Double Update: Part 2 of 2, Read in order.

Some references to Chapter 30 Damaged Goods. Particularly the scene where Andrew tells his mother about the strange man. The flashback scene is also there in Chapter 11 Startling Revelation.

Chapter 40 | Damned

"If I'm allowed to make one mistake in my life, it would be you.

And if I'll be damned to make to make another mistake, it would be you again.

And again."

"So, wait a second, you told your mother everything? Like everything? Even when I explicitly mentioned not to? Are you insane? Do you realize what you have done?"

They were in another expensive car, on their way to Victor's fundraiser and Andrew was driving. Mallory had just finished telling him how she was confronted by her mother only a few hours earlier.

"No, obviously I couldn't tell her that you are Emily's supposedly non-existent brother. All I told her was that you are helping me out in building the case against 'The Beasts' because they killed your sister."

"That's all? She didn't question how we are building the case?" He enquired his eyes glued to the road.

"I might have told him that you are associated with them," she replied sheepishly, tracing her fingers over the leather clutch in her hand.

"Associated with the gang."

Andrew's head bobbed towards Mallory with such speed that she was worried he might get a whiplash. The car swerved dangerously before Andrew slammed the breaks stopping by the edge of a rather deserted route. Around them, there was nothing but an endless stretch of forest and for a minute it seemed like the world had stopped.

The wind had stopped blowing in through the open window. The rustling of trees silenced to nothing. The sound of beetles disappeared. Mallory couldn't even make out the noise of breathing. The only indication that Andrew was breathing was the fast rise and fall of the chest that she could see through his dress shirt. And then all of a sudden --

"Are you fucking insane!" He bellowed.

She flinched.

"Do you even understand what you did?!? Oh God, I don't even know how to fix this." He ran a hand through his hair frantically.

And then suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder pressing into her skin. Hard. "Do you know what would happen if the word gets out?"

She tried to shrug away the hand but it was firm, "S-She's my mother. Obviously, she w-wouldn't tell anyone. I-I clearly told her not --"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" His grip became painful.

Mallory cringed. And her memory flickered. It was like, she was back. She was back with her captor, yelling in her face. She shook her face trying to ignore the transition. It wasn't Antonio. Why would she be in a car with Antonio? It was Andrew.

"What if she accidentally slips something? The Beasts have people everywhere. You know what you did Mallory? You killed Emily. You first killed her and now you also killed us."

You killed her.

The words daunted her, bringing back more memories, the ones she was trying to bury. She was momentarily blinded by the onslaught. Andrew's words faded, making no sense whilst his eyes with green contacts were transforming into a darker color. Her breathing came into short pants.

There was a loud ringing in her ears and just when she thought she had gone deaf, she heard, "Oh, shit. I'm sor...I got carried away. Hey? Hey? Are you okay?"

It took her a couple of minutes to note the drastic change in her companion's tone just as the hand on her shoulder disappeared along with the pressure.

Mallory shook her head violently, the corners of her eyes moist. She breathed in deeply a few times focusing herself entirely on the handsome face in front of her. Her eyes traced the fine lines on his forehead along with the knitted eyebrows. Her gaze shifted to his dark eyes where she could almost spot the green behind the contact lenses.

And just like that she noticed the lightly bearded cheeks, and the defined cheekbones. Finally, her eyes rested on his lips. They seemed to be moving, continuously. She couldn't make out what they were saying. Only, they seemed inviting, like she wanted to keep kissing them forever and never stop. She unconsciously nibbled at her lower lip and leaned in. If only she could just taste --

"What are you doing?" A light touch to her arm brought her back.

She was a hair's length away from Andrew's face who's face was contorted in a combination of worry and confusion. She sighed, her breath fanning his face, and pulled back blushing furiously.

"Erm, nothing. Sorry." She looked down hiding her face in her hand. What was even wrong with her?

"Umm...Are you okay, now?"

She nodded still not meeting his eyes.

After what seemed like a long silence but was only a couple of seconds he spoke again, "I did not mean it."

"I know," she replied with a nod. "I do not blame you."

"But you shouldn't have told her."

She nodded again looking up at him this time, "I am sorry, but I couldn't lie to her. Not when she directly asked me."

To her surprise, he muttered in understanding, "I get it."

"You do?"

"Yeah," he patted her shoulder. "It's okay, we'll fix it. We'll come up with something."

"What? Why are you being so optimistic? Aren't you gonna catastrophize it like you always do? Who are you and what did you do with Andrew Bells?" She smiled trying to lighten up the mood.

He shook his head with a wry smile as his eyes returned to the road, car once again in motion. "What can I say? Your optimism is contagious."

"You have changed, Mr. Bells. And I don't know if I like this version more or not."

For sometime, they did not talk. Andrew's eyes were trained at the road almost mechanically. Mallory rested her cheek on the cool glass looking outside in the dark seeing everything and nothing all at once. The silence was somewhat comfortable, both lost in the labyrinths of their own minds.

"What's wrong with Evelyn?" Mallory asked suddenly.

"What?" He absentmindedly looked at her and then back at road.

"Evelyn. What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong with her. She just had a nightmare. Kids have them sometimes."

"You do realize anyone with eyes could see that it was not your average monster-under-the-bed-nightmare by the way you, Julie and Evelyn herself reacted?" She said. "It's okay, if you don't want to tell me. But at least don't lie to me. I've had first hand experience with PTSD induced nightmares, so please don't disrespect me and the kid like that."

"It's not like that, you know."

"It's not like what?"

"It's not like I want to hide anything from you. It's just that, well...um...I don't know where to begin from."

"Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start," she cocked her head.

"Sound of Music?"

"Fifty points to Slytherin!" She grinned.

He smiled, "Perhaps now Snape would be proud."

"Perhaps not."

"So, okay, about Evelyn. Let's just say, his father and mother were assholes who didn't know how to treat little kids with so much as a sliver of humanity."

"They abused her." The realization dawned on her face.

"Yeah, in worse possible ways." His knuckles tightened on the steering wheel. "A few years ago, when I was fifteen I found her. His father was an asshole. And once the family got rid of him, I thought her mother would be grateful. But apparently, she loved her husband too much."

"I found it out two months after the bastard died. I had recently received some money from Richard in order to help Evelyn and I was going to give it to her mother. But when I reached the address, her mother wasn't there. She had left her five year old daughter hungry and crying all alone with unlocked door. I picked her up and took her to Richard's hotel room."

"He yelled at me for hours. He said I was irresponsible and did not understand the consequences of my actions. He asked me to report the case to CPS and get it over with. And I did. They put her in a foster home but apparently she was too much to handle for everyone."

"Yeah, I can see why that would be a problem," Mallory smiled wryly.

"Yeah, she has had a smart mouth as far as I can remember," he smiled reminiscently. "So, yeah, I'd go meet her whenever I would come back from training. And after Emily, I developed a stronger bond with her. When I turned eighteen, I legally adopted her."

"They let an eighteen year old adopt a seven year old?"

"Well, it was difficult yeah. But, we had a history. I was the one who put her in the foster home. The owner of the home had seen me take care of her. Hell, I would keep pestering the caretaker to give me monthly updates or inform me in case of emergencies. I had been her unofficial guardian for years, it was simply making it legal."

She looked at him still not entirely convinced.

"I might have had Richard exert his influence and use his resources."

"That sounds dangerously like corruption!" She narrowed her eyes.

"Umm, remember it was for a good cause," he justified.

"The end doesn't justify the means, Andrew. I thought you were smarter than that."

"Evelyn is one of the best things that could have ever happened to me. So, no, I don't regret it. None of it."

"Honestly, I don't blame you. It's Richard who should've been more responsible."

"He is not that bad, you know. He can be an asshole sometimes, but he is not inherently evil."

She grunted in disbelief, "I highly doubt that."

"Why do you hate him so much?"

"Umm...I don't." She said. "Anyway, so how did Evelyn's father die? And what happened to her mother? Did you report her for negligence?"

Andrew remained silent, stoically looking at windscreen. Mallory could see his knuckles tightening the grip on the wheel. It took only seconds for his hands to acquire a tinge of redness as if his veins would explode.

"Hey," she gently placed her hand on his shoulder, "It's okay, if you don't want to share it."

He remained silent for quite sometime afterwards until:

"Do you remember last time we made a stop to pick our IDs and the car?"

"What?" Mallory looked up, confused on hearing the sudden question. "Umm, yeah. Are we going there again? I mean we have everything we need alre--"

"Do you remember the woman who did your makeup?"

A chill went down her spine, she clearly remembered the woman as if it was only yesterday. She remembered her warnings and her words, "Rose? What about her?"

"Yeah, Rose. She wa--is Evelyn's biological mother."

"Oh." She replied not realizing what to make of it until it finally dawned upon her. "Fuck. Y-You m-mean, oh God, you--you were the one. Oh shit! When you say the family g-got rid of him, you mean y-you...umm..."

"Killed him? Yeah I did! Put a bullet right through his pathetic little skull. And I enjoyed every second of it! He deserved it. He deserved it all for what he did to Emily what he was about to do to Evelyn."

"What did he do to Emily?"

"Don't you see, Melly. He was the one who ruined my family. My mother brought him home. And he, the damage he did to Emily, the nightmares, the things he could have done to more girls out there! He had to go."

Mallory took in a deep breath. It wasn't everyday you heard murder confessions from those people who are close to you. But with all the bizarre things that had happened to her in the course of her lifetime, the confession fitted right in.

If she was being honest to herself, she was slightly relieved. Taking a life isn't really a solution to anything but the fact that Andrew gave the perpetrator what be deserved almost made her feel satisfied. Something, she hadn't felt in a long while.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you smiling?" Andrew looked at her and then back at road.

"I'm thinking if I'll enjoy putting the bullet in Antonio's skull that much."

"No, believe me. It's not worth it."

"But you just said..."

"I know what I said, but you don't know the complete story."

"And that's why you are going to have to enlighten me."

"Some other time. Because right now we are at our destination."

She followed his gaze to look at the long line of luxury cars waiting to enter through an illuminated iron gate quite far away. She sighed at him. It was always like that. Incomplete stories. Unheard secrets. Everyone around her was a mystery. To be peeled layer by layer. One painstaking layer at a time.

"I almost forgot!" He exclaimed patting his pockets. "Here."

He offered her a handgun.

She looked back at him as if he had grown horns.

"What do you want me to with it? Hold it in my hand and flash it to all the guards at security check points?"

"Hide it like you did it last time!"

"You really don't see the problem here do you?"

He shrugged.

She shook her head at his ignorance, "This is a short tight dress. The only way I could conceal that thing would be if I thrust it in my underwear, and no," she raised her finger as he was about to speak up, "I'm not going to do that!"

"You make things a lot more difficult than they have to be."

"Do you even hear yourself! Oh, God. You can't possibly expect me to put a fucking gun in my underwear. Like what if it goes off! Shit, that's just ridiculous."

"You do realized it has a safet--"

"Shut up, Andrew. I don't even want to have this argument right now."

"Alright. Alright. Why don't you look around in the seat cover behind my seat. There must be a garter holster somewhere in there."

"You--Oh God! You are so fucking -- ugh, I don't even have words. I mean you have a fucking holster with you and suggest that I --"

He raised his arms in surrender. "I'm sorry I was trying to mess with you."

"Say what?" She did a double take. "Messing with me? As in joking? YOU were joking?"

"Yeah, sure." He shrugged.

"Umm, okay. I don't even know what to say."

"Just grab the garter and put it on. We are almost there."

She complied and slid the holster just above her knee and placed the gun in. The gun made a small bulge but it wasn't too detectable so she let it stay there.

"You might as well flash it in the face of people if you are going to keep it like that." He remarked with a face palm. "One look by an educated eye and they'd know in a second. For God's sake. Slide it up, woman."

She narrowed her eyes at him for what felt like a hundredth time that night and slid it half an inch above.

Andrew groaned. "I said UP!"

He placed a hand on the belt and slid it well above her mid thigh along with the body fitted black dress. She felt slightly exposed as more than half of her covered skin was on display.

But one glance at her companion told her that he didn't even pay attention to it. He was busy adjusting the belt at an angle that would make it inconspicuous. She could be a hairy gorilla or the most beautiful woman in the world, and he couldn't care less. She smiled at his nonchalance. It was almost admiring.

Just then his hand touched the inside of her thigh and she shivered. The cold hand was still working methodically unaware of the effect it was having on her.

"That's it, that should do it," Andrew muttered looking back up to see his glazed eyes. "What?"

For the second time that night she found herself admiring the nuances of his face. And yet again her eyes rested on his lips. But this time, she did lean in.

She placed her lips right at his, entangling both her hands in his hair and pulled him closer. She tugged at him, his seat belt restricting him momentarily until it gave away. She broke away for a second to realize that it was Andrew who unbuckled his seat belt and was now hungrily looking at her.

It was him who leaned in this time. And hungrily devoured her lips. His hand snaked up her already exposed thigh, rubbing it in the most soothing manner. She could feel his cold hand which lit a fire inside her. Hot. Hotter. Until ---

Tap. Buzz. Honk.

"Shit," Andrew broke away feeling his dress suit for his phone which had interrupted their make out session.

Which was one of the things that interrupted their make out session.

It was only once she pulled away did she realize that there were no cars in front of them. The ones behind them were honking incessantly. She blushed furiously as she saw a man, probably the valet, tapping at Andrew's side of door.

The tinted black window which was earlier open an inch was rolled down by Andrew completely.

"Sir, are you okay? Do you need help?" The valet asked politely, his eyes darting to Andrew's messed up hair, then to Mallory's most likely ruined lipstick and her exposed leg.

She turned an even deeper shade of scarlet as she hastily pulled down her dress.

"Excuse me, eyes up here." Andrew said firmly.

"Of course. My greatest apologies, sir. I was just worried that..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He said and handed him the invitation. "Just tell me which hall."

He checked a list in his hand and gave him back the invitation, "Straight to the gate and then your first left. Parking space 286 for you. You can also give your car keys at the gate and someone will take care of it."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, sir. Have a great --"

But Andrew had only driven away muttering something along the lines of 'pervert'. Mallory was mortified enough to stay silent through the next five minutes until they were pulling up in the designated parking space.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"Yeah. Neither do I." He confessed killing the engine. "You really need to fix your make up. You look like joker from Batman."

"Hey! You yourself look like...like..."

"Like?"

"Jack from Titanic?"

"And that is supposed to make me feel bad because?"

"Fuck off, Andrew." She punched him playfully. She was weirdly happy at experiencing something normal teenagers did. Even though it was extremely embarrassing but she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it. She couldn't stop giggling.

Andrew smiled at her childishness and then unlocked the door, "Why don't you go find a restroom while I go give a call to Richard?"

She stopped laughing abruptly, eyes decreasing infinitesimally. "Why Richard? I thought you weren't on talking terms with him."

"I'm not. But he has called me the third time tonight. There might be something important. But the question is why do you hate him so much?"

"I don't hate him," she said slamming her side of door close. The bang echoing in the silent parking lot.

"Sure," he gazed knowingly at the car door.

"No really, I mean I don't hate him." She said walking up to him. "All I'm saying is that if he was on fire and I had a glass of water, I would drink it."

"But you don't hate him?" Andrew smiled wryly.

"No not at all. Did you see me saying I'll burn him?" She smiled too.

"That's not hate at all, is it?" He said sarcastically.

"I can't believe you are asking me this. What do you reckon people do after they are locked up by someone for hours? Here's a clue: They don't worship them."

Andrew nodded not looking entirely convinced, "That's reasonable, I suppose. But you haven't liked him since the first time I introduced him to you."

She sighed, "Why the hell are you so observant? Honestly, I don't know what you want me to tell you."

"The truth. Did you know him before this?"

"Not exactly. Umm...no."

"Okay and...?"

"Stop looking at me like that!" She nervously tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Like what?" He cocked his head.

"Like you are expecting me to tell you some huge secret, say he's the lost father who walked out on me or something."

"Is he?" Andrew wondered.

"Is he what?"

"Is he your father?"

"Umm...about that...well, I think..."

"You think?" He prompted.

"I think I need to go find that restroom sooner than I thought."

And with that she ran towards the hall, her heels clicking in the empty lot.

Don't forget to vote!

Holá folks!

Is it only me or does this book give soap opera vibes to anyone else too? I feel like it's one amnesia episode away from becoming a telenovela!

Anyway, I hope the twists and turns aren't entirely boring and they still interested you. Tryna employ that thing where I'll reveal one secret in every chapter.

The climax is coming soon.

Stay tuned!

Have a nice day/month/year!

-Ridhima