Alicia
The whole way to work, I trembled, but managed to keep a straight face. My vacant state thankfully hidden behind my glasses, and my typical ‘mousy’ look on, I pushed forward and looked forward to the time I could enter my office and lay my head in the desk. Just for a few seconds before work started. That would be some goddamned reprieve from all the turbulent emotions I felt.Unfortunately it wasn’t to be so, for as soon as I sat behind my desk, the door suddenly flung open, and a telltale scent of designer perfume filled the air.“Alicia, guess what!” Daya was grinning from ear to ear.“I know you went home early last night , so you must have missed it. But something exciting happened!” She squealed, and planted her butt on the edge of my desk.I cast a short glance at the papers she had disturbed out of the pile on my desk, and took in a deep breath so I wouldn’t scream at her.Patience, Alicia, I told myself.“Im sure it must be exciting for you, Daya,” I replied in a kind tone. “Can we talk about it later?”“Don’t be such a damn prude, for fuck’s sake. I’m trying to tell you there was a fight in the club!” She leaned forward into my personal space so much that I could see the outlines of her lip liner.Hearing of the fight reminded me of the events of the last night and I shut my eyes tightly as Daya continued.“I heard there were some mobsters in the club last night! Oh, how I wish I could have been there to see it! Unfortunately Jack— that’s the guy I met last night btw— didn’t want to stay and see the end of it,” Daya continued, and her shoes hit the side of the desk.I sighed; because, of course she would find the prospect of such things interesting. It wasn’t my business though- I wanted nothing to do with it.“Oh, I’m sure the mobsters are so handsome too. I like that, the rugged type,” she began to swoon, to my utter dismay and disbelief.“Are you serious, Daya? That sounds dangerous. Please don’t involve yourself in something like that,” I pleaded with her but she rolled her eyes at me.“What does someone like YOU know about the appeal of danger?” She sneered. “You’re just a prude. Bad guys are the BEST at everything, Alicia.”I could tell there was nothing I could say that would make her change her mind.Well, whatever, I shrugged internally, a little bit hurt by her comments about my person.Mobs, gangs and the like… whoever gets involved with them is a fool, and I am not one of them. I prayed Daya wouldn’t fall for that either.I changed the subject quickly to Daya’s modeling gigs, knowing she wouldn’t miss an opportunity to talk about herself and leave me to tune out most of what she was saying in favor of decompressing.An hour passed before I got her off my desk and convinced her to do some work. The boss was always looking to cut down on stay that were less than exceptional.Even though Daya and I had entered the small company at exactly the same time, i had already gotten two promotions and three raises, while she lagged behind.Sometimes I wondered how she hadn’t gotten herself fired already.The sound of a knock on the door derailed my plans to get my friend out of my office, and we both turned to see who it was.To my surprise, it was a man dressed in a suit, and my eyes wjdened at the sight of the bouquet he carried in one hand.“Is this Alicia’s office?” The man’s deep voice and scarred face was intimidating to say the least but I sealllwed and nodded jerkily.“Y-yes, that is I,” I replied with, only for t man to push the door open further and walk over to my desk, dropping the bouquet on my desk, as well as a box I didn’t notice before. Then he walked over to me, holding an envelope.I took it on autopilot and must have blanked out what the man said because the next thing I knew, he was gone and Daya was givin me weird glances.“What does it say?” She asked me, in a demanding tone and I gaped at her briefly before realizing she was referring to the envelope in my hand. “Give it to me, I’ll read it!”She was about to take it from my hand when I shifted from her reach and tugged the envelope open.Not one, but TWO notecards fell out.I grasped them both and my eyes skimmed the contents of one, which only led me to feel despair.‘Marina,Considering that you owe me, you might as well join me for dinner. No excuses. Bring my watch. -Mikael’The other note was written in cursive script and it didn’t take long for me to realize it was from Acker.‘I don’t appreciate you fleeing that morning. You will make it up to me by coming for dinner. Though Mikael will be joining us, I’m sure you and I will have time to finish what we started.’I felt faint, like I was about to pass out.Oh no.What was going on?How did they know where I worked?How didn’t I see this coming?“Alicia, you’re keeping me waiting. Can I open the box already?” Daya’s voice made me lift up my head, and to my horror she was already tugging away the dark blue lid.“No, wait-“But it was too late, for she pulled up a sparkling number that made me fall silent.“Oh wow! This is gorgeous! And-“ she cut herself off with a gasp. Then she slowly turned to me, her eyes round with shock.“Alicia, this is one of the best designers in the city!” I saw a gleam in her eyes as she clutched the dress to her chest. “It must cost a damn fortune!”My eyes instantly flickered to the ajar door, before turning back to Daya. I was already tense; if she managed to get the attention of some of our nosy coworkers, who knew the rumors that would spread?Attention was definitely NOT what I wanted in my life.“Give it here,” I stood and snatched the dress from her, throwing it back in the box and shutting it. I put the box out of her reach. I had every intention to return the dress, somehow.If only those two would leave me alone.I didn’t know what to do now that I had somehow entered a situation out of my control.“Are you going to tell me yet, hmm? Who gave that dress to you? And those notes? Who wrote them to you?” Daya asked insistently, her lips pressed into a pout. There was something oddly taunting about her, or rather, annoyed, in her body language. Almost like I offended her.“No one,” I replied to Daya, my voice curt. I didn’t have to explain anything to her.…Alicia:Daya’s eyes narrowed at me and she looked like she was about to spit venom at me, rearing her head back like a python.“What?“ she asked in a low tone. “No one? NO ONE, Alicia? Are you sure you wanna play that and right now?”I frowned at her; what more was she expecting me to say?“I know what happened,” she pointed her finger accusingly at me. “I’m sure that’s what you’ve been hiding from me all this time. You went home with some rich guy didn’t you? And you chose not to tell me?!”I was getting more annoyed by her making a huge fuss out of something that wasn’t even her business to begin with. What did this have to do oth her? Nothing.“Daya-“ I tried to speak but she shook her head and stormed out yelling obscenities at the top of her lungs.I sighed, feeling weary all of a sudde . I looked at the box which was still innocently by my side, at the bouquet I had barely touched, and at the notes in my hands addressed from the two men who I had differently framed encounters w
Alicia:My breaths came out shallowly and echoed in the empty metal cell. I had already begun to smell a staleness in the air and it made me feel so dirty.No one had come, and I didn’t even know whether it had been a day or a couple of hours. Time was hard to tell when one couldn’t see the sun after all.“Why is this happening to me?” I murmured to myself, curled up in a fetal position. I laid my head against the wall next to the door, praying for someone, anyone to come.At some point I thought I might have heard footsteps, but I wasn’t sure.Suddenly I heard a loud sound of metal creaking and it made me jolt to a standing position, wide eyed at the door where I could have sworn the sound came from.What was going on?My hope surged once more as i realized it must be someone.“Help,” my voice was hoarse as my throat was dry. “Please…”As soon as I had said that the door swung open and I winced at the sound of the creaking door. I noticed it was a burly man that walked in, looking in
Alicia's POV:My… what?It was as though blood rushed through my ears and I could barely consider the words for a second. With the situation I was in, it took a while before it fully sank in.My father?This man… this Senator Duncan, was my father?“That’s impossible,” left my lips, and the man chuckled like I had said something incredibly funny.“It doesn't matter what you think, fiorellino. You're the daughter of a powerful senator. Congratulations,” his smirk widened and I felt like I was more afraid. What was there to celebrate? “And you… are going to help me, fiorellino. By being my hostage. You see, my business is being attacked by laws beyond my control. Your father… he can help me,” he waved his hand around, keeping his green eyes trained on me.I heard something vibrate and he reached down to his pants pocket and pulled out a phone, the source of the vibration. Then he must have answered it, for I heard a voice on the other end loud and clear.“Where is she, you bastard?”The
Acker's POV:She was quiet. Too quiet, for my liking.I removed my eyes from the phone where I was exchanging messages with Mikael, who was in the car behind mine, and Javier, my right hand man.She was staring out the window, through the tinted black glass to the landscape outside. I doubted she had been out of the city before, so this must be unfamiliar to her. Her hair was disheveled and her face seemingly impassive, but I knew it to be a mask.I also noticed how tense she was, by the way her hands were clasped together and trembling. It was obvious she still had a lot of anxiety over what she had just been through. Deep down, I longed to pull my gun on that bastard and fill his body with bullet holes.That thought made my fingers twitch. I had never desired to protect a girl like her before. I have had many lovers, and none of them ever meant anything to me. Alicia… she was different, and not just because she was the daughter of a senator. I could tell that unlike the experienced,
Alicia’s POV:I was only faintly aware of the fact that I was hyperventilating.Everything had happened so fast, I had just seen and been through a lot of things that I never expected to have been through.Tears spilled down my cheeks and my hands clenched, trying to find somewhere, something, anything to ground myself.Why did this have to happen to me?I kept my head down. I was a quiet person. I never involved myself in anything shady. I had never wanted to be noticed, much less abducted!I felt something like a cloth being dabbed onto my cheeks, and I tried to move away from it instinctively only for my hands to be caught, pulling me Into a sitting position firmly.“Alicia,” I faintly recognized this was Acker talking, through the turbulent emotions that I felt. “Listen to my voice. You’re going to breath in for me alright?”I tried to do as he asked but it was too much. My body was shaking and I felt like sinking into his arms. Or better yet, running away.“Alicia, breathe. You’r
Alicia’s POVBefore anything else could happen, there was the distinct sound of a vibrating phone.Acker immediately tensed and raised a hand to stop me from speaking and I found I couldn’t disobey. He brought out his phone from his pocket and answered the incoming call.“Javier” his tone was terse and I wondered what was being said on the other end as his expression morphed from stoic to pleased. “Good. Let him through.”My brows furrowed as he exchanged a wordless glance with Mikael. The two men seemed to be having a conversation without having to say anything, and Mikael’s expression also looked pleased.“Well,” Mikael’s spoke as Acker ended the call. “You have a visitor, tesoro.”“A visitor?” I couldn’t help the disbelief in my voice. Who would want to see me? And how could I trust that it was someone that wasn’t dangerous.“You need to trust us a little more,” Acker said and I got the distinct feeling that my mind had been read. “We are the reason you’re still here and not halfw
Mikael’s POV:Calling the tension between Acker Madden and I awkward was an understatement to say the fucking least.I grunted out loud, my fingers flexing as I debated the chances of me getting a smoke right then.“Don’t even think about it, Serrano,” Acker Madden, the famed fucking Madman of the British Isles, and the only thing standing in my way, said in his British burr.“It was just a thought, and don’t dare try me, cazzo,” I replied just as quickly. “You may be hard to giving your men orders but I am not your subordinate.”“Exactly, so you should have more common sense to not smoke in a non-smoking zone,” he didn’t exactly say the word idiot after that, but I could hear the insult laced in his words.I rolled my eyes and glared at the man, flicking my lighter over and over until I found the sound unpleasant.How long would the fucking Senator take? It had already been thirty minutes.Just as I had that thought, the door opened and out stepped the man in question. By the way his
Alicia’s POV:The conversation with my dad had been… something I never quite thought I would experience.I was reeling from it all, including his promise to make sure I was safe no matter what, when the door to the apartment suddenly flew open.Unsurprisingly, Acker and Mikael walked in, but so did another woman, one whom I had met before. She had been there in the club when I had met Mikael for the first time under terrible circumstances.What was her name again?“Magda, meet Alicia,” Mikael introduced us formally, and unwittingly answered my unasked question.“We’ve already met,” Magda replied to Mikael without even glancing at him. The shopping bags she was holding made rustling noises as she gestured towards me. “In the club right?”I nodded. So she did remember me as well.“Nice to meet you,” I said meekly, feeling her intense gaze more intimidating than any other woman I had met.Her face didn’t display any blatant emotion, and probably with good reason. If she worked for Mikael