20

Chapter 20

Anna

As soon as I closed the door behind Lucas, I placed the dress on my bed, staring at it with a forlorn expression. I had never had anyone buy me anything before, Will, except Tim, but he didn't exactly have a choice; we were joined at the hips and have always been.

I had learnt in the streets that no gifts went unpunished.

I picked up the dress and placed it against my frame and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I looked refined, like I belonged, but deep down, I knew I didn't. I wasn't a fancy woman; although I had been able to cosplay one for long, I was the furthest thing from one.

I was a beast of a woman. Filled with rage and anger and consumed by my need to avenge my mother.

A knock sounded at the door, and I was yanked out of my reverie immediately.

I frowned, wondering what Lucas wanted now.

Walking towards my bed, I placed the dress on my bed and made my way to the door and pulled it open.

"Hiya!" Lily was standing at the door, a big smile on her face. She had her hair in rollers and a couple of bags in both hands.

"Hey…" I said hesitantly, unsure of what she was doing here.

As if reading my mind,

"I'm here to do your hair and makeup. Duncan was going to get a stylist, but I volunteered so we could get a chance to bond."

She grinned wide.

I chuckled. Her energy was so contagious. She sounded like she had never known a day of trouble. I wish I was like her.

I pulled the door wider and let her in.

"Ouuu, your room is nice. I love it," she glanced around.

"Uh, thank you. It's kind of a mess. I wasn't expecting anyone."

Lily looked around and turned to look at me, rolling her eyes at me.

"Don't be silly; your room is fine. Besides, it's just us girls," she said and turned. She gasped when she saw the dress on my bed.

"Oh, my God. Gorgeous!" She exclaimed.

"Is this what you are wearing to the party?" She asked.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"I love it. Duncan really knows how to shop for a woman. Ughh!" She exclaimed again, approvingly. 

"You are one lucky girl," she bumped my nose before making her way to my vanity.

She pulled out my chair from under my vanity and beckoned for me to come as she dropped her bag on the floor.

"Sit, let me prep your face. We have less than three hours to get ready."

*****

"So, do you have any idea what's going to happen at the party, I mean the initiation?" I asked, a little nervous.

"Well, if I tell you… I'll take out most of the fun."

I didn't like the sound of that. I hated surprises, but in this case, I had no choice but to wait and see what this initiation had in store for me.

I was affiliated with a couple of gangs as a teenager but was never particularly part of any.

I knew the shit they got up to, but I had never been to an imitation, definitely not one as large scale as this one either.

Lily grinned as she began to apply foundation on my face.

"Relax, Anna, it's nothing crazy… Well, almost nothing crazy."

I raised a brow. "That's not exactly reassuring."

She chuckled, her cute cherub voice a reassuring balm. "I promise you'll be fine. Duncan wouldn't let anything happen to you."

I snorted in response.

"I don't know about that. The first time I came here, he sent me on a suicide mission. If I weren't skilled, I would be dead now."

Lily laughed. "Oh, you cute thing. He did that because he clearly wanted you."

I frowned in confusion. "I highly doubt that."

Lily suddenly stopped blending my makeup and raised my face to look up at her.

"Why do you think Sabrina hates you so much? She's jealous because she knows Duncan wants you. I mean, I know I do."

"What?" my brows furrowed on hearing that 

"What?' Lily replied almost immediately, as I did, feigning ignorance.

I stared up at her, wondering if I had misheard her.

Silence stretched between us before she spoke again.

"You are a beautiful woman, Anna. A girl can dream," she finally admitted.

I chuckled nervously, a little uncomfortable by her admission. She was probably teasing, but it still made me feel weird.

She was such a flatterer. She would make an excellent PR.

"You are being silly." I brushed it off.

"Maybe, but I'm telling you the truth. Duncan wants you. How you haven't noticed is beyond me."

She said, hesitating, a boy before continuing,

"It is clearly in his eyes. Also, you challenge him, and he says nothing. Duncan is not a nice man, not when he is being disrespected. Was that me telling him he was wrong for slapping the shit out of Sabrina? I would have been locked in the basement for days."

I scrunched up my nose in disgust. Why would she stay with him and even fuck him if she knew he would do something like this to her? It made absolutely zero sense."

"So, why do you fuck him, knowing he could do these things to you, just for speaking your mind?' I blurted out.

Lily paused with my makeup, and I couldn't help but feel a little bad for speaking to her like that.

An uncomfortable silence fell in the room for a second before she opened her mouth to speak again.

"He saved me from a life of…" She paused as if trying to gather her wit. "...from an old life. One I don't want to remember. I would do anything for him. I'd kill, skin and mutilate for him. He's my master."

The room became heavy with tension, and the silence stretched on.

I gripped either side of my chair and inhaled sharply at her confession.

I wasn't sure how to react to that.

I always kind of thought she was a bit of a ditzy head, but looking at her eyes, she had a deadly glint in them that bordered on monstrous.

I didn't scare easily, but that look in her eyes as she stared into space made me want to take several steps back.

"Anyway, yeah… That's pretty much my story. So, believe me when I tell you that Duncan wants you. I know him better than anyone."

I nodded, ignoring the flutter in my chest.

I had an unnatural attraction to him too, but I would be lying if I said I didn't see the desire in his eyes too every time we were in the same room. He had a command to my body that made me lose sight of the reason I was breathing sometimes.

I didn't like it.

I didn't like it at all. He was my enemy, and I felt pathetic for being attracted to him in any way.