Page 11 of Light in Your Eyes (Romero Brothers #1)

Layla

I can't breathe. I'm going to die.

Air is being sucked out of my lungs. My face is being pushed forcefully into the water. The grip on the back of my head is so painful, it makes me nauseous.

I choke, my arms flailing wildly and helplessly. I'm struggling to breathe for dear life.

Just when I think that I can't make it, the hand pulls my hair roughly. My scalp is burning. I breathe the oxygen again, opening my eyes, which only hold fear.

I make out the shape of the water fountain before me. A strangled sob escapes from my mouth while two other Black Wings members secure my arms with their grip so that I won't be able to escape.

"You're trying to kill yourself, huh?" the cold voice echoes in my ears.

My vision is already blurred because I'm slowly losing consciousness. Yet, I'm still trying to stand on my feet because I don't want to die.

I was never so close to death as I am right now .

They've been trying to drown me in the fountain located in the middle of the backyard of this mansion.

I squint. The guy who claimed himself as one of the knights' right-hand men laughs at me. Everyone else laughs too, watching me. They're standing near the fountain and forming a circle to get a better look at me—the joke.

I hear a girl scoff. "Told you. No one would believe your story."

I turn my head, only to find Brea crossing her arms over her chest and watching me with pity.

"Do you know her, Nina?" someone asks out loud, and now I know that her real name is not Brea.

Her boyfriend interrupts, "Not at all. We figured out that she lied, but she was stubborn and didn't listen to our warning." He looks at me with disgust.

Probably the boyfriend’s real name is not Gio either. They weren't stupid enough to expose their real names to an outsider.

Tears spill from my eyes as I remember my family. What have I gotten myself into? Will I never see them again? Will I really die here soon?

Kellan's words are like a stab to me. It doesn't just kill me inside, but it can actually kill me.

"Get lost."

Such words uttered by the king of Black Wings are enough to make the members take it as a death sentence for me.

"You said your name was Layla, didn't you?" the guy who has been ordering around asks me again, and nothing can describe how much I hate him .

He said his name was Luca and that he was assigned to run this place while Jaxon and his friends conduct a mission in Italy.

"So, Layla, you might be stupid for telling people that you're Kellan's caregiver, but your face is surely better than your brain," Luca says. "You're quite pretty."

My body shudders as he eyes me from head to toe like a hunter looking at his prey.

"Not pretty enough to fool any man," a girl shouts in the background.

Luca steps forward to me while I'm struggling to break free from the two people holding me. My clothes—my cardigan and jeans—are soaked because I was struggling to get away from the water.

I'm already shuddering, but the way Luca stares down at me makes me shiver even more.

"Our king might want you dead," he says with the cockiest smirk. "But I'm sure that he won't mind if we use you for a while before that."

My heart jumps like a wild stag because of the fear consuming me.

"No," I stutter, my mind already figuring out what he has in mind. "Please let me go."

Excitement becomes more obvious in his expression. "Not that easy, filthy little liar."

He tips my chin up with his finger. My lips tremble as another tear drops from my eye.

"I don't know," he whispers in a voice that makes me want to disappear from this world. "I'm thinking about turning you into a slave. What say you?"

That would be the worst way to live. My world crumbles.

"Say that again," a cold, threatening voice echoes through the night, and everyone suddenly turns dead silent.

Chills run down my spine as my gaze lands on the person I'm supposed to take care of.

Kellan Romero.

The younger king of Black Wings enters the site. Everyone is on alert.

"Kellan," Luca's eyes widen as he watches Kellan walking toward him.

Kellan is blind, but he has an excellent orientation of where he's heading, just by using his hearing and his other senses.

"I said..." Kellan clenches his jaw. "Say that again," he repeats in a menacing tone.

"Well," Luca begins nonchalantly, but I can hear the slight shake in his voice, a sign that he's intimidated but trying to hide it. "Since you practically announced that you wanted her gone, we were discussing how to get rid of her."

I can feel the air getting tense. Everyone is holding their breath. The silence that follows after is so gripping, one would even hear if a pin dropped.

"We figured out that it would be better if we could make her our slave." As if he can sense that Kellan is about to counter that, Luca quickly adds, "She could be useful. You don't even have to feel her presence around. We will make sure that she won't bother you."

I never felt this low.

I feel so humiliated and degraded. Do they even see me as a person?

Kellan opens his mouth, and what comes out surprises us all, "And what made you think that you shouldn't offer her to me first?" he asks in an icy voice.

Luca stares at him with a lost expression. "But you didn't want her anywhere near you."

Kellan scoffs, facing the crowd. "Right. I wasn't being completely fair to you. If you want her that much, we shall decide it in a fight. I'm your leader, and I'm now giving you equal opportunity."

The crowd goes loud, wondering what that means.

"Whoever wins the fight will get her," Kellan says.

My heart almost stops. It will be better if they bury me alive. They don't even think of me as a human being. They're stomping my dignity and feelings like I'm a piece of trash.

Does this always happen every time they find an intruder inside Black Wings?

Everyone goes silent after that challenge from Kellan. No one moves. Luca doesn't move either, even though I can see him balling his fist.

"Anyone?" Kellan asks.

Still, nobody dares fight him.

Now, I see even more that everyone fears Kellan in one-on-one fights. The blind man is their martial arts trainer, and until now, I don't think that anyone here has ever beaten him.

"It's clear now," Kellan says. He turns his back to us to walk away. "Follow me, Layla."

I freeze on the spot. I don't know what to do. I might have escaped a devil, but I might just be walking right to another one.

I'm supposed to take care of Kellan, but after what happened tonight, I don't think that I can trust him anymore.

"Now," he barks, causing me to jump in fear.

My mind is wondering if he's going to hurt me, but maybe it's better than staying here with these animals. Maybe I'll still have a chance to escape Kellan, since he's blind.

Whispers and murmurs are still echoing around me when I finally take a step. My legs are shaking, and I'm afraid that I'm going to collapse.

Yet, I'm trying my best to walk. I follow Kellan back into the mansion that I can never call home.