Chapter 5

Kia "I seriously don't think this is going to work," I said, wearing a dirty piece of cloth, which Lucian had arranged for us. It was a plain white shirt with mud and blood spots. "I'm feeling uncomfortable without a bra."

Lucian looked at me. He didn't react to my words. "Do you think you can work on this plan while wearing your so-called designer bikini?" He asked sarcastically.

He gave me a dirty shirt. It was okay for me, but I couldn't endure dirty undergarments. "You don't let me wear a bra. It is ok, but at least you can give me clean underwear!"

He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at me coldly. "Kia, you are going to play the role of a sex trafficking victim, and do you think they would believe in you, seeing you clean and well-groomed? You don't even know how girls are treated in sex trafficking? This is the only thing your boyfriend does perfectly." Again sarcasm! My blood turned ice cold, and so did my anger.

I narrowed my eyes at him angrily. "And it doesn't mean that I give a damn to his disgusting business. I just don't care about his business and his perfection. You don't need to remind me again and again who my boyfriend is and what his business is."

"Sorry, Kia. I'm sorry if you hurt." He took a hold of my hand and his eyes softened. "You should give an Oscar-winning performance, Kia. That is what we need to work on. Vivian is ten times smarter than you and your one mistake may take away your life. Therefore, before he uses his damn brain, we should be ten steps ahead of him. We should be careful all the time, so let go of what you used to be."

Lucian was doing all this for me, just for me. How could I behave to him like that? He was a selfless and caring man? "Um. I think I should be sorry. I should not have talked to you like that."

He squeezed my hand gently, trying to comfort me. "No, you have been through a lot. I can understand, Kia. No woman could tolerate things as you did. I respect you for that."

"Thank you, Luc. But I'm nothing without you," I smiled.

"Ok, enough about you. Now, shall we talk about you?"

I frowned in confusion and didn't understand his statement.

He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. "Now you will pretend to be Kiara Stefan." I'm Kiara Seton, and now Kiara Stefan. He looked at me, studying my confused expression. "Your story will be like this. You just graduated college and you planned a trip to Washington to celebrate. You were only there for a day when you got caught by Guarin's man. When you tried to run away from him, unfortunately, you came across Vivian's car." Now he clarified the entire plan, but I didn't like Guarin's involvement.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "May I ask you why you are getting Guarin into this plan? Do you even know him?"

He ran his fingers through his hair before looking at me. "I know him very well. That's why I am getting Guarin into the first place. He shrugged. "Guarin has the biggest sex trafficking business in this country, and I also know a few of his men, so if something happened to you it would help us." "I told you we should be ten steps ahead of Vivian."

I raised my eyebrows because I didn't understand his plan clearly. "And what do you think getting Guarin into my damn business makes you ten steps ahead of Vivian? Luc, do you have any mental problems? How could you think this would be a better plan?"

"Kia, how could you be so stupid? When you are under Vivian's estate, do you think they won't doubt you? Do you think they will allow you to be there? First, they will ask you tons of questions about how you got caught, how you got out of there, and how many girls were with you? They will ask you about Guarin's whereabouts, his workplace." He took a long sigh before continuing. "And you know about him very well. You won't hesitate to answer all those questions. You won't be scared to tell them about him." He glanced at his watch before looking back at me. "And if I involve another criminal in our plan, then probably Vivian will get to know our truth and it will increase the risk up to 70%. Besides, Vivian has contact with every criminal in the town. After all, he is the boss."

I didn't protest because he was right. He was right that if we were to take another criminal, then we should have all his information. Also, Vivian knew every criminal in his town, so it would be easy if we included Guarin in our plan.

"You need to stay there at least one month to make our plan work out. And with the help of Guarin's cruelty, you can stay there. So we have to include him as well. I pocketed a ton of money from one of Guarin's men so that he can help us make this plan real."

I hugged Lucian immediately. "Thank you, Luc. This is not your problem. Despite that, you will do anything for me, risking your life on the line. This means the world to me. I wish every person in this world would get a friend like you. I found such an incredible friend. I'm lucky to have you."

He caressed my hair lovingly, which he was barely able to do. "No, I'm lucky to have you, Kia. You are the one who helped me a lot in my hard times. Now it's my time to pay you back."

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"Are you ready, Kia?" Lucian asked.

I glanced at him over my shoulder, giving him a slight nod. "Yes, I have no other option." We walked into the dark alley alone. The winter air chilled my body. I was wearing just a shirt.

"It would be better if you swallow it." He gave me a pill. "To make it more real. Before you can face Vivian, faint down."

I nodded at him, and with no hesitation, I swallowed the pill. "When will they come?"

He glanced at the road before looking back at me. "In a few minutes."

"In a few minutes?" I snorted because I was dying of a cold. "I'm cold."

He pulled out his jacket and told me, "This would help you." He smiled.

"I doubt you are gay," I chuckled and looked at him. His cheeks became red, and he was blushing. "Are you blushing, Luc?"

He dropped his head down and fixed his gaze on the road. Didn't want to meet my gaze. "It is nothing like that. You are just super-hot."

I grinned and stumbled to my feet when the pill affected my body. "Luc, my head. I...I am feeling dizzy."

He placed his arms around my waist. "Wait, Kia, just a few minutes."

After a few minutes, we heard the sounds of cars screeching; it meant they were coming; he was on his way. "His car is coming, Kia. Are you okay?" He looked at me with concern in his eyes.

I nodded at him.

"Now it's time for our next step."

I gave him his jacket and walked towards the road. "Goodbye, Luc. If anything happens to me, then please take care of my mom. She is my life."

He grabbed my hand and kissed my forehead. "As long as I'm with you, nothing will happen to you, silly. I'm always with you."

"Nothing happens to me until I kill Vivian." I chuckled and moved towards the road.

I heard several footsteps. It meant someone was following me. Lucian vanished when I turned around to see him. A group of men was standing in front of me. I was feeling dizzy and weak. I couldn't see a clear view. They were coming towards me. "Luc." I tried to speak between my breath, "Luc," I yelled, and he didn't show up. Where the hell was he?

As every second passed, they came nearer to me. I looked for something to help me, but I couldn't find anything. I didn't have any weapon, not even my small blade. And now I had no way to run. "Don't come near me," I didn't know who they were, I didn't know if it was part of Lucian's plan, I didn't know if they knew I was a blood queen, but they didn't look harmless. I felt dizzy. Sometimes I saw three men and sometimes it became six. I didn't know how many of them there were, I knew they were going to harm me.

My body bumped into the black car before I could run away, and I saw blackness across my eyes.

*********

I heard the sounds of clicking buttons. I slowly opened my eyes and saw the white lights flashing across my face. The first thing I noticed was that a man was sitting beside my bed, and he was typing something on his laptop. This guy seemed familiar. I had seen him somewhere, but where? I rubbed my eyes and made my views clear. He had brown hair and green eyes and I remembered him; he was Vivian's man.

"Hey, you're awake," he said and gave me a soft smile.

He quickly stood up and helped me sit properly. "Ugh! My head." My head was hurting like someone had punched me hard.

He gave me a pill with a glass of water, "Swallow it, it will reduce your pain."

I hesitated for a bit, but I had no other choice, so I accepted it. "Thank you."

He sat back in his seat and watched me, studying me for a while. "I can guess through your condition that you are the victim of sex trafficking. How did you get involved in sex trafficking?"

It seems like a plan working out.

I tucked my hair behind my ear, thinking of an answer. "Maybe I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I agree," he said, "but you are also lucky. Yesterday you were in the right place at the right time. If it weren't my boss, Eric's men would have taken you away long ago."

Eric. Who the hell Eric was? So Lucian's part of the plan. I had a feeling.

I knew who his boss was, but I had to pretend to be innocent. "Your boss? It means you are not your boss?"

He nodded to me. "Yes, my boss. You must have heard his name, Vivian Miller."

"Vivian Miller? I...I don't know," I said hesitantly, "Where am I?" I looked around, examining the room.

"This is my house." He rose and moved towards me. "I'm Leonardo. The personal assistant of Vivian Miller." He pushed his hands towards me for a handshake. I had never done a handshake, but let's do this for the sake of my revenge.

I lightly shook my hand. Because I didn't know how to give my enemies genuine smiles, I threw my fake smile at him. He was Vivian's man; it meant he was also my enemy.

"If you want anything, I'm always here." He winked playfully. "I'm always here until you get back to your home," he added to his statement.

Home.

"Home? I don't want to go home," I said coldly. I wanted to be here until I killed him.

He stared at me with wide eyes and didn't expect this reaction.

Shit.

I rubbed my forehead. "I mean, I don't want to go home because my life is in danger. He will kill me."

He frowned in confusion. "Who will kill you?"

I didn't know how to cry, and I had to pretend to be a helpless girl. I had to convince him I was a victim, so I hugged him and clutched his body tightly. "P...Please save me. He will kill me. Please don't send me home," I pleaded with him and sobbed. I hated to cry, even fake tears.

He lightly patted my back, trying to comfort me. "This is the safest place for you. No one will hurt you, Kiara, be assured. Tell me, who's that man who wants to kill you?"

"Guarin Martin."

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