Chapter 25: Loko's Wrath

I woke up from the heat.

I stretched and found an unusual sight next to me; Keenan fell fast asleep and shared a blanket with me.

I can't jump any further than this. I hastily sat up and removed the blanket covering my body last night. No clothes have changed. Everything is still the same as before. The only thing that's changed is that my feet are now covered in pink socks with bunny ears on top.

I don't have these socks. I don't feel like wearing it. Keenan must have put it on to me when I was asleep.

I slowly took the socks off. No wonder I was stiflingly hot. But last night was too cold. Maybe that's why Keenan put these socks on me.

My cheeks feel hot.

His sometimes adorable attitude sometimes makes me forget who he really is. I sat back down and looked at the man who had almost in his forty. He seemed to be sleeping very soundly.

In his deep sleep, I can't help to watch him. Keenan even looks younger than his current age. The often hardened jaw looked much more relaxed than I had seen before.

I can't stop staring at him. Staring at his sleeping face somehow made me feel calm. How could a man like this be my kidnapper? It was like dealing with two very different people.

By the way, what time is it? It was bright outside. Looks like it's already noon. I have to check the clock.

I stretched out my arm to take the clock he gave me on the table, but unfortunately, it was on the table next to Keenan sleeping. It's pretty enough. I tried to reach for it again, and the clock fell off the table, making a cracking sound from the glass. Keenan jumped up and hit my outstretched hand. He looked at me and sighed.

"Sorry," I whispered.

Keenan saw the clock lying broken on the floor and picked it up. He cleared it of the broken glass for a moment before handing it to me. Eleven o'clock exactly. I woke up and sat on the bed.

"Why did you wake up so early?" he asked hoarsely.

I replied with a weak smile. "It's eleven o'clock."

Keenan sat down as he ruffled his hair. "How do you feel?"

I swallowed hard when I saw his messy hair. "Better," I whispered.

"What did you dream about last night?"

"Myself."

I remember it again. A girl was wearing a shabby black shirt and had the same face as me. She screamed my name, and I was scared.

Coward.

How long do you want to wake up when a bad dream comes to you?

I pursed my lips and shook off my self-pity. For most of my life, when I have a terrible dream, I always wake up hysterically. Usually, my Dad would come to calm me down and stay with me until I fell asleep again. The role apparently has now shifted to Keenan.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," he said.

I nodded. Better not to remember it at all.

Time passed with no sound from him or me. Keenan was busy in his mind while I sat on the bed, holding the clock in my hand. The silence was too awkward that I decided to say something else that had been bothering me.

"I was wrong."

Keenan opened his eyes and looked at me curiously. "What?"

I cleared my throat and tried to say it. "Apparently, you are much older than me, but I thought you were like twenty-eight... twenty-nine years old."

The man laughed at my words. It's the first time I've heard him laugh out loud. It was the first time I saw his lips curl into a smile. The first moment I saw a row of neat teeth was when he let out a laugh that sounded like a hum in my ears.

His laugh is contagious. I seemed hypnotized by the expression on his face that looked so pleasant.

I love seeing him laugh.

"We're only 19 years apart."

"Are you kidding!" I threw a pillow at him. "19 years, and you said only? Your age is exactly the same as my uncle's! I can call you Uncle Keenan if I want to."

"I don't think I'm too old to be called uncle. My name is better than that nickname."

"Oh, apparently, someone refuses to be old," I teased. I chuckled and said to him again. "Even though my uncle is the same age as you. Why did you-"

My words were cut short as my body stiffened for a moment. This warm atmosphere was broken by a loud noise behind the bedroom door. I cringed when I heard the faint voice.

Loko's voice.

"Goddamn, it!" cursed Loko.

Loko opened the bedroom door by kicking it. At that moment, his eyes fell on me. The grin that he showed me was a sign of the nightmare that confronted me today.

"Zo, get out and help your mate in front of the house. We have a lot of work waiting for us."

His orders to Keenan were uttered in a cold tone that sounded dangerous. He did talk to Keenan, but his eyes never left mine. The focus is only on me.

I glanced at Keenan, who was silent next to me. Again, he clenched his jaw without even looking at me. That's the expression he always shows when he's holding back emotions.

This is bad.

"In the meantime, I'm going to have fun with this girl at my favorite place. Isn't that right, Sweetie?"

Loko walked towards me slowly like a lion about to pounce on its prey. I gently squeezed the blanket in my hand. My body couldn't move, and I started to gasp for breath. When he arrived right in front of me, he gripped my chin firmly with one hand.

"Let me deal with her." Keenan stood up and walked next to Loko.

"No, no. Get out, Zo. I want to talk to this bitch of mine." He bent down and crouched in front of me.

"Boss, I can handle her. You can rest—

"Take Zo out."

Two burly men came into the room and pulled Keenan out. Keenan looks struggling while cursing slowly. Before he was out of sight, he glanced at me with a worried look.

No Keenan means no protection.

I'm all alone in front of this nightmare.