8 8. ONE MORE TROUBLE

BRIA

Two days passed in a blur. Everyone was constantly in the shadow of fear and the atmosphere was tensed. Benji was avoiding having conversation for more than five minutes, fearing he would snap for no reason at us. The house was quiet without any chattering or arguments. Whenever I tried to lift their mood, they gave me smiles not reaching their eyes at all. My heart sank at the thought of my family living constantly in the fear of danger. All I want was just to wake up in the morning and realised it was all just a bad dream that I was eager to forget.

"Hey, old man! What are we having for the dinner tonight?" I plopped down beside him in a chair. It was afternoon time so there was no rush in the café.

"I don't know. We will make something..." He trailed off.

He was tired and exhausted. I knew that all the events happened during these past days were taking a toll on him. He had the responsibility of eight lives on his shoulders. I have seen him waking at odd hours in the night, surveying and checking around the house, checking on me and kids multiple times when we were asleep. Whenever I told him to relax and take some rest, he shrugged me away saying he was fine. I felt bad for him. It was painful to look at my old man worried.

I sighed and draped my arm around his shoulder, rubbing soothingly to relax his tensed body. I have never seen him this worried before and it was twisting my heart in pain.

"Hey, you ok?" I whispered. He pulled me to his side protectively as I lean to look at his tired and red eyes.

"Yeah. I am." He placed his head on mine and closed his eyes.

"why don't you go and get some rest? I and Cody will handle the café." I suggested.

"no. it's ok, darling. I am fine." he pulled away from me rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"don't be stubborn Benji. Look at you... you are exhausted. Your eyes are red due to lack of sleep. You need some rest" I scolded him but he shrugged indifferently.

I sighed and tried again in a soft voice "look. I know you are worried about our safety but please, don't be hard on yourself. How are you going to protect us when you couldn't even stand steady on your own?"

"but-"

"no, but. Nothing. You are going to get some rest while I and Cody will look after the café. Right, Cody?" I asked Cody, our new employee, as he walked into the kitchen. Benji thought it would be helpful if we hire a worker so that we will get a helping hand in the cafe while we were busy handling the unnecessary shit that was happening in our lives.

"Yo, Benji. Bria is right. I will take care of the café and this beautiful piece of your heart here." He gave me a boyish smile, winking at me.

I rolled my eyes at him knowing very well that an argument was about to broke. Cody was a guy around my age and needed little money for his college fees. We used to go to the same school so I agreed right away to hire him when he applied for the job in our cafe. But he was also a flirty idiot. From his first day, he was constantly flirting with me much to my old man's dismay. Whenever he tried to flirt with me Benji gave him his heated looks and even threatened to chop his pervert tongue off. But this man was an exceptional piece. I thought he likes to rile up Benji just for fun. But he was a nice guy nonetheless and got along well with kids too.

"It's Benjamin or Sir for you young man. And I can't trust you with Bria" Benji gave him an annoyed look.

I stepped in before Cody say something stupid to convince Benji about his opinion about Cody. After much convincing from my and Cody's part, Benji agreed to take a break. He headed back into house not before warning Cody to keep his hands to himself and his mouth in check. Cody bowed down dramatically in response but we all knew that he could never keep his word in this case.

As soon as Benji went inside the house and out of earshot Cody turned to look at me suggestively "so my darling it seems that we have this place all for ourselves for the next couple of hours." Cody placed his hand on my shoulder, wiggling his brows suggestively, a goofy smile stretched on his lips.

I turned and grasped his wrist, twisting it behind him, painfully might I add. I leaned close to his ear and said in a calm voice "First of all, I am not your or anyone's darling for that matter. Second, you have this place to yourself as I am going to the market for shopping. So take care of the café or you will have to deal with angry Benji." I dropped his hand and stepped back smiling innocently.

His face was contorted in pain as he was rubbing his now sore wrist which had red marks imprinted on it. His baby blue eyes were moistened due to pain.

"wait. You can't go out. You are not allowed to Bria. Your old man would kill me if anything happens to you. And I don't want my dead body to get feed to wolves, thank you very much." He huffed.

"you do know that there are no wolves in our area, right?"

"still. I don't want to anger the dark god."

"Hey, watch your words, idiot! You are talking about my old man, buddy. Respect!" I punched his arm lightly.

" but seriously Bria. you can't go. I don't know what's going on. But I know that there is some trouble you guys are going through. I don't want you to get hurt." I turned to look at his serious and worried face.

I pinched his pink cheeks and cooed "aaawwww... that's so sweet of you Cody-buddy. But don't worry, ill be back soon. I don't want to bother Benji with a trivial thing like grocery shopping. He is already overworking himself. Please, take care of everything." I smiled at him, pouting.

He looked in dilemma "Bria-"

"Can't you do this small thing for me, Cody? I promise I'll take care of myself and return soon" I gave him my puppy eyes battling my eyelashed at him.

Finally, Cody gave in telling me to take care and call him if I need any help. I grabbed my wallet and phone before opening the door.

"oh and Cody? You will able enjoy your next morning coffee only if this stays between us" his eyes went wide realising my threat. I winked at him closing the door behind me.

After I got all the items, I needed including snacks, some veggies, pasta packets and of course my love, chocolates from the store, I paid for them. After thanking the girl at the billing counter I made my way out of the store. I didn't take my mini-van as I got the chance to step out of the house a long time which felt like ages. I was missing my evening run so it was nice to have a walk after many days. I checked the watch and realised that one and a half hours has already passed. Benji would kill both me and Cody if he finds out that I went out without his permission. He was getting paranoid because of all those threats that he didn't even let me step a foot out of the main door. He even wanted kids to skip school for some days and stay in front of his eyes all the time. But after convincing from my side and pleading from kid's side he agreed to let them attend the school.

Then I remembered that kids would be home in a few minutes. To save the time I decided to take a short cut as there was a traffic jam on the main road. The road was packed with people to watch the accident which caused the traffic jam. I took a left turn and then the next right which led me to a small road with very few people and cars at any time. So, it was pretty empty at this time of day and was more convenient for me to head back home soon.

I was humming 'Vanilla Twilight' from Owl City while walking faster to head back home on time. I was so engrossed in my own world that I didn't notice silent footsteps approaching me from behind. I stopped humming abruptly slowing down my pace when I sensed a presence behind me. By the time I turned to look back, it was too late as a big hand clamped my mouth and a black cloth bag was put on my head. The grocery bag in my hand dropped on the ground. I started thrashing trying to fight when someone caged me in their arms. I couldn't see the face of their faces because of the bag on my head and face. I tried to scream only to get the hold on my mouth tighter.

There were two people, one holding my mouth to stop me from screaming and second one holding my hands and body in a painful grip. They dragged me like a rucksack and pushed me in a vehicle sliding shut the door behind. My body jerked forward when the vehicle started moving. I was shaking my head and pleading to let me go as panic filled my body. They were not talking at all, being careful not to give away their identity. My body engulfed in the blanket of fear and started trembling. My heart was pounding wildly against my ribcage in panic. A cold sweat broke on my forehead and neck as I kept struggling against those two people.

Thought of my family crossed my mind which only rose my panic to a new height. God, please. I want to go back to my family. Please! A muffled sob escaped my lips. Few minutes passed in silence which was disturbed only by the sound of the vehicle and my muffled screams. The vehicle came to stop after some distance and my body started shaking uncontrollably thinking about what was going to happen next. The bag from my face was removed in a swift motion. I opened my eyes, squinting to adjust the light. I looked around frantically when my eyes landed on three unfamiliar faces and two familiar faces.

"Hello, butterfly." The man who visited the café that day smiled wickedly at me.

I turned my head to left and saw the pig whom I punched on my birthday night. A nasty mark was still present on his face reminding him of a return gift from my birthday. I smirked proudly looking at him, forgetting for a minute that I was kidnapped.

"nice face piggy," I said sarcastically to which he responded with angry eyes.

"Shut up, bitch!" he shouted at me.

I ignored him and observed all three of their faces. "I see the whole party of assholes present here. I am feeling very out of place now" I pouted. I know it was a very wrong time to let my sarcasm take control. Honestly speaking, I was scared out of my shit. Yes! But I was not going to show them that.

"she is fiery. Hmm... interesting" came a deep, familiar voice, arrogance dripping from it.

My eyes landed on the man sitting on the opposite side of me with the two jokers. From the looks of it, I assumed that he was their leader. King, maybe?

Brown hairs were styled to perfection on his head, not a single strand out of place. Blue eyes were filled with little amusement as they were focused intently at me, noticing my every little movement. His face had sharp features and straight nose. His lips were set in a firm line while his face was void of any emotion not giving away anything on his face. His well-toned body was clad in a white sky blue shirt covered with a navy blue suit jacket and tailored black pants. He was nothing less than the prince charming of any girl's dreams but for some reason, I could sense that he was way different than his looks.

I flushed in embarrassment when he caught me checking him out. I lacked in the department of subtleness. I averted my eyes from him and coughed to hide my not so good situation.

"How dare you, bastards.? How dare you to kidnap me like this? And by the way, your hold is painful, you, nutcracker." I glared at the man beside me who was holding me in place.

"now, now... Woman. Watch your mouth. You will not like the idea of what five men are capable of doing in this small space with you." The man in the middle said in a cold voice that made me clamp my mouth shut.

He leaned forward and clasped his both hands resting them on his knees.

"you have already met Kyle on your birthday night and Gabriel in your café." Oh, so these shitheads have pretty names too, huh!

"and my name is Cameron Jones." It meant he was not the King.

"so what? Just let me go!" I screamed at his face thrashing again to set free.

His eyes turned hard and he clenched his jaw tightly. In a blink of an eye, he pulled me towards him making me gasp in surprise. He grabbed my chin with one hand and a fistful of my hairs in the other one. I cried out in pain when he tugged it hard. Hot tears clouded my vision making it blurry.

"Get your filthy hands off of me" I yelled again while blinking my eyes to clear up my vision. But my yelling didn't sit well with him as he pulled me further on his lap.

"shut the fuck up. No one can hear your screams as this vehicle is soundproof." My eyes went wide when he hissed in my ear. I am in big trouble!

"Why are y-you d-doing this to m-me?" I managed to croak out.

"your sign" he answered curtly. Kyle passed him papers and pen.

My mind was in super panic mode, tears couldn't stop running from my eyes. My breathing was ragged because of all the crying and screaming.

When Gabriel thrust those papers to me, I started shaking my head furiously in denial.

"for the last time. Sign. the. damn. papers." The Cameron guy growled thunderously and my heartbeat races as I thought what this man could do to me.

I looked at the papers with watery eyes. No Bria. No. You can't sign the papers. What will you do then? Where your family will live? This house is a gift from your dad. The only thing he left behind in his memory. No. I will not let these fucktards win. You are a strong girl. You are a fighter. Steel, baby, steel. You are made of steel. you can do this!

I lift my head determinedly to meet the blue orbs staring coldly at me. I took a deep breath matching his glare with my own and shook my head again.

Anger flashed in his eyes as he said calmly "as you wish". He indicated at one of the men who was holding me before. He nodded his head at Cameron and slide open the door of a black van and stepped out, closing it behind him before I could open my mouth to scream.

Now only a miracle would have helped me!