Twisted Perception (Flawed #2)

by T. L Smith

  He’s laid clothes out for me on the bed—shorts and a shirt. Nothing overly flashy, something that covers everything apart from my legs. I make my way to his voice and notice him standing at the door talking to someone. When I reach him, I see he’s talking with a man. He’s small, probably as small as I am. His straight dark hair is messy, and although he is dressed neatly, he’s not dressed as nicely as Mika in his suit. No, the guy’s in jeans and a button up shirt. He’s also Chinese.

  “Aria, this is Chung. He will escort you home.” Mika waves to Chung, I turn back to Mika, hand on my hip and lips tightening.

  “I don’t need an escort,” I tell him.

  “I can’t take you home right away. Chung here is my personal bodyguard, he will assure you arrive home safely.” I look to him then to Chung, who smiles brightly at me and, to be honest, it kind of creeps me out.

  “Please! I could put him on his ass.” I turn to Chung. “No offense.”

  He waves his hand and laughs. “None taken.”

  “As much as I’d like to debate that ‘cause, believe me, you couldn’t. I have to go. The faster I go, the faster I come back to you,” he says. I think he expects that line to make me swoon. Does he not know me at all?

  “Yeah, about that. Last night was fun and all, but it’s not going to happen again.”

  Chung has the balls to laugh. I shoot him a stare that would usually warn people to shut up, but he continues to laugh harder at me.

  “This isn’t up for discussion…it will happen again. Multiple times, in fact, so don’t even think otherwise.”

  “You keep thinking that,” I tell him.

  “And you won’t be working any longer. I’ll find something else for you to do.”

  “Bullshit! You will not take my work away from me. I’ll just go back to Zeke.”

  His face hardens and his eyes darken. “You won’t. Now, get in the fucking car.”

  He can’t control me. My parents tried that and they never succeeded, so there is no chance in hell he will.

  I decide not to argue right now. I walk to the car, climb in the driver seat and start it up with the keys left in the ignition. I was hoping to drive away before Chung got into the passenger side, but that little bastard is fast and slides straight into the seat. I rev the car and speed off, wheels screeching on the concrete driveway. Chung continues to laugh next to me.

  “I like you,” he says, with an approving look.

  “I don’t like you,” I retort, pulling into Zeke and Bexley’s home. Bringing the car to a stop, I climb out. Chung does too. “You…you can stay in the car,” I tell him, throwing the keys at him. “Or go…” He catches them and strides quickly past me and up the stairs to the door. I knock hard a few times until the door is swung open by Zeke dressed only in a towel. His face scrunches and he shakes his head, then he goes to shut the door in my face. I plant my body in the doorway, stopping him.

  “Seriously Aria, you know I just got married. I plan to fuck my wife for eternity. What the fuck are you doing here?” he asks, then looks next to me, smiling at Chung.

  “Chung, how did you end up with her?” He points to me with his thumb. I push past him and walk into his house.

  “Bexley!” he yells. “Clothes,” he warns her. I laugh. There’s another man in the house, can’t have them looking at what’s his. Or maybe it’s me? Not sure which.

  “Aria!” she shrieks and walks to me, wrapping me in a hug. She’s one of the few I actually let hug me. “Did you come to piss off Zeke?” she questions.

  Zeke walks around her, grabbing her possessively with his hand on her stomach and pulling her back to him.

  “No, I’m trying to ditch Mister Chung here.” I point to the man who’s watching us intently with a small smile on his face.

  Zeke laughs out loud. “Good luck with that. No one can outrun that man, in a car, boat, or a fucking plane. That bitch will catch you,” he says, referring to Chung. I turn back to face him and see that he looks relaxed and happy. His stance is strong and powerful. I grab a remote to test my theory. Smiling at Zeke, I turn and fling the remote straight for Chung’s head. He catches it mid-air and just looks to me. I’m suitably impressed.

  “I may learn to like you,” I tell him and he chuckles. “Unless you keep doing that,” I say, referring to his laughing. Why would someone want to laugh that much? The idiot.

  “Can you leave now?” Zeke raises his eyebrows at me. I shake my head and hold up my hand for the remote. Chung flings it backs lightly and I catch it and flick on the television.

  “Why don’t you go and work? I’ll hang with Aria,” Bexley tells Zeke, turning around in his arms.

  “I don’t care if she’s here or not, I have a room full of stuff I plan to use on you. She can listen.” Bexley’s cheeks go pink with the mention of sex toys. Chung comes and sits on the sofa next to me, kicking his feet up while I watch ‘Dating Naked.’

  “Seriously, you got toys, Bex? I’m so proud of you,” I tell her and it’s the truth, I am proud. “Did you get my wedding present?” I ask her. Her head ducks into Zeke’s chest and she laughs, so does Zeke.

  “You got her a massive black dildo. Why the fuck would you do that, Aria?” His eyes sparkle with mischief.

  “You used it,” I accuse them. They have, I can tell by Bexley’s reaction.

  “You have seen what I’m packing, there’s no need for that,” he says, bumping Bexley with his cock. I have seen it. One night I came over to give Zeke what he’d given my brother—a broken nose. Though, at the time, I didn’t know my brother was an ass and was kissing Bexley. I hit him for touching my brother. To top it off he was naked at the time. What a lovely sight and a pleasant surprise that was.

  Bexley unties herself from her husband and disappears, then comes back with a bowl of popcorn. We sit for a few hours watching reruns of this stupid dating show and thinking they’re all idiots. Zeke is annoyed by this time because we’ve had his wife’s company for too long. He wants her for himself, so he stands and walks over to us. Leaning down, he picks her up and throws her over his shoulder.

  “Show yourself out, I’m off to fuck my wife,” he says, walking away with Bexley. “Call me!” Bexley yells and yelps when a hand smacks her ass.

  We walk out to the car and before we can drive off, my phone rings through the speakers of the car. I answer, not recognizing the number.

  “Do you want him dead or alive?” an unfamiliar voice asks. Chung picks up his phone, texting away.

  “What?” I ask, having no idea who or what this person is talking about.

  “Dead or alive, bitch? Pick one and make it fast. You have five seconds,” he says and then starts counting. Chung looks up and taps something out on his phone, I read it and it takes me a second to answer the man.

  “Alive,” I say, not asking for more information. Not making him aware that I know who he’s talking about.

  “Okay. If you want him alive, I have demands,” the man’s voice says over the phone.

  “Spill.”

  “I want Doug, in exchange for this life.” I search for that name through my memory banks, I really do, I just have no fucking idea who Doug is.

  “Okay, so can you possibly fill me in on who Doug is?” I ask nicely.

  “You have to be shitting me. You don’t fucking know? You better know, bitch.” That voice and the way he’s said bitch, reminds me of the Thrall that was at Mika’s house, the one Gabrielle couldn’t tame. Chung taps my arm to get my attention and shows me a photo. Sure enough it was the man I cut, the one Gabrielle has right now and is still breaking.

  “Oh yes, I remember. Where should I bring him?”

  “You are way too calm, bitch, you better not be bringing the cops into this. If you are, I will slice and dice this man’s tattoos from his arms.”

  “Again, where?” I ask him, tired of listening to his threats.

  “You have three days to bring him to me, the address will be sent to your phone. Any cops, I w
ill shoot him on sight.”

  “Got it,” I say.

  “You’re one whacked out bitch,” he says, ending the call. I look to Chung, who sneers.

  “What?” I ask him.

  “You don’t care that they have him, do you?” he asks and I think about it. I do care, I just can’t let that show. Emotions cause problems. There are enough problems with Mika and me as it is, so there’s no need to add to them.

  “Yes, of course, I do,” I huff out at him. He shakes his head and we head to the airport. Time to pay our Thrall a little visit.

  Chapter 20

  Gabrielle waits at the door as we exit the car. She stares at me and then to Chung and smiles. Opening the front door, we follow her in. The house is the same; nothing has changed since we left. I wonder if she lives here or if she just comes here to work. I also look around for their nurse, we used to have one that lived in the house. I spot Sarena, she’s perched high on a stool, filing her nails, her red hair perfect as always.

  “Aria, darling, we going to play?” she asks, walking over and leaning down to kiss both my cheeks. I nod and start stripping my clothes. Looking over at Gabrielle, she has on a mini skirt with a short shirt.

  “Give me your clothes,” I instruct her, standing there in front of everyone in just a bra and thin piece of material up my ass. She looks confused at first, and Sarena sighs for having to wait.

  “Are you training these girls?” she asks, nodding to Gabrielle, who now starts to strip. She’s completely naked underneath. I smile and throw her my clothes I’d taken off, changing into hers. She’s tinier than I am, so they’re tighter than they were on her. I ignore Sarena and walk up the stairs, the girls follow behind me. When we come to a room, Dominic is there, and he leans in kissing my mouth. Gabrielle gasps in shock. It’s a closed mouth kiss, nothing too intimate, just his way of saying he’s missed me.

  “I brought your favorite things,” he tells me, handing me a box. I open it and find multiple corkscrews and drills. I beam up at him and watch as Sarena enters the room.

  “He warned me not to let you work again. Said he would kill me if I did,” Dominic says while watching Sarena. She walks with a sway in her hips. The Thrall’s eyes are glued to her as she bends down, spreading her legs. His eyes zoom straight in as if he can’t look anywhere else. He’s distracted and he misses the paddle she has in her hand and is now slapping him across his face so hard, his head bounces against the wall.

  “Hope you weren’t planning on listening to him,” I tell Dominic as we continue watching Sarena.

  “As if you’d listen to what we say anyway. I told him that and his words were, ‘let me handle her,'” he says. “He cares for you,” his voice drops. I turn to look at him, his eyes still firmly on Sarena.

  “He shouldn’t,” I tell him, grabbing the bag and walking into the room, not wanting to listen to anything else he has to say. He can’t give advice, after all he’s madly in love with Sarena and wouldn’t know what to do with it if it hit him in the face.

  Sarena doesn’t turn when I enter, she knows it’s me. The Thrall’s eyes shoot up to me, there’s blood on his face coming from his nose and mouth. I pull the chair over to him, scraping it across the floor loudly as I pull it. Placing my bag of instruments in my lap when I sit, I open it up. He’s suspicious, very attentive to every move I make. Sarena stands and walks behind me, her hand coming up to my shoulder.

  “I want you to answer me correctly. Tell me everything, no lies,” I warn him. Sarena has a thing for knowing when people lie, that’s the reason she’s here. She’s like a lie detector. It’s quite a beautiful thing to watch.

  “Who are you close to? Family, brother, friend?” I ask him. “A man, it’s a man.”

  He gives me a puzzled look like he can’t work out what I’m saying.

  “No one,” he says. Sarena taps me on the shoulder, signaling that he’s lying. I open my bag and he watches intently. I pull a drill out, it’s small, but does significant damage. A look that resembles sickness spreads across his face when I start it up and he starts shaking his head. His hands are outstretched and tied to the wall. I push one of his hands flat. He tries to pull away, but there’s nowhere to go. I press the drill into his hand and the buzzing grows louder. It touches his skin and as it does blood starts to ooze, he screams, “My brother!” I look to Sarena and she nods her head. I lift the drill and watch the blood now coating his hand. I didn’t go deep, just enough to penetrate the outer skin.

  “Where does he live?” I ask him, he shakes his head and I position the drill on his second hand, repeating the process. He screams and tells us his brother’s address. Sarena walks out and then I hear a bang on the glass. I pick up my stuff and leave, leaving him tied and bleeding against the wall.

  Dominic points to the screen and man that definitely looks like our Thrall is standing there with a beanie and tattoos covering him. He’s large, more round than muscular, and stands tall with his hands crossed over his chest. His information is on the screen, where he lives, works, and his cell phone number. Dominic clicks the screen again and up pops the tracking information on his phone. He’s currently at a storage facility, one where I’ve been before and I know it’s not far from here. Which is surprising since that means they had means to get him there without anyone knowing or causing trouble. I turn to the click of a gun and see Chung loading and packing bullets. He gives me a crooked smile.

  “I like you more now, you’re very twisted.”

  Again, he just smiles, he really is weird. “Let’s go,” he commands, walking to the door, but Dominic’s voice stops us.

  “You don’t know how many people are at that location. You two can’t take on a gang of people. Don’t be stupid, be safe.” I look to Chung and see him shrug his shoulders and keep walking, he’s going with or without me and I prefer to go. I see my bow in the cabinet and grab it, along with a bag of arrows, and race down the stairs to Chung, who’s already in the car and ready to go.

  “It’s about to get bad. Tell me I won’t have to watch you.” Chung shifts gears and starts driving faster.

  “You won’t,” I assure him.

  “Good, I kind of like you alive. You’re so much fun.” He smiles again—what’s with that smile? “And Mika is kinda in love with you,” he adds.

  “You’re dreaming.” I roll my eyes.

  That can’t be true, I hardly know the man.

  “He’s been watching you for over a year. He knows you well.”

  “That’s just creepy.”

  “He didn’t need the sex slave business, he earns enough money with his other businesses. He did it to keep you. He wanted you.”

  “He can’t keep me!” That’s all I heard from his statement, I try to ignore the rest.

  “Try telling him that.”

  “I won’t stay,” I warn him. It’s true, I won’t.

  “He knows that. Why do you think he tries to keep you with him twenty-four seven? He knows his time is limited.” I never thought of that, it makes sense now that I hear it. He tries to stop me from doing the things I want and need to do. He invites himself wherever I go. He threatens my family so I stay with him. He’s trying to keep me.

  “He won’t hurt Jagger, will he?” I ask, knowing the truth anyway.

  “If it involves hurting you, I would say no.”

  “He tricked me.”

  “He had to have you.”

  “He’s a bastard,” I swear. “A fuckable one,” I add, which makes Chung laugh.

  “Do you know how to love?” he asks, driving even faster, the world turning into a blur.

  “I love my brother, sister, father, and sometimes even my mother,” I add.

  “That’s required love.”

  “It’s love,” I tell him.

  “We’re here,” he says, looking forward.

  “Oh, shit!” I mutter.

  Chapter 21

  The storage facility is full of people. About twenty men are walking in and out,
some showing their weapons as a badge of honor. Five of the men are huddled around a car smoking—probably weed—and laughing. It looks like possibly fifteen are actually on duty doing their job. We’re far enough away and parked in a parking area as we watch. Chung loads his guns, stretches his muscles and grins down at me.

  “How many can you take?” he asks. I look again and try to calculate how many I could hit before one of them realizes where I am. I’m fast, just not twenty arrows fired at once fast.

  “Five, maybe ten,” I say, setting up.

  “That’s good enough for me. Start shooting,” he orders jumping out of the car, and as he strolls their way it takes me a moment to realize he meant to start shooting now. I jump out and shoot the first arrow, dropping the man furthest away, the next, then the next. They hear the third man fall and guns are pulled. They don’t know where I am yet and I look around for Chung. He’s getting closer and I only have three men down. I fire again, three more times, taking down another three. As I go to load the next arrow, Chung appears where the five men are. He moves fast, faster than I’ve ever seen. He flips, kicks and punches so quickly it’s a blur. The rest of the men hear him and run his way, shooting. He cocks his gun and returns fire. He takes a few down and I follow, doing the same.

  Once the last man drops, Chung turns my way and salutes me before he disappears inside the building. I slide into the car and start it up, driving as fast as I can to the front of the building and screeching to a stop. I move to get out when Mika comes out, leaning on Chung. Chung flings the door open and drops Mika in the backseat and tells me to drive.

  I look back to Mika, he’s sitting up now, his shirt torn, dried blood a mask on his face. He catches me looking and turns his gaze away, wiping his nose and removing the blood. Chung taps me to gain my attention and tells me again to start driving. I don’t question him when I pull away, I just drive and concentrate on the road trying not to let my eyes wander to the back seat to see how he is.

  They’re both asleep when I pull up and turn off the car. Chung wakes up first and he looks back at Mika, then at me.