Chapter 18

"Oh, what a gorgeous melody. Shall we dance?" Ranold asked while getting up from the table.

The visitors nodded their heads, and several even got to their feet. We were able to fit between the tables thanks to my husband's effortless lifting of me. Even though the music was soothing and calming, my body was stiff and pumped up. He drew me to his heated body, and I groaned a little when I felt his hand slide down my spine and halt on my lower back.

I felt his cold breath on my neck and trembled a little as he said, "Your scent is so exhilarating. I can sense your ferocious yearning and the hints of madness mixed with the intense level of fury. I want you more now because of you," I could feel his hard-on in my crotch as he embraced me even harder.

I clinched my teeth and mumbled, "I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Really?" He grinned as he leaned closer to my neck and carefully kissed my exposed skin.

I said, clutching his shoulder with my fingers, "Mh-yes."

He spoke directly into my ear, "Look at the man on the right. Since we arrived, he has been keeping an eye on you for a while."

I gulped and gently tilted my head to the right. There was a man at the table who was closely observing me. My husband's fingers slipping from mine made me shiver.

I stopped him by whispering "No" and gripping his wrist.

"Olivier," I enraged him.

I could feel it. But I couldn't stop myself.

I murmured, breaking out of his grasp with ease, "I have to use the restroom."

I realized it was my moment to flee. At least from that location. At least temporarily. I sighed in relief and slid down, sitting on the floor, as soon as I was hidden behind the closed door of the toilet's cabin.

I let out a breath and closed my eyes, "I need to calm down."

My internal excitement started to lessen. I was leaning my head against my palms while sitting in the toilet bowl. I was subconsciously taking deep breaths. I had no idea what I was doing. Ranold Hamilton, that person in the dining room, the music—all of it messed up and then vanished. I finally settled back into my usual state. I finally became calm. When I exited the restroom, which resembled more of a small room with four walls and a door, I had no idea how much time had elapsed. However, I wasn't the only person using the facilities. And as I went to the sinks to wash my face, that is when I realized it.

I briefly stood still as I stared in the mirror. The same man who was staring at me in the restaurant hall was there. Only the two of us were present, and nobody else was there. I reached for the faucet with my hands and drank water into my palms. He was using paper towels to dry his hands. I briefly considered whether or not to wash my face at that point, but decided against it because I couldn't stand there and wait for him to leave.

I immediately turned around and grabbed the desk with the basins after hearing "Your scent is really wonderful" above my head.

I felt terrified. I didn't like the way he was cuddling up to me. That emotion was distinct from how I felt about Ranold Hamilton. I simply couldn't raise my head as I was staring at that stranger's chest. I didn't want to. I merely wanted to get out of there.

He put my hair behind my ear while softly saying, "I saw you running away from the hall. Has he treated you badly? Maybe I'd be a better match?"

When I abruptly smacked his hand away from me, he immediately took hold of my hair and dragged me along behind him. I tried to grab his hand while I yelled in agony from the pain on top of my head.

I suddenly bit him on his hip as he started unzipping his pants, saying "Calm down and just suck another dick, you stupid bitch."

He let me go after screaming. It was my opportunity. Hearing some obscene words behind me, I bolted out the restroom. I noticed him following me as I was moving really quickly. I walked into the hallway. Some couples were still dancing as soft music played. It was really quiet there. He was approaching me when I turned around to look. I kept moving forward in pursuit of the recognizable face until I eventually spotted him hanging out with Jane and a few other people. When Ranold Hamilton turned around, I grabbed his jacket, peered, crept closer, and hid under his arm because I was quaking and terrified to death.

"Your fucking bitch bit me!" The man cried out.

Ranold Hamilton said, "Slow down a bit. "I'm sure there was a misunderstanding."

He hissed, "I don't understand what you're talking about. But you'll have to take responsibility for it."

I clenched my husband's jacket even more when I heard the rifles clatter. It immediately fell silent. No more sound of music or voices.

Hey gentlemen, please refrain from starting a shooting in my restaurant, urged an unknown voice. That isn't a good idea, you know.

I heard a shotgun salvo. My heart briefly stopped before I first heard my husband laughing.

He held up his hands and said, "Well, gentlemen. That was an excellent performance. Let us talk about compensation. I believe we can come to a consensus."

I was sitting in the foyer and observing my husband speaking with two men while they were surrounded by gun-toting persons via the glass door of the entryway. Jane sat next to me, waiting for my husband, and brought me some water from the empty restaurant.

"What exactly did he do to you?" She enquired.

I said quietly, "He grabbed me by my hair and was about to make me suck his dick."

"Wow, are you any good at it?"

"What?" Her query left me perplexed. "No... I have no idea why he decided to do it."

"Well, I wish you had bit him in the balls. That jerk deserves it. When I last traveled to Chicago with Ranold, he also sexually assaulted me. He seems to be obsessed on everyone who is close to Ranold." She returned to her fashion book that she had retrieved from the closed restaurant after taking a glance at the men through the glass door.

"You... too?" I looked across at Jane because I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Yeah. Hopefully, I had a revolver with me at that moment because when she saw it, the sissy almost peed himself." She was so unflappable that I started to wish I had her level face.

'Perhaps hanging out with Ranold Hamilton encourages others to be like that?' That was intriguing. 'How long have the two of them been friends?' In my brain, I asked myself, when Ranold Hamilton himself emerged in the foyer.

Jane stood up as he nodded. I knew the conversation was ended when he waved his hand in the air. We walked over to the car and sat down. Jane started tapping on her phone while seated in the passenger seat. In the back, on the opposite sides, we were seated. My husband suddenly laughed while gazing out the window.

I flushed and turned my head away as he continued to grin, "You bit him. Fuck... You bit him."

Should I say that the moment we crossed the doorway of the bedroom that evening, Ranold Hamilton fucked me to death once more?

Then, for several days, he abandoned me all by myself. On Thursday afternoon, I woke up very worn out but yet joyful. There was something like happiness inside of me, not that I was grinning or anything. As if everything had been done correctly. Nothing to be concerned about. I couldn't even be angry with him, with myself, or with anything else. I wanted! I desperately wanted to tell Ranold Hamilton, "Fuck you," but I refrained. I simply didn't have the strength for it.

Jane followed me again during those times. We went shopping and had some beauty treatments. Jane nearly purchased all of the stores once more. She thankfully did not advise me to purchase anything. She didn't appear to use any of my husband's money; only her own. We had another meeting with Ranold on Saturday. In a different restaurant. Even though it was on the first floor, it was more pricey and located in a lovely area. Everything was good. Even my attire. I was dressed in a blouse with no sleeves and flared pants. Totally in black. I should have acknowledged that my husband had a great sense of style. Of course, I would never tell him that.

The evening was meant to be perfect and peaceful. With the sparkling wine in my hand, I was unwinding, and it didn't seem like anything would interfere with our peace. So I reasoned until my husband abruptly gripped my hand.

When he said, "Under the table," I trembled to get out of the chair as I heard gunfire.

My husband's voice was audible to me as I covered my head with my hands. He was giving orders to others. I was terrified when I heard someone scream. I trembled as I felt tears well up in my eyes as the shootout started up again. I was grabbed by the arm and pulled away, but I resisted and yelled instead because I didn't want to leave my husband.

"Olivier!" He tried to push me away from him, but I only cried out into his arms, pleading with him not to leave me.

"No-oo!" I shrieked as I heard more gunfire over my head.

He too was firing, and then there was nothing. When the volley of rifle shots started, he grabbed my arm and started sprinting while crouching behind the tables. He shoved me to the ground, and I stumbled over a man who had red holes all over his chest. I looked around, attempting to find my husband, as I noticed people scurrying everywhere. He was close to the other table back there. He abruptly fired from his handgun directly in front of me as I crawled on all fours and grabbed the table corner. I fled quickly out of panic as I peered into his face. He was looking at me intently and shaking his head slightly. I became frightened when I noticed the blood on his belly.

I could make out his lips moving during the brief pause, "Olivier."

He gestured slowly toward the door where people were rushing. I shook my head, wiping the tears from my cheeks, but he simply showed me three fingers, then two, then one, standing up and shooting somewhere. Hearing the shattered dishes and glasses, I quickly slid to the entrance. I had reached a secure location at last. I simply ran after the people as they descended to the parking lot. I didn't look away. I kept going without stopping. I was just about to continue running when I felt a hand grab me around the waist and shove me into a dark van. Nothing made sense to me, and all I could do was scream and kick to get away.

"Oh my gosh!" Someone's quiet voice caught my attention.

"I'll kill him if he doesn't shut up, so hit that cunt with something!" It came from somewhere, I believe.

I could see the lights of the moving cars as the van moved somewhere.

"Shut up fucking now!" The moment the man screamed directly in my direction, I froze and looked at his hazy face with tears in my eyes. "Motherfucker, that's right."

I noticed that he had something covering his head and that there was a thin fog surrounding him. My eyes started to close as soon as I started to feel fatigued, like something was squeezing my eyelids and forcing me to fall asleep.