BLOODHOUNDS #1: THE ABDICATED PRINCE

Chapter 39 - HIDDEN

Luna Morris

I woke up in the middle of the night and turned to see Clyde sleeping soundly. We're still naked and tangled to each other, so I need to be careful getting off the bed without waking him up.

I moved so slowly and successfully got out of bed. I walked to the bathroom to shower and tried to process everything about what happened to the people in my past. I spent around 30 minutes, and I put on my bathrobe. Making my way out of my room, turning off the lights in my bedroom.

Clyde's having difficulty sleeping with lights on, but he never complained. I just knew that he wasn't able to sleep that quickly. He's been tossing and turning a lot until he covered his eyes with a pillow or buried his face to my back.

I took my table out from my painting room and decided to go through every single news about Fred Ecclesias recently.

Everything he did was shocking, from shutting down the private school, divorcing Maria, drowning Mara, and bringing up the case he buried a decade ago. Also, some people exposed Ecclesias' Private School incidents throughout the years.

There were so much assault and abuse caused by Mara and other bullies that came after her. It was all because of wanting to rule and thirst for power.

Grandfather mentioned Mara and Clement being hospitalized. What did Clyde do? He didn't go to London, so did he send people there?

I decided to look into The Bloodhounds on the internet. There's not a lot of information about them, but there are rumors about them. When I looked into Clyde's name, nothing came out except a couple of paparazzi photos.

I saw a news website posting the Bloodhounds profile and their headquarters address which are restricted to the public. Big walls surround the big plot of land with two buildings inside.

Paparazzi tries to see what's inside but never gets to take a peak. It's heavily guarded twenty-four-seven, not to mention if you go near that property, they will hack into your gadget.

I've always wondered what kind of person Clyde grew up to become. I never knew about his life after he left Europe. He mentioned the mafia and how he almost died, but who and what exactly is the Bloodhound?

After meeting Asher and Mason, I believed that they do criminal things. They look scary and intimidating, especially after seeing how Asher treats Anastasia. Anastasia reminded me of Mara a little bit after seeing her dragging Celine away.

I walked into my painting room and started painting. Let's see how my twisted mind led me to paint today.

Clyde Nielsen

I woke up to a sweet cookie smell. I got up and put on my pants before leaving the room. Luna and Mila were talking in the kitchen, and when they noticed me, Mila excused herself immediately.

I found many bread, cookies, and cupcakes on the kitchen table.

"I went out with Mila earlier to buy breakfast. How's your sleep?" She asked as I walked towards her, hugging her from the back and kissing her cheek.

"Why do you buy so many when there are only two of us?" She grabbed a cookie and put it in front of me so I could take a bite.

"It's good, and I'm craving sweets." She turned her body around and gave me her sweetest smile, "I have something for you." Before I could ask, she grabbed my hand and led me to her painting room.

She opened the door, and there was a painting on display.

It's an abstract-a combination of grey, gold, dark blue, and black.

"It's for you. You said you want one to hang in your office." She said, and I walked closer to it.

I always knew Luna would be a talented painter or an artist, but I never knew seeing a painting would feel an attachment. Whenever I went with her to an art gallery or a museum, all the paintings felt the same, but not this one.

She painted it for me. She personalized it for me.

"It's not dry yet, but I want you to see it. What do you think?" She asked as she looked at me with her puppy eyes. I smiled and turned to her, "It's beautiful. I love it." She then clapped her hands like a seal.

"Thank you." I kissed her and she nodded.

My attention landed on the painting again but another one caught my eyes. It's placed behind the painting that she gave me. It was red with black and white strokes. There's a white stroke that resemblance a word.

KILL

"Who do you want to kill, Butterfly?" I asked her without thinking about her reaction.

"What?!" She looked at me in shock. She even took a step back, looking at me scared.

"Who?" I asked again.

"How did you-" She's speechless.

"That red panting, you wrote KILL with the white stroke. You blend it in so well that no one would notice it." I said and without any warning she smacked my back so hard, "Hey! What was that for?!"

"How the fuck did you see that?!" She's mad.

"Am I not supposed to see that?!" I asked and she hit me again.

"Don't talk to me!" With that she walked out from the painting room and locked herself in her room. I tried knocking on her door and begged her to come out but she told me to go.

She cried because she thinks her painting is not as cool as it used to. I told her that I was the only person who can see it. She cried again.

Usually I find girls annoying when they're crying but Luna was adorable.

"I'm counting to three, if you don't open the door, I'll kick it." I warned.

"Get lost!" She sobbed.

"One..." I started to count, "No, if you dare kick my door, I'm going to kick you out from the apartment."

"How can you kick the owners out from his own apartment?"

"What? You bought the building?!" She raised her voice.

"Two..."

"I'm kicking you out regardless!" She added and I laughed.

"I'm not giving you the painting!"

"Too late, it's mine." I said knocking on her door again, "Thr-" She opened the door and threw my clothes straight to my face.

"You're annoying!"