SHADOW
SEDUCTION
WRITTEN BY : NOEL INNOCENT
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: WHO SHE BELONG TO 2
“Arthur,” I gasp, and our gaze
meets. He looks really emotionless; one could
tell how angry he is right now. “I didn’t know…”
Edwin doesn’t let me finish before pulling me
away from Arthur.
“I want her back.”
“Are you insane?” I watch Arthur pull out a
cigarette, light it, and place it in his mouth. “Stop
treating her like she is yours.” His gaze moves to
meet mine. “Come back to me, Lacey. You’re
mine, remember.”
I h@ťě this. I h@ťě the fact that these two keep
acting like I’m some doll they want to keep.
Pulling my hands out of Edwin’s, I frown.
“Enough.” Looking at both of them, I fold my
hands. “I don’t belong to either of you.”
“What are you saying?” Edwin frowns. “Don’t tell
me you’re planning on staying here.” Edwin’s
gaze moves towards Arthur, a lot of hatred in
his eyes. I thought they were both brothers, even
if just cousins. Is it okay to h@ťě each other this
much? “With this son of a bastard.”
“Insulting my parents?” Arthur, on the other
hand, just smiles. Those eyes, I still can’t read
them. “Not so good of you, little kid.”
“Do not refer to me like that!!!” Edwin growls,
and I release my hand. Arthur is the elder one;
what could make Edwin rebel against him?
“Lacey, let’s go.”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean?” His full attention back to
me. “Don’t tell me you really want to stay with
him.”
I nod. “Yes.”
“For what reasons?” Edwin chuckles, must be a
forced laugh. “You can’t tell me that you love
him.”
“I don’t.”
“Then why?”
“Because I want to be with him.” Stepping back,
I mumble, “I don’t wish to see you anymore,
Edwin. Stay away from me.” Walking away, I
knew for a fact that they would continue this
pointless fight, and in order to stop that, I turn
around, hold Arthur’s hand, and pull him with
me back into the mansion.
“What’s wrong?” He stops walking when we step
in, turning around I look at his puzzled face.
“Why did you drag me here? Is there something
you wish to tell me?” Moving closer, I step back
until he pins me to the wall. “Is it that you like
me now?”
What’s his deal anyway? Is he always so happy
to make me feel nervous and embarrassed?
Lifting my hands, I drag his cigarette out of his
mouth and drop it to the floor. “You need to stop
smoking; it’s really bad for your health.”
“Oh.” He lifts his eyebrows and smiles. “You
don’t want me dying?” He steps back a little,
and I nod my head.
“I don’t want that.”
“May I ask why?” I watch him pull out another
cigarette, without lighting it, he places it in his
mouth.
“Because I just don’t want that.” My gaze
doesn’t leave his. I watch him closely; he didn’t
light the cigarette, just kept staring at me. He
says no words but just keeps staring.
I lower my gaze, my face starting to heat up
from embarrassment. He always does this,
makes me feel this shy. I’m not a kid, so why do
I feel like this? I want to hide from that look in
his eyes. “Lacey.” I look up to meet his gaze. “If
you promise to keep my hands and mouth busy,
I won’t smoke.”
I frown at that. “What do you mean?” I watch
him light up the cigarette and smile. “What do
you think, Lacey? What will you use to keep my
mouth and hands busy?” It takes minutes
before I get what he means. My whole face
must be that of a tomato right now.
“I don’t know.” Feigning ignorance, he chuckles
and then walks away, leaving me with thoughts
I shouldn’t have. What does he mean by that? If
he knows he doesn’t want to stop smoking, why
not just say so?
“Lacey?” He comes back and then kisses my
forehead before I can react. “Get used to me
soon, okay?” And after that, he walks away, out
of my sight. I remain standing, shocked and
surprised. No, I didn’t expect that. I had no clue
he would kiss my forehead. The truth is, nobody
has ever done that before.
For some reason, it felt strange, oddly strange. I
don’t h@ťě it, but I don’t think I like it either. “Miss
Lacey.” I look sideways only to find Miss Linda
standing, Arthur’s nanny. “Will you like to help
around the kitchen? We have to prepare dinner.”
“Are you sure?” I mumble, feeling a little
humiliated to say the last part. “I don’t really
know how to cook.”
“Then it’s perfect, a time to start taking lessons.”
I smile at her words; that would distract me a
little.
“Okay.”
“What do you mean by
that?” Hearing his voice, Angelo clench his
hands and exhale. “You had one simple job to
do, and even that, you can’t do it straight?”
“Infiltrating Arthur’s company or his other assets
is not as easy as I thought,” I growl, the phone
positioned close to my ears. “Things are starting
to get out of control too. Edwin showed up
today, his words were harsh, asking for Lacey.”
“Lacey?”
“Yes, boss. She appears to be Mr. Arthur’s
interest, and Edwin is also interested in her,” I
mumble, looking around the balcony again to
make sure I’m not spotted. “It appears that
Arthur also is having doubts about me.”
“It can’t be helped. Someone went around
asking about your past earlier.” Clenching my
hands, I exhale. “All you need to do is get away
with this fast. The gold… we need that
goddamn gold!”
“Yes, sir. I will find out the location of it no
matter what.” My voice remains steady. “And
the girl? What do I do? Arthur is always with her.
”
“We need her. That will be the easiest way to get
to him, his weakness. You need to do everything
in your power to get her, get her for our purpose.
” After that, he hangs up, leaving me confused
and in no position to do what I am told to do.
How ignorant are these bastards? Trusting
someone you met years ago because he simply
swore loyalty to you? Everyone in this family
just h@ťěs each other, all in pretense of loving
one another.
My phone buzzes, alerting me to look at it, and
there she is, the woman I have been wanting to
hear from: Monica. I mumble.
“You have to help me, Angelo.” Hearing that
voice, I frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“Lacey, I have to get her out of there.” And again,
someone called me with the sole purpose of
just using me, to get this Lacey of a person.
What does she have to do with all these?
“You called me with the sole purpose of helping
Lacey?”
“Of course not.” I frown as she hesitates. “I also
wanted to hear your voice. You haven’t even
tried reaching out to me. Did that horrible boss
of yours do anything to you?”
Finally, a smile creeps into my face. “No.”
Mumbling, I look outside, the garden shining
bright. “I want to see you, Monica. I need to see
that beautiful face again.”
“What are you saying?” From the sound of her
voice, she must be flustered.
“I mean it. Seeing you will make my life a little
more bearable right now.”
“Angelo?” Worry hints at her voice. “Are you
okay?”
“Let’s drink together. I will pick you up by six.”
“Okay.”
“Then it’s a date.” And with that, I hang up only
to turn around and find Arthur leaning at the
side. The fact that he stepped into my room,
came to my balcony, and listened to my call
without alerting me is evident: he doesn’t trust
me.
“Your girlfriend?”
“Sir,” I mumble, sweat forming on my forehead.
Arthur is the kind of man nobody wants to joke
with, just the aura that emits from his body. One
will know how deadly he is.
“I asked a question.”
“Oh no, we are just friends.”
“Friends with Monica?” He walks closer.
“Angelo, what is it that you’re scheming?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t beat around the bush, and I won’t fire
you either.” He smiles. “I want to see, no… rather,
I need you to show me what it is that your boss
asked you to do.”
“You won’t capture me and torture me to tell you
the truth?” That makes him laugh. I furrow my
brows, confused. He steps closer and places his
hands on my shoulder.
“Angelo,” his voice calm, “I know people like you.
You won’t do all what that bastard tells you to
do.” Our gaze meets. “From the look in those
eyes of yours, you will betray anyone to keep
yourself alive. I will take a wild guess here.” He
steps back, moving his hands to his mouth,
takes out the cigarette, and blows out the
smoke. “You ki||ed your parents.” My eyes widen
at that.
Nobody knows that, not even my boss. “What
do you mean?” I hold my cool. “Why would I ki||
my parents?”
“No harsh feelings.” He smiles. “It was just a
guess.” I watch him turn around to leave. “You
are free to leave by six for your date. I’m sure
you miss her.”
“Won’t you leave any warning?”
“Not necessary.” He $h00ts me one last glance.
“You’re not man enough to touch what’s mine.”
And after that, I watch him leave, clenching my
hands, I bite my tongue out of anger.
These bastards acting like gods.
Curse them.
Sitting down, the food served
on the table while Lacey is seated directly
opposite me. “You cooked this?” I ask looking at
her; she quickly shakes her head.
“I only helped Miss Linda.”
“That means you were part of it, right?” I watch
how she slowly nods her head, confidence
radiating from her. I smile then stare at the
chicken, the soup, white rice, cooked vegetables,
and then turkey. “Then I would like to eat the
one you handled.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.” I watch how she eagerly moves the
soup to my direction. “This one?” She nods her
head, and I slowly lift up the spoon, look at her
and notice how excited she is, waiting for me to
taste it. “Here I go.” Taking a spoonful into my
mouth, the taste was more like a slap to my
inner wall. I didn’t show it out; I didn’t react.
“How is it?”
Looking back at her, I drop the spoon and relax
on the chair. “It’s salty, Lacey. I think you went a
little overboard with it. Don’t you think you…” I
stop talking at the look in her eyes. It was then; I
knew I had messed up. “Lacey.”
“Excuse me, I’m full.” She left the dining room,
and I cover my face with my hands. Why did I
say all that? I should have just lied, lied about it
being good, but that would be horrible. She
wouldn’t have learned about her mistake.
“This is a lovely sight, Arthur.” I turn sideways to
notice Linda walking in. “It’s been a while I see
you smile or talk freely after what happened.”
“I see you have taken a liking to Lacey.”
Mumbling, I look at her. “You never liked
Christine.”
“Lacey is a sweet child.” She sits down and
exhales. “And I could tell how obsessed you are
with her. That was something you never had for
Christine.”
“Linda.”
“You might be able to let Christine go, but not
Lacey.” She smiles. “Lacey is more than that. I’m
sure she is more than…” Before she could
complete her sentence, I hit the table.
” Do not put Christine name along side lacey ”
standing up I frown ” lacey doesn’t even stand
close to her, now excuse me” even after my
outburst if lacey not being close to Christine, I
find myself knocking at her door.
Didn’t wait for her response before I walk in,
shut the door and stare at a empty room, the
sound of water running alert me that she will be
in the bathroom.
I move close to her bed, sit down, light up
another cigarette and feel the burn, I listen to her
hum her sing and after each pause, I hear her
curse” that d@mn bastard” she begin to hum
again, pause ” the jerk” and then again.
I couldn’t help but to smile at that, few minutes
pass and she work out with towel wrap around
her body, the moment she notice me, she
stopped walking and I smile ” why are you
here?” I look at her neck, my gaze lower to her
expose thighs
” Don’t you think that towel is rather too small?”
” Stop staring ” her whole face hit up at that, I
just can’t stop looking, no ….I want to see more
” No” pulling out the cigarette, I blow out the
smoke and smile ” I want to see more ”
TBC