Alicia:
Daya’s eyes narrowed at me and she looked like she was about to spit venom at me, rearing her head back like a python.“What?“ she asked in a low tone. “No one? NO ONE, Alicia? Are you sure you wanna play that and right now?”I frowned at her; what more was she expecting me to say?“I know what happened,” she pointed her finger accusingly at me.“I’m sure that’s what you’ve been hiding from me all this time. You went home with some rich guy didn’t you? And you chose not to tell me?!”I was getting more annoyed by her making a huge fuss out of something that wasn’t even her business to begin with. What did this have to do oth her? Nothing.“Daya-“ I tried to speak but she shook her head and stormed out yelling obscenities at the top of her lungs.I sighed, feeling weary all of a sudde . I looked at the box which was still innocently by my side, at the bouquet I had barely touched, and at the notes in my hands addressed from the two men who I had differently framed encounters with.Somehow I had entered a nightmare of my own making.I was being SEEN, and I didn’t like it one bit.…I really didn’t want to go to the dinner. Immediately after closing from work - in which Daya didn’t even speak to me and ignored me when I walked by her desk - I balanced the packages in my hands which caught the eyes of some of my colleagues.I could hear the whispers behind my back.‘Who is she? Is she dating someone?’‘Must be some guy with small bit of cash. Lucky her.’‘I can’t imagine ever liking someone with such shapeless clothes. She doesn’t even know how to dress herself.’The last bit hurt, but still served to help me remind myself why I needed to push Acker and Mikael away.What was I going to do though?I let out a short breath of distraction as the bouquet was squeezed in between myself and another, much older and matronly dressed woman who gave me a solid glare as we stood in the elevator.“Sorry,” I muttered under my breath. If only everyone knew that I didn’t like this type of attention, my life would be made a lot easier.The entire trip back home, I was beside myself with worry, and I wondered if I was being rational.They hadn’t done anything to warrant me threatening them to leave me alone.They were just… a little too much for me.The scent of the flowers in the bouquet were like heaven to me, and I fought to resist the urge to press my face into it as I walked down the street towards the second bus stop that would take me to my street.The flowers were beautiful, and from what I saw of the dress, it was wonderful as well.There was something ping in my belly but I didn’t want to admit it; something was charming about the two men. Somehow, I didn’t think they were horrible.But that didn’t mean this sort of attention was what I wanted, I reminded myself.My conflicted emotions were very much all over the place, however that much was certain.I didn’t want Acker and Mikael to cause me trouble. Girls who got attention like this never ended up well, I told myself.When I was younger I saw what would become of those girls - used abs abused by everyone around them, to the point that they became a shell of themselves. Even though I was brought up in abject poverty, and my view of the world was skewed… I didn’t doubt that the same thing applied to women no matter the social class.I didn’t want to be a target for anyone.All I wanted was to be invisible.The bus came ten minutes after waiting and I kept to myself, staring out the window while enduring stares of those in the same bus with me, who looked at the bouquet and box and must be thinking I was some kept woman.I let my mind wander so that it didn’t bother me so much and by the time I dropped off the bus at my stop, I was becoming immune to looks at my person.My apartment was a small one, on the other side of the city, and on the outskirts of the city. Those who lived here weren’t of the best income class, just like me.Sighing, I unlocked the three clasps on my door and went in, locking it from the inside before removing my shoes.I didn’t notice the shadow in the corner, and that was my mistake.Suddenly I felt something being jabbed at my neck and I began to scream only for a gloved hand to cover my mouth, leaving only muffled sounds from my lips.I struggled, kicked out at the unknown assailant, as the lump in my tghost and queasy knots in my gut wound themselves even more into something I couldn’t unknot.“She’s feisty,” the man behind me grunted and I tried my best to jab my elbow into the man, but it was no use.Tears filled my eyes as I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. My vision blurred - whether it was the tears or something else, I didn’t want to know.“Please,” my whispers were choked. The hand was no longer covering my lips, but it wasn’t needed.I couldn’t run, and only fell further into the darkness that enveloped me and threatened to swallow me whole.Voices were heard around me but I didn’t know where they were coming from or what they were saying.That was all I remembered.What woke me up was the sound of creaking.I heard a loud slam and my eyes flew open, only for me to take in the scent of metal and rust all around me, the sight of sun, flickering lighting and a ceiling I didn’t recognize.The memories of what happened in my apartment were a little hazy at the edges but nevertheless I knew I wasn’t anywhere I was supposed to be.Rising to my feet, I realized I was in a small room. The bars on the windows cemented my fear.I was trapped.Was I being abducted?Trafficked?Panicking, I rushed to bang on the door.“Please let me out!” I cried loudly. “Let me out! I don’t know what’s going on! Please!”I continued to bang on the door, hoping against all odds that someone would find me and save me.But as I slowly began to get worn down and became a sobbing mess, the realization that I was alone filled me with dread and pain.…Alicia:My breaths came out shallowly and echoed in the empty metal cell. I had already begun to smell a staleness in the air and it made me feel so dirty.No one had come, and I didn’t even know whether it had been a day or a couple of hours. Time was hard to tell when one couldn’t see the sun after all.“Why is this happening to me?” I murmured to myself, curled up in a fetal position. I laid my head against the wall next to the door, praying for someone, anyone to come.At some point I thought I might have heard footsteps, but I wasn’t sure.Suddenly I heard a loud sound of metal creaking and it made me jolt to a standing position, wide eyed at the door where I could have sworn the sound came from.What was going on?My hope surged once more as i realized it must be someone.“Help,” my voice was hoarse as my throat was dry. “Please…”As soon as I had said that the door swung open and I winced at the sound of the creaking door. I noticed it was a burly man that walked in, looking in
Alicia's POV:My… what?It was as though blood rushed through my ears and I could barely consider the words for a second. With the situation I was in, it took a while before it fully sank in.My father?This man… this Senator Duncan, was my father?“That’s impossible,” left my lips, and the man chuckled like I had said something incredibly funny.“It doesn't matter what you think, fiorellino. You're the daughter of a powerful senator. Congratulations,” his smirk widened and I felt like I was more afraid. What was there to celebrate? “And you… are going to help me, fiorellino. By being my hostage. You see, my business is being attacked by laws beyond my control. Your father… he can help me,” he waved his hand around, keeping his green eyes trained on me.I heard something vibrate and he reached down to his pants pocket and pulled out a phone, the source of the vibration. Then he must have answered it, for I heard a voice on the other end loud and clear.“Where is she, you bastard?”The
Acker's POV:She was quiet. Too quiet, for my liking.I removed my eyes from the phone where I was exchanging messages with Mikael, who was in the car behind mine, and Javier, my right hand man.She was staring out the window, through the tinted black glass to the landscape outside. I doubted she had been out of the city before, so this must be unfamiliar to her. Her hair was disheveled and her face seemingly impassive, but I knew it to be a mask.I also noticed how tense she was, by the way her hands were clasped together and trembling. It was obvious she still had a lot of anxiety over what she had just been through. Deep down, I longed to pull my gun on that bastard and fill his body with bullet holes.That thought made my fingers twitch. I had never desired to protect a girl like her before. I have had many lovers, and none of them ever meant anything to me. Alicia… she was different, and not just because she was the daughter of a senator. I could tell that unlike the experienced,
Alicia’s POV:I was only faintly aware of the fact that I was hyperventilating.Everything had happened so fast, I had just seen and been through a lot of things that I never expected to have been through.Tears spilled down my cheeks and my hands clenched, trying to find somewhere, something, anything to ground myself.Why did this have to happen to me?I kept my head down. I was a quiet person. I never involved myself in anything shady. I had never wanted to be noticed, much less abducted!I felt something like a cloth being dabbed onto my cheeks, and I tried to move away from it instinctively only for my hands to be caught, pulling me Into a sitting position firmly.“Alicia,” I faintly recognized this was Acker talking, through the turbulent emotions that I felt. “Listen to my voice. You’re going to breath in for me alright?”I tried to do as he asked but it was too much. My body was shaking and I felt like sinking into his arms. Or better yet, running away.“Alicia, breathe. You’r
Alicia’s POVBefore anything else could happen, there was the distinct sound of a vibrating phone.Acker immediately tensed and raised a hand to stop me from speaking and I found I couldn’t disobey. He brought out his phone from his pocket and answered the incoming call.“Javier” his tone was terse and I wondered what was being said on the other end as his expression morphed from stoic to pleased. “Good. Let him through.”My brows furrowed as he exchanged a wordless glance with Mikael. The two men seemed to be having a conversation without having to say anything, and Mikael’s expression also looked pleased.“Well,” Mikael’s spoke as Acker ended the call. “You have a visitor, tesoro.”“A visitor?” I couldn’t help the disbelief in my voice. Who would want to see me? And how could I trust that it was someone that wasn’t dangerous.“You need to trust us a little more,” Acker said and I got the distinct feeling that my mind had been read. “We are the reason you’re still here and not halfw
Mikael’s POV:Calling the tension between Acker Madden and I awkward was an understatement to say the fucking least.I grunted out loud, my fingers flexing as I debated the chances of me getting a smoke right then.“Don’t even think about it, Serrano,” Acker Madden, the famed fucking Madman of the British Isles, and the only thing standing in my way, said in his British burr.“It was just a thought, and don’t dare try me, cazzo,” I replied just as quickly. “You may be hard to giving your men orders but I am not your subordinate.”“Exactly, so you should have more common sense to not smoke in a non-smoking zone,” he didn’t exactly say the word idiot after that, but I could hear the insult laced in his words.I rolled my eyes and glared at the man, flicking my lighter over and over until I found the sound unpleasant.How long would the fucking Senator take? It had already been thirty minutes.Just as I had that thought, the door opened and out stepped the man in question. By the way his
Alicia’s POV:The conversation with my dad had been… something I never quite thought I would experience.I was reeling from it all, including his promise to make sure I was safe no matter what, when the door to the apartment suddenly flew open.Unsurprisingly, Acker and Mikael walked in, but so did another woman, one whom I had met before. She had been there in the club when I had met Mikael for the first time under terrible circumstances.What was her name again?“Magda, meet Alicia,” Mikael introduced us formally, and unwittingly answered my unasked question.“We’ve already met,” Magda replied to Mikael without even glancing at him. The shopping bags she was holding made rustling noises as she gestured towards me. “In the club right?”I nodded. So she did remember me as well.“Nice to meet you,” I said meekly, feeling her intense gaze more intimidating than any other woman I had met.Her face didn’t display any blatant emotion, and probably with good reason. If she worked for Mikael
Alicia’s POV:Hearing her only gave me more questions, and I groaned. It was like entering another world, like one of those dramatized movies from the 90s.Only now, it was real life and I was in the middle of what I couldn’t control.“I think I need some rest,” I finally said with a sigh. I hadn’t had a good night’s rest for some time now. Getting abducted CERTAINLY was not my cup of tea.“Where’s the bedroom?” I asked Magda.“Down the hallway and the first door on your right,” she said in that accented voice of hers.“Thanks. Goodnight,” I bade her with a small wave as I stood up.“I’ll be here when you wake up,” she said, and somehow that sounded more comforting than anything else I had ever heard today.Even though it was just afternoon, i yawned several more times as I walked down the hallway, easily finding the darkly washed wooden door on the right. I went into the bedroom.The sight of the luxurious looking bedroom and cream cotton sheets made me wish I was back in my old, stu