Reality Struck!

I was awakened by the distant sound of the television. Immediately I opened my eyes, I saw Maxine cropped up on a chair at the end of the room.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," he muttered.

"Where are we?" I croaked, sitting up on the bed and surveying the empty room that had only a bed and a television.

Maxine stretched his arms, and sighed. "Home, The Garden."

"Thank God." I sighed, before realizing what he meant. "You mean your home is referred to as The Garden?"

"Mhmm." He hummed.

"Gross." I spat out.

"It's a good name." He stood up. "Hollis totally owe me for this." He murmured and left the room, not even saying a goodbye or any other word.

My throat felt raw, and my body, emotionally exhausted. I could feel dark isolation seeping through the room like deep depression. I just wanted to go home, to go shopping, boat cruises, clubhouses and the courtroom. I wanted my life back.

But even I know I couldn't. Not with the continuous attempt on my life and with my father's life at stake.

I wondered what lies in wait for me henceforth. Maybe breaking my spirit and instilling fear in me was part of the preparation.

As if in the know, a knock came on the door and Hollis stepped in. "Get off the bed Ugo. Rocco will take you up to our room." He said, voice emotionless.

I stood up from the bed, trying to gather my thoughts. Our room, he said. 'Are we going to share a room?'. I wondered. "Are we going to share a room?" I asked out loud when I couldn't keep it in.

"You agreed to this, didn't you?"

I nodded. "Then move your legs." He said.

I looked at him, searched his face for that calm, young man that had been trying so hard to woo me non-stop but saw nothing. Nobody would say he was currently forcing me to do anything per se, I agreed to it .

It didn’t matter if I liked the choices, I still made a decision. "I'm not sharing a room with you." I stated, at least I didn't sign away my freedom of speech too.

"That is exactly what you are going to do," he insisted.

Hollis called me closer with his fingers, "You will do as I say." He told me once I came closer.

I avoided his gaze, but stood rooted on the floor.

"Which way?" I asked, gaze still downcast.

"Are you talking to me or your shoes, Ugo?" He asked such an annoying question.

"You." I replied.

"Look at me."

I shook my head. Looking at him would obviously mean falling into a trap. The drum of tears I've been battling so hard to keep at bay would definitely get broken.

He waited, obviously thinking that I would be able to gather enough courage to look at him. But then he gave up when I didn't. "That way," he pointed.

"Lead the way then." I told him refusing to give it another thought.

He pulled my arm gently and drew me even closer to him. "I am not your warden, Ugo," he said, watching as I blinked up at him through watery eyes. "I am the Boss, he added. "Don't ever forget that."

I pulled my hand away from him and saw the smirk on his lips. "I do forget how much you've built your strength and stamina. You might need some taming."

"What? I'm not some toy to you, am I?"

"I don't think you've fully grasped the deal you signed. But I guarantee that it will all sink-in in a day or two."

"Does this deal state that I'm your prisoner too?" He said he wasn't my warden, wasn’t he? Because I was so certain that I wouldn't be permitted to leave the premises. Not without him seeking out and slaughtering everyone I loved.

I would never let that happen. I actually felt a little whiplash from the whole thing and It didn’t even help that I’d witnessed a gruesome murder or that I was being used as some sort of white flag to stop the wrath of the so-called Boss on my father.

To even realize that if I didn’t let myself be used that way, my loved ones would die made it all worse. With all the thoughts roaming through my head, it was no wonder that I felt a little unstable on my own two feet. And as for my head, well, it kept shooting off in a dozen different directions every second. I needed to focus!

I was going to spend several months with this man, a killer, a monster in a man’s clothing. I'll have to endure whatever he's going to throw at me for months. I was fucked up, no matter how I chose to look at it.

Even if he was objectively-attractive, darkly-attractive, if that was a thing. He was still a psychopath who used his position, power and money to bend people to his will. That was the kind of evil bastard I just got myself mixed up with. He wasn't an angel. My senses were slowly becoming clearer and suddenly, I was doing all the thinking I should have done before placing my signature on that stupid sheet of paper.

"Ugo," Hollis' voice snapped, the sound like a whip cracking in the empty room. I raised my head up to find him looking down at me, those dark eyes unreadable.

"What?"

"Move," he said, tone impatient.

"I'm getting you upset already." I chuckled. "This has always been your plan. You couldn't just handle a simple rejection. So, you had to sit down in that little pissy chair of yours and craft out a plan to get me tangled up in your deadly life, right?"

"If only you knew what I'm doing for you, you would owe me your life."

I started laughing, I couldn't help it. "Well you're in luck, at least you'll have me in your space in the coming months."

"Ugo!" He snapped again. "Move," he warned sternly.

"This was all your plan." I reminded him.

"Yes," he agreed as his hand grabbed mine. And I could swear that it didn’t leave a strange spark on my nerves. If it did, it was because I was pissed that he was touching me. That was the only logical explanation. "But you are the one being difficult," he added as he moved ahead and pulled me along.

"Look who said he wasn't my warden," I grumbled

"If you were expecting a soft-romantic man, Ugo, you are very much mistaken. You had the opportunity once and you threw it away."

"I don’t want romance from you," I insisted. "Why would I, for god's sake."

We were now in an open corridor. Rocco stood like a statue at the end of the room, staring into space. Two other guards stood at a reasonable distance, taking the same stance. I snatched my hand back from him, crossing it over my chest.

"Good. Then that's settled. But make no mistake, he turned "I'm going to take my pleasure from you, how and when I deem it fit." He threatened.

"You dare not!" I challenged, creating a distance between us.

"Really," he mused. "Let's see how that goes."

"Every single thing about this situation is disappointing," I corrected him, feeling my jaw quiver. I had a temper. So I try so hard to always remain happy and positive.

And that was why I surrounded myself with people that really love and care about me. They all knew and understood how bad my temper used to be.

As a form of control, I would always remain cold and calm in situations I have no power over. Until I grab a full picture of the situation. But then, in some conditions, I almost always end up crying when I get angry. It was frustrating and embarrassing and something my best friend had teased me about a lot.

Hollis mouth opened as if he was going to snap back at me before he shut it again, thinking for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was calm, patient even. "You will learn that there are benefits to being with me."

"Touche. You might end up dead one morning."

He chuckled. "And you'll be my killer?" He asked as one of his dark brows rose.

"What do you think?"

"I think you're giving yourself too much credit, Ugo." I couldn’t decide if he was surprised, amused or annoyed. Or maybe all of them at the same time. "But I'm banking on that," he added.

"I imagine there are at least a dozen men who want you dead."

"Yes, even more than a dozen." He said, shrugging it off.

"So I'll just wait it out then."

"You should." He nodded, pretending to think it through. "Someone might beat you to it."

I hissed, wrapping my arms around myself more tightly. He shook his head and reached for his phone as it buzzed, taking a second to check the screen. "I have some business to attend to. Rocco will see you in our room. You have a few hours to clean up and wait for me, we need to talk."

"Rocco." I asked, stiffening, not wanting that guy that had been giving me mean stares near me again.

"Maxine would have done that for you, I noticed you feel less edgy around him. But, Rocco is nice, be nice too." Hollis said, waving toward the side of the room where the mean looking Rocco stood.

"You know the schedule." Hollis said to Rocco, not sparing him a glance.

"Yes Boss." Rocco replied.

"Good." She stays within the house, unless I say otherwise."

"Oh, but I’m not a prisoner or anything, right, Mr. Warden." I said, getting his gaze to lift, his brow arched up.

"Just do what you’re told, Ugo."

"If that's what you want, you know I'm the wrong person for the job."

"My god! what's with you. A few moments ago, you were calm, quiet. But now, it feels like someone pulled a plug on your mouth-switch."

I shrugged, thinking of the best reply, but couldn't come up with any. "You’re only going to make things harder on yourself with that attitude," Hollis said, but shrugged it off. "Whatever sets your panties on fire."

"Don’t speak of my panties," I snapped, jaw tight.

And that got his full attention. He slowly tucked away his phone and stalked toward me, leaning down as he held my gaze, something dark and wicked in his eyes.

"I will talk about your panties anytime I want, Ugo. Or have you forgotten that you're mine for as long as this last. Mine to command, mine to please, mine to toy with, mine to fuck!" He blew out.

"Jesus!" I exclaimed, the severity of what I just signed glared at my face.

I felt insulted, humiliated in the worst possible way, that I didn't think it through when I cocked my arm back and slapped him across the face.

After the slap and two seconds of feeling pleased with myself, I look around the room and knew then that I've fucked up. Because the men in the room all stiffened and reached for their weapons.

"One, little cockroach, just one," he said, running his fingertips across the spot I slapped. "Get your ass up to the room before I drag you there myself. Rocco!" He called, keeping unnerving eye contact the whole time it took for the mean-looking man to move to my side.

"Ready?" Rocco asked, tone lighter, like he was trying to ease up the tension between Hollis and I."

"Yeah," I agreed, my gaze moved away from Hollis to Rocco, who at the moment, seemed like a more friendly face.

I fell into step behind him as he led me away from his enraged Boss.