5. GETTING FAMILIAR

MAE

"I didn't run. I mean, you guys ended up getting me back." I quickly said as soon as Isis was out of the room and Owen stood by the edge of my bed.

I could tell that he rarely came here only by the way Isis acted. She looked really, really surprised to see him here.

I was practically looking up to him from where I sat, and I noticed that the guards were looking at me funny. Was I supposed to stand?

He was just an employer, not some sovereign Lord. So, I decided that until he personally asked be to get off the bed, I would remain in place.

He said nothing about it though, just started with, "You are lucky to still be alive until now. I do not condone traitors. I was ready to kill your father before you stepped in with your promise. What makes you think you can just break it, because you want to?"

I shrugged, not really having anything to say.

"Words." His dark eyes pierced through mine, and I cleared my throat, answering,

"I'm sorry. Also repeating that I didn't end up escaping, you know… just putting that out there."

He said nothing for a long while, and truthfully this time I was almost peeing in my pants due to how dead silent it was. But I managed to stay calm on the outside, just looking up at him.

Looked like he noticed the way my eyes flickered between him and the guards, because he simply smiled crookedly and nodded at the men to exit. It took everything in me not to stick my tongue out at them. But I knew that it might just really get a gun to my head this time.

Owen's face remained impassive as he pulled out a seat and sat across from me, taking up all the space on the chair.

"I am not here to familiarize you with the workings of this place. Someone would do that. I'm here to pass a warning." He started.

"I'm sorry." I repeated, but he simply continued,

"There will be no repeat of what happened last night, or anything of the sort. If repeated, punishments will follow both for you and your father, and they will be nothing light. Do you understand?"

I could have just nodded and gone with it, but I just had to say something, "You killed my friend. And his friends too, just because he came to save me from you. You're a criminal, aren't you?"

My heart was in my mouth while I spoke but I tried to appear calm, still staring straight into his eyes.

Owen might be the scariest man I had ever seen, but I was the most inquisitive, fiercest woman I had ever known too, so…

He did not answer for a while, then he relaxed against his seat, pulled out a thick cigar and slipped it between his lips, "That was self defense. There were with guns too. Or did you choose to turn a blind eye to that?"

I noticed a tick in his right eyebrow as he spoke and I could not help but wonder if that meant something.

"So… you are not a criminal? Just a loan shark who casually carries guns around and threatens to kill the person who owes him?" I probed.

The look in his eyes had me waving the question off before I got killed here, on this bed. Fierce and inquisitive was what I said, not dumb.

Laughing nervously, I murmured,

"Never mind. I totally get what you said. I'll try my best to be good."

He rose to his feet at that and I could not help but ogle his tattoos for like the tenth time since he stepped in. Damn, this man was pure, expensive art.

I just knew his cologne would not be leaving this room or the chair for a while. I needed to have such expensive scent like that on me for once in my life, but I doubted that happening anytime soon.

Maybe another lifetime. This one would most likely be spent paying debt.

"You should watch your mouth more, little Rivera. Around here, it would get you in a lot of trouble. I'm in a good mood today, so I’ll let your shortcomings slide."

"First of all, I'm not little. I'm 24. Secondly, if you were not in a good mood… what exactly would happen to me?" I dared to ask, and no kidding, he immediately lowered himself to my face level, his both fists planting on the bed for support as he stared deep into my soul.

Smoke covered my face without warning and he watched me cough and struggle to breathe for a while, before telling me sternly,

"If I were not, I would have been rid of your annoying voice moments ago. And I would have been gawking at my favorite color, also."

I understood immediately, and my lips sealed shut as even the urge to cough or breathe died down at the same time.

He smiled—he seemed to do that a lot, even if most of those smiles were mocking ones—and then he straightened, peering into my eyes, still.

"Be good. There will be no second warning."

And then he spun around, and left the room, leaving me a shivering mess on the bed.

Noted. Avoid Owen Powers at all costs, unless absolutely necessary.

I plopped back down on the bed, scrunching my nose as the smell of that cigar didn't want to leave. Then I closed my eyes and thought of dad.

Isis did not let me sulk for long. She was back in the room in no time, calling everyone here jerks and telling me not to be too scared of Owen—he usually never concerned himself with trivial issues like what happened with strippers, according to her.

Well, it did not seem like that moments earlier, I thought to myself.

I finally agreed for her to take me around, show me this place.

The first creepy thing about this place was the fact that I found out that it was not mainly a club. In fact, the club was actually underground and the place was mainly a hub for different things.

The building had two floors. There was a boutique in here, a salon, a mall, they had a phone store in the mall too, and Isis casually went in there to get an tablet for a thousand dollars.

When I asked why she would waste so much money on that, she responded with a laugh,

"The money will come back, baby girl. It always does, in our world. You get it?" Then she winked and started walking ahead, showing me other places.

So basically, on the ground floor which actually only consisted of the boutique and the salon, there was a door that read; EMPLOYEES ONLY.

That was where the stairs to the underground club was hidden. That was some diabolical shit, if you asked me.

I could not help asking Isis, "Uh… why is the club underground? Why does it seem like everyone up here is oblivious to it?"

She smiled, "Because most of them are. Only special employees can go down there… special employees like us. And the people who come to the club are VIPs, top men in the country who do not want people knowing that they spend their time ogling strippers and even fucking them. Don't worry, once you start properly, you would get to see a lot of known men you would have never imagined here. Women too. If their name ever gets out to anyone, they always trace the perpetrator…"

I waited, but it seemed like she was done talking. Her feet lived from side to side like she was nervous, even with the way she smiled.

"They always trace the perpetrators and?"

She swallowed, then shrugged and continued walking, "… and, we never see him/her again. Be careful, Mae."