RED ROOM [H.S]

9.

Their full names were Harry Styles and Niall Horan. They were in security, but not the type you'd hire out for an event. They worked with people who were even higher up on the food chain than Bill and were hired to make sure their clients didn't get a bullet between their eyes. They travelled all over the world, offering their bodies for millions of dollars to ensure that royalty of the underground world was kept safe. And now, they were offering to protect me in exchange for my loyalty.

Niall had given up on trying to explain everything to me an hour ago, and had stormed out of the apartment as soon as I asked if their company was actually a gang. I guess that was the wrong thing to ask. I now sat alone with Harry, who was doing his best to make me comfortable in his home. He had given me Panadol to soothe the ache in my head, water for my dry throat and had now just provided me with his jumper to stop my body from shaking as we spoke. For some sort of psychopath, he was a great host.

I tried not to stare at the tattoos that peaked out from his under his white t-shirt, or how his muscles flexed as he squeezed his hands opened and closed every few minutes out of nerves. Harry grew quiet and he watched me slip into his jumper, and I did my best not to sniff the collar of it. It smelled like heaven, and it was as intoxicating as it was when I was in his lap last week. I felt myself relax for a moment before stiffening again. I must be really losing my sanity if I was starting to relax in Harry's presence. For a moment, I forgot I was brought here with my hands bound and tears streaming down my face.

I couldn't sit still as my thoughts ran from me. Not with the proposal they were providing me with and not with Harry staring at me the way he was. I wanted to scold myself with how attractive I found him to be. Once I leave here, I was making a very long call to my therapist to ask what the hell was wrong with me and how to fix it.

"So you're not a gang?" I asked again, standing up. My legs wobbled underneath me as I paced back and forth, feeling hot as Harry watched me.

He wasn't worried that I would run like Niall, he was relaxed as he watched me. Observed was probably a better way to describe how his eyes tracked me, to be honest. The eyes that I had once called 'virgin eyes,' now watched me like a hawk, as if I was his prey. It scared me how quickly his whole attitude could change. One moment he was shy and awkward, the next he was confident and sure of himself. I noted the change in his behavior depended on what he was speaking about. It was strange, almost as if he had too people in that brain of his.

"No," he finally murmured.

"And your company is legitimate?"

Harry's lips switched, a small smile appearing on his lips. "Legitimate is a big word. I don't know if I would call it that."

I frowned at that, but chose not to comment on it. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that all they were asking for was my loyalty in order to protect my entire existence from the crazy and corrupt world that Bill ran. It didn't make sense, and I didn't understand why they wanted to help me, out of all people. From what Harry had told me, they were hired by millionaires. They had surveillance equipment that was worth more than I would ever make in my entire life, and here they were, offering bits and pieces of their secret world to me like I was the best secret keeper that had ever lived. How did they know I wasn't going to run off and tell Bill everything? In a bigger picture, I was just a fly in a room full of wasps. I wasn't anything special, and if I died at the hands of Bill, it wouldn't affect either of them in the slightest way.

"So all I need to do is pretend that...what, I'm on his side and give him false information? Isn't that a crime?"

"It's also a crime to threaten and innocent woman," he reminded me softly. "I might not be the perfect person, but I refuse to let him scare you, Sophia. I'm sorry that I brought you into all of this...but let me make it up to you, let me protect you."