, and his hair was damp when he went into the bathroom. "Oh Hey man!" It was Jack, and he was in a pair of shorts, with a vacuum cleaner in one hand, and vintage wine in another, like he owned the place. "Oh, Jack, you are back?" He said briefly, and snatched the bottle of wine from his hands. He downed a generous quantity and walked straight into the bathroom. "How did you not see me when you walked in?" Jack asked, helping him with his towel. "I was beginning to think you died somewhere and your ghost came back." He had a laugh threatening to jump out of his lips. "You are bathing without a towel too?" Mario sighed, and took it from him. "I just have a lot going on right now. Ce n'est pas drole." "Don't speak French to me, you know I'm an English man." He said, chuckling, "Well, what is going on with you man? You can tell me, yunno."but, Mario was already in the showe