Page 25

Esmeralda

My head is throbbing, and my stomach feels full of lead. I can't bring my eyes to open. The pain is too strong, and I think I may vomit.

Open your eyes, Esmeralda.

I hear a voice and it feels like chocolate. Can a voice do that? Can a voice even feel smooth?

As much pain and confusion as I am in, I want to find the source of the voice. I want to crawl into it and let it wrap around me. It sounds warm and deep, comforting in a time where the last thing I should feel is comfort.

I slowly lift my lids and let my eyes adjust to the light and room around me.

I'm in a board room. A fucking board room? There are two expensive leather couches seated across from one another in front of a large, stone fireplace. The heat of the flames lick my skin and I still shiver.

I look around the large room and spot a large, expensive looking desk. The wood looks rich and the leather chair behind it looks genuine, I think I can even smell it. It smells deep and spicy, even luxurious. When have I ever smelled luxury before?

I hear a grunt to my right and realize my mother is next to me, sitting with her hands tied behind her back. The sight of her makes me aware that we are both fully bound with rope and gagged with cloth.

I know better than to scream at this moment, I know we're in trouble and somehow I know that it's Cristina Ellen May, my piece of shit mother's fault.

She starts to flail and whine, pissing off the two guards that stand before us. I refuse to lift my eyes to theirs, and I sink further into the floor and stare at the burgundy, ornate rug beneath me.

It is when I decide to shrink into myself, that I hear the clicking sounds of leather shoes against the hardwood floor. I see them walking towards us and they, too, look expensive.

The shoes stop right in front of me, and I will my body to not shake in fear or move in any way. I realize now that I am a mouse trapped in a lion's den and if I make a sudden movement, I could very well die.

The shoe creeps toward me and the tip of it touches my chin, lifting it up to look at the man occupying it. Though I am gagged, I am left speechless.

The man before me was like a giant demigod, or I guess in this case, the devil.

He was large, much larger than the men behind him. Large enough to take up the entire space of a doorway. His shoulders broad, his arms thick. His dark hair slicked back in a sophisticated sort of way, but still curled at the ends around his jawline.

Which was strong and precise. It looked like a jaw that was hard to break. Though I'm sure nobody in their right mind would ever attempt to break this man's jaw. Dark hairs dusted over it and for some stupid reason, my fingers itched to touch his short beard.

He leaned down to get a better look at me and I immediately wanted to cower away from him, but my instinct told me that was probably not a smart decision to make. His eyes were intense. So dark, but golden in their own way. Almost...amber.

Is this the devil? Does the devil dress in Armani and smell like sex and whiskey?

His scent and presence made me drunk with confusion and fear, yet I was still pulled to him. He was beautiful. In a dark and lethal sort of way.

His full lips moved as he spoke his next words, my eyes drifting towards his strong nose that seemed crooked the closer he got.

"Buenas noches, pequena." Good evening, little one.

My mother may have raised me to be illiterate in my own culture, but my minor is in Spanish.

His voice is rich, the source of that chocolate sound I wanted to melt into earlier, the sound that roused me awake in the strangest way.

"Are you wondering why you're here in my office, pequena? You may nod."

I held his eye contact a second longer than I wanted to, the color both confusing me and alluring me all at once. Slowly, but surely, I begin to nod.

His mouth twists into what seems like a ghost of a smile, a sinister one that vanished as soon as it showed. He drops my chin abruptly as he places his foot back on the ground, walking away from me and to my mother.

I keep my eyes down, wanting to shut them forever. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. What have you done now, Mom?

"It seems mommy dearest has been stealing from me, Esmeralda. " He says my name as if he's trying it out for the first time, as if it fits his lips just right. I almost feel sick again.

My mother starts whining and flailing again, I can tell every one of us are annoyed by her attempts now. It only lasts a few seconds before the devil man wraps his hand in her hair and jerks her head back, the movement making the lead in my stomach sink deeper.

"I'm going to ungag you. You have one chance to be honest about what you've stolen. I'd choose your answer wisely."

He removes his hands from my mom's hair and slowly unties the gag and pulls it away from her mouth. Within seconds she's panicking and pushing out nonsense.

"I promise it wasn't much! I just needed some cash and some blow to get me by! Everyone at the club was using that stash! I swear I didn't do much wrong at all!"

I hear the cracking sound of his smack before I see it. Her cheek plants against the floor and for a second, her weary eyes meet mine.

He tips his chin at the men behind him, and they bend down to my mom, one gagging her again and the other pulling her head back, forcing her to look at the devil in the Armani suit before us.

"You've stolen almost three thousand dollars in both money and cocaine, Ms. May. I've been watching you since you stole your first bump."

Her eyes widen and I curse silently.

Stupid, greedy bitch. When will anything ever be enough?

He dusts off his dark blue suit jacket and stands, the fabric of his jacket hugging his arms as if it was stretching to be free of him.

I look down again and hear the click of his leather heels walk towards the direction of the antique, wooden desk. The squeak of his chair echoing as he takes a seat and folds his hands behind his head, leaning back as if he was on a vacation, not holding two women hostage.

Maybe this was a vacation for him .

"You do not need to worry, Ms. May. While your sticky fingers have been in my establishment, I've already thought of a way for you to repay me."

My head snaps up in his direction and he clicks his tongue at me, letting me know not to make any further movements.

"I have many whores that can do many jobs at my businesses, but it seems my maid for this house that I'm residing in has also dabbled in sticky theft as well."

His eyes light up and I immediately wonder where that maid is now.

"You and your daughter will stay here under close watch until the debt is paid, until you are deemed worthy of forgiveness."

My mother and I look at each other, my eyes filled with confusion and hers with fear.

He abruptly straightens in his seat and I almost flinch.

"Where are my manners? Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself."

He walks slowly to the space between both my mother and I, reaching down with his tan hands out in offering, as if to shake our bound ones.

"The name is Dante, many call me El Oscuro. If I were you, I'd just stick with Master. Welcome home ladies."

He winks at me, and my world goes dark once more.