Rose's POVLying in bed, contemplating my next move with my hands behind my head, I wondered if I had made a mistake.Since Lauren opened up to me about me being taken off the board, and suspended for some time, I couldn't stop thinking about… everything.Did I make a mistake?Granted in hindsight, I would have made better decisions than I did so that I wouldn't end up here.Stuck, in limbo and with nowhere to go to.Now that I knew better, I should have never taken the advice of my friends, I should never have gone against Donald who was probably the sweetest, nicest man that I've ever known and I should have blocked David's number the first time people texted me that he was coming back to the country.So many regrets.It was all I could do anyway, regret the trajectory my life took.I sold some of my expensive clothes and jewelry and the money was what I used to survive while I was looking for a job.Although at this point, I was gradually losing hope of ever getting a job, now that
David's Pov Convincing Rose to come over was only a step of my plan…in a very long and detailed list.I got the brilliant idea when I moved back into my house, checking out of the motel after a very peaceful stay of two weeks.Thanks to Boone and my well-intention bribe to the reporter, the entire circus had died down and the media had moved to fresh meat…another scandal trending in the city.While it might take some time for people to stop looking at me when I went out to get things or whispering and muttering about me anytime I was in a public place, at least I know had my privacy and a semblance of my life back.It was good to be around my space and my house once again and I spent the next 2 days unboxing items that I had boxed up in preparation to leave the country but apparently that isn't impossible until I've been cleared of the charges levied against me.I might as well sit here and enjoy my hard earned money.However, unlike the motel where I could flirt with the receptionis
Donald's Pov “Arghhhh!” I slammed my laptop closed angrily, shoving my hands into my hair as I pushed it through allowing to stick up in tangled ends. I've spent 3 days at my desk shoving processed food, soda and caffeine down my throat just so I could keep my brain active, trying to power through this believing I could hack past firewalls.Unfortunately I severely underestimated my abilities and how good Nalini must be at her job to crack through the firewalls in less than a week. I mean, I have been doing this for over 3 days and I haven't even passed the first stage and there were seven more to go.At the stage, I will could probably be done with a half of it in a month.I tried to be positive and work harder, allowing the next 4 hours the pass by but sadly it yielded no results and I was back to square one.No results, no information and David still roaming free.My landline rang, it's loud sound bursting the silence that I enveloped the house for the past couple of days.It was
David's Pov “Right this way…” I helped Rose out of the car, with a wide smile painted on my face.She ignored my outstretched hand with a huff, heading towards the house without my instance.I simply smiled and licked the car door, doing a routine sweep around the area with my eyes to make sure there was no one watching us.Satisfied that the coast was clear, I followed after Rose.The door was slightly ajar Ajar, Rose standing in with her mouth open.While we were at dinner, I had Boone calling some favors and the house was decorated with flowers in real homemade meal and candles to make the atmosphere a little bit intimate and sexy.“What is this?” She turns around to face me her eyes flashing with accusations. “Dinner. I wanted to make up for the fact that you might have to leave the restaurant early.”“So you planned this?” She asked. “This was the plan all along, wasn't it?”I shrugged, indifferent. “Well, yes. I'm not quite comfortable with everyone poking around in my busines
Rose's POVAs I sat there, all dressed up for David to ogle with his eyes, I couldn't help but feel quite stupid.Here I was thinking I would waltz into the place and own myself, making David regret his actions but now I felt like a clown dressed up in a pretty dress.Sitting directly opposite David made me realize that he wasn't being as remorseful as he should despite what he might say.Now, I was starting to understand the kind of man he was.David Knight was one man that would go out for himself…no other person.Yeah, he might try to apologize or butter up to you but it's only because he wants something.Everything with David is a chess move, and I was the foolish, young and impressionable woman that was unfortunate enough to be caught up in his trap.Despite my anger at his obvious nonchalance, I was still curious. I wanted to know why he bothered to resurface and reach that to me.I mean, I knew he wanted something but what did he want? “Are you going to say something?”Picking
Donald's Pov Should I or should I not?I agonized over my decision to speak to Rose haven't hit a wall the last time I tried to work on David by myself. It wasn't a matter of Rose being stubborn or adamant to talk to me but it was a matter of pride.I used to watch movies where the guy would repeatedly forgive the girl over and over again on he would wind up hurt and I would yell at the guy, urging him to ask her right to treat him better but now that I was in that case…. let me just say it's quite hard to do the right thing when you're experiencing it.For over 2 days I've been agonizing over my decision, even though deep down I knew that reaching out to Rose was the best decision to me, I was just apprehensive of what her response might be.It was on one lonely Tuesday night that I finally drummed up the courage to call her, sitting in my balcony overlooking the night life of New York city.The overhead lights from the skyscrapers, busy cars and billboards were enough to provide e
David's “Are you sure you've got it covered?” I asked Boone for the fifth time in ten minutes.I kept looking over my shoulder, worried that something bad had happened…or was going to happen.It's not entirely my fault… after the last failed attempt to leave the country, I was on edge for the right reasons.Throughout the car ride, I had to glance over my shoulder repeatedly in the hopes that our car wasn't being followed by the cops or some desperate reporters in need of using my story to make a big hit.“Look, man you've got to calm down. I told you I'll handle it…after all, isn't that why you came to me in the first place?” He grunted, sounding annoyed.He's right.I could clearly remember our meeting last week like it happened yesterday. I was tired of waiting around and having scouted my environment, I realised that the press had gone over my story and they were now uninterested while the cops had decided to close the case since they had no further leads to make it go anywhere.
Donald's Pov “If I agree to do this, what will be in it for me?” Rose asked.I paused, not sure what to say to that. Reaching for a bottle of wine that was on the counter, I swiped it up and downed several mouthfuls at once, buying time as I thought of what best to say but then I decided to go with the truth. “You get what you desperately want… revenge on David.”She snorted. “Yeah, right. Trying to get revenge on a man like David is like trying to look for a needle in a pile of needles…it's never going to happen.”I sighed, scrubbing a hand down my face as I tried to rack my head for what to tell her to change her mind. “Don't you think it's because people like us make decisions like these…that's why men like David are allowed to roam free and do whatever they want without thinking about the consequences?” I asked her. “I want to get David back for what he did to us and I know that deep down underneath your fright and anger, you want that to, so please help me, Rose.”She was silent
Donald's POV The ‘beep beep’ of the monitors woke me up from my deep slumber.I open my eyes slowly to meet the white, sterile ceiling of a hospital. I knew it was a hospital because it had that familiar disinfectant smell to it…also because it makes sense, given the fact that I was shot at three times a couple of hours before and yeah, I remember every bit of that story.It was like a clip of a very bad movie except this happened to me, the distant yet eerily familiar feeling of being shot invaded my senses and I had to inch my hand up to see if I could check out the wound. “I wouldn't advise you to do that.” A pretty blond nurse wearing scrubs walked in, a clipboard in her hand.“Hel…Hello..” I croaked out, realizing that my throat was as dry as a desert.She must have come to the same realization because she walked over to my bedside, reaching for a cup of water and she handed it over to me.I greedily slurped it down like a greedy man dying of thirst, only stopping when I emptie
David's POV Just like I expected, the media circus around Donald's death blew out of proportion.As I'm packing my bags, the entire area in which Donald was shot had been taped off by the police.Apparently they were opening a case into the incident, searching for who shot him.I would like to feel relaxed on that point but it's just my luck that the homeless guy I usye turned out to be something else.For the rest of the day, I kept on trying his number but he never picked up soon enough, the number became unavailable which I took to mean that he had either discarded of it or he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. When Boone asked me about the progress report, I lied to him stating that I had taken care of the homeless guy but I knew it was just a matter of time before the police found him and he blurted out the truth…which was why I was booking the next available flight and getting the hell out of this cursed city.The moment I left the borders of the city and I was on my
RoseTo think that it was Donald's death that brought me and my family together, it was mind boggling to say the least.I received the call from my sister early the next morning and to say I was surprised, is an understatement.“Hello, Tanya. Wh-hat's going on?”She was breathing heavily which made me worried. “Have you seen the news, Rose?” She asked.My brows furrowed in confusion. “The news?” I repeated. “No. What news? I'm just waking up!” I say, flipping the covers away from my body so I reach for my laptop.Suddenly the speaker went mute as I could only hear muffled words float through. it seems like she was talking to someone else.I ignored her, checking up on the latest news.I quickly scanned through a number of them, realizing that no one stood out to me. “Tanya, I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking at here but nothing is making sense to me. Can you talk to me and tell me what happened? Is it Mom or Dad? Are they okay?”Immediately, my mind jumped into the worst sce
RoseI knew the exact moment I fell for David all over again was when I heard the words, ‘you’re free to go’.That faithful Tuesday morning, I was laying face up on my cot, thinking of new ways to distract myself from a boring and predictable day when the buzzer sounded.Unlike the last time when I ignored the guard, I turned around to look at him but this time he wasn't holding a tray of food in his hands.He had the bunch of keys in his hands and he was walking slowly towards my room, an unpleasant in his eyes.“Hey, you. Get up!” He boomed loudly, startling me.“I was already up…” I grumbled, flipping my legs around the tiny cot. “Where's my food?”He didn't respond, only grunted and shoved me not too gently toward the bars, handcuffing me. “Move!” He ordered and I obeyed, shuffling my feet.We did the same walk routine, similar to when I visited Donald but this time…it seemed different.“Where are we going?” I twisted my head around to ask him but he just shoved my head forward.W
David's POV Contrary to what Donald thought, I was right there behind him the whole time.He was so easy and gullible. Just one mention of Rose and he came running exactly like I thought.All I needed to do was play the pity card and he sucked it up like a starving man drinking water.It was quite hilarious if I was being honest.I wanted the first location, simply because it would be easier to dispose of him when the homeless guy was done with the job but Donald being a hard ass…he insisted we change it, probably suspicious of my actions. Well, at least he was smart… just not too smart to avoid dying though.My phone buzzed with a text.Donald: Where are you?Me: I'm right behind you. I'll be there soon.When I sent the text, I burst into laughter, muffling the sound.I kept checking my watch, waiting for the homeless guy to show up. This was not the agreement. He was supposed to be here a couple of minutes ago, do the job the moment Donald showed up and get out of here.I gritted
Donald's POV I was woken up by my phone buzzing needlessly.Groaning, I twisted around in bed to reach for the phone only to see a name I never thought I'd see flash across my screen.Immediately my eyes flew open, sleep deserting my mind and I nearly jumped out of bed.Wait, why the hell was David calling me?To make matters worse, shortly after the call ended he dropped the text followed by another.David: Hi, I know I'm the last person you want to talk to right now but I need your help. David: Please respond, it's urgent.I debated, responding, wanting to shrug it off but I sat up on the bed so I could think logically.From the little I've known and observed about David, I know that he's a snake and he's very cunning, always thinking three steps ahead of everyone else which is why it bothers me so much that he's texting me.What the hell does he want from me?While I was contemplating on whether to pick up or respond to his text messages, he sent another.David: Please.Because I
David's POV “Hey guys, do you have any news yet?” I asked barging into the basement. All through the night, I could barely sleep a wink as I tossed and turned, my brain producing new ways on how to help Rose.After I went to visit her, I became spurred on to double down on my efforts and for the past two days, my team and I have been up through out the night, working tirelessly on breaking into David firewalls.At this points, I didn't care about whether it was illegal or not, all you wanted to do is to get Rose out of that filthy place.“We don't have any leads yet.” Shawn spoke up. “We still haven't gotten those parts that we needed and decrypting the messages by hand is taking us way longer than it should. At this point, we'll probably get done by the end of the year.”Groaning, I slapped my hands over my face. “That's not going to work. You're sure there's no other way to get this going faster?”If I could get my hands on some incriminating messages that David exchanged with his
David's POV Popping a chewing gum, I sucked it back in, tapping my feet impatiently on the brakes.I decided to make use of Boone's advice, doing the extra work to cement the plan that I have already started and that begins with…A loud honk from a passing car jolted me out of my thoughts and I popped my head out, raising my middle finger as a response.“Fucking asshole!” I muttered under my breath, stealing a glance at my watch. It's been over an hour and this guy is nowhere to be found.He's got to know that he's playing with his life.I am a gentle and mannered man until I was pushed to the wall forced, to do certain things…one of which is to make good on the threats I told him.A couple of days before I decided to meet with the homeless man who placed the tip in the police station for the cops to find, I spent some hours out of my day to watch him and like clockwork he always appeared at the same time every day.It was tad boring and predictable but it saved me time to look for h
RoseThe minutes turned into hours and the hours into days, each day more horrible than the last.My nightmare of being trapped in here was slowly coming to pass and I was too helpless to do anything to stop it.Reaching out to my family wasn't an option and none of the guards agreed to let me use their phone to make one more call to Donald, leaving me stranded.The food was probably the good thing about the place.I don't know who the chef is but he's doing a really good job of keeping me happy…temporarily though.I sighed for probably the hundredth time, staring vacantly at the ceiling.You know, when you first have your freedom taken away from you, you think that the first few hours or days at the worst but it's not. It's actually quite easy because there is a list of ways you can distract yourself but as the day grows longer, that's when reality sets in and the sadness begins.The possibility that this could become your new normal starts to haunt you and in as much as your mind w