Chapter 7: Red fire

She backed away from the scene only to bump into a young maid, who was looking at her with surprise. She turned back and began to walk away from her at a fast pace. 

"Hey, who are you?" The maid asked but she broke into a run. She fled down a set of stairs on her left and found herself in a huge room that was probably for receiving visitors. Red sofas sat on black tiles and the light from the windows was blinding. A hunting gun hung near the fireplace, and she snatched it from the wall to defend herself against the men who were running towards her. They stopped metres away from her holding their guns to her. She held the gun and tried to find an escape route from the wall the men had formed around her.

 A clap rang out from the back, and they parted as a black-haired man walked through them. He stopped right in front of her with hands inside the pockets of his blue suit. He gave a long whistle as he gave her a long look over. She was tempted to drop the gun and cover herself up, curse her shirt for getting ripped so easily. It wasn't its fault anyway, she had worn it a thousand times.

"You don't need to hold that gun, darling. You are a weapon on your own" he said, coming close to her.

"But you never lose when you have an alternative weapon" she replied, angling the gun to point at his manly parts.

"Feisty, I like them feisty. I wonder how you would look with all that glorious hair spread out like fire underneath me?" He said, moving closer to her as if daring her to shoot.

"You can live that fantasy when I send you to hell" she said, her finger on the trigger.

A shot from behind her hit a man behind the pervert in his leg. He gave out a loud moan of pain, but none of his comrades moved to help him. She turned in the direction of the shot and saw Vincent standing in the corridor above her near the railings, gun still poised and ready to shoot again.

"Say that again and you will never mount a woman again" he said coldly to the man who beamed at the sight of him.

She turned back to realize that all the men had turned their backs on her except, of course, the black-haired pervert.

"Cassio! Come now, you can't keep this treasure to yourself" he said.

Another shot rang, and it was aimed at the man's leg. 

"My threats are never empty, Valentino", Cassio said.

The man raised his hands up in surrender, "I was only joking" he said, laughing at his joke as Cassio came down the stairs.

"My men will escort you to my office while I take care of this" he ordered as he neared them.

Valentino tapped his shoulders, "Of course, you seem to have your hands full with this one." He said before leaving them alone.

"We have a lot to discuss, don't we, Eden?" He said, his steps echoing as he neared her.

"Of course we do. Where is Emma?!" Verena asked with her finger still on the trigger and her eyes trained on him. 

"You mean the pretty little angel you call your sister" he said, sitting on one of the sofas and crossing his legs.

"She IS my sister!" Verena said vehemently, unaware of the men behind her, they overpowered her, forced the gun out of her hands and tied them before making her kneel in front of Vincent.

"Look at me Eden" he commanded, but she stubbornly kept her head down.

He used his shoe to raise her head up, through the curtain of her red hair she noticed the gunshot wound she had given him three years ago. She could also see his tattoos peeking out from his rolled up shirt sleeves, finally her eyes landed on his hazel ones. They were now the color of a storm that threatened to consume her. She turned sideways away from them.

"Here's the deal. You give me everything I want, and I leave your precious little 'sister' alone."

"A deal? With you? That's bullshit. You killed Ava. And now you want me to beg? If I find out that a strand of hair is missing from Emma's head, I will hunt you down" she spat out.

"When you are dead?"

"I have no intention of dying," she promised. 

"I have no intention of killing you, Eden."

"Stop calling me fucking Eden" she shouted at him.

He bent to grip her jaw tightly, "let me tell you something, Eden. I own this place, I rule this place, so don't fucking raise your voice at me, or you will regret it. Now, while I am still in a good mood, be the good girl you try so hard to play" he said quietly, his thumb brushing against her lips. She released her jaw from his hands and spat in his face. A muscle ticked in his tightly clenched jaw, and he removed a handkerchief to wipe his face. 

He stood up and carried her over his shoulders, her butt in the air close to his face.

"Put. Me. Down" she ordered, but he hit her ass in reply. She gasped in horror and began to struggle in his arms. He only tightened his hold and walked faster.

They passed a group of maids who walked silently past them after bowing to him. She gave them the middle finger with her hands. After failing to release herself, she decided to bite him. She bit him hard on his neck and he stopped abruptly, smiling in triumph, and she was about to force herself out of his grip when he put her against the wall, making her have no other choice than to hook her legs around his waist.

She could feel his hardness through her shorts. His eyes were on her, filled with desire, and she felt hot all over.

He smashed his lips on hers in a needy kiss. She didn't understand what was happening, this was her first time kissing a man in a sober mood and it was....

Oh goodness, his lips were the best thing she had ever tasted, they were so intoxicating that she couldn't remember anything else. 

Someone made a sound like a desperate plea, and she realized that it was her. Then, as suddenly as the kiss started, it stopped. He released her all of a sudden, making her fall hard on her butt.

He strolled away from her, not looking back once as she blinked rapidly at his retreating back, trying to figure out her thoughts.

  What just happened?