IN LOVE WITH A CRIMINAL

CHAPTER 4

HELEN

When I opened my eyes, it was hard to tell where I was and what was going on.

I tried to remember, but everything was as blur as the room in front of me.

What is going on? Am I dead? Did-

TYLER!

What did he do to me? Where am I kids?

I wanted so desperately to understand what was going on, but nothing made any sense at all.

I got down from the bed and hurried over to the door, but just before I could turn the door knob, the door was pushed open and is slammed right into my face.

Fuck!

I held my face for a moment, with my palm over my eyes eher the door had hit until the pain had subsided a bit for me to see the intuder. The same person who would not even apologize for his actions even if he didn’t mean to.

‘You are finally awake’ he said and continued quickly before I could ask any questions or say anything at all.

‘Dress up quickly, the boss will be downstairs in a while’ he concluded and turned to leave.

‘The boss?’ I asked and held his hand to get his attention, but the look he gave me was so stern and murderous that I pulled away immediately.

‘Dress up’ he said again and left, and the clicks that followed on the door confirmed to me that he had locked it, and I was clearly held hostage.

What the hell is going on?

I ran my hands through my dishevelled hair and paced the room nonstop, completely ignoring the very clear instruction I had just been given a few seconds ago.

How did I get here? Where is Tyler? Is he behind all of this? Where are my Kids?

CAMILLE!

Oh yes, Camille.

I called her, I remember it all well.

I was on the phone with her when Tyler-

When Tyler came upon me, when he raised that knife high above his head and brought if down upon my-

I stopped pacing and stopped in front of a mirror, then put my hand on my neck where the knife had been aimed for, but I felt no pain, and when I looked, there was no blood.

The only blood on my face was on my lips and somewhere on my still swollen face.

I raked my head and tried to remember everything, but everything came in tiny strings.

I remembered passing out and waking up in the hospital, I remembered requesting for my phone and sending a message, I remembered Camille came to visit an I gave her a note as well.

But what was the note and the the text message about?

What did it have to do with me being locked up in a room with a tattooed guy domineering me like I am some slave.

The clicks on the door announced that my time was up and I was still dressed in the same bloodied gown I had on when Tyler-

I didn’t even want to think of it.

Follow me.

I wanted to resist, but my own husbands had thought me the hard lesson that came with being stubborn. At least if I wanted to survive the day, the least I could do was just to obey.

I braced myself for anything that was waiting for me at the other end of the door. If it was anything like the gorgeous room I had been imprisoned, then maybe I was in safe hands.

When I stepped into the hallway, I almost forgot that I was in an unknown place and away from my kids. The place screamed bastard money, and unreserved wealth.

It smelled like the air around the band of Spain - money and gold.

I had no shoes on, but the softness of the carpet underneath my feet made it hard to even notice at all.

The hallway was faintly lit and I wondered if it was late evening already, but it was lit enough to notice the exotic and luxury furnishing the place had.

That was when I realized Tyler had no hand in what was happening, unless he sold me off to a rich boss somewhere off the coast - he was just too broke to afford this or even know someone who can afford it.

My awe and astonishment slowly dissipated when we walked downstairs into what seemed like an underground room, and there were other people in there.

Not just any kind of people, but girls, a lot of them. Up to twenty of them at least. They all looked as confused as I was, and scared as well.

What the hell is going on?

Everyone gave way as I approached them, and soon I was standing behind a man who had his back to all of us in the room.

Who is he?

I couldn’t see his face, but the aura and authority he exuded was as strong as any Arabian oil I had ever come across. It attracted me, made me feel safe even in his disturbing silence, made me forget that I had anything to worry about - especially a husband that almost took my own life.

It reminded me of the Italian man who wanted to save me from my trauma, and treat me like a Greek goddess.

No way.

NO!

was this really the same man who promised me all the good stuff in our chats?

Is he a --

I couldn't even bring myself to think about it.

And I wish then that no one would noticed how easily I had melted for a man whose face I had not seen. The same one who will give me reasons never to trust his very soothing presence.

‘Boss, the exhibits’ One of the men who was standing in the room sad in a low tone.

Exhibit?

I waited for this boss to turn, waited to see the man whose presence alone commanded fear in all the girls in the room but me.

But he only tilted his head slightly to the side and raised his hand like a tired drunk.

‘Take them to the cell’ he said and immediately the men were in action, leading us out f the room.

‘Wait, wait, what is going on? Where are you taking me, stop’ I protested but they didn’t seem to care.

‘What about this one boss? She didn’t turn out well.’

One of the men said, and the man who held unto my elbows stopped pulling me away to hear what the “Boss” had to say.

We stood there for what seemed like an eternity, before the Boss turned around, and one look at me made my knees weak.

Whatever image of him I had concocted in my mind did no justice to his true form.

He was Zeus himself, a god. Not just any God, but one that i am so sure i have met in my lifetime, i just couldn't remember where exactly I had seen him.

He started walking towards me and I thought I was going to collapse. He stopped a few inches away from me sized me up like a piece of meet.

Suddenly, my lust turned to irritation and anger at the way he looked like me like I was some passed down commodity. He didn’t seem at all happy with my presence - I didn’t even know why I expected him to be.

‘She is not good enough’ he said between clenched teeth, and I could swear that I felt his hot breathe of fury brush my skin.

‘Boss, she looked just like the young ones on her-’

‘Don’t I pay you enough to run background checks on every one of them?’

He gritted, still maintaining the space between us. And this time, I could feel his hands fingering my hair, and slowly running through every opening on my body.

What is this? A test? Or is he a psychopath?

I didn’t dare say a word, even though his hands brought back memories I didn’t want to remember. One that will hunt my nights for a long long time.

It also brought back sharp memories of a man I had met once and never thought i would see again, one that had remained stuck on my mind for the past month like the stars in the sky.

And he seemed to remember too.

When our eyes met, something passed between us, something electrifying - and very high voltage. It made the world seem to have stopped in that moment. And in that moment, I could read him like an open book.

He was hurt, just like me, and he was burning with vengeance, one he didn’t care who he unleashed it on.

‘Take her to the red room’ he said and looked at me intently, probably enjoying the new shock and confusion that appeared on my face.

The red room? What is that?

‘What are you going to do with me’ I yelled as they dragged me out of the room, but no one answered, even though their silence alone spoke volumes.

Their boss was a psychopath, and I was just about to find out how crazy and vile he was.

We walked past several rooms and corridors, and the beauty of the place was lost to me in my worry of what was going to come next.

We finally stopped at the entrance of a room with a red door and one of the men who had been pulling me along pushed me into the room and locked it behind me.

The room was dark and it took me a moment for my eyes t get used to the new spot, and when it did, I didn’t need anyone to tell me that I was doomed.

The only thing I could think of was, ‘how long before they find me’.