bullets and bouquets

7

After the perimeter was secured again, Sadie relaxes and relieves Trent and Lyle of their duties. She walks into Isla's room.

"What happened out there?!? I heard gunshots!" Isla exclaims upset.

"Business," the mafia boss answers.

"Did you kill people?" the girl asks.

"No, my men did," the redhead answers honestly. It makes Isla want to throw up, having heard the gunshots and now knowing people died. She leans over from her bed and throws up on the floor, "Jesus Christ!"

The redhead rushes over to the brunette and grabs her hair out of her face. The brunette instinctively grabs onto Sadie's shoulders for support as she empties her stomach. Sadie looks at the girl's hands and feels how her grasp is so tight.

While holding onto the girl, the redhead pulls her walkie out, "Denmar! Send medical down to the room."

"Yes Ma'am, right away," the man relays. Isla calms down and Sadie props her back up in the bed. She takes out a handkerchief and gives it to the brunette. A moment later, one of Sadie's medics walks in.

"She threw up, all over the floor," Sadie explains as he rushes over to the girl. He puts his medical bag on the bed and begins to run vitals on Isla.

"Do you feel nauseous?" he asks Isla.

"Not anymore..." she says weakly.

"Elaborate," he replies, while still running vitals.

"Uh," Sadie pulls the man away for a second. She whispers to him, "she threw up after she learned that there was a gunfight upstairs..."

He sighs, "I see..."

He returns to Isla's bedside.

"Everything is normal. Probably just a mental reaction... I'm going to prescribe an anti-nausea medication. Just for tonight and tomorrow," he tells her, "If the problem persists, we can do further testing."

"Thank you," Sadie says to him. He packs up his bag and leaves the room. The redhead then brings her walkie back to her mouth, "Denmar, send Trent and Lyle down here to clean. Prepare the second level for Isla."

"Yes Ma'am," he answers. Isla's eyes widen.

"What?"

Sadie turns to the brunette, "I can't have you staying in here while it's dirty. So... I'm going to trust that you will be okay staying on the second floor."

She pauses as she explains it, not exactly sure if she should trust Isla. She could still run away, but something about their earlier make-out session tells Sadie she can trust her.

"I can trust you, right?" Sadie then asks sternly. Isla's heart flutters.

"Uh, yeah, yeah," she answers.

"Good, now stand up," the mafia boss orders. Isla complies, getting away from the mess on the floor. The redhead goes around the girl and brings a cloth down over her eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Your trust level is at ten percent right now. Trust is earned and until then, I still have to take precautions," Sadie explains.

"Blindfolding me is one?" Isla asks skeptically.

"Yes. And I don't need you seeing the outside right now... business has not been cleaned up
yet..." she hints to the girl.

"Oh... okay," the brunette answers. She allows Sadie to blindfold her. She then grabs the girl's wrists.

"I'll lead you," the redhead tells her. Isla hears the metal door open. Sadie gently pushes her and they begin walking. Her heart races as she wonders if this is all a ploy to get Isla vulnerable enough to take her out. Although something in Sadie's tone made it seem like she is being sincere, "Stairs now."

Isla blindly lifts her leg up to find the stair step. Sadie waits patiently as the girl begins to find a rhythm to the steps. Soon they are on the main floor of the Sink Mansion. Isla can sense more light through the blindfold than before when she was locked in the basement.

She hears voices too, men mostly. Sadie stops the girl from walking.

"Can I take this off?" Isla questions, her wrists still being held by the redhead.

"No. Elevator," she says as the metal doors open and she pushes the brunette into it. Sadie presses the button to the second floor and soon the metal carriage rises.

Once the doors open, Isla continues to stumble blindly. She is pushed down the hallway and into a separate room. Actually, it's almost like a second house within the mansion. The door to the hallway closes behind her and locks, just like the one in the basement.

"Okay, now you can," Sadie releases the girl's wrist and aids in taking the cloth off. Isla opens her eyes, taking in the new area. She's in a living room, with a kitchenette off to the side. There's another hallway, no door, that leads to the room she will stay in.

"Holy shit..." the girl comments. She wanders over to the window, where a balcony is. The same balcony Sadie was standing on when Stinach's men tried to invade. However, the door is locked now, preventing the brunette from escaping, "Really?"

"Like I said... trust is earned... but this is a step up from the basement isn't it?" the redhead smirks

"Yes," Isla smiles. She turns and walks down the hallway to the room. A nice big bed and dresser, no TV though. Isla doesn't think anything of it, but Sadie has wiped all forms of communication from the second level, not wanting Isla to see the news about her.

"Good, if you can be trusted, you can plan on settling up here," the redhead informs her. She turns to leave Isla but then is stopped.

"Wait.." she says. Sadie turns, "Will you come back later?"

The redhead tries not to smile at the question, "We'll see."

She leaves the brunette, the door locking behind her. Isla returns to the balcony, where she looks out over the Estate. In the distance is a fence around the property, but nothing else, the place is totally secluded from civilization. Sadie retreats downstairs to find Denmar waiting for her.

"Ma'am?"

"Speak."

"The girl's room is clean. Shall I prepare to transfer her back?" he asks.

"No. Leave her up there," she instructs.

"We're not discarding her?"

"No. As I said, she is mine," Sadie sternly says. Denmar doesn't press further, knowing the dangers of questioning his boss. He simply nods and wanders off to find something else to do. Meanwhile, Isla's parents are on the news.

"She's the sweetest girl and we just want our baby back," Isla's mother says. Her father holds up a picture of her for the camera.

"We don't care about prosecuting, we just want her back safe and unharmed," her father says, "She's a good student and loves her studies. She's always had school spirit."

"If you see her, please call the number on the screen. Any tip leading to her return has a reward of $10,000," her mother says. The clip cuts off and the camera returns to an Italian reporter.

"Isla Rhodes is still missing and the police are looking for any tips to her whereabouts. The anonymous tip line is here at the bottom of the screen. Please help this girl return home."