OFF-LIMITS

08.

Chapter eight | Layla
It's been two days since the whole kidnapping thing happened, I've been locked up in this goddamn house for over 48 hours, and I'd be damn lying if I said it's not suffocating, Damien is always at work, his mother hates my guts, and Adrian disappeared, literally, figuratively, I don't even know where the hell he is.

When I asked his mother, she said she doesn't know, or more specifically, she doesn't care, and that was the moment I knew that I couldn't feel any love towards this woman, the main reason was that Anastasia knight reminded me of my own mother, the way she treated her kids, or one of them, the way she compares them, or the way she prefers one over the other.

It's been a couple of years since my mother died, almost four years, I thought I'd be at peace after she dies, I thought that she would leave my constant thoughts, but I thought wrong, even when she's buried six feet under, she still hunts me, in my nightmares and in my thoughts, in every single thing.

I sigh a little, not liking where my mind is going, this will just make my loneliness even more painful, Nash visited me yesterday, and the day before, and I'm sure he'll come later tonight, but he's at his training right now, Octavia is probably sleeping, Damien left a note saying that he's staying all day for work and called me a couple of times, his mother is sitting downstairs and that's one of the main reasons why I don't want to go down, I genuinely cannot comprehend nor accept what they said about their origins so I can't let my thoughts go there either.

I rub a hand on my face as I throw the blanket away, carefully standing up, my limbs obviously still hurt, but I think I'm getting used to it, I kind of have to get used to that, I slowly walk towards the door, opening the handle as I get outside, as much as this house appears fucking stunning from the outside, it's just complete darkness here, or more accurate, hollowness.

I stalk towards the library, I'm not that much of a reader, but Octavia once persuaded me to read with her, and when I tried it...well let's say it wasn't the worst thing, I mean...I'm sure it'll make time pass faster, there are so many books in here, I don't even know what to pick, and it seems like they're are arranged according to something, it's not alphabetical, nor by their colors, I think it's probably by genres.

Lord have mercy, I don't think twice before I pick the book I place my hands on, I don't care what it's about, let's just get this work done, just when I'm about to sit down and read, I hear a yell, I think I almost imagined it but I'm proved wrong when I hear it again, "Layla!" Anastasia yells, this woman and her fucking scary voice, "yes! Yes, I'm coming." I say as I carefully start walking down.

When I finally arrive after the struggle, I find her crossing her hands over her chest and staring at me like I killed someone, "what?" I ask confused, she glares at me, if I didn't see worse I'd have been scared by this look, but I did see worse, a hint: her son's glare, "who the hell are you waiting for?" She asks again, my lips twitch in disgust, I don't know who she thinks she is so she can treat people like this, fuck her.

"I'm not expecting anyone." I say sincerely because that's the truth, she rolls her eyes and blows out a breath, "well, someone's here for you." She motions at the door, and doesn't even bother opening it for me, she just watches me struggling, that bitch, when I finally manage to do so, I'm met with the face I expected the least, or maybe it wasn't even in my calculations.

He cocks his head a little, "hello, princess." Ezekiel says, oh fuck, I clear my throat ignoring the way my body shudders in fear, I don't even know, he saved you Layla, why the fuck are you scared? I stare at him, and he raises a brow, "you won't invite me in?" He asks and I take my time replying to this, what if he's here to finish what he saved me from? How am I supposed to believe that he won't hurt me?  "why would I?" I ask, a slow smile spreads on his face, "why wouldn't you?" He says and I internally groan.

"What do you want?" I ask and he looks around for a second before facing me, "we need to talk inside Layla, so let me in, if I really wanted to finish your life, I'd have either left you there, or I'd have shot you with one of my snipers, or hitmen, I wouldn't even bother with getting myself involved into the picture, I'm not stupid, so let me in, I'm not here to hurt you, if I wanted to, you'd already be buried six feet under, but unfortunately my boss would kill me in the worst possible way if he knew that I touched a hair on your head." He says and my lips part, it's like he read every single thought in my mind, wow.

I can't help but open the door wider, he grins and walks inside, his frame eating up the place, he's tall, very tall, and he's muscular, I mean it was obvious that he was strong, he fucking ran with me in his arms, but he's definitely muscular than I thought, he has some kind of snake tattoo on his neck, the tail continues to his chest which is hidden, and he has a raven tattoo on his arm too, but it's...dead? I don't get a chance to protest because he turns to me for a second and then pauses when he sees Anastasia.

His grin falls, his cheekbones sharpening the more he stares at her, she looks in his direction and she seems almost horrified for a second but she masks it perfectly when she glares back at him, "hi, zek." She says ,they know each other? What the hell? he narrows his eyes, "it's Ezekiel." He replies irritation heavy in his voice, she rolls her eyes, "yeah okay." She says then adds a smile, "tell Dominika I said hi." She replies and my brows furrow, confused by this whole situation, he doesn't bother replying to her when he turns in my direction, "let's go upstairs, we need to talk Asap." He says raising a brow and I almost don't want to know what he's gonna say.

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"come again, I don't understand anything." I say and he groans before staring at me for a beat, "okay starting from the beginning and I ain't repeating that." He says in the same accented voice, "okay okay." I reply and he sighs, "I'm Adrian's second in command." He says, as soon as I hear his name, my heartbeats are far away from normal, oh  fuck him, my body shouldn't be reacting like this just to his goddamn name, I narrow my eyes, "elaborate please." I reply and he raises a brow, "it's like being his right hand." He says and my brows hit my hairline, that means that Adrian is the one who sent him? "Yes." He replies and I raise a brow, "yes for what?" I ask confused, "he's the one who sent me." He says and my eyes widen.

"How did you know what I was gonna ask?" I ask, "you weren't going to ask that, but you were thinking of it." He says, "um okay, how did you know?" I ask again, curiosity getting the best of me, "it's a long story, but let's just say that I'm trained, and I've been into lots of psychological stuff.." he lets the sentence drift off and I almost don't want to know whatever the hell he means by "psychological stuff"

"Anyway, the point is...I have to stay with you until boss comes here." He says and I raise my brows, "stay with me how?" I ask and he rolls his eyes, as he drops back his head and lets out a deep chuckle, I can't help but smile back, "I'll be watching you 24/7, for your safety, that's what Mr.Knight sent me for, I mostly don't work here, just when it's something important." He says eyeing me, "no offense but I don't understand why he didn't just send one of his normal bodyguards." He adds then sighs.

"Well, boyfriends do lots of shit to protect their girls anyway." He says and I clear my throat, "he's not my boyfriend." I say and he raises a brow, "excuse me." He replies, and I almost laugh, "we're not a couple, he's just...my boyfriend's brother." I say and his lips twitch, "you're with..Damien?" He asks and I don't miss the way he says his name with such disgust.

"Yes." I say, heat creeping through my neck, he releases a breath, "it makes sense now." He mutters, "what does?" I ask curious, "the way he talked about you like he hated you." He says and my brows hit my hairline, "he hates me?" I ask, he looks at me for a beat, "absolutely." He replies flat-out, "then why send you to protect me?" I ask and a laugh ripples out of him, "because in Adrian's philosophy, hating you will never stop him from having you," He says, and my lips part.

"He will never have me, and he knows it." I say with confidence I'm not feeling, and Ezekiel raises a brow while rubbing his jaw, "if there's one thing I learned about Adrian, it's that, if this man wants to have something, he always will have it, no matter how much time it takes, no matter how hard he'll work for it, he doesn't care about that as long as the outcome is what he wants." He says and my heartbeats go erratic in my chest.

Sorry that was a bit long?
A vote is really appreciated🫶