Ruby

"So, did your Dad say anything?" Adonis asked as he entered the driver's seat of his car after he ensured that I was wearing my seat belt. Apparently, he wouldn't start driving unless my safety is ensured.

"He asked for the truth and I almost told him. Honestly..." The car engine started. "... I would prefer if he found out from someone else. That's better than me telling him. I don't think I would be able to withstand the look on his face once I tell him the truth."

"But he will find out regardless. What will happen when he does?"

I shrugged, my mind eager to move on to another topic.

"Let's wait till then. For now, let's live as though gangsters aren't after you and me. Let's live as if my father won't nab us anytime soon. "

Adonis chuckled. "I think you are the one that has a way with words. You just made me forget that my past life is haunting me for a moment."

The atmosphere became tense- well for me- because I deciphered something heavy in between his statement.

"Adonis, what kind of situation made you leave the gang?"

"Oh, you know..." The car started moving. "Things didn't work out after a mission went wrong. I got tired of the drama and left it all behind."

"Those missions..." He glanced at me for a second. "... what kind of missions?"

"Don't worry, we didn't kill people. Well, we didn't kill innocent people."

The image of Adonis holding a gun crept into my mind. I could see his bloodied hands while he strutted out of a warehouse and ignored the pleas of a man approaching death's entrance.

The imagination caused a little shiver in my soul.

"So..." I gulped. "... you did kill people."

"People that deserved it. Ruby, are you trying to scare yourself? My past is not exactly roses and sunshine."

"Well, your past is the reason I get to be with you. I believe it would be reasonable to know a little about that world in order to know what to expect in case things go wrong."

He sighed hard before reaching for my hand, his fingers grazing my skin gently before his grip surrounded my hand.

"Ruby, trust me, you don't want to know anything about my life as a gangster. It is an ugly world over there. That is why I am trying my best to make sure they don't get to harm you."

I nodded my head, ready to drop the topic when I recalled something. "That man we saw at the restaurant, is he also part of the gang?"

"Funny enough, no. I wonder who he is."

"Hmm." I sat back and watched the road ahead. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere nice."

"That is not enough information, but okay."

Adonis chuckled and stepped on the gas and soon, I was enjoying the feel of evening air against my face and upon my fairly wet hair.

In fact, at a point, I felt sleepy. And I think I gave in eventually.

~

A soft caress fell upon my cheek and I stirred in my relaxed position. My lips curled in delight and I enjoyed how nice the touch was.

"Ruby..." Adonis's voice came as a whisper and my body responded bizarrely. My right arm slung over his shoulder and pulled him closer. I opened my eyes and my mind fell into a state of chaos while his breaths gently tickled my skin.

"Hi," I croaked and his eyes stared blankly into mine.

"We have arrived at our destination," was all he said and I almost didn't hear him because his intoxicating eyes were all I could sense.

"Oh."

"What are you doing?" He asked after adjusting himself such that his chest pressed into mine a little.

"Provocating myself. Provocating you. I think." I have no idea where my shyness went. But I loved how I could not sense it.

Adonis smiled and as he did, his hand cupped the side of my face. "You always provoke me, Ruby. And you have no idea how much torture that is."

"I...I do?" His response was not expected at all.

"Even right now, the scent of your hair makes me want to hug you to my chest all day, relishing how you feel against my body."

"Oh," was all I could bring myself to say.

His hand left my cheek and an electrifying trace was drawn down my arm in a way that made my breath hitch for some seconds.

"Whenever I am this close to you, I dream about tracing every inch of your skin. I imagine my lips all over you, feeling and tasting you, making you feel good. Whenever I think about how amazing that would make you feel, I always feel a strange flutter."

"Adonis..." To make things worse for me, his voice became huskier by the minute and that tone messed up my head.

"Sometimes, when I am teaching your class and my eyes happen to land on you, I start to wish that we are the only one in the room because I would give anything to have you on any desk and caged between my legs."

"Adonis..." My breath shook again.

"Yes?"

"You- you are torturing me."

"Am I?" I nodded and he smiled. He drew back to pull on the handle of the door on his side, then he said, "We should go inside."

"Yes..." I was still a mess. "Yes, we should."

As I got down, my sight landed on a white coloured building that had signs of abandonment written all over it. With grasses extending their thin branches onto the walls of the building which appeared to be a mansion, it was obvious no one was residing in the place.

Adonis stood beside me, interrupting my assessment of the view in front of me.

"Where is this?" I asked him.

"My former house."

"Oh." I looked around and I noticed a couple more houses like that, some uncompleted, some looking fine yet lonely.

"Let's go in," he said as he grabbed my hand and walked us toward the double-door entrance.

Once inside, I was met with a surprise. The outward appearance of the house made me think the inside would be terrible. In fact, I had already imagined seeing a rotten chair or a dead rat but the fine arrangement in front of me proved my imagination wrong.

We walked into the living room whose walls possessed beauty and whose tiled floors screamed good money. Though not so visible through the nylon covers, the couches in the room also looked fine and devoid of rat bites or raccoon attacks.

I then left it to my imagination, what other rooms in the house would look like.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Adonis asked as he walked toward the covered couches and pulled the nylon off them. "You can have your seat."

"You have food here?"

He nodded. "I haven't had the time to get rid of some of the edibles. But they are still good."

"So, you have power supply?" He nodded. "And water too?"

"Yes."

"Why did you abandon this place?"

"Because there are too many bad memories here."

"Oh," I simply said as I settled on one of the couches which was a shade of purple. "It is a nice place."

"Thanks. So, what would you like?"

I smiled grandly as I faced him. "Do you have chocolate cake?"

"No." I scrunched my lips in disappointment. "But I have chocolates if you want."

"Of course I do."

"I'll be right back."

I looked in another direction and the sounds of his footsteps filled my ear. With a glint of desire in my eyes, I further appreciated how pretty the room was. With a clear use of white and undertone employment of a blue hue, the room appealed to me in a way that made me wonder why Adonis left the outside looking like trash.

I knew I might not find an answer to that question, so I looked elsewhere and that was when my eyes captured a small box tucked to the side, just by the window side.

It had no label but something told me to check its contents regardless. I walked closer and flapped it open, but a tough grip on my left arm stopped me from taking a closer look. That frightening grasp made me turn instantly. I was ready to apologise to Adonis for going through his stuff but the strange man in front of me commanded me to speak no word.

"Who-"

He placed his rough hands over my mouth before I could properly see his face.

"Do not speak. I am here to rescue you from that man."

I frowned. "What?" I muffled through his grip. "What are you talking about?"

"Look at me," he said with his commanding tone.

"You!" He was the bald man watching Adonis and me in the restaurant.

"Do you know who I am? Do you recognize me?" he asked eagerly and in the process, his hand fell off my mouth.

"I don't know you but I know you are either a gang member or a stalker."

"No, no. I am not that kind of person. That man you are with is the gangster and I have seen him stalking you sometimes."

"Yeah, while you were stalking me." I scoffed.

"I wasn't."

"Who on earth are you?" I asked sternly.

"I am-"

"You!" Adonis's thick voice shook the room, surprising both me and the man. "What did I tell you about coming close to Ruby?"

"I-"

Adonis charged at the man who cowered in fear and fell to the ground.

"I told you... I won't let you go easily if I see you near her. I told you that I would haunt your dreams with just my name. Did none of that make sense to you?"

The man slowly got up, his knees proving to be weak because he struggled a few times. But once he stood upright, a gun appeared in his hold and he pointed it at Adonis who kept walking closer.

"Stop!" Adonis didn't listen to him. "I said stop!"

"Get out of here," Adonis replied to him with a grunt.

"Is that how you want to play it? Alright..." The man then began to whistle. And as he did, hefty men came from nowhere and approached a startled Adonis.

But that was not all.

As the men encircled Adonis, the entrance door flew open and someone walked in.

Adonis locked eyes with this mighty presence, frowned, and said, "What are you doing here Maximus Xylem?"

"Why?" The tall man moved even closer, a smirk planted on his face. "Are you telling me you don't know why I am here?"

"I won't let you do whatever you want to do."

"We'll see about that." The so-called Maximus sat on the couch I was seated on earlier and wore a bigger smile once our eyes met. "We will see if you are as strong as you say. All I know is, I am not leaving this place until what I came for sits comfortably in my hands."