Willow
I stay in the bathroom for some time, looking around for a way out. I look up at the air vent. If I can find a screwdriver or a pair of scissors to open and climb into this, I can probably move through the ceiling and find myself elsewhere, but what about Leo? What if they hurt him?
“I hope you are okay, Leo.” I whisper, and I walk out of the bathroom to face the poker face.
I find him sitting on the couch and scrolling through his phone. “You have been in the bathroom for an entire hour.” He says without looking up.
“I was fascinated by the walls.” I roll my eyes at him.
“There’s no need for that smart mouth. I’m the one in charge.” He slightly tilts his head up to glance at me.
“Yeah, you have made that clear,” I retort.
He sighs and continues to scroll through his phone.
“You have a nice bathroom, by the way, I almost took a bath,” I say to get rid of the uncomfortable silence and to try to distract him from texting people he might be sending over to kill me or ship me off.
“You can go take a bath. I’m not all that bad.” He looks up again, his face void of emotions.
“Nope, I would rather sit right here and wait for Leo.”
“Suit yourself,” he says nonchalantly and continues to focus on his phone again. We sit in silence for about thirty minutes, and I stare at his perfect face the whole time, but he doesn’t seem bothered.
“So, are we just going to sit in silence while you focus on your phone and I have nothing to focus on?” I break the silence and I regret talking the moment he tilts his head up, his dark eyes cold.
“What do you want to do? We can’t exactly go out hand and have fun.” He stares at me and I shift uncomfortably.
I snicker at his sarcastic remark, and he continues to scroll through his phone.
“We can talk. It’s not fair that you brought me here, you took my phone away, and I’m bored.”
“Do I look like a talking guy?”
“No,” I say admittedly.
“Can we gossip?” He whispers, his stoic face almost softens, and he looks like a completely different person.
I nod and try to show some interest, although I know I’m doing this to buy time and to keep Leo alive.
“Tell me, Jessie...“
“Jessie?” I interject. “Why are you calling me Jessie?”
“I know that you are Willow, but Isn’t your other name Jasmine or something?”
“Oh! Leo called me Jasmine at the club.”
“Yes, and you do smell like your name should be Jasmine. Your scent is unique. Jasmine and citrus.”
“Me? But I don’t use such a cologne.”
“Really? The only way I could smell someone like that is if they are my...” He trails off. “Never mind. It’s impossible, thou. I think I would know if...” He trails off again and seems to be talking more to himself than to me.
I shrug it off, realizing that he would never tell me even if I asked him.
“What do you want from Leo, anyway?” I ask him.
“He knows what I want, and he would hate me more if I told you. I can’t have that man hate me more than he does right now.”
“You don’t seem like you would care if someone hated you.”
“If that person brings me money, I would care very much.” His lips curl up.
“This almost feels like a drug business. How did he even meet someone like you?”
“Someone like me? I’m offended. What about me?” He eyes me curiously, his lips still curved up while I notice his struggle to fight his smile.
“You are like a mafia or something.”
“A hot mafia? I know you ladies are into hot mafias and stuff.”
“Ewww! No,” I laugh. “You have kidnapped me. You are supposed to make me hate you.”
“No, if you hate me, who would put a good word for me to Leo so that we can continue our business alliance?”
“And your business seems dodgy, but I know that Leo would never get involved in such things.”
“You're right. Leo is so innocent, and such an angel.” He says sarcastically.
“So, are you not going to tell me?”
He shakes his head with a coy smile.
“Then forget about me putting in a good word for you. You are on your own." I sigh dramatically.
“You keep on breaking my heart.” He places a hand on his chest, and I find myself laughing again.
“Why are your bodyguards calling you Alpha?”
“Because I’m the boss, and that’s my other name.”
“Are you a werewolf?”
“What?” His eyes widen before he quickly recollects himself.
“I’m kidding. Don’t worry about me, I read a lot of werewolf books these days,”
“Oh! You do?” He raises his eyebrows.
“Yes,” I smile sheepishly.
“And what do they say about fated mates?” He leans forward. Balancing his elbows on his thighs.
“Wait, don’t tell me you read those books, too.” I laugh uncontrollably.
“Just a little.” He scratches the back of his neck. “I mean, the chapters about battle are intense, and I can dream if finding my Luna.” He rolls his eyes.
We both laugh at this, and I try to imagine him reading a book about werewolves and giggling because of the characters.
“You are unbelievable,” I say between laughs. “But I believe you, especially because you call yourself Alpha.”
“That is my name!” He protests.
“And I feel weirdly comfortable around you, Alpha. How is this possible?”
“I have five sisters. They are a pain in the ass, of course, but I love them,” he beams.
“What would you do if Leo kidnapped one of them?”
“I would do anything he wants.” He shrugs.
“Don’t you think you waged a war between the two of you?”
“He will never, ever find my sisters. He knows that too. When I ventured into this business, I cut off my family, but talking to you right now makes me miss them.” His face falls, and his phone buzzes, he reads the text and his face lights up almost immediately.
“Oh! The smell of money.” He glances at me. “You are young, you won’t understand.”
I roll my eyes at him.
“Get up, Leo was too slow. We need to prepare ourselves.” He gets up from the couch and walks towards me. Then he holds his hand out to help me up. “We are going out.” He says, his face suddenly cold and detached.
How does he control his face and emotions like this? It looks like he is flipping a switch.
“Are you serious?” I look up at him.
“Yes.” He purses his lips.
I get up without taking his hand. “You, you are not going to put me on auction. Are you?” I look up at his looming figure, hoping that my eyes could make him change his mind.
“There’s a dress that I ordered. It’s in the first room on your left. You can take a shower if you want to and put it on.” He turns his back on me and walks away.
I decide to do as he says.
I go over my plan in my head: The moment I get out of his clutches and the clutches of his million bodyguards, I will be safe. I just have to ensure that Leo is safe, and that they have left him alone. Once I know that, I will have to find a way to escape the person who is going to buy me, and then find Leo, so that we can get revenge. My number one priority is to get out of here.
After taking a shower, I put on a black satin dress with an open back and a slit that reaches the upper thigh, and I wear black heels. Then, I put on the black diamond necklace and my hair in a messy bun.
“My, my, my.” He says with a smirk when I walk down the stairs. “They are going to go crazy for you.”
“Thank you. I aim to please.” I smile, hoping that he doesn’t notice my fake excitement and confidence.
“May I do the makeup?” He asks.
“You?” I raise my eyebrows.
“Yes, I have sisters. My older sister used to force me to practice on my face.” He recoils as if trying to get the memory out of his head.
“Why do you have a make-up set in your house?”
“I ordered it along with the dress.” He says casually and takes my hand, then we walk back into the room that I was in.
I eye him dubiously, but I let him do my face. When he is done, I look at myself in the mirror in awe. It looks almost natural, but I feel like I’m glowing. I turn to him and I smile.
“You have unbelievably long and luscious eyelashes. May I apply mascara?” I ask him to annoy him.
He chuckles while shaking his head, but he sits on the dressing chair, and then I carefully apply the mascara while he sits patiently.
When we are done, he takes out a blindfold and looks at me apologetically. “I’m so sorry, I was starting to like you.” He says as he fastens the blindfold on the back of my head.
“What if someone sees you in the elevator or something? This is not worth it.” I try to reason with him, as I feel panic rise within me. If my escape plan doesn’t work, I’m doomed.
“I have a private elevator. Let’s go.” He says impatiently.
He holds my hand and leads me out of his apartment.
“What about Leo? Is he okay? Please don’t hurt him, this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have gone to the club.”
“Leo will be so grateful. If he had done what I asked him to do a long time ago, you wouldn’t be in this situation. I hope he will appreciate your sacrifice.”