"Leave, Devlin."

Pamela's throat was tight when she said those words. "If you want me to retain the little amount of respect that I still have for you, just leave."

The space of time that she'd left Devlin on the front porch and when she heard the hum of his car receding, Pamela had been weeping bitterly. Her last hope of salvation was gone.

Devlin come back! Her mind screamed. Save me!

The front door opened and shut with a click and she looked up at Marcel from where she sat with her hands and feet tied to a chair. He walked slowly towards her, not breaking contact with her eyes and she forced herself to hold the stare. She didn't want him to see that he intimidated her, or that she was afraid of him. He leaned in towards her and stroked her hair.

"You were good out there my darling."

Involuntarily Pamela shivered. What she was witnessing was unreal.

"Are you cold? Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon." He grinned at her, flashing white teeth that repulsed her. "I still can't get over how good you acted. You deserve an award my dear." He kissed her forehead and Pamela whined with disgust.

She had a lot to say, had words she wanted to describe him as but she didn't trust her voice. They would quaver and give away the extent of her fear. But she wiled herself to be calm.

"Gloat all you want." She said seething. "But you know the real reason I did it."

His smirk fell and he slowly straightened. "Gag her."

"Marcel please –"

He raised the back of his hand and whacked her across the face. She muffled a painful scream and ground her teeth so she wouldn't cry. She looked up at him. Obviously, begging did nothing to appease the demon that had taken control of the buttons in his brain.

"You know you should have listened to him when he begged you. You really should have."

Pamela waged a battle within her. Should she keep begging? Should she pretend like she didn't care? She did. She cared for her life a lot. She didn't want to die. Most especially, she didn't want Devlin to die.

"Marcel don't do this to me, please. Don't."

He shook his head and stroked her hair. "You know I care about you a lot. Why didn't you call ahead? Why did you have to find out my secret? I just can't let my secret out."

Twin tears trickled down her eyelids and ran a short race down her cheeks. "Marcel please. I beg of you." Her voice was hoarse, strained. Her resolve was gone. She was going to beg. The reality of what was happening to her was beginning to settle like a wet blanket over her. It was macabre. She had to find a way out. "I beg of you."

"Stop begging me!" He shouted, spittle spilling from the corners of his mouth. He bunched her hair in a fist and pulled it so that she would be looking directly at him. "You're making me feel like I'm a bad person, I'm not!" He ground out.

"Please don't kill me."

He let her head go, pushing it roughly. "That's not for me to decide, but your husband, he's a pain in the crotch. I've got to remove him from the picture." He looked at her, gave her a fleeting smile and added, "I'm sorry."

"Marcel please –"

"Beg from now till Doomsday," Marcel began, assuming the voice of a parent about to administer punishment. "but there is nothing that will be done. There is no hope for you." He bent to pick a layer gag. "This is your fate Pamela, it would do you a lot of good to accept it."

Pamela's hope of trapping him emotionally by pleading deflated like a dud parachute. She stayed still as he cheerfully placed the gag over her mouth, switched off the light and started climbing up the stairs. The other person in the room followed Marcel on his heels like a pesky puppy. Hearing their heavy footsteps ascending reminded her of hers when she was stupidly running from Devlin. The sounds of her own footsteps had lightly slapped the stairs in the safe house as she had descended in anger.

She had seen Cody speaking on the phone and he'd stopped immediately. "Later." He said to the phone and placed it in his suit pocket. "What's wrong ma'am?"

"Take me away from here. I'm not sleeping here."

"What?"

"Take me to Marcel's house. Now."

She looked up at the stairs as she heard Devlin coming down and she walked briskly out the door. She didn't want to see him, didn't want to look into his eyes and pity him. She couldn't believe he had hit her and had chocked her. She stood by the SUV parked in the lot and her hand flew to her throat. She was feeling sore around her neck. How could he?

It was as heartbreaking as it was painful. She was heartbroken that she had been right. The relationship was toxic. Loving him was never healthy. All she had wanted was the thrill that came with loving a mafia, a well built man with the perfect body. She never loved him. And now that he'd proved it, she had to save herself if not, it would turn into an abusive relationship. She won't stand for that.

Cody came out and opened the door for her and she got in, relieved that Devlin hadn't come out to beg her. She really didn't want to see him all mopey and weepy, it would only increase her irritation. She rested her head on the cool window and closed her eyes.

What had gone wrong? What had happened to them? She would only be deceiving herself if she said she hadn't seen this coming. Nothing could last in the beauty-and-the-beast fairy tale land she had been living in. Sooner or later the beast would be unleashed.

Pamela's eyes were shut and stayed that way until Cody tapped her lightly.

"We're here," He said. "Would you like me to walk you to the front door?"

"No, Cody thank you." She alighted from the car and looked towards Marcel's house.

"Forgive my forwardness ma'am but if I may?"

"Of course, go ahead."

He took a deep breath. "Please be careful, I know there's no amount of what I say that can convince you, but," He looked like he was fighting a battle with his mind and moistened his lips nervously. "just be careful ma'am."

Pamela smiled at him. "I will."

"Er, also, please forgive the boss. He means well for you."

It was all Pamela could do not to snap at sweet Cody. If she heard one more reference about Devlin she would tear her hair out. "Thank you Cody."

She waited for the car to start and retreat then stood for several seconds before striding up to Marcel's house. It was a small family house that had been his grandparent's, he'd told her once. That had been the reason she'd moved to Wiscasset. To allow Marcel be closer to the only thing he had of his family and allow her have a fresh start.

Guilt washed over her as she remembered what had been a terrible end to the uneventful ball and how Marcel must be in pain. He might be in the hospital at the moment, for all she knew but she canceled that thought because a light was switched on in the house and Marcel lived alone. He might not be able to walk, and deciding not to stress him to come to the front door, she took the back door.

Having stayed over at Marcel's place countless times, Pamela knew Marcel never locked his back door, despite the fact that she had always told him to. His excuse was that he was used to it and was not afraid of intruders. She hoped to God he still wasn't and had left it open this time. It was unlocked.

She opened it quietly and stepped into his kitchen. It was dark but was fairly lit by the light coming from the sitting room enough for her to navigate her way. The low hum of the fridge reminded her of the times she had spent baking with Marcel. She stopped and smiled. Those were happy times.

Given the fact that she sucked at cooking, Marcel had been the one to teach her how to. She had learnt a lot from him and could boast that she knew how to cook one or two things without burning it. She smiled as she recalled the last time she'd cooked here. She had overcooked the lasagna and had added too much black pepper in the ricotta cheese mixture. The next time she'd been asked to boil an egg, it was half done. Most of it were raw.

Her smile congealed. Why had she left Marcel? She began to wonder. Why hadn't she stood her ground against Devlin? Granted, Marcel didn't make her heart race and didn't make butterflies fill her stomach, but was that enough reason to leave him and be with Devlin? If butterflies was the reason she stayed with Devlin then she had goofed. Butterflies die. In fact, they have a life span of two weeks. It wasn't enough reason because at the end of it all, what keeps a marriage together is commitment, not butterflies and racing hearts.

Pushing her depressing thoughts from her mind, she took a step further but stopped when she heard voices from the sitting room. Call it sixth sense or intuition but Pamela decided to listen to what was being discussed. She had no idea why but she felt something was amiss. The next instant, she stopped and guiltily berated herself. Why would she eavesdrop on a blind man? Then again, something made her want to listen. There was no harm in it, was there? She went to stand as close as she could to the sitting room and listened.

"... very soon. We have to strike him before he tells her everything. I can't let my plans be ruined."

Pamela frowned. What was Marcel talking about?

It seemed he was talking on the phone because no one replied him but she could make out distant sounds of a voice on the phone. Marcel replied with a heavy sigh.

"I will not disappoint you sir. I have everything under control. Very soon, Pamela King will be yours."

~

Devlin gripped the steering wheel in anger. What the hell had just happened? He had placed his wife on a silver platter and had handed it to the bastard Deaton. Regret seeped through him. Why had he raised his hands at her? What had made him hit her? Was his family worth the pain and torture he put his wife through? He should have just stormed out of the room or cried or done something that would have calmed him instead of hitting his wife. Damn it!

He wished to hell that he could go back and put up a fight, damn the consequences. He wished he could bundle her on his shoulders and throw her into his car and speed off. He didn't want her to be with Deaton. But he would respect her wishes, hell, he had to.

As soon as he pulled up in the parking lot and cut the engine, Cody came up and tapped the window, barely giving him time to mourn his stupidity. He was grimy and angry and ready to eat Cody alive.

He opened the door and stepped out.

"Why aren't you in bed yet?"

"I don't know sir, but I can't sleep. I just have this gut feeling that something is wrong."

Devlin regarded Cody like he'd gone around the bend. "Well something is wrong, Cody, my wife is with that lying bastard." He brushed past him and walked into the house. Devlin was irritated to find that Cody followed him. He had his quarters away from the main house, why was he still following?

"Go to bed. I don't need company."

"Indulge me sir."

Devlin flung his keys on the center table and sank into a chair, praying for patience. He closed his eyes and sighed. "What?"

"I don't know what it is but I - I don't know."

Great. Just what he needed. "Everything alright with Susan and the kid?"

"Yeah. Checked few minutes ago."

"Okay." Devlin stood walked to his wet bar and thought of pouring himself a drink, but changed his mind and went to get tap water from the kitchen instead. When he returned to the sitting room, he was annoyed to find Cody standing where he left him, starring at the floor as if he was expecting an alien to pop out from it.

"What's the problem? You said everything was fine."

"That leaves us to Miss Pamela, sir." He replied with a small voice.

"It's Mrs. Cody, Mrs." Devlin snapped. "But that's not the point. What do you think could be wrong?"

"Don't you think it's kind of weird that she's with him?"

"Well you drove her there, she wasn't forced. And when I went back, she explicitly told me to go fuck myself. Something along those lines."

Cody lowered himself to a seat but perked at the edge instead of settling into it. "How did she seem? Angry?"

Devlin shrugged. "Now that I think of it, she didn't seem angry. She was kind of sad, resigned to fate, hurt, betrayed. Bitter." He looked at Cody. "Nothing out of the ordinary given the circumstances. Hardly a smoking gun."

Cody nodded. "Then I must be wrong. I'm sorry I bothered you." He laughed nervously and stood. Devlin did too.

"It's okay Cody, I know you're just looking out for me." He moved closer to Cody and gave him a slap on his back. "I might not say this often but, I'm glad to have you in my life."

Cody smiled at him. It was very awkward and so Devlin stepped away quickly and headed for the stairs. "See you tomorrow. That's if I don't die of heartache first."

~

Tears burned Pamela's eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Her hands and feet hurt because of how they were tied. She wished she could cry out to Devlin, wished she had telepathy and could communicate with him. She needed help. She was going to die if he didn't save her. He was going to die too.

How had this mess happened? She should have ran the moment she heard Marcel speaking on the phone. She sobbed with regret as she remembered how hurt she'd been when she heard the words Marcel had spoken with conviction to whomever he'd been speaking with on the phone. She'd just been a pawn in his game.

Pamela remembered how she had gasped and reeled back in shock when she listened to those words. Pamela king would be yours? Even in the heat of the kitchen, she'd started to shiver. What was going on? She'd asked herself. Marcel had been pretending all along? Was he even blind? She doubted it.

A million and one thoughts filled her just as anguished tears filled her eyes and she began to cry. Her whole body was shaking. She was stung. She was hurt. She felt betrayed.

Devlin was right, had been right all along. Marcel had been with her because he had an evil agenda! How unbelievable was that? Why her? What had she done to deserve it?

Pamela had wrestled going to confront Marcel or quietly leaving through the back door and going back home to Devlin to warn him. Going home would be a challenge because she had no money with her, but thankfully she was with her phone. She would call Devlin.

Suddenly remembering, she brought the phone out of her pocket and put it on silent mode. She didn't want it to ring and give her away to Marcel. Now that she knew what he was capable of, he would waste no time in killing her or doing something worse.

How right she'd been.

She had to tell Devlin. Had to leave at that moment. Marcel was still on the phone but she didn't want to hear any more. She had heard enough and she chose the butterfly over the wolf in sheep's clothing.

As she backed out, she lost her footing and hit a pot. With panic, Pamela grabbed it before it fell to the floor. Holding her breath, she quietly replaced it and stopped to listen. She was horrified to realize that Marcel had stopped speaking and she could make out his footsteps approaching the kitchen. It would be easier for her to dash out through the door but what if he was holding a gun? What if he wasn't alone? Surely they would catch her before she made it across his lawn.

As the kitchen door opened and the light came on, Pamela was safely hunched at the back of the large freezer. She couldn't see much except make out Marcel's footsteps as he looked around.

"What's that?" Pamela heard a voice ask. He wasn't alone.

"Probably the wind or a rat. I don't know."

The other person retreated while she heard Marcel walk around, then started for the fridge. Pamela held her breath, her heart beating thrice as fast that she could hear it as loud as the clanging of a bell in her ears. His footsteps stopped just before he got to the fridge then retreated. The next second, the kitchen was plunged into darkness and relief washed over her like a bucket of cold water on a hot day.

All she needed to do was to wait for few more minutes then sneak out to call Devlin. All she needed to do was calm herself down. She would be out of Marcel's house in no time and would be in the arms of the only man that could protect her. After what seemed to be a long time, Pamela stood and started tiptoeing towards the door.

She let out a blood curling scream as the kitchen light came on and she saw Marcel, his arms folded, looking at her with a calm, chilling smile.

"Hello, Pamela. I really don't think this is the appropriate time for hide and seek."

~

Who was expecting that plot twist? I sure wasn't!

Did someone think "Hide and Seek" would be Marcel and Pamela playing in the house with new found love? Raise your hands here if you did!

In all, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I am immensely grateful for all the reads, votes and comments. Thanks a million. Please vote for this chapter, comment your thoughts, add to your library and reading lists and share. Thank you.