Chapter 3

*Tamara*

All day, I've been trying to move on while acting like all that happened last night was all a crazy nightmare. From Mike being killed in front of my very eyes to the chase between me and Mike's murderer and then to the even worse event of the night. The fact that my stupid so-called brother had gotten mixed up with a Mafia gang and now owes them two freaking million dollars.

I already had a lot going on and stressing me out, and then he had to add up another burden on me. How am I supposed to generate even 1 million dollars? I don't even have a job now that my boss has been murdered, and I do not wish to borrow a loan to repay a loan.

God, this is hard for me, and I need help. It also didn't help that all day, I felt like someone was following me. I had spoken to Jasper about this, and in his words, he insisted it might've just been some crazy stalker who was dumb enough to have feelings for me.

I did not tell Jasper about how Mike died or that I was still in the cafe when he died; I didn't tell anyone anything. I feared revealing the secret might get me involved with the police, and then that man would catch up to me and kill me. I don't want to die.

I sat at the edge of my bed, wondering what my next step should be. Well, I probably have to do more menial jobs now, maybe multi-tasking part-time jobs until I find a way to raise 2 MILLION DOLLARS. Thinking about it alone gives me a frightened rash.

I walked to the other side of my bed and brought out all the cash I saved throughout the years; sadly, all I got was 600,000 dollars. "1.4k dollars to go, yay!" I cheered tiredly. I have had this money saved for eight years now. There's no way I'd be able to make it on time.

Just then, there was a loud bang coming from the living room. What followed was the sound of footsteps invading my house and destroying anything in their path. I angrily got out and stood in front of one of them. "Hey, what are you doing? This is trespassing; who are you people?”

Just then, Jasper entered the living room and looked at all of them in fright. He turned to run away when two men rushed after him and grabbed onto him, pulling him back to the middle of the room. Oh no! That means these people are part of the Mafia gang from which Jasper had gotten money.

Just then, they began hitting Jasper profusely in the gut. "What! What are you doing? Let him go! Get off of him." I tried helping Jasper; he was not brutally bruised as they landed punches and hits all over him. I kept trying my best to get them away from him, but one of the macho men pushed me away, having me flying to the other side of the room.

"Let go of my brother, please; I'll pay the money. Just let him go. He'll die if you keep doing that. Stop!" I begged, crying non-stop as I could do nothing but watch them beat him up nearly to death now. Jasper might not make it if they keep going at this pace. God help me, please.

"Enough." I heard a voice call, and they immediately stopped in their tracks. I looked up towards the entrance, feeling quite confused about the voice. That cold, ruthless voice sounded so familiar that I thought I had heard it not too long ago. Probably in a dream? Or at the cafe?

He slowly strode into my apartment. It felt like time had suddenly stilled, and I had subconsciously held my breath, anticipating his appearance. He finally stood at my door, his eyes cold as I had remembered, his face emotionless and unreadable.

"Hello, Miss Tamara Miller." He greeted; his eyes and voice shared one thing: the coldness and fear emanating from their awakening. I recognized his voice from last night at the cafe. He killed Mike.

As I realized that, I held my breath even more, finding it hard to move or think about anything at the moment. He slowly strode towards me as a devilish smirk got plastered on his face. "Remember me?" He asked when he was just in front of me.

I looked down at the floor, 5 meters from where I stood. I was sweating profusely as my heart hammered against its ribcage. How did he find me? Had he been the one following me all day? Oh no!

"Should I take that as a yes?"

"N-no no, i- I don't know you. I've never seen you before." I stuttered, trying my best to maintain my tone. What I got was a slight hum, and he moved away.

I looked up at the back of his head, and his silhouette from last night appeared in my head; shaking my head a bit more violently than planned. I watched him gesture at one of his men, and they began beating up Jasper again.

"No, Don-"

"Did that refresh your memory?" He suddenly asked. I stared at him in disbelief as tears rolled down my cheeks. Jasper was really about to go unconscious now, and his whole body was tainted in his own blood like he just had a blood bath.

"Please, tell them to stop. Please, they'll kill him. I'm begging you." I went straight down to my knees and begged. I noticed an irritated look in his eyes as he turned away from me. "They'll stop after you tell me... Do you remember me?"

"Yes. I remember you, so please stop begging." He immediately gestured to them, and they abruptly let go of Jasper. I immediately ran to his side and held him in my arms; I was crying profusely as I held onto my dear brother.

Suddenly, someone pulled me up by my arm and pushed me away from Jasper right into a pair of solid rock-hard chest. I walked a foot away from it and looked up into that cold ocean, deadly eyes again. Before I could speak, he suddenly grabbed me by my throat, suffocating me with the intent to eliminate me.

"Girl, It seems stupidity runs in the family." He began. "Do you know how much your brother owes me? What he owes me is worth more than both your lives." I heard Jasper cough up more blood at the corner.

"Your stank ass brother dared to scam one of my men for 2 million dollars." I felt my heart sank at his words. I knew Jasper would always bring me nothing but trouble. Of all the people it could be, why did it have to be Mike's murderer?

"And now, you also are busy-bodied." He sneered. The look in his eyes told me he had no intention of letting either of us go with this. I looked at Jasper one last time; I knew he could not take any more blows from these vicious men. I inspected them with my gaze and noted that they all had guns on them.

I shut my eyes and pulled down on my lower lip, silencing in a silent cry as I wondered what to do to save my brother. Just then, a thought came in, and I had no idea where my brazenness came from, but I hoped it wouldn't lead me to my grave.

"Please, I have an idea to help this situation... S- sir." I stuttered the last part as he suddenly leaned in closer. "Well... Speak." I shuddered in fear as I continued.

"I would like us to make a deal that would benefit us both." One of his men let out a muffled scoff, and he immediately gave him a look, shutting him up. "Well, Killing both of us right now won't benefit you, sir, because either way, you do not get your money, and you waste your… bullets." I swallowed hard as I continued.

"But, if you would just agree to hold onto me as a sort of collateral until my brother can come up with the money he owes you. Then you get your money, and we get our lives." I explained. He looked at me suspiciously before something else flickered in his gaze.

"I like how smart you are, except a certain clarification needs to be made in this deal of yours. One, you will be my slave until your good-for-nothing of a brother can get me my 2 million dollars with the agreed interest. Two, if you dare try to double-cross me by running away, then I will hunt you down till the end of the earth, and I will end both your lives on the spot.” He said seriously. I swallowed hard past the lump in my throat as I nodded slowly.

"Good." And with that, he gestured to two of his men. They approached us and suddenly held me on both sides. "Wait, am I leaving now? What about my brother? Jasper? Jasper!" I yelled kicking and squirming as they took me into a car and sat me down there.

Soon, the main boss sat next to me and he gestured to the two men seated at the front. The one in the driver's seat immediately started up the car and drove off. I managed to sneak a peek behind us to find several black cars following closely behind, and up ahead was my apartment. With a sad smile, I sunk back into the seat.

We drove for a few minutes until we got to a huge mansion, or rather a villa. It is atop a hill overlooking the city. It is an imposing structure with massive buildings with sprawling grounds, high walls and tight security. The boss had to send a text to someone before the gates opened. I wondered why he even bothered threatening me on escaping, there's no escaping such a place. Especially with his men in every corner.

The car finally pulled over at the entrance of the huge opulent mansion. The man immediately got out of the car with his men, but I remained still for a while. Not purposely but the fear had me held down in place as sweat had formed on my forehead once more.

"Are you going to get out, or should I kick you out?" I looked up to find him staring at me aggravated and immediately moved to get out quickly when I heard a loud shot sound and the boss's low grunt.

Feeling frightened, I looked up to see who had gotten shot; and it was him. "Fuck!" He cursed under his breath. Luckily he was only shot in the arm because his men had disarmed the man who had pulled the trigger on him.

What followed was a ruckus as the man who had shot him was taken to another part of the mansion. He looked at me unfazed and cold, like he hadn't just been shot.

"Follow me." He said and began walking into the house. I got out of the car and slowly followed him closely behind. I stepped in awe as I got into the mansion, if I had thought the exterior was opulent then the interior is pure grandeur.

"Are you going to follow me or foolishly oogle over materialistic things?" He spat irritated. I immediately picked up my pace and followed him all the way to the room. A room?

He got in and began undressing immediately, I watched in confusion and fear as more and more of his clothing fell unceremoniously to the ground. "N-no no, this isn't part of the deal s-sir we cannot do this.”