I stare intently into Leroy's bright green eyes, which are filled with anger. 

"Why aren't you in the room?" He hisses softly, which only makes his voice sound deeper and elicits a slight growl deep from his chest. 

Damn... 

Don't lose your temper now, Rina! I shrug, at which point his eyebrows draw together, a pulsing vein appears on his neck, his hands clenched into fists and his eyes narrow to slits. 

What the...? 

Analyzing his posture closely, I take a step back. 

"Get out, now!" He suddenly hisses through clenched teeth. Blood rushes inside my ears before my ears begin to buzz. The beeping gets louder and louder, so does the beating of my heart and the boiling of my blood. The fact that he's so angry scares me. Everything scares me. I could swear it wasn't his voice talking earlier.

The voice was... childlike.

And what's wrong with him suddenly?

Even when I kicked him, he didn't react so angrily. Swallowing, I look back into his eyes, which are once again gripped by icy coldness. I can't move an inch, which is why he strides toward me and grabs me roughly by my upper arm. He pulls me quickly behind him, whereupon I stumble and almost fall down.

Grumbling, his grip on my arm tightens. A pained sound escapes my brittle lips. Arrived at the stony stairs, he rather drags me up, because he goes way too fast so that I hardly manage to set down a foot properly. Stumbling, I shout for him and ask him to slow down, but he doesn't even listen to me.

With a crash, I fall on my knees and immediately yowl. Tears gather in my eyes at the biting pain. Leroy doesn't really pay attention to me. Instead, he grabs me tightly by the hips and throws me over his shoulder. I groan as my stomach collides with his shoulder. 

I find release when we finally reach upstairs and he carts me off to his bedroom. Roughly, he tosses me onto the large bed, whereupon a whimper escapes my lips. My ankle hurts like hell. A few seconds pass as I slowly lift my head and look into his poison green eyes. Like a hissing snake, he approaches me. Slowly and unhurriedly.

Step by step, my heart closes into the furthest corner in fear. So does my spirit. I get terrible goosebumps at the look he gives me. I can't interpret it, and yet my body goes into a fighting position. 

If he hurts me... I will hurt him. 

"The first mistake was when you tried to escape. And this was the second," he growls softly, getting closer to me. He climbs onto the bed and approaches my face. I have no choice but to press myself deep into the pillows and hope he doesn't suddenly choke and then kill me. His breath brushes my neck. 

"On the third mistake, I'll kill you," he breathes. 

My eyes widen and my breathing becomes more erratic as I falter. One last look from him and he leaves the room. 

This time, however, he locks the door.

☼ ❅

In the middle of the night, I hear a noise, which lets me startle quite unpleasantly and pulls me from my sleep. Blinking, I open my eyes and see the almost full moon hanging in the black sky, surrounded by dense clouds that cover the many small stars and make the moon seem lonely.

His light shines brightly into the dark bedroom, where literally the danger sleeps and gives it an almost dreamlike touch. Sighing, I close my eyes again and try to go back to sleep, but again I hear a strange noise from outside. Confused, I frown. Would anyone dare to break into this place? I don't think so. 

But it also sounds more like someone is... groaning. Squirming and begging in pain. A picture appears in front of my eyes of Leroy's men dragging a man, who is in a trash bag, to do something else to him. What I find particularly horrifying is, that it might actually be this. Leroy is a Cartel leader, the boss of several smaller Cartels. And people like that do two things: deal drugs and kill people.

So my thoughts are not reprehensible. It could really be a person who is just being taken into the building and then tortured. This fact scares me beyond belief. I don't want to hear something like that or even have to live with the knowledge that a few floors below there is someone who is being hurt very badly. Who might even get killed. 

As I try to stand up, it hits me like a blow to the pit of my stomach. My breath catches as I slowly lower my gaze to my wrist, which is encircled by a metallic ring. And this leads to the wrist of the sleeping danger. 

Oh, God... 

I try to calm myself but in vain. Instead, I feel sick. I can't believe Leroy actually chained himself on me. 

"Lie down now," I suddenly hear his raspy voice. I feel like I've been doused with a bucket of ice-cold water. My heart races as I look at Leroy. He has his eyes closed and you would think he was still asleep if he hadn't just spoken.

As I still don't move, a jolt goes through my body and I fly straight toward him. Hissing, I raise my wrist to rub them gently because he pulled too hard. I ignore the fact that his wrist is lifting as well. 

Then I realize I'm lying on him. The blush rises up my face and my breathe gets faster. I quickly try to get down from him, but he has put his legs over mine, which makes it difficult for me to move. Jerkily, I wriggle until I finally fall onto the other side of the bed. 

"Why the handcuffs?", I squeak, after a few breaths. 

"Dios, shut the hell up or I'll stuff it!" He growls. His eyes are still closed and his voice sounds so deep and dark that the hairs on my neck stand up. 

Swallowing, I lie back down and turn around so my back is facing him, but this causes his arm to land on my hip. Stupid handcuffs! Deep breaths come from him. I finally realized that he hates it when I touch him, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Well, asshole, then get lost or at least let me get lost.

A few seconds later, he takes his arm away.

And at this moment, I forgot why I woke up in the first place.

☼ ❅