25-year-old Lyra loves to dance and hang out with her best friend, who is more like a sister. Lyra's world is turned upside down when she is taken hostage. Soon Lyra discovers she is drawn to one of the Russian men who took her and fights it, knowin...
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As I wait for our guests to arrive, I grow more and more anxious. I told Viktor what my father wants, and Viktor didn't seem to happy about it.
"Whatever you do, don't piss them and keep your face blank," he said with a serious tone. I scrunched my face at him and nodded, then left to get ready.
I'm now standing in front of my mirror, debating between black and red dress. I want something to scream power or intimidation. I bite my lip then take the black dress off, letting it fall to the floor.
I grab the sleek blood-red dress and unzip it. I step into the dress and turn around in the mirror to see how it fits. "Perfect."
I'm trying desperately to zip up my dress when a knock sounds at my door. Holding my dress to my chest, I open the door a bit, peeking out to see my father standing there. His blue eyes are meeting with mine, and I can't help the surprise that shows on my face.
I pull the door open, letting him step into the room and shiver as he passes me."James, what is it I can do for you? Is the guess here already? I question growing worried.
" May I?" He asks, pointing to my dress. "Uh, yeah, sure," I turn around, feeling fingers on my back as he zips me up. "Yes." I scrunch my nose. "What?"
"Yes," he says again," never sure or yeah, always be yes and confident when answering a question." "Yes, father," I say with more confidence.
"Now take this and strap it to your thigh," he says, handing me a gun and a gun strap holder. "I have not been taught to use one yet," I mean, grabbing it from his hands.
"You will soon, just aim and shoot if things go south we should always be prepared in this world." He says, grabbing the gun and showing me how to turn off my safety.
"That will be all then. I shall see you soon," he turns and walks out the door, not waiting for my answer. I run my hands, threw my hair, and strap it to my thigh as he had asked of me. The tight dress does nothing to hide what I am carrying underneath, but I assume everyone in the room will have guns, so I guess it does not matter much anyway.
I finish my makeup. Deep red lipstick, smokey eye shadow, and curl my long hair. Deep breath Lyra, you can do this. You show them your boss. You will be the boss; you are the boss. Show no fear no matter how much you may or may not want to run from the room screaming.
The picture of me running from a room screaming makes me laugh. Yeah, right, I will have to kill them all before that happens. I slap my self in the face. No, Lyra, you are not your father. You don't kill unless if its for protection only to survive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eight men walk into the room, and I decided I did want to run from the office, screaming. Every single one of them was scary as hell. When the hell did the Chinese become scarry! The men looked they are ready to murder, well all except one.
One stands out from the rest of them. His smile is not bright but not dull, either. He walks with confidence, money, and power. He reminds me of my father, although my father does not often smile noir does he walk into a meeting smiling.
I keep my face blank but friendly and stand beside my father. The one that stands out makes eye contact with me and greets me instead of my father. His thick black hair is smoothed back nicely. Nicely tanned skin and black eyes.
"What a beautiful daughter you have here, Mr. Delaney," he picks up my hand and kisses it right as Viktor walks into the room. His eyes, honey brown eyes make contact with my hand in his. I see his jaw clench and have to urge to smirk at him.
"Lyra, pleasure to meet you, Mr.?" I question at the end, cocking my brow. "Mr. Chang, but the pleasure is all mine."
"Yes, she is quite lovely, isn't she," my father replies. "Mh, indeed," Mr. Chang whispers.
I fake smile and try not to shiver then pull my hand away. "Let's sit shall we gentlemen," I say, sitting down on one of the chairs at the Big oval table.
The office is significant, with black glass surrounding the whole room. The lens is so dark you can't see through it. It makes me wonder why they did not just use a standard wall. Maybe it's soundproof, bulletproof. Who am I kidding? My father is a billionaire; it's here because it looks fantastic.
"Yes, let get down to business," my father replies, sitting next to me. Everyone finds a chair and sits. Viktor takes his spot on the other side of me, giving my thigh a gentle squeeze.
The men talk about expanding territory, gun shipments, most of it boring until I hear."We also need to broaden the warehouse for sex trafficking, Our men are bringing in a lot of women over the last few months, and we sell better than ever." One of the men says in excitement.
My stomach plummets, my insides twisting. My father expected me to be this? To do this? My fingers start fiddling, wanting to get out of here. Viktor notices this and grabs my hand in his. "Ignore what they are saying, love," he whispers in my ear and kisses me on the cheek.
What seems like forever, the meeting finally comes to an end. It takes a lot for me not to jump and run, but I don't know it will look weak, something I can't afford, I slowly get up saying my goodbyes to all the men in the room. Then walk out of the room, only stopping just outside the door when I hear my name. I recognize the voice as Mr. Changs.
"Does she know, you killed her mother," Mr. Chang questions. I gasp covering my mouth and wait for his reply. This can't be right; it's not possible. "No, and I prefer to keep that way," he says in a hard tone. I don't think at that moment seeing nothing but red and feeling nothing but rage so severe that I may never recover.
I pull my gun out and step into the room, aiming it at my father as I click off the safety. Viktor's eyes widen shock, but recovers and moves next to me with his gun pulled out also.
I have never seen noir felt so much rage in my life then I did at this moment. "Anyone moves, and I shoot," I yell in anger. "Well, well, guess the cats out of the bag," Chang says, smirking.
I look into my father's pissed off gaze."Tell me everything, now, or I shoot," I demand from my father.
My father smiles, looking more like the devil than ever." You won't shoot me, and I don't have to tell you a damn thing. Put that fucking gun down now!" My father says.
"I wouldn't count on that," Viktor says, taking me by surprise. "No, I wouldn't count on that," I repeat, pressing the trigger. My father goes down with a scream, his legs falling out from under him. All guns come out, and all hell breaks loose as everyone realizes just how serious I am.
**************************** Yup that just happened. S. M Irene
