Because Adrian had insulted her dressing sense in a way, Zara dressed up in a red lehenga that had somehow found its way into the cargo bag. She wore it with a matching black tee and took her leather jacket to complete the look.

That evening, there was a knock at her door, which she opened it up to see Marvin there. He was surprised to see her not wearing her usual black jeans, but she was still wearing a dark outfit. "Good evening, miss." He started to lead her out. "The Master is waiting for you at his office. I'm only here as the informant." He bowed his head at her and walked away, probably to clean an already clean room, Zara thought.

Zara climbed down the staircases, careful not to trip over the long skirt. She reached the hallway that would lead to his office and turned the corner, hitting him right in the chest. "Oh!" She stumbled backwards a few steps. "I'm so sorry."

Adrian cleared his throat. It was an honest mistake after all. He shook his arms once and then put his hands in the pockets of his pants. "You look nice." He said. "So, shall we?"

"We shall." She nodded.

This was all a trick and Zara knew it.

She only needed time to figure out exactly how to deceive the leader of the mafia gang next to her and escape from the premises. She was somewhere in the north of the city as far as she could figure out from her phone. Adrian had been clever to keep her in the dark about details, but she was a persistent worm. She wouldn't leave him without getting answers.

"So where are we?" She asked, walking beside him, her hands inside the pockets of her jacket to keep her hands warm and to keep her from attacking the man next to her in frustration.

"Somewhere safe."

Zara groaned. "Can't you answer like a normal human being? You say two words and then there is this unbelievable silence that I have to fill. It has to be the other way around, dude." She said. "You need to give me more answers. After all, I'm the one being held captive."

He inhaled sharply. "Alright." He said in a monotonous tone. "We are north of New York away from the city, because unlike your normal life, I have to be careful about trusting people."

"And is this your family home?" He nodded once. "It's really beautiful. Apart from all the guns and everything, of course. It's huge! If it wasn't for Marvin, I would have shouted for help...." She shut her mouth. She shouldn't make him think that she is complimenting him. It was a ruse to trick him anyway.

"We don't want that, now do we?" 

He joked. That was what was going in her head as they reached the ground floor. Zara kept looking behind her back but she was with the leader after all. She didn't have to worry about the guards attacking her, or should she? She couldn't trust anyone, not even herself.

"The first floor consists of the rooms and my office." He spoke as he walked down the hallway. "The dining hall is at the end. The kitchens are beyond the double doors in the room and the attic has ghosts." He joked once again, making Zara smile and think that maybe he wasn't a peculiar robot after all.

He reached the front doors that she had found on her first day and opened it. They walked out into the fresh breeze hitting them, the smell of morning dew unmistakable in the air. There was a huge lawn in front of the house that kept stretching on and on and the only thing in the distance that Zara could see was walls - tall walls.

There was no way of escape.

"There is a pool at the back end of the house which is away from all eyes. I personally find it relaxing to have my feet in the cold water. Or hot, depending on the weather." He continued as he showed her around. "If you do want some time alone, inform Marvin. He'll keep it ready."

Tempting, Zara thought. If only you knew my plan.

They walked the entire perimeter of the house and Zara was listening to him as if he were background noise. Her eyes searched for the main gate but once she found it, disappointment engulfed her. There were guards there as well along with cameras all around. She had no way of escape.

"The fountain is of no use really. I'm working on removing it." He said and continued walking forward, keeping an eye on her curiosity at the front gate. "I know that you are thinking about escaping." Her head jerked to see him. "It's for your own safety that I'm asking you to stay inside the house."

"This is kidnapping." She said, harsher than she had intended. "I get that you want to keep me safe and I'm thankful for it. But I have my own rights and you don't own me." He stopped walking, the two of them facing each other completely. "You can't keep me imprisoned in the room."

"It's only for a few days while I can monitor the activities of the Ferraras."

"There." She pursed her lips together. "Was that so hard?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "All you had to do was tell me the truth." She continued walking and this time, she kept her gaze on all the greenery around her. She started to identify the trees but one part of her mind was looking at the fence.

"So you would like me to tell you the truth?" He asked, walking beside her. "Even if it is something that you would wish that you didn't want to hear?"

She looked at him. It was such a curious question. "What is that supposed to mean? Do you think I can't handle the mafia news? I grew up in lower Manhattan in one of the toughest streets. I can handle myself in a fight."

"I saw." He said. "I saw exactly how you could do it."

Her cheeks heated up. "Thank you for saving me. Again." She scoffed. "I was really scared that night. The van came out of nowhere. I was really hoping that it would take a turn around the corner and not come for me as such."

"The Ferraras denied it."

Zara stopped walking. "What?"

"They said that they didn't come for you." He said, crossing his arms across his chest. She wanted answers and he was going to give them to her. Maybe that would get her to trust him somehow. "So there may be a third threat after all." He took one step closer to her, showing his dominance. "Now do you get why you need to stay inside?"

She stared him down with a clenched jaw. "Fine." She spitted out. "But I can come out whenever I want. Those are my terms. I'll be continuing to live my life while I get to talk to my aunt. I won't tell her where I am. Hell, even I don't know that. But I get to live my life."

He put his right hand forward. "The deal is the promise."

She looked at it and then at his brown eyes. She wanted to believe that he could keep her safe. But Zara had already figured out a way to escape. The walls weren't high enough for her to climb, but the fences on the west side of the mansion had a broken fence that was covered with thickets. She thanked her sort of hypermetropia for it, and beyond that fence, she could swear that she would be able to find her way out to the main road. They were surrounded by forests on the backside of the mansion. If she played her part right, and if she could figure out the shifts that the guards took, she could get out of there.

She shook hands with him.