TRINITY
I turn my head to a man around my age in a charcoal grey suit. I know exactly who he is, but the question is, what he wants from me? This man has the face of a magazine cover model with jet black hair, piercing blue eyes, chiseled jaw with a five o’clock shadow.
He smiles as he saunters towards me with his hands in his pants pockets.
“I thought it was you,” he says like we’ve known each other.
My brows creased. “Excuse me?” I ask seemingly surprised with my own question.
“Kiara Mallory, right? I’m Sean.” His confident smile widens, and he looks good closer.
Screw that looks!
“Yeah, and what can I do for you, Mr. Rexwell?” I know him, his company, and he’s just like Bash, the future CEO of Rexwell; the biggest and number one rival of Hughes Industries.
“Do you always speak like that to the people who want nothing but being nice to you?” He seems amused by my talk.
I release an exasperating
BASH When the captain announces that we’re departing soon, I am finally able to breathe, but my heart is still crashing inside me. I can’t believe Trinity left me behind. Trinity is always impulsive. I just wish she confronted me first before she decided drastically. I thought last night was perfect—beyond imaginable, and I thought, I’ve proven something to her. Clearly, her anger took over her. It was my fault, I admit it. I shouldn’t have decided it by myself, but I was just thinking about her. It may sound selfish, but I really did it for her own good. “For fuck sake, Bash! Calm down! It’s not the end of the world, and we can still find her. I’ll find her.” Edmund’s angry tone makes me angrier. The hanok was completely wrecked. Alex will kick my ass, but I don’t have time to think about his rant right now, and I will deal with it later to fix my mess. I’ve never been angrier in my
BASH The door swings open. My eyes land on the redhead old version of Trinity. She looks stressed, but she sees me. Her eyes widen, and her contorted face lights up like a girl staring at the Christmas tree. Aunt Zoey launches herself at me and hugs me tightly. I always call her aunt even we aren’t blood-related since Trinity and I grew up together. “Thank God you’re safe! No one answered my calls when I tried to ask if the news was true,” she says after pulling herself away. She wipes her tears on her face then gives me a peck on my cheek. “Please come in, Bash.” She opens the door wider. I hear Edmund greet Aunt Zoey from my back. “Where is Trinity?” I immediately ask when I let my eyes scan the entire living room. Panic swims in the pit of my stomach when I can’t find her. “Trinity!” I start shouting while I quicken my pace to search for her. I don’t wait for her mother to answer my question. I feel my world i
BASH I walk out of her bedroom, taking the business card with me. I know Trinity is still in the shower, but I can’t wait for her to be done. Anger rises through my head. Why does she have a business card of that motherfucker? Sean Rexwell is not only my number one enemy but our business rival too. Blowing a shaky breath, I stomp down the stairs after changing into a white button-down shirt and pants. I notice Edmund is already waiting for me in the living room. The card is crumpled in my fist. “I thought you need a rest, Bash.” He catches my arm before I can walk out the door. “I don’t need a rest,” I say dismissively. “Well, I need a rest.” I narrow my eyes at him. “You don’t need any. We won’t stay out long. I just need to meet someone.” He shakes his head, giving me disapproving looked. “I don’t think I like your plan, boy.” “Don’t dare to disagree with me, Edmund, and don’t call me a boy, or
BASH We flew back to New York yesterday after the news has cleared off. If what Sean said was true, then he made his revenge against me to a whole new level. Or he said that out of his anger? Trinity stayed silent since that encounter. I can see the guilt in her eyes even though I never blame her. “Tri, you’ve been silent since yesterday. If you think that I’m mad at you, don’t you even think about it. What happened yesterday has already happened.” She came with me yesterday. I don’t want her to go alone to her apartment. If I can only convince her to stay with me, I’m going to do that. But maybe we have to apply the baby steps kind of shit first. “He threatened you, Bash.” She looks at me through the wall-sized mirror in front of us. Her eyes are full of concern. “Baby, it’s not new. He’d been doing that since we were in high school, remember?” She nods slowly. “Yeah, because of that girl you dated, but he’d nev
BASH It’s been days since dad tightens the security. No report from those guys dad hired to watch out Tennings’ whereabouts. With all the tensions about our safety, there is still something great happening, and that is my relationship with Trinity. She’s the best woman I can ever ask for, and I can say that she’s a keeper—she’s a God gift and always so sweet and thoughtful. Of course, there’s a part of her that’s annoying, but what’s more annoying is that I love it, and I love everything about her, especially the flaws she never tries to hide. Trinity complains about everything I offer, not that she doesn’t like it, but she argues first before accepting it. We’re back to work after our long discussions about that email, and I failed to convince her to take a two weeks break to travel to France for a seminar. I thought she would be glad, but she wasn’t. She’s really something but that something makes me fall for he
BASH My eyes bulge, and my pulse races the moment I recognize him. I can feel the sound of my heartbeat thrashes in my ears in terror. I’m still glued in my place, and I am unable to move a muscle even if I want to. My jaw is locked up even if I want to scream for help. Everything just freezes. He slips his right hand inside his coat. The only thing that comes to my mind is maybe he’s pulling out his gun. Is he going to kill me now? My parent’s words flash right into my face. He’s a psychopath! “Bash, I’m not gonna hurt you.” His deep voice makes me blink and brings me back to reality. I’m in front of a fucking murderer for fuck sake, yet I can’t do anything. He’s blocking the only exit I know unless I jump from the rooftop. And there’s no way I will survive, or maybe I end up with a couple of broken bones. When panic strikes me, I raise my hand and drop the half-empty bottle to the floor. “Don’t come clo
TRINITY I wake up to the muffled voices from my apartment’s living room. Bash is still sleeping soundly in my bed. I feel so bad for him, but I can’t change the fact of what he just revealed to me last night. His family loves him, no doubt about that. My heart breaks for him and for his family who loves him unconditionally. “Sorry, sweetheart. Did we wake you up?” Aunt Abby stands up, pulling me into a hug. I doubt if she even sleeps. She looks so stressed with a puffy face. I guess she cries all night. I squeeze her into a hug, giving her a smile that I can do best. I can feel her pain because I love Bash so much. “No, Aunt Abby. He’s still sleeping.” “I’m sorry for the trouble, K,” Uncle Seb looks so affected. The looks on his face say that he’d been up all night—sad eyes and his hair looks like he’d been running his fingers a thousand times, but he manages to give me a tight smile. &nb
BASH I can still remember the hissing sound of the bullet passed through the air, and that terrifying sound pierces my ears, then there’s that moment of silence that is more horrifying. I despise silence these days. It’s deafening, and now all I can hear is the ticking of the clock on the wall. Ranjiv left my place about half an hour ago. Trinity hasn’t said a word until now. I know she heard everything that I was talking about with Ranjiv. She’s just looking at the copper-colored wall in my kitchen, and she’s so drowned in her own thoughts. “Tri, please say something. I know you heard everything we talked about earlier.” I lean my elbows on the countertop, and she reaches out for my hands, squeezes them, then lifts her chin to give me a tight smile. I bring her hands to my lips, kissing them. “I was worried hell about you, Trinity.” She shakes her head. “I was worried hell about you, Bash. Your life has b