Chapter Five-Security Breach

Khaid

“Hello Demi and Tumi, right?” I lent these adorable kids my best smile. Too bad their father is a lying and cheating thing.

“Don't touch my kids. Khaid, don't. . Please. . I beg you” The cheat keeps screaming behind bars. He's unrecognizable now. My boys did a good makeover on him.

“Daddy” The kids scream altogether.

“Aww. . . So cute” I gesture to take them away and I move towards the chair Brandon is tied to. “Tell me, what style of sex did you do that made the person upstairs bestow on you these cute kids?”

“Khaid please. .”

“I warned you Brandon. I told you what will happen if you mess with me. Yet, you did”

“I can explain. The trailer was hijacked. We are still trying to figure out who that is. Every of the security accompanying the goods were killed. . Please” I watch him cough out blood.

“Why didn't I know of this earlier?”

“I didn't want you to see me as a weak person” He muttered breathlessly.

“Bravo” I started a mocking slap. “I can now see you as Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. You love chaos, don't you?” I sighed. “Who did you think did that?”

“I don't know but the only person who escaped told me the truck had this MTP logo on it” He hiccuped.

“That bastard”

Suddenly, the security siren starts to blast loudly. “Boss, it's an infiltrator named Dalia Bluey. The security has been breached” Kael whispered.

I scoffed. Fifty of Bluey put together can't breach my security. “Cease the defense.I will be there.”

“Noted boss”

“Give him ten more strokes and release him”

Brandon's eyes widened. “I already told you the truth. I will supply you with the weapons. . Don't do this. . Ahhh… Khaid. .”

“That's for cheating on your wife, you weak idiot” I spat and turned to leave.

“How about my kids?” His voice was quivering.

“At the dump site? I'm not sure”

“Ahhhhh”

“He fainted, boss.” Kael tries to stifle his laughter.

“How are the kids?”

“They are asleep after eating Madame Agnes signatory fried rice and chicken”

“Good. Let's meet this person who dare infiltrate my cabal”

Satera

I lost the light, but the sensation of falling didn't follow. Instead, the floor seemed to come up and meet me, jarring my teeth and sending a fresh spike of panic through the darkness.

The last thing I remembered was the suffocating gray room, the mechanical voice repeating “Security activated,” and the chilling, smug satisfaction in Khaid’s voice: “How the mighty has fallen.”

I gasped, coughing, the air thick with something sterile and metallic. My eyes blinked against a sudden, blinding light. I wasn't dead, but I definitely wasn't in my rickety apartment. I was lying on a surface so smooth and cold it could have been polished ice. Slowly, I pushed myself up. I was in a room unlike anything I had ever seen. The walls were tinted black glass, reflecting the scattered light of dozens of tiny, integrated ceiling fixtures. It felt less like a room and more like the cockpit of a very expensive spaceship. And across the room, sitting on a low, minimalist chair that looked carved from a single piece of stone, was Khaid Jager.

He wasn't wearing a club-ready suit this time. He was in simple, tailored black trousers and a charcoal gray shirt that hugged his shoulders. He didn’t look intimidating. He looked utterly, effortlessly dominant. He was observing me, one long finger pressed against his temple, the expression on his face completely unreadable.

“Well, look who decided to grace my humble abode” he drawled, his voice deep and slightly amplified by the surrounding acoustics. “I expected you to show up, Bluey. I just didn't expect you to be so… dramatic about the entrance.”

“Wha. .what happened?” My voice was raspy, thin, utterly unlike the fierce tone I used when yelling about booties in a club. I scrambled backward until my spine hit the cold glass wall.

“My security system is... sensitive” Khaid explained, waving a dismissive hand. “You were scanned at the gate. You provided an unrecognized name, Dalia Bluey? Seriously? And you tested positive for traces of... well, your product. The system interpreted your nervousness and my lack of a pre-scheduled 'Dalia Bluey' appointment as a Level Three threat. It hit you with a mild sedative gas.”

I felt the last traces of the gas wear off, replacing the dizziness with sharp, searing anger. “You gassed me?! You arrogant son of a. . .”

“Careful” he interrupted, his voice dropping an octave. “You're in my house now. I paid your rent, remember? You're here because I allowed it. You were supposed to deliver your product, not try to infiltrate a compound that controls half of Belg City’s infrastructure.”

I clutched the bag, which contained the remaining herbal vials. “I delivered it! You told me to find your address! I found it. Lot 27, the house with the black gates and the pale lemon tree. Now take your herbs and leave me alone!”

Khaid stood up slowly. His height was immediately overwhelming. He walked over to a shimmering glass table, picked up one of the vials, and examined the deep emerald liquid within.

“Do you know the difference between a debtor and an employee, Bluey?” he asked, not looking at me. “A debtor runs. An employee shows up, on time, with the agreed-upon goods. You're trying to prove you're an employee, which means you have to follow instructions.”

He looked directly at me then, his dark eyes like twin magnets. “I told you to supply me with your products every day. I don't want these two little bottles. I want a regular, guaranteed supply. And I want your recipe.”

My jaw dropped. “My recipe? Are you insane? That's my livelihood! The herbs, the process, the formula. It stays with me! And are you going to take aphrodisiacs everyday in copious quantities like that? You're going to that with that doze”

“Then you will stay with it” Khaid corrected, a slow, predatory smile touching his lips. He pressed a button on a control panel. A wall panel slid open, revealing a hidden door. “The security breach is cleared. Welcome to Khaid Jager abode.”

He gestured toward the open door. "Your first task is not delivering the herbs. Your first task is figuring out how to get out of my building without me knowing. If you succeed, you can deliver the next batch tomorrow. If you fail..." He shrugged, the gesture managing to convey both threat and indifference. "...then you're mine to use however I see fit.”

I ran to his front, making him halt. We are in his spacious compound and even though I'm still in awe, I need to let him know that I will be in control. It will be his rules but at my pace.

“There's no deal.”