It was hard to leave someone when that someone had always been, for quite some time, the constant in your life. And not just any constant—a constant source of safety, passion and even of a few laughs here and there.

For Khaye, Marco had become her walking life insurance. Not Gian, not the police though he was one, but just him.

And to even think of leaving, of walking away, would not only be risky but also stupid on her part. It would mean she'd be running away from what she had fought for in weeks.

What would he think?

"Stay away from Marco."

That was all Gian said. He did not even have to explain because it was in his voice and it was full of warning and there was something in the way he said that made Khaye believe he would not hesitate to do the unthinkable.

Her brother didn't do anything to her. He didn't hurt her. He didn't do anything she feared he would do when they met at the park one week ago. The sincerity in his voice and the way he looked at her was enough to convince her that he meant what he said: Stay away from Marco. Clearly, her brother only wanted her to be gone.

A big part of her was telling her to listen to her brother. She had known him the longest. They were family. That should account for something.

Marco. She had only known him for weeks, two months the most. Or maybe it was one. It was hard to think about time when one was running for her life. And in those weeks they had known each other they hadn't actually reached anything.

Or maybe he did and he wasn't telling her everything.

He would work on his computer which he would immediately close or casually turn away whenever she was in the room. Khaye realized that the only times she was allowed to come close to the thing was when he was willing to show her something. And those were only videos or footages of Desiree from weeks ago. Never had she seen anything else from then on.

She wanted to blame Gian for warning her about Marco. Because of him she had grown more restless and wary around the man, though the sex would help from time to time.

Staying would be more convenient, but leaving might save her life.

It took her one week to come up with a decision.

*****

One week had passed since they all agreed that Desiree had to go back to Vernier.

And in that one week, Desiree spent more time with Richard than she could have imagined. There was no mention of Jamaica or whether he still thought she killed her best friend. For some reason, Desiree thought they had come to some sort of a truce.

Theo, on the other hand, had been distant. She shared his bed at night only because he chose to dispose of her box, but that was all. For almost seven days he did not touch her or said anything that she would consider a conversation. If they talked, it was because Richard was there and they were planning a risky mission.

It wasn't as if there was a concrete plan at all. The more they thought about it, the plan was just as simple as get inside the Vernier residence and out—alive as much as possible. Vernier would have guards, of course. The last time Theo and Richard barged in the guards were shocked and intimidated by their presence. They couldn't do the same thing now, could they? Vernier would have given his guards instructions after what happened.

Richard and Theo believed that it was the only problem they would have to face tomorrow evening.

Tomorrow.

Desiree couldn't help but shiver at the thought.

She'd have to face Vernier again.

Tomorrow.

She wanted to tell someone about her worries. But who? Not Richard, of course. And surely not Theo. He would grab the chance to tell her their stupid plan wouldn't succeed.

She couldn't sleep in anticipation. No, it was not anticipation. She was feeling more than that.

Desiree was terrified.

She was lying on her side, her back turned to Theo. He was still angry at her and she could understand where he was coming from. After all her hysterics the last time he saved her from Vernier, she was defying everything she had felt and said that night. She wanted to go back and all because of their deal that she be freed.

They might fail. She might fail. Vernier could end up killing her before Theo and Richard could save her this time. Or she might not. They might succeed and the brothers could get whatever they wanted to gather from Vernier's office. Either way, she'd be gone.

Gone.

Dead.

Or free.

She'd be away.

Fuck this, she said in her head and turned to face Theo. Her movement did not stir him from sleep and she hesitated. With the last bit of restraint, she climbed out of bed instead of jumping on him. She padded her way to the kitchen and looked out into the darkness behind the large kitchen windows as she drank a glass of water.

A small smile crept up her face as she remembered the first night she was here. She managed to escape and almost fell off the cliff. How easy things could have been if that happened, or if Mr. Hong did not arrive to stop her from taking her own life.

"What are you doing here?"

Desiree cried out in surprise, the empty glass almost jumped out of her hand.

She did not answer.

His hand took the glass from her and placed it on the counter before her. She felt his chest behind her head.

"What are you doing here?" he repeated, his voice husky from sleep.

"I was just thinking," she murmured.

"Changing your mind?" His voice sounded hopeful.

She shook her head. "No. I'm thinking about the night your father found me at the edge of the cliff. I was about to jump, take my own life." She turned to came face to face with his chest. Lifting her head, she met his dark eyes. He didn't look angry. Maybe because he was still half-asleep. "I was thinking how things would have been easier if I just...if I did it." She leaned her forehead against his chest and closed her eyes. His hands went to her shoulders and travelled to her waist, pulling her closer to him. His lack of words was making her tense. "I'm terrified, Theo."

"We can always find another—"

"But I'm doing it. I'm terrified but I have to do it." She lifted her face back up to him and looked him in the eye. "And then I'll be gone."

She expected him to get angry, to push her away like he did for days.

He did neither.

He just stared at her—really looked at her—as if memorizing her face. And the next thing she knew, he had lifted her off her feet and on the counter, almost tipping the empty glass behind her. His mouth followed right after, moving hungrily against hers. Her arms wound around his neck, her hands restless against his hair. He slid her closer against him before pulling her shirt over her head and sent it flying over to the sink.

Desiree felt like crying and she didn't know why. Or maybe she did and she just didn't want to entertain the thought. She let any logical sense slide away as Theo trailed his mouth down her throat to her collarbone and lower to her breast. She fought off the whimper stuck in her throat as he bent lower to give her tattoo a gentle, lingering kiss.

His touch promised it would stay there, that he would see to that. Desiree believed it.

*****

"What are you working on?" Khaye asked Marco. Startled, he immediately closed his computer and faced her.

"Nothing. Just looking through the same reports from last week," he said with a sigh. He looked at her and frowned. "What's wrong?"

She swallowed. "I want to go away."

His eyes narrowed further. "We just got here." It was true. They had found another inhabited house yesterday.

"I mean really go away. Alone."

Slowly, he stood up. She could see the anger behind his eyes. "What the fuck do you mean by that? You think that after your shooting and fighting lessons you can get away safe? Petroff's men are everywhere for all we know. Your brother can be anywhere."

"I don't care. I just want to be alone and far away, Marco."

He looked at her for a long time before a dry chuckle escaped his lips. "I am even surprised you that you at least have the decency to let me know instead of just running away in the middle of the night."

Khaye swallowed. "I have actually thought of that. But it wouldn't be fair to you. You have sacrificed a lot for me. You can be out there solving this murder faster but instead you're stuck here with me. I don't want that anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"This thing can soon be considered a cold case, Marco. You know that better than I do. Don't deny it. Your funds will run out and no one will care if Jamaica's death will be left unsolved forever. She has no family to fight for her. Desiree is gone and you guys can't even find her. And me? I am here, fearing for my life. And I am not even certain I should be. Let's face it. Petroff won't care what happens to me. He's more powerful than that. He's part of the Liaisons. They can cover up their crimes as easily as they can do them." She tore her eyes away from him and stared out the window, looking at nothing in particular. "I want to be out there living my life. And I can't do that if I am stuck here. Don't get me wrong—I do like your company but it's not in any way I would have wanted it to be. I don't really care anymore. My brother had turned his back on me and—"

"What do you mean by that?"

She almost slapped herself for slipping her tongue. "Gian isn't here, is he? Whatever he is doing—good or bad—he's not here. He turned his back on his own sister. And as much as I need someone right now, I know that you shouldn't be here as well."

"Khaye—"

"No. You and I both know that you should be out there solving crimes. I am going to be okay. I will be very careful. And it's not like someone will come after me again, right? No one has for the past weeks." The more she talked, the more she was convinced that she had made the right choice. "If Petroff and his men see you back out there working, they would think you've disposed of me as the prime witness. And I am not even the best witness out there. I don't know who killed her. I only heard things I shouldn't have. I am not a very reliable witness and you know that."

He just stared at her for a very long moment. And Khaye's heart almost slumped with a tinge of disappointment when he finally spoke. "Where do you plan to go?"

*****

Of course, it was always better to do it during the night.

Everyone agreed on that.

Theo was restless but he made sure that no one noticed that. They could fail. Desiree could fail.

"Can you fucking calm down?" Richard hissed at him. They were parked beside a dirt road near Vernier's home. Richard thought it would be the perfect spot since it was rarely used or even seen because of the tall trees that hid it from sight. Only Vernier would know about the road and, if they were right, he wouldn't even think someone was hiding in it.

Theo ignored his brother and checked his watch. He was about to ask the question when his own car drove past them, along the main road that led to Vernier's front doors.

"She's about time," Richard said with a sigh. "Now, all we have to do is wait." His brother hugged his arms around his car's steering wheel and added, "—and pray she can last long before we can get in."

*****

The guard was where Richard and Theo had told her they'd be. And it took all her strength to stare at the man with raised eyebrows and demand that she see Vernier.

And the guard was clever—just like Richard and Theo told her. He did not let her leave his side while he radioed in on someone. Her heart began to hammer as she waited for the doors to open. What if Vernier didn't want to have anything to do with her after all?

But before she could entertain the thought further, the man himself opened the doors, surprise still on his face, as if he didn't believe a word when he was told that she was right outside waiting for him.

Desiree lifted her chin with a small hint of a smile as Vernier's grin grew wider. "I must admit, Desiree, that I never thought you'd come to your senses though I had been wishing you would."

"Well, I am here," she said, glad that her voice did not shake. The guard beside her had stepped back and returned to his post in the driveway where she parked. Vernier's eyes looked over at Theo's car and she followed his gaze over her shoulder. "I stole it. Or demanded for it."

"Are you telling me he just let you go here alone?" His voice was full of doubt. "Why don't I believe that, I wonder?"

She shrugged. "Because he did. And because I lied to him."

His eyes widened in surprise, waiting for her explanation.

She forced a smile. "In case you don't know, Theo let me do whatever I want. I have him on a leash. In and out of bed, or course."

Amusement crossed Vernier's disgusting face and it took all her efforts not to sneer. "Really?"

"Of course, he won't admit that to anyone. He's too proud to do that. But don't think it had been easy on my part as well. It took me almost two months to make him believe that he can trust me to go back to him every time I go away."

"And what excuse did you tell him this time?"

"Oh, just the usual—dinner with Tatiana."

"I don't think making my daughter as an excuse will—"

"It made him say yes," she cut in.

"And why are you here?" he finally asked. She knew he had been itching to ask that.

"I forgot my phone. I believe you still have it."

He just looked at her for a moment before his eyes darkened and he smiled. "Yes, I believe I still have it."

"Can we get inside so you can hand it back to me?"

There was a great deal of suspicion across Vernier's face, but there was also the strong lust emanated by his eyes. And that gruesome lust was stronger than any remaining sensible considerations inside him. Desiree chose to hang on to that. She had to feed that itch and longing in his eyes—the longing to torture—until he could no longer think of anything else.

She decided to step forward until she was a foot away from him, letting him feel the heat of her skin. "And if you promise to keep me alive, I might consider being inflicted by a little bit of pain." She looked into his eyes, thinking about her own desires so he could interpret them however he wanted. She thought of last night with Theo taking her with senseless passion on the kitchen counter; of his raspy breath moving along her thigh, kissing her tattoo as his lips moved upward; of the feel of his hair between her fingers as she urged him on. Desiree thought of everything Theo did to her and she knew Vernier saw the fire behind her eyes—only that he took it as his own.

And he led her inside his house.