Chapter 8: HER SMELL

***IT IS EVOCATIVE, HER SMELL & HER TATTOO***

**LAYLA || NOW**

Rain battered the broken windows, each drop echoing like a distant gunfire. He stood in the centre of the building. She heard the flick of the lighter, a soft click breaking the stillness, and a tiny flame sprang to life. The flickering light illuminated his features, casting sharp shadows across his jaws. She felt the rush of emotions, hope, disdain, hate, and the weight of helplessness. Why does it have to be him? Why not Leon?

Her entire body trembled as she took a step back. Thunders roared in the distance.

"Don't move." Another guy pointed a gun at her.

She bit her trembling lips, trying hard not to cry, trying hard not to look helpless once again before the devil. But she failed, miserably. Her white T-shirt stuck to her body. The weight of his gaze over her body, made her cover herself with her hands.

"How much did she see?" The guy with the gun asked Zaley.

Zaley snapped the lighter shut, and the darkness consumed them again. The moonlight from the window only outlined their figures.

"Not enough." Came his deep voice before she felt him gripping her arm, and dragging her away from the house. She screamed at the abruptness of the moment.

"Leave me." She struggled in his grip. "What the fuck are you doing?"

The guy with the gun turned at them and looked at her with amused eyes.

"Did I just hear her say that?" He asked Zaley, to which Zaley didn't respond.

"Should I kill her?" The guy asked again. "She seemed to be following you recently."

Her eyes widened, looking from the guy to Zaley.

"I didn't follow you. I used to live here."

"No, she didn't." The guy declared.

Did they know about her? Are they digging about her? She doesn't know how that piece of information made her feel.

"No, no, no... My friend used to live here. I just came for free...fresh air...." She stuttered while Zaley dragged her to the car and buckled her in. She tapped the windows, screaming for help but the guy with the gun simply stared at her blankly as if Zaley kidnapping a girl is a daily routine he witnessed. He even looked bored.

"Please...leave me...I promise I am not following you. I don't even know that you are here. I live nearby. Please. Please. Please, Zaley..."

That's when he looked at her; when she called her by her name.

"Say it again." He said, his cold blue eyes held her gaze.

Something about the way he looked at her quickened her heartbeat.

"I didn't follow you." She said in a hoarse tone. "I don't even know that you are..."

"Say my name." He interrupted her, his voice deeper than usual.

Layla blinked in confusion.

He looked nonchalant while her heart and brain were a complete mess. His voice is controlled while she struggles to articulate properly.

He waited for her to respond. He clicked the flint of the lighter again, playing with it absent-mindedly.

"Za..Zal..ey..?"

He nodded his head to himself as if he was confirming something.

"Can I leave?" She asked him, her hands on the door handle, ready to go out if he gives the chance.

He settled back into the leather seat of his chair, crossing his arms across his chest exuding an air of effortless confidence. A fair stubble lined his jaw, giving him a rugged charm.

Layla's gaze drifted to his tattoo that snaked around his forearm. Of course, he has tattoos of thorns. The Devil indeed!

She doesn't know whom she hates the most now; her mom for making her run in the rain, herself for running or the devil for capturing her?

"Who are you, Layla?" He asked after a long silence.

"What do you mean?"

"Who the fuck are you?" His voice didn't cross the normal decibel he used. But she knew he was angry.

"I don't understand."

"Why are you everywhere?" He rephrased his question.

"I swear to God I didn't follow you."

"Do you believe in God?" He questioned her suddenly.

Did she? She doesn't know either. She remembers praying to God, but none of them were ever answered.

"What do you want from me?" She asked him, feeling exhausted. Is it 2 AM? If she doesn't get enough sleep, how can she function tomorrow? She has to pick Lilly from the hospital, has to go to work, has to go to the cafe to resign Oh God, the works she do to survive.

"Isn't it you who wants something from me?"

Hope flickered in her heart. And she forgot what was she begging for. "Will you agree? I will do anything. I am sorry for everything I said the other day. I will do anything."

"Are you?" He asked her.

"What?"

"Are you really sorry?"

She can't understand why she can't lie to his face and nod her head. He knew that she is not sorry at least not for what she said. She should have shut her mouth instead.

"I will do anything." She murmured.

He raised a lone eyebrow. "Anything?"

He traced her cheek with his knuckles, sending shivers down her body. His touch was warm against her soft skin.

"Anything." She whispered.

"Who is the father of that girl" He asked her, without showing any ounce of sympathy.

Something cracked inside her. Memories of that night flooded her mind.

*Who is the father?

She is born out of rape.

Remember Emma's daughter? Three goons attacked her last night.

Her mom owed them money.

Poor girl.

I bet she enjoyed it.

She always flaunts her body on the streets.

Like mother like daughter.*

But what hurt her the most was when Leon said he never loved her.

She took a shaky breath.

"Is it the mayor's son? Jeremy?" He asked her again.

She saw the image of Jeremy, removing his shirt while she begged him to leave. Tears brimmed her eyes as she nodded her head.

If only she could forget that night... If only she could erase their touches...If only she could slap the person who sat before her and evoke those nightmares again...

She wrapped her hands around her body. "I know you are rivals. What do you want me to do with the Mayor?" She asked him.

He stared at her for a heartbeat before he said, "Nothing as of now. Let's proceed with surgery."

Her eyes shot up in apparent shock and relief. "Really? You won't go back on your word, right? Can I ...can I talk to Lilly's doctor and make the arrangements?"

He gave her a nod. Just a nod. She could hug him if she was not so repulsed by a man's touch.

HE AGREED.

HE AGREED!

That's all she ever needed.

"I am not doing it for free." He reminded her.

"Of course, I know. I will do everything, everything except selling my body."

He gave her a questioning look. "You were so ready to do the same in Pristine."

"Not with the mayor nor his son...I...I....can't..." What was she saying? Is she ready to do that if it's not the Mayor or his son?

She looked away, a lone tear slid on her cheek which she quickly wiped away.

She felt so low, so embarrassed, so disgusted with herself that she wanted to scream.

IT'S FOR LILLY.

She chanted her mantra in her mind.

ANYTHING FOR HER LITTLE GIRL.

"I will not use your body, at least not without consent."

"What do you mean without consent? You will use it if I give consent?"

His gaze traced the length of her body, her small form and her transparent soaked white shirt. "Maybe."

Her breath got caught in her throat. That may have had more effect on her than the guy whom she tried to kiss last year, thinking that she could move on from what happened.

"Get out." He said. She looked out of the window at the hammering rain.

"Didn't you say you came for a fresh air? Leave." He unlocked the door.

Bastard!

Right when she was above to open the car door, Zaley pulled her close by her arm.

He inhaled her scent at her shoulders. He moved close, almost burying his face in the crook of her neck. And he inhaled again, closing his eyes.

Layla was stunned at his sudden change of behaviour. Didn't he look at her like she was some worm and planning to use her for whatever twisted plans he had with that Mayor? Why is he so close now?

Seconds passed. Her breath hitched. Her chest rose and fell.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

For ten fucking seconds, he stayed like that, his eyes closed, his grip on her arm tightened and he simply breathed her scent.

Something like confusion flickered through his eyes when he pulled back. Is she dreaming? Or did she really see a confused Zaley?

"Leave," He repeated, leaving her arm.

She tried to get down but he pulled her again.

"What now?"

Her word got stuck in her throat when his finger grazed her flimsy shirt. He pulled it down, just enough to look at the tattoo she had right above her heart.

LEON'S in cursive letters with a small heart at the end.

She swatted his hand, glaring at him. That would summon the death wish. She knew it. Hell, everyone knew it. But some things are just off limits, no matter what.

He didn't look at her again as he said, "Leave."

But something about his demeanour changed. Is he angry? Why would he?

"How do I contact you?" She asked him, praying to the universe that he didn't change his mind. "For the tests? It is kind of an emergency. She needs the transplant as soon as possible."

"Kirill will contact you." He didn't look at her when he said that.

"Kirill?"

The bulky guy with the gun from before knocked on the window. Layla assumed it was him.

"Thank you," She told him genuinely. "Thank you so much."

He didn't look at her, didn't give a nod, didn't even respond. She took it as her cue to leave.

Kirill smirked at her when she stepped out of the car as if he knew what went inside the car. She wants to punch him if he doesn't look like the giant in Lilly's textbooks.

Her body shivered in the cold harsh rain as she looked at the two men leaving in their vehicle.

*

"What now?" Kirill asked him.

"There is someone named Leon in her life. Ask Remi to gather information about him."

"But why?"

"Do as I say."

"Yes, Zee."