Subdued (18+)✔️ [A Nigerian Romance]

70~Finding Her

Something was going to happen and she just knew it. There was something different about the air that she couldn't explain. Maybe it was in the way the men seemed to be more alert, perhaps it was because of how Emeka was pacing and staring at his watch from time to time.

Aria hoped her fears would not come true. She knew her man; Kachi was not the sit back type. There was no way he would sit down and just do everything they ordered while hoping she was safe. She knew he would take certain risks to solve this. She could only hope that those risks were smart ones. Kachi was calculating and very smart, nothing would happen to him, she assured herself.

"Ojo, take some guys and patrol the road leading here," Emeka said. The man she assumed was Ojo stood up and whistles. A few guys materialized from around the building armed with guns and one held a knife that glinted in the dark room. The Ojo character was an ugly man who had more muscles than flesh on his giant frame.

"If things are going according to my plans, he would try to be a hero. I've heard stories about this guy," Emeka said to the Ojo guy. "We need to take advantage of that. Be careful, we need him alive."

A trap! That was what this was. Aria began praying and calling on help from the universe. This was a trap for Kachi and hearing Emeka say they wanted him alive was not really reassuring. There were a lot of things that could be done to him whilst keeping him alive. She felt her body begin to shake. She had not felt such fear for herself but the thought of Kachi hurt scared her shitless.

Ojo moved out, his crony of evil men trailing behind. Emeka glanced at her and caught sight of the fear in her expression, then he smiled. She hated the man so much and fished for him and everything he held dear to be ruined.

***

Chike had never seen men as bulky as the guys that came with Zorro. They were all armed with assault rifles and some grade A tech. These were not the thugs he'd been expecting and he was beginning to wonder just what he was doing here with them. Would he even be able to hold his own with all these guns and bullets flying around? He knew martial arts and had learnt how to shoot as a hobby. However, he'd never killed a man before and from the looks of it, people would die. Zorro didn't look like the type to round people up and wait for the authorities. He seemed more like the —shoot first, figure out the rest later—type of guy.

He looked around at the gathering. There were in some sort of clearing, few miles away from Aria's GPS location. Kachi was hunched over a laptop one of Zorro's men had provided and he was having a conversation with the Zorro guy. Azu was on his phone; he'd been typing for a while now and Chike wondered if his friends were not nervous.

He made his way to Azu who didn't even look up from his phone. "Are you sure about this? What if things get out of hand?"

Azu looked at him as he considered his question. "Chike you can go home and Kachi wouldn't blame you for anything."

"What? No! I can handle this," Chike protested immediately, his voice raising and garnering the attention of a few guys. "I can do this," he added with a reduced tone.

"I'll feel better if you back out. Let us handle this."

"I'm fine. I'm just wondering how we'd clean everything up later. Dealing with the authorities would be a bitch."

"Don't worry. Let's just stick to the plan and watch each other's backs." Azu patted him on the shoulder.

"Guys, we're ready," Zorro called out, prompting the men into action.

"I'll make sure nothing happens to you and Kachi, don't worry," Azu reassured him before making his way to Kachi. Chike didn't pause to think about it, he immediately followed his friend.