True love is like ghosts, who everybody talks about and few have seen.
by La Rochefoucauld.

Enrico's brows furrowed as he squeezed his face in pain. His head was barely moving. Slowly, he began to regain consciousness but as he tried to open his eyes, he could feel a throbbing pain in his head. Enrico tried to reach out for his head but felt stuck. For some reason, he couldn't move his hands quite the way he wanted to.

"Urgh!" He lightly groaned as he turned his head a bit away from the wall it leaned on. Eventually, Enrico got his eyes to open but his vision was blurry. He had to blink several times. As his sight returned, Enrico could see an image of someone beside him. He furrowed his brows further as he blinked a few more times, then he could see properly.

Kiana sat on the bare floor all tied up with a rope and staring at him with a blank expression.

"Are you okay?" Kiana asked, without taking her eyes off him but he only stared at her in confusion.

He tried to get his hands to move but couldn't, then he looked down at himself. His hands and feet were equally tied backwards just like Kiana's. Enrico struggled to get free, but couldn't.

"What's this? Where am I?" Enrico asked, as reality slowly settled in. He took a look around to get a good look of his new found environment.

They were locked up in a small foursquare room. The walls as well as the floor were purely made up of cement. Nothing else was in the room. Enrico saw the need to panic a bit, as he realised he was held hostage in some place. He tried his best to recall how he got here, but the only thing he could remember was being hit on the head then Kiana was dragged away.

"Where are we?" He asked, as he shifted his eyes back to her.

Kiana sighed.

"At Trent's."

"Trent. Who's Trent?" Enrico asked, wanting to find out more at the same time.

Kiana slightly bit her lower lip as she looked away from him. She couldn't answer his question. What was she suppose to tell him? That Trent is the man she had being owing for nine good years and that he was here because of her.

"Hey! Kiana." Enrico called her, as she was wasting time in answering his question.

She slightly shifted her eyes to him.

There was a sound of the door being unlocked which made the both of them focus their eyes on the door, eagerly waiting to see who was behind it. The door finally opened and in walked an average looking man in his mid 40s dressed in all grey. Two other men followed behind him.

Kiana wasn't so surprised to see the man, known as Trent, walk in but Enrico furrowed his brows as he tried to understand what exactly was going on. Trent had a devious smirk at the corner of his lips as he directly approached Kiana, who stared at him loathly. Trent couldn't care less about the glare she gave him as he squat in front of her. Kiana maintained eye contact with him. She needed to show that she wasn't the least bit scared of him. Trent placed a hand on her cheek and Kiana tried to withdraw her face away from his hand but he wouldn't quite let her, so she struggled a bit.

"My dear, Kiana. I'm sorry, it has to come to this." He told her in a deep yet husky voice.

Enrico looked away from Trent to an uncomfortable Kiana.

"You didn't have to go this far! I would have willingly come to you!" Kiana spat out, viciously.

Trent gave a light chuckle.

"Really? My men told me you put up quite a great fight. I don't see any willingness in that." Trent stated and Kiana kept glaring at him with hatred in her eyes.

"Oh, don't give me that look, Kiana. You know between the two of us... I've been the generous one allowing you to walk around for nine years although owing me such a large sum of money... Tsk Tsk... Kids these days are so ungrateful." Trent stated, before sighing.

Enrico couldn't still quite understand a great deal but so far he had been able to figure out that Kiana was in debt of Trent.

"Um... Excuse me." Enrico called, so everyone's attention was turned to him.

"I can see your problem is with Kiana but I don't see why I'm here." Enrico stated, not quite with a frown on his face but more like an amusing expression.

Kiana furrowed her brows at his statement. A part of her wasn't expecting that but then again, she didn't really know who this new Tyler is. Trent slightly tilted his head a bit as he narrowed his eyes at him.

"Who the hell are you?" Trent asked.

"Exactly. Who am I? My name is Enrico and I think there has been a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?" Trent asked as one of his men drew closer and whispered a few things into his ear.

Trent stood straight on his two feet.

"My men tell me you tried to help Kiana run away." Trent added, but Enrico only chuckled.

"Run away? Kiana's my assistant. I saw her scared and running, so I went after her. How was I supposed to know she dealt with dangerous men?" Enrico asked, slightly shifting his eyes away from Trent to Kiana who stared at him with loath in her eyes and a dangerous frown on her face. Enrico looked away not quite wanting to be influenced by her.

Trent laughed out a little loud as he took a step backward.

"Wow... Aren't you one selfish bastard?"

Enrico smiled.

"Yes. Yes, I am..."

"Let him go. He's just my boss and nothing else. After all, it's me you want." Kiana told Trent, interrupting Enrico.

Enrico slightly took a look at her and she was no longer looking in his direction. As Enrico thought, Trent laughed some more.

"God, this is hilarious! I need to drink to this." Trent states before snapping his fingers, then the man behind him left to return with a bottle of wine and a wine glass.

At the sound of a loud thud, Enrico looked away from Kiana to Trent. His eyes widened a bit as he noticed the bottle Trent was presently pouring wine from into his glass. Enrico thought quickly for a second as Trent gulped down a little from his glass.

"I have money." Enrico suddenly stated, causing them all to turn to him once more.

"Really?" Trent asked with a hint of amusement in his voice as well as on his face.

"Yes. I want to buy my freedom."

"Your freedom? I'm afraid, your freedom is too expensive for you. You're an eyewitness and so... You must die." Trent stated which caused both Kiana and Enrico's eyes to widen a bit in surprise.

Enrico chuckled a bit after snapping out of his shocked state.

"Let's not rush into anything we might regret. You see that bottle in your hand." Enrico stated, referring to the one Trent was holding. Trent took a look at it.

"You mean Edoardo Vineyards?"

"Yes! It belongs to me. What I'm trying to say is that I run the company that makes those wines. My full name is Enrico Vos." Enrico started, quite beaming with pride and a huge smile on his face.

Trent stared at him for what seemed like ages before him and his men bursted out into a mocking laughter. Kiana rolled her eyes at the new scenario they were in. Obviously, Enrico was going to use his money to get himself out of there.

"You expect me to believe that a billionaire is sitting in front of me?" Trent asked, as the laughter slowly died down.

"Yes. You can Google me up. Just type Enrico Vos, then you'll know the truth." Enrico suggested, getting tired of being turned into a laughing stock.

Trent stared at him for quite a while before snapping his fingers. One of his men got out his phone and began to do exactly as Enrico stated. A few seconds later, he drew closer to Trent with the phone to show him what he found. Trent looked away from the screen of the phone to Enrico who smiled quite broadly.

"See? I'm not lying." Enrico stated and Trent sighed.

"Fine, but more so I can't let you go. You'll let the whole world know that Kiana is missing."

"Why, on earth, will I do that?" Enrico stated and Kiana couldn't help taking a look at him. This selfish part of him still found a way to surprise her.

"My life is more important than hers. She's just my assistant and I can easily replace her plus... If you harm me, the world will find out. I'm a big person in society. My family won't let this slide. They'll get the best officers to get to the root cause and eventually, you and your men will be nabbed. Now, I don't think you want that to happen... Look, If you let me walk out of here safely, I promise to pretend like nothing ever happened." Enrico explained as he kept his eyes on Trent. He didn't want to look at Kiana, who kept staring at him still surprised by all he was saying.

She took in a silent deep breath as she looked away from him. She hated herself for having earlier expected something different from him. He was just like the rest of them- rich, spoilt and a selfish maniac.

Trent walked up to Enrico.

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

"How much do you want?" Enrico asked, the look of fearlessness in his eyes. Trent stared at him for quite a while as nervousness hung in the air.

"Fine. Ten million dollars." Trent stated staring him in the eyes.

"Done." Enrico added without looking away from his eyes. A smile curled up on Trent's face as he walked away from Enrico.

"Untie this man." Trent ordered and so both of his men rushed to untie Enrico who smiled as he let out a silent sigh. A sigh he had no idea he had been holding in.

As Enrico got up to his feet, he felt a little light headed, but quickly regained his balance.

"Here is a cheque book." Trent told him as he handed him the book and a pen. Enrico was about to sign when a thought crossed his mind. He looked up to Trent.

"How do I know you won't shoot me at the back as soon as I sign this?" Enrico asked, needing to know if he was still in danger.

Trent gave a light chuckle.

"If I'm going to kill you Enrico, I'll shoot you at the front." Trent stated and Enrico stared at him some more, as if to understand what he was thinking. After all, he had no choice but to trust Trent's words at the moment and so Enrico signed.

"Good. Nice doing business with you." Trent told him as he stretched out his hand for a handshake and Enrico accepted it. He was led towards the door out of the room when he suddenly stopped and slightly turned to Kiana, who refused to look up to him.

Enrico shifted his eyes to Trent.

"Not that I care or anything but just out of curiosity... What are you planning to do with her?" Enrico asked and Trent properly turned to him after taking a look at Kiana.

"Well... She can't afford to pay back what she owes me so... I'm going to get triple the price from her." Trent stated and Enrico slightly furrowed his brows, not quite understanding what he was talking about.

"I'm going to sell her off to some brothel in a country that'll pay heavily to have her. After all, this pretty face isn't useless." Trent explained, as he drew closer to her and lightly soothe her cheek. Kiana resentfully withdrew her face away from his touch.

"Oh... I see. You're going to sell her to the highest bidder." Enrico concluded and Trent nodded.

"Yes."

"In that case... I'll buy her from you." Enrico added with a broad smile, as he properly turned to them and both Trent and Kiana looked up to him with wide eyes.