Wild and Twisted

At first, I could only hear the muffled voices of people I barely recognized. Even though I wanted to move, my body felt too heavy. Just lifting a finger suddenly felt like carrying a 60 kg dumbbell with only one hand. Little by little, the voices became clearer and I managed to identify that one of them was my secretary, Viola.

It took me several attempts before I got to flutter my eyes open. The very first thing that came into sight was the boring white paint of the ceiling. The smell of disinfectant told me that I was in a hospital. Again. Turning my head to my side, I saw Viola with a female doctor. Her voice grew louder by the second and it shot pain in my head.

“Viola, keep it down, will you?” I said, barely in a whisper.

Unsurprisingly, they both stopped talking and shifted their attention towards me. My secretary’s expression went from mad to surprise to relieved within several seconds. It did not take long for her to rush to my side with a pair of worried eyes.

“M-Miss Lisa… Are you okay? Do you feel any sort of pain?” she asked.

“I am fine. My body just feels too heavy to move right now. So… What’s going on?” I asked. “How long was I out?”

“Well, the doctor said that you are fine now. You just need to rest for a few days and you will get your strength back. I am still working with several people to track down the person responsible for almost killing you.”

I creased my brows.

“Killing me?”

This time, Viola suddenly burst into tears, which would surely smudge her well-done makeup later on.

“I really… I really thought you were going to leave me! Did you know you were so close to dying?!” she cried out before slapping me on the shoulder. “I am just so glad you finally woke up after three days!”

Three days of being unconscious, huh. Add the day when I got poisoned by some unknown bastard, that would be four days. I totally missed almost one week’s worth of work, which means by now, things I needed to do had piled up. While Viola wept like a child while hugging my waist and her face buried in my stomach, I carefully caressed her hair tied in a neat bun.

“Yes, yes, Viola. I understand, but since I am awake now, you should start bringing some of my work here.”

She stiffened for a few seconds before standing back up and wiping away her tears. She glared at me.

“Work?!” she yelled. “You almost died yet all you think about is work?!”

I heaved a sigh. It was not like this was a new occurrence. That lethal poisoning was just one of the attempts to end my life. Would it be too sad to say that I already got used to it? Or should I say I still have great luck on my side to be alive after all those attempts?

“Fine. I will hire a bodyguard this time just as you have suggested before. Is that enough for you to let me work while I rest?” I asked.

The look of disbelief was immediately plastered on Viola’s face. She did not even try hiding it, but she eventually let out a sigh. That only meant that she gave in to what I wanted, a usual occurrence as well since she knew that I would not be able to keep still until she lets me do what I want.

“The next time you are hospitalized, I will kill you through heavy workloads every day and every night!”

After claiming that, Viola stormed out of the room. Now that silence fell in this desolate place, I felt rather at peace—peace that would surely just last for hours before another person tried to kill me. Either way, I needed to find someone who would keep me safe before those unknown hooligans would successfully get rid of me. As if I would let that happen and let them take over the business that my family worked hard for.

Grabbing my phone on the side table, I dialed Kyle’s number. He was a police officer, whom I became close with since he handled all the cases related to me. Not to mention, we were classmates during our senior year in high school.

“Lis?” That was the very first thing he asked the moment he answered.

“Yeah, it’s me,” I said.

“Damn! I heard what happened. I’m glad you still made it, but sorry to say this. We still do not have any solid leads yet that would bring us to the culprit.”

“Nah, that’s okay. That is not what I called for anyway.”

He paused for a while. I bet he had that stupid confused look on his face again.

“Do you perhaps know anyone I can hire as a bodyguard? Don’t send me one of your men unless they are highly trained and capable of protecting me.”

“I can send you a list and you can just choose among… them…”

His little pause at the end hinted that he had something in his mind. He was that easy to read so he probably had someone to recommend.

“Spill it out, Kyle, or I will come to bother you like an annoying leech.”

“Well…” he whispered. “I know someone who is highly trained and has escaped death several times, but I do not know if his background would be pleasing to you.”

I raised an eyebrow. Who cares about someone’s background if they can do the job anyway?

“Are you at work right now?” I questioned.

“I just actually clocked out. Why?”

“Then, come visit me here in the hospital. I want to talk about it in person.”

I did not want to give him the chance to turn down my demand so I ended the call immediately. Staring at my hands, I opened and closed them for several minutes since they still felt stiff. It just seemed like I had been frozen for years and just emerged now. As much as I wanted to track down that bastard who dared do this, it just felt like I would just be wasting my time. There was just this feeling that it would become a cold case just like before.

Heaving a sigh, I leaned against the headboard of my bed and stared out of the window while waiting on which of those two would be the first to arrive. From across my bed, a large window gave me a good view of the city’s night view. I could even see the headquarters of the Luxe Haven company I was now handling.

Now that I think of it, it has just been three years since I officially took over the business. I was 22 back then and still almost ignorant of how things worked, but now… Everything just changed and felt different.

“Lisa!”

I flinched at the familiar loud voice and sudden intrusion in my room.

“Geez, Kyle. You got to calm down,” I said.

However, he just rushed towards my side and removed the needle from my hand that was connected to the dextrose. He did it rather carefully and swiftly. I almost did not feel any pain at all so I chose not to scold him or anything.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I will explain to you on the way. For now, let us hurry!” he replied.

Out of nowhere, he grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder before running out of the room. I could feel the eyes following us so I did not bother raising my gaze or else people would recognize me. Other than being embarrassed, it might reach the media and it’ll become a total headache so I had to keep my identity hidden.

By the time we reached the parking lot, Kyle threw me right into the front seat of his car and slammed the door shut before running towards the driver’s side. The moment he confirmed that I put on the seatbelt, he hit the gas and we revved away from the hospital.

“Care to explain? This is not some kidnapping attempt, right?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah. Right.” He reached out for something in the compartment of his car and handed a picture to me. “That’s Xavier Hawthorn. He is that guy I told you about. He is a mercenary with no master. Just pay him and he will be your loyal dog for as long as you can.”

“A mercenary, huh. That means that his master is money itself. If someone else pays him more than I could, then he would surely turn against me. What a great suggestion you have here, Kyle.”

“That may be true, but if you make him sign a contract, that will serve as a leash for him. He may be a merciless killer, but he does not go against any contract he signs. That had been proven and tested so yeah… As long as your contract with him is on play, then there is nothing to worry about.”

Even though that was still questionable, I brushed it off for now. There was another question I needed him to answer.

“With all of that said, maybe you should tell me now where you are taking me.”

“To the auction. Xavier Hawthorn is to be auctioned tonight. If someone buys him, then it would be close to impossible to get him again.”

So bold of him to think that I would surely buy this Hawthorn guy.

“What made you think that I will hire a mercenary as my bodyguard?”

“Well, at least I am giving you this chance to get ahold of him. If you don’t buy him and regret it later, then that’s on you.”

“I don’t have cash with me.”

“The auction house accepts cheques as payment.”

“Do I look like I brought any cheques with me?”

“Right.”

After saying that, he made a quick turn around the block and was now heading towards my house. It only took us several minutes before reaching the entrance of my home.

“M-Miss Lisa!” Mrs. Kyla exclaimed the moment I entered.

She rushed to my side with an almost red face. She was the mansion’s head caretaker and the one who took care of me since I was a baby.

She then added, “The hospital called and said that you just disappeared! Do you know how worried I was?”

“Sorry, Nana. I am in a hurry right now so we will talk later.”

She followed me towards my study room, nagging and all that, but I ignored her. I just grabbed the checkbook and immediately rejoined Kyle.

“Miss Lisa! You ought to be in the hospital right now!” Nana yelled, but I simply waved at her.

We went straight to the auction house located in the basement of a famous casino, but before entering, Kyle gave me a full-face mask to hide my identity. He also wore one since he was a pretty famous police officer. If someone ever recognized him here, they might gang up and beat him to death.

At the entrance, several men were stationed as if to make sure that no suspicious person would enter. I thought we would be kicked out, especially since they had been giving me this suspicious look. I could not blame them entirely given that I was wearing the hospital gown. Either way, Kyle showed them something and without a word, they let us in.

We entered a room with the lights turned off except the one on the stage where a man stood proud. I bet he was the one being auctioned yet his aura still gave off dominance despite his hands being handcuffed.

“We’re just on time. That’s him,” Kyle whispered.

Huh?

Putting aside the fact that he was tall and physically fit, he was not as scary as I expected him to be.

Was it just me stereotyping? I mean… Since Kyle mentioned that Xavier Hawthorn was a mercenary, I expected that he would scare me the first time I set my eyes on him.

“For the main event of tonight… This is the one and only Xavier Hawthorn everyone!” the host claimed with enthusiasm that one could mistake this auction as a recognition of celebrities. He then added, “Isn’t this the best time to get ahold of him? Now, let’s start with a hundred thousand dollars!”

Right after saying that, the lights turned on and I saw a sea of buyers raising their numbers.

“$150,000!”

“$200,000!”

“$200,000 from Buyer 65!” the host called with so much excitement while pointing at the direction where Buyer 65 was.

“$500,000!”

“$500,000 from Buyer 50!”

Buyer 50 was a woman. She also wore a mask so she could possibly be someone important and well-known. Seeing that the other competitors seemed to have given up, I guessed she would win.

“$500,000, going once!” The host looked around with anticipation. “Will Xavier Hawthorn go home with our young lady here tonight?” He paused. “Going twice!”

“$500,100!” I exclaimed.