Lovers By Force

Chapter 38

I find myself waking up to an empty house, yet again. Was he pulling the same shit as last time? Maybe not... he wouldn't? Right? I get up and get myself a bit more presentable.

-

"Miss Luna, you have a guest waiting for you downstairs." Wendy informs me. "Who could be here?" I ask. "Miss Scarlett." "I'll be down in just a second!" I quickly finish what I was doing before making my way downstairs. As I walk downstairs I find Scarlett reading a magazine, drinking Tea.

"Scarlett!"

"Luna! Hi princess! How are you feeling?"

"Well... fantastic."

"That sounds a little unconvincing."

I sigh, "I'm struggling a bit."

"Anything I can help you with?"

"No.. you can't. I need to figure this out myself. But I'm not sure I can."

"You're pretty smart, Luna. I'm sure you'll solve whatever that is you're struggling with."

"Am I smart? I don't even know any longer. I just feel like whatever I do, I'll end up hurting someone."

"You can't avoid that sometimes. Life's not there to please everybody."

"But what if I want to? What if I don't know how to do it different? I'm sorry! I shouldn't be ruining the mood with my problems."

"No it's okay, really. You don't really tell me much about yourself Luna."

"I could say the same, you still haven't told me why you owe Tom a debt."

She looks at me, her eyes heavy. "Tom... Tom saved my life... but in exchange I've become bound to him."

Huh? Bound? "What do you mean, bound?"

Her eyes deepen into an ocean of sadness. "Luna, I'm the product of an affair between my parents marriage. Mother cheated on my father with my supposed uncle. My father ended up killing my mother because of this and he was out to kill me too.... If it wasn't for Tom. Tom is a monster, yes but somewhere in there he has a heart. Tom took over my family's empire after killing my father and destroying anyone who was seeking to harm me... why he did it? I can't tell you, he said my story reminded him of someone who was also killed by the hands of an evil man and he wasn't going to allow the same mistake to happen twice. That's when his empire grew, taking them down one by one."

Scarlett looked at me with profound eyes, sadness, terror and a hint of hate in her. "I owe my life to Tom, and I would gladly risk my life for his. He saved me when I thought there wasn't any saving." She looks at me. "So Luna, yes I owe him a debt, and that debt is my life."

"A-and you're O-okay with this?" I ask, terror filling in my veins.

"Oh Luna" her eyes softening, a gentle smile on her lips. "Your innocence sometimes makes me jealous....when you're in a life like this. Your life means absolutely nothing. You're about to get married to the worlds biggest, most fearsome man, condemned from his family, he walks alone. The only thing that keeps him from becoming an inhumane monster is his twin brother. I might be saying too much... but have you ever wondered about Tom's parents?"

My blood ran cold. I had never truly thought about Tom's family. Not once, I was too busy thinking about my own feelings, why he treated me so cruelly, yet I never knew the true reason behind his cruel-ness.

"I better be going, it's getting late." Scarlett says as she gets up off the couch and walks out the door. I sat there, looking down at my hands. My mind was asking so many questions. Questions that could only be answered by Tom. Phone began to ring, Roman was calling me.

"Hello.."

"Hi Luna, are you ready?"

"I'm sorry... for what?"

"We agreed to see each other tonight. I was thinking of taking us to a coffee shop."

"Oh! Sure... let me just grab a bag." My mind was still on what Scarlett said. Her story... but I had a new priority now, Roman. I grab a purse from my room and walk out the door, not caring about how I looked. I just needed to get this over with.

-
We arrived at the coffee shop, ordered and sat down.

"So Luna... have you thought about my offer?"

"Oh... about leaving Tom. Yeah... look Ro-"

"I've already looked for houses, I've found one I think you'll love, nice view, big balcony and just a couple minutes away from a shopping center."

I felt an immense amount of uncomfortableness. I couldn't see myself being with Roman no matter how hard I tried.

"I don't think so..."

"Oh that's fine, we can always look for more." That wasn't what I was talking about, but I just couldn't get all my words out.

"Come, let's go out for a walk around the city, maybe it'll get you into better spirits."

"Sure.." I say, sighing.

"Great, wait for me outside. I'll go pay." And I did just that. I walked outside and stood beside a trash bin. It was a bit chilly outside and much darker than expected. My mind was still spinning and spinning. Thoughts over thoughts. Whenever I decided on something, I didn't waver. I didn't have second thoughts. I was always sure in what I did and what I didn't do. But now I was the most unsure I had ever been. Did I wanna move in with Roman? I felt so incredibly uncomfortable. Being here.

Waiting for him. And not for...him. God why was I always thinking about him? He did wrong. On so many levels. And still I thought about how comfortable and safe I felt whenever I was with him. How different it was from what I felt now. But I told myself to give it another try. And everything in this decision resulted in everyone else being happy. Everyone else besides... no. Maybe he didn't even care. Why would he?

Sure, maybe I thought we had become something like friends. But our relationship was confusing on too many levels. He wouldn't care. He wouldn't. A group of guys passed me before one of them stopped.

"Hey! I know you. You're Luna, right?"

"Right...who are you..?"

"Wow you don't remember me?" He laughs, "don't worry about it, we never even talked. I'm Leo, a friend of Tom."

"Oh! Nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Whatcha doin' here all by yourself?"

"I'm waiting for...someone."

"Hey, I'm sorry by the way."

"For what?"

"What your boyfriend did was messed up."

"My boyfriend?"

"If Tom hadn't beaten him up already, I've taken my own turn with him." What is he talking about??

"You're ten times more pretty than this random chick he made out with. Some dudes don't know a girl's worth. Don't take it personal."

"LEO!!"

"Looks like I gotta go, see ya around Luna."

What a fucking asshole. Roman seriously made out with a girl after practically begging me to be with him. Did he not learn from the masquerade ball? To make matters worse he was walking out the door.

"Luna? Let's go."