Chapter 18

Diane's POV

My eyes pop out wide. No, it literally explodes. Like, dude, don't tell me you're going to fight.

"This dude is too full of himself, freaks?" The first guy laughs, his voice dripping with disbelief as he points at Conrad.

"Looks like a dramatic comic where a rat's trying to fight a cat over a fish." The other shakes his head, smirking at Conrad.

I shake my head, still pulling his hand. This is getting serious, and if I stand here without doing anything, the outcome will be dire.

I sigh, then turn to Conrad. "I know freaks need to be dealt with, but your time is too expensive to spare on them." I whisper.

"Hello? Bitch?!" One gives me a mean glare.

But Conrad doesn't budge; he never does. Not while those two freaks are still standing, smirking, not even flinching.

They keep gazing up at him without a blink, like they really want to test his patience, to see what he can do!!

"I'm not going to fight. Just leave." Conrad tells me, taking his hand away from mine.

I bite my bottom lip hard, my mind screaming at me to stay. I don't like the atmosphere. I don't like how the three men are glaring at each other like they're about to sniff out each other's lives.

But I leave, slowly, still looking back at them, still giving Conrad a pleading look not to fight in my room.

And like that, I walk completely out of the room.

I stand outside, fingers in my mouth as I bite on them nervously. I usually bite my fingers whenever I'm nervous, and that's exactly what I'm doing.

I expect to hear screams, maybe bones cracking, things shattering as they fight, but I barely hear anything, and that makes me restless. It leaves me completely on edge, shaken.

What's going on inside? Did the two team up? Like snapping Conrad's head to a side and dropping his limp body, without a word, without a sound?

I shake my head, almost laughing at myself. That wouldn't even happen, would it? But my nerves never settle, so I turn around and am about to head in when I pause, feet locking to the floor as I come face to face with them again.

They only stare at me for a few seconds. "You've got some luck shining on your face." One points at me. I'm still confused, wondering what actually transpired between the three, when Conrad walks out of the room, arms crossed over his chest, face calm, too calm for someone who almost got into a fight with the two.

They turn to him. No smile, no gesture; they only stare at him like he has them under his feet. Like they have a lot to say but can't bring themselves to say a word.

They only turn, and that's that. They're out.

"What... What just happened?" I breathe out in disbelief, swinging toward Conrad so fast that my hair almost slaps his face.

Now that calm expression? Gone! His face isn't squeezed into a tight frown or anything. It's the typical grandpa face that wants to scold his granddaughter, and only a proper explanation from that child will save her.

He tilts his head, calmly, softly, but it's enough to tell me what he means.

He's asking me inside. On a normal occasion, I'd pretend I don't understand that gaze or even object.

But now? The case is different. Entirely different. He saved me from those freaks. Cleared my debts without bothering to engage me in an exam-like questioning.

He just... pressed the money in.

Iconic.

Perfect story of a pretty damsel in distress saved by her boss. Just... PERFECT!

We're already inside, seated on the sofa, and while Conrad has his arms folded and legs crossed, I'm still biting my lips, with no idea how or where to start.

"How... How were you able to make them leave, that too, willingly?" I finally ask the question burning in my chest.

He shrugs. "I paid them off." He responds freely, and I shake my head. Of course I know he paid them off. He did it right in my presence, and that was when one lunged a punch at him, so that crap about paying them off isn't for me.

"You know what I'm saying." I say.

"Men talk." He waves it off, then brings his legs down, his expression tightening.

"Now, what happened?"

Silence, for a while. I just sit there, staring at him, unable to say a word. Unable to look away.

He cocks his head. "Are you going to talk? Or do I have to find my way into your skull and get the answers myself? How the hell did you know these bastards? And the money? What was that?" He doesn't ask like a boss; he just asks, like he truly wants to know how I got entangled with them.

I heave. The kind that's heavy, filled with unspoken words.

"Shit happened, and I got..." He flicks his finger in the air, cutting me off.

I gaze up at him.

"No parables. Cut straight to the chase." He says, no longer asking but demanding.

I exhale. "It's been roughly six months since I borrowed from them. I promised to pay back within a month because I truly thought I would..."

I pause, everything that happened a few months ago playing before me like I'm seated in a cinema.

I wanted to quit that clubbing so badly. I was utterly disgusted with myself every time I came back from dancing on poles just for money, so when that creepy opportunity knocked at my door, I didn't think twice before investing.

I didn't have the money, but the offer was promising. So I went to them and borrowed, because I thought investing in stocks would fetch me something to start my life with, but... no, I was completely wrong.

I lost the 10,000 dollars I borrowed from them. The stock crashed and I became a debtor. Over the months, they always came for their money and I always had an excuse, one after the other, not because I wanted to play them, but because I didn't have the money.

I mean, no one wants these people pulling up at their doorstep almost every month.

That isn't the life I wanted for myself either.

He sighs. "And you had to borrow from an illegal loan shark?" Conrad asks after I'm done explaining.

My body goes cold. Too cold. "Illegal?" I repeat, like I just heard a strange word, which I did.

I've known them for six months, at least, and they never looked like...

"How? I... I never thought they were." I mutter, more like whispering the words to myself.

"You're clueless." I hear him say under his breath.

He hisses, then stands from the sofa.

"Come with me." He orders, but almost immediately, realization slams into me like a tidal wave and my eyes shoot wide.

"Hold on..." I gasp.