Twin Tormentors By RARE

Chapter 42 LEIGH-ARI The merry times in Dubai eventually cto an end, and we all had to fly back home. After the incident at the masquerade party, the twins doubled my “security” and restricted my movements in all ways possible. | was against it at first, but I had to deal with it because they weren't going to change their mind. They never did. They were hell-bent on protectingand after a glance at what they actually did, | wasn’t going to ask questions. It wouldn't doany good.

And Laura, she flew back home. She had a life, and it sure as hell didn’t involve underground lords with guns and tattoos and mercenaries. Although it was hard to let her go, knowing that | was going to be alone again, | had to.

| had to let her go.

And | missed her already, so much. She made living this life a hundred times better in all ways than one. But here | was, back in Dark Woods where it all started.

Behind the closed stone walls of Dark Woods castle, life was well boring. A lot of maids roaming around, the harem in the other wing, and nothing else. Just that. The twins were busy with whatever they were busy with, and all | did was to be a perfect housewife and stay a t hdoing nothing.

It was late in the night when | left the tower lounge and padded bare-foot back to my room. There was a gazillion of cameras in the castle so | told my “maids” to rest when we were at home, a girl needed tto herself.

| arrived at my room and found it empty, like always. A sudden thought of getting a pet crossed my mind. Maybe it wouldn't be this boring if | had a little furball keepingon my toes. But that thought was well dismissed when a tattoed guy crossed my mind. He would probably roast it or deep fry it because | spent a lot of twith it. So to save a life of a poor animal, | was well off by myself.

| walked straight to the bed, plopped myself down, and looked up at the ceiling in the dark, unlit room. A shadow flickered at the terrace got my attention and | tore from the bed. It was s o swift that | nearly missed it, but | swear | saw something move. The twins weren't around, so it sure wasn’t them. And my maids were all in their quarters. | wanted to dismiss the thought but something about the whole thing felt really unsettling. With that, | took silent steps towards the lace curtains, careful not to make any sound. I didn’t know what it was and | wasn’t going to anger it by making noise. Although I lived a sad life, I still wanted to see the sunrise and sunset, at least for the other 20 years.

The whir of the air outside added to the pent-up anticipation, | found my heart beating louder and harder than usual. | could even hear myself breathing. The more | got closer to the glass double doors, the more unsettled and unnerved | became.

My eyes were as wide as saucers and | knew if there was really something out here, | had to show it a thing or two. Because it would take a million years for my guards to get here. A bullet would reach in a heartbeat, yes, but for that to happen, | had to hit the panic bed somewhere on my headboard.

Standing an inch from the curtains, | pulled on my big girl panties and abruptly yanked them apart, to find...

Nothing! The outside stood unmoving, with four flower pots that Enzo insisted | keep on the terrace sitting there and breathing the chill air of the night. The blue light bulbs on the balcony railings were all lit, illuminating the night sky with their glorious blue hue. The loungers and cushion were all in place, everything was in place. And there was not even a soul present at that place.

I huffed out and stormed back to the bed.

I just laid there and thought of my life. But the more | sat there, the more | got the sense of being watched. It was as if there was a phantom spirit around like | wasn’t alone in the room.

And it was really strange. | knew | had people watching every move | made, every ticking second of the day but that has never unnerved me. This, this one here felt different.

Deciding to stop with the thoughts, | pulled in the blankets and tugged myself in.

Minutes ticked by and | grew antsier and antsier. For an umpteenth time, | got up and switched on the bedside lamps. A scream tore out ofwhen | spotted a man seating in one o f the couches, facing my bed and just looking. | “Shh shh! Keep it down will ya?” He shushed with his hands and got up. He was dressed in a black denim jacket, a pair of black jeans, and a black dress shirt that was buttoned all the way down. His hair was well cut down and trimmed neatly, to an extent | could see the skin of his scalp.

“Who are you?” | asked in a panicked voice, slowly pulling myself into a sitting position and searching for the panic button.

“Oh con mama, that hurts.” He tilted his head and watched atintently. | studied him for a good minute, and then my eyes fell on the eagle wings that spread around his front neck.

“Xander,” | whispered and my movements froze.

“I knew you wouldn't forgetthat easily.” He smiled, revealing pearl white teeth, and stalked towards the bed predatorily. | just sat there, frozen with all thoughts running up in m y mind. First of all, how did he make it past the guards? Because there were like a million of them here, and they were all armed. The security cameras, just how? “What are you doing here?” | asked trying to pull up a straight face. But if | were, to be honest, I was scared shitless.

“Me? Just paying you a visit.” He said walked around with his hands clasped at his back, with no care in the world. He was light on his feet, very swift, and utterly relaxed. “I don’t get it. How did you get here?” neither.” He replied shortly and then abruptly turned his head to the side, and whatever that caught his attention wiped the playfulness off his face. Leaving him with a stoic, straight, and bone-chilling expression. He turned and stared at me, the playful look on his face gone without a trace. | pulled all the strength that was left inand tried to hit the panic button, but he lifted a finger, silencing me.

“Don’t do that.” He warned softly, and | slowly sunk back into the bed.

“Looks like your twins are back.” He informed and walked to the terrace, and that’s when | heard the soft murmurs just right outside the door. How the hell did he even hear that? “Don’t lock the door next time. | hate scaring you out of your wits.” And with that, he opened the door and disappeared into the cold night.

The bedroom door suddenly opened and in cVerzi with Enzo on his heels. Their eyes landed onand they both looked atwith a puzzled look.

“You aren't asleep.” | just sat there with a mouth dry, unable to speak. How was | going to tell them that Xander was around? And that he chere, in here? “Yeah, | am just sleepless,” | said instead. | didn’t know what to say. They both shrugged out of their clothes and then climbed to bed, on both of my sides, and in a blink of an eye, they were out! Leavingto my thoughts.

One, | was very sure that Xander was going to pull this stunt again. But | didn’t know how to tell the twins. And if | did, what would Xander do to me? Because if he made it past the security, he surely wasn’t that simple.

For the millionth tever since | stepped foot in Dark Woods, | found myself asking whom did | offend in my previous life to be caught up in this mess?