The Lucky Doberman

Chapter 63: He's Scary

Hours had gone by and Caio came back and sat across from me as I read the pages. My eyes were still puffy and achy from crying but I don't think he cares.

"This is hard. I don't know it." I stated.
"You're not just toying with me are you? I don't like being toyed with."
"No. When it was just similes and code phrases then I could put two and two together but these are just a bunch of shapes and..."

It flashed.
Something flashed and I flinched.
It was like when you stare too long without blinking and start seeing colors.
I didn't see colors. I saw numbers and letters.
It didn't say anything specifically. I assumed the numbers were for the second book. The letters would flash at different times and never made a full word. I'd have to guess and piece them together based off of spacing.

"What is it?" Caio asked.
"Can I have a pen and paper, please?"
He got up and left the room.

I didn't want to write it down because then he'd have the answers but I couldn't do it in my head. I assumed it would be okay because he didn't have the other two books.

I continued staring at it and letting the letters jump out in my face. The hardest part would be figuring out the order.

He came back with a pen and two sheets of paper.

I started writing what I remembered and he sat on the table and watched.

"This would take a long time. They take a few minutes before the letters pop out at me and they don't pop out in full words. I have to put them together like a puzzle on my own."
"That's fine. You have time."
I stopped writing and looked at him.

"Too soon?" he asked.
I looked back at the paper.

My face was lifted to look at him.
"You seem like a sweet girl. I'm sorry he did that to you."
I felt my eyes water again.
"You'll find someone better, angel. It'll all be okay." He held my face in his hand and rubbed my cheek with his thumb.
"You take however long you need to finish that. I'm sure you'll have a day or two." He kissed my head and got off the table to leave again.

I wiped my face with my hands and tried to gather myself through sniffs.

~~~

So far I had a single sentence and was working on another.
That sentence was really just an address. I didn't know what it led to.

I was growing dizzy.
This was hard and focusing so much to get the words out made me feel sick. My head was pounding so hard I was almost in tears.
I laid my head on the table and just realized how long it had been since I'd been gone.

Would he really not care?

I was heartbroken.
I could feel myself wanting to cry again but I kept it down and just went back to trying to read the book.

I flipped through all of the pages.

There were at least fifty. I was only on page one and I was exhausted. I wished he'd just gotten Mr. Stefano to translate it for him. I wondered why he hadn't.

He walked in as I was thinking.

"Caio..." I began.
"Yes, beautiful?"
"Why didn't you get Mr. Stefano to translate these for you?"
"Because if he would have been in my presence for longer than five minutes, I would have killed him." he said calmly.
"Oh..."
"I would strangle him with my bare hands. At least this way, I don't have to get violent, and I have a pretty view." He looked at me and winked.
That was nice but I wasn't letting nice words get to me anymore. That's how Marco and Josh kept coming back. They'd be nice. Niceness didn't have an effect anymore. It was clear no one really means it.

"How far have you gotten?" he asked and came to see my sheet of paper.
"Um...Only one sentence. This address." I answered. "It gives me a migraine when I focus on it for too long. I had to take a quick break but it still takes a long time for me to really make a word, let alone a sentence."
"Mhm."
He took the chair next to me.

"And you're not just slacking on me and waiting for your savior, right?" His hand cupped my cheek.
"N-No..."
"That's good. I could not express the anger that would course through my veins if I found out you were trying to hold out on me. I don't want to hurt you. You're too pretty."
I think I preferred Marco's nonchalant joy over Caio's calm threats.
His physical expressions and caress felt so gentle and sweet but his words were scary.

"I haven't gotten word that he's looking for you, yet. So I expect you to keep working until he asks for you and gives me those books in return."
"How will you decipher them?"
"I know he already has them deciphered. When he gives them to me, he will give them with the answers."
"How do you know?"
"Because if he doesn't...you get a bullet right here." His hand held the side of my neck and his thumb rubbed right in the middle.
I was scared.

"Wh-Why threaten me...?" I wondered.
"It's not a threat to you. It's a threat to him. You help him succeed. He needs his good luck charm. If she's dead...he can't thrive. It has nothing to do with you personally. No, I think you're a very sweet girl. It's a shame you're in the center, isn't it, beautiful?"
My eyes were watering for a different reason now.
"Have some faith in him. I'm sure he wouldn't let you die. You're too important to his success."
He wiped my tear.
"Are you hungry at all? Do you need brain food to help with your reading?"
I hadn't eaten today but I'd recently lost my appetite.
"No, I'm okay..." I responded.
"Okay."
He stood up and walked behind me.

My chair was pushed in closer to the table and I looked down directly at the book and paper.

He lowered himself to my ear and my breathing was heavy.

"No rush. But I've been told I'm not a patient man. I trust you'll keep me happy, won't you?" His hand found my throat.
"I...I'll try..."
"You're very kind." He smiled.
His hand let me go and he began walking out of the room.

I preferred him when we only spoke over the phone. I find him terrifying now.

I looked back at the pages and tried to focus again.