40

40

It honestly can't get worst than this.

The plan to be escape was doing worse than good to my overall health. I spent the rest of the night at the event hadidn’t sleep much after the event trying to find a loophole and make my way for it. Except there wasn't any loophole as that was an event for the wealthiest of people with pets and slaves it's be questionable if there was an escape route, and even if there was, I'm not sure I'd make it as Lissa has been on my ass the whole night.

One minute she looks apologetic about the mean things she's said to me, the other minute she's acting like a pick me bitch.

What the hell happened to women supporting women?

And as if the night wasn't going to get any more worse, our car broke down, and the mighty Dante Moretti surprisingly hates sharing which is weird for someone who I believe sleeps with the same dolls his business partner sleeps with.

Disgusting.

He didn't even stop to know why were parked by the road side and just zoomed off. Leaving us there with just one guard in the middle of the night.

And if I didn't hate him before, I do now.

Luckily, Lissa called for a new ride and we arrived the penthouse alive and unharmed.

Now, it's two in the morning, and I have no idea why it got harder to sleep when I get on my bed. I have no phone hence all I could do was try to pull out the dirt in the corner of my toenails out with my hairpin. I was at it until there was nothing else to pull out and I was begining to feel the pain from the tiny cuts.

Thirsty, I shove the pin back into my rough bun and cracked the door open to go get water from the kitchen. I barely took two steps before someone cleared their throat behind me.

Startled, I flew around my hand already reaching for the pin when the person walked into view. I was more annoyed than relief that it was someone familiar putting my into a survival mode.

It was the new guard. He was leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets, looking like he just caught me trying to escape.

“Where are you going?” he asked, pushing himself off the wall, his eyes on my hand stuck mid-air.

I cleared my throat, taking back my stance. “To get water,” I said, pointing down the hall like he was stupid. What else would I be doing awake, out of my room by 2PM?

He studied me for a moment, then shrugged. “oh, okay. Uh... If you want fresh air, the rooftop is open.” He half asked - half offered. “I’m doing rounds anyway, it gets boring walking in circles. What do you say?.”

I blinked at him. It wasn’t an invitation exactly. More like he was pretending the offer had nothing to do with me.

He must’ve noticed my hesitation because he added, “Don't worry boss won't notice our absence.”

Right. Because that was totally believable in this house.

I'm pretty sure this place has more CCTV than lightbulbs. Who was he kidding?

“Did Dante put you up to this?”

He hand stopped midair from holding mine. And he blinked, confused. “Wha— I'm sorry?”

“Did Moretti put you up to this? Take me up the rooftop, throw me down, make it look like I committed suicide, I won't be if he did.”

He looked around for a moment as if checking to see if anyone else was around, and he chuckled. “Seriously, what goes on in your head? Did the previous guard try that?”

“You didn't answer my question.” I deadpanned.

“You look like you need a change of scenery and I thought I'd do something atleast. If Boss wanted to kill you you think he'd cared about time or location or the public opinion?”

Okay, that was true.

That was true.

If I die, I die, but I'm going to take a risk and see. Besides, the thought of breathing something that wasn’t recycled penthouse air sounded too tempting.

“Fine,” I murmured. “Rooftop does sound tempting.”

He nodded once and walked ahead, I quickly grabbed a bottle of water on the small table in front of the TV and followed him into the elevator.

When the doors opened to the rooftop, cold air hit me first. Real cold air, not the AC I've been forced to swallow. Tiny city lights stretched everywhere, all reds and orange form the roads and white and neutral from the building. It felt and looked like Christmas.

I dragged in the cold night air and chuckled at the feeling of what felt like freedom.

The guy loosened his tie a little and walked to the railing, pulling out a cigarette. “Damn, I miss this.” He muttered to himself and looked up at the sky. “It's beautiful tonight, don't you think?” He brought his head down and lit a stick, took a slow drag, then turned towards me.

“You smoke?”

“No.”

He nodded and kept smoking.

I crossed my arms, trying to warm myself, but the breeze felt good, I couldn't get enough.

He took another drag, then held the cigarette out toward me without looking directly at me.

“You can take a hit if you want,” he said, sniffing. The cold must've started getting to him. “People usually do when they’re stressed and it's really cold up here.”

I was only in a dress as flimsy as it came. No sweater to protect me from the temperature.

“I am cold, but I’m not stressed,” I said.

He gave me a look that basically said, yeah, right, you've been kidnapped and you're not stressed.

I rolled my eyes and took the cigarette from him before I could talk myself out of it. It really was cold. I dragged in the smoke and immediately regretted it. I looked away, coughing so hard my eyes watered.

He snorted quietly. “You ok there?”

“Shut up,” I muttered, giving him back the cigarette. My throat burned as the smoke made its way down my throat to my lungs. He took it back, still looking amused.

We stood there for a while, and he smoked nonstop while I try not to die form the cold.

“What’s your name?” I asked finally.

He tapped ash off the cigarette. “Adrian.”

I nodded. “Okay.” I want to know the name of my next victim if he tries to pull the stunt Marcus did.

Okay, that was such a disturbing joke. I looked away holding in a laugh.

“I know nights here can be rough,” he said eventually, eyes on the skyline. “If you ever need the roof again, just tell me. I can make excuses.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. No one here had offered me anything that wasn’t a command or a threat, and just because he hasn't done anything yet doesn't mean he wouldn't.

“Why?” I asked quietly.

He shrugged. “Because I’m bored. And you look like you are too. We could help each other out. Me watching you at the rooftop, that way I'm still doing my job and I don't get killed or fired. It's a win-win”

Help eachother out?

I brushed my hair behind my ear and stared out at the city with him.

After a while he checked his watch. “We should go back.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

We left the rooftop, and got into the elevator, walked back through the halls, and stopped at my door. He gave a small nod and went back to his post while I chigger down my water and dragged myself into my room.