Deserving | ✔

Chapter 13

The first thing I see is darkness. Infinitive darkness.

Is this what death feels like?

I feel someone smack the back of my head.

"Wake up, for heaven's sake! That was the lowest form of chloroform and you passed out like a weakling!" I hear a rough voice say.

My eyes adjust to the light and I see myself in a chair. My hands are untied and I'm free.

The guy who hit my head is in front of me. He seems to be not much older than I am. And he really doesn't seem like a kidnapper, although I don't know how they generally look. In fact, he looks like a gentleman, with his crisp suit and neatly pushed back dirty blonde hair. Only his dangerous smirk tells him apart from a nice guy.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I'm the guy you're searching for." He says, coldly staring at my eyes.

All my thoughts suddenly rush to the cruel animal who killed Stephanie.

I don't think further, I just jerk away from my chair and pounce at him, getting ahold of his collar and pinning him to the wall.

"You killed Steph?!" I growl as I raise my fist to his cheeks. But he holds it before I could attack.

"No, asshole! Geez, you have some guts!" He says as he pushes me away. He pats his suit and cleans the wrinkles and then looks down at me.

"You do know that you're not alone here, don't you? There are 100 men here at my disposal who'd put a bullet into your body at the flick of my fingers. I don't even need them, in fact. I have my own classy gun."

I smirk. "Like I would get scared."

"You're stupid if you're not."

"Who are you?"

He looks at me, again with that cold stare.

"Daniel Lawson. Rodney and Jess's son."

Wait.

Wasn't it mentioned in the letter that they lost their son?

"Yeah, yeah... I was kidnapped. Once. But I was returned. I assume you thought I was dead. How very asshole of you."

As if you are a gentleman, I thought. Jerk. Wait a second, how's that possible?

"How did you know I knew that?"

He smirks. "Not everybody is as blind as you are, Phillip. I knew about the letter long back. Steph showed it to me."

I silently gasp. My nerves boil inside. How dare he call her that?

Wait, Stephanie showed it to him?

"Ah, that look. That look on your face is priceless. Steph didn't tell you anything about me, did she?"

I remain silent. It is true, Steph never mentioned anything about him ever. I don't know what to say.

"Care to tell me what Steph apparently didn't tell me? I don't blame her, you're probably a nobody." I finally say, finding my comeback.

He lurches in front of me and holds my collar and grits his teeth, "This 'nobody' protected your Stephanie all along, asshole!"

He leaves my collar and takes a deep breath. He mutters something below his breath and says, "Sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Steph wouldn't like it."

"Stop calling her Steph! And who are you to care so much about her liking?" I spit out.

"Well you aren't the only one who's in love with her, asshole."