Married to the Devil

The flare she wanted

        arrow's subtle smile curled into more of a smirk, one of amusement as she masked everything with confidence and took the glass from him. he saw it in those eyes of hers, when she laid them upon him, the realisation of how easily she recognised him. he briefly tilted his wine glass at her cheers, but instead of having a drink, he lowered the glass, his blue eyes watching her closely, not even bothering to mask that. even though his lips were smiling, his eyes were slightly narrowed, and of course, through the mask one can see how that smile of his was not touching those eyes. with every word she spoke, she make it even more obvious that she was in fact a new comer, and one without a proper escort. he often flaunted how tight his security is and really, was his infamous security so easily breached by one girl? but he will allow it, she was in fact amusing him with her attempts to make light of the situation. and arrow was lacking some entertainment for the night, why not just play along for a bit? 

        he chuckled softly at her question, his sound sounding almost like a velvet caress, it was neither too deep, nor too high. he was soft spoken, with the right amount of politeness, then again, he only had a little opportunity to show the real him. as long as she is hiding herself behind the mask, he would as well. "really desperate, my dear. perhaps that was why i took pity on you." he said, leaning in a bit so she could hear what he was saying. "but dont get me wrong, you look beautiful. youll fit right in." he said, his hand reaching out to take her, lifting it up to his lips to plant a gentle kiss on her knuckle, his eyes not leaving hers even for a moment. he let go of her hand then, listening to her question about his party, oh love, it really was lacking all the flare. "curious little thing, aren't you?" he asked, his voice amused and he was not even bothering to conceal it. he stood there just watching her for a couple of moments before he raised his glass, pouring the rest of the wine into her glass before settling his empty glass on the side. he took her hand then, placing it on his elbow as he starting walking through the crowd, across the room, it was always better to have a conversation while walking instead of standing idle anyways. "i am curious as well, mi bella amor." he spoke, leaning in to the side, almost whispering the words against her ear, "although i am more curious on how you got in when you are clearly not invited." he spoke, his words keeping a neutral tone as always when he said those words out loud, although he stopped his tracks, turning her towards him, his head c*****g to the side with a small smirk curling his lips, "dont tell me you have a habit of sneaking into parties uninvited." he said, his eyes momentarily going to the clock on top of the stairs which shows the time. it was almost time. he will deal with her, but not now. perhaps later. "we will talk later, mi bella." he said, his voice was low, he never did raise his voice against her, not at any point, although his last few words his hold a hovering threat on them. grabbing her hand to tug her closer, his eyes not even leaving hers for a moment as his hand reached out, his index finger gently tracing the outline of the mask she was wearing. he was tempted to pry it off of her, he was curious to know who she was. although those lips of hers does present an enticing image, whatever he was seeing, he was liking it. 

       charming, he was -- she expected that much. what she didn't expect was that after she politely indulged him in his choice to escort her across the room, he would blatantly call her out on her little act. was it that easy to see through her? she didn't like to think so, which was why the little glint of confidence in her eyes faded. the smile that played on her lips was also replaced with a small frown. though she was no stranger to retorts, she found it difficult to come up with an appropriate response. there was no way she could convince him she belonged after that. so, she stood there, almost dumbstruck, as she felt his touch hovering just above her cheek. please don't take it off, please don't take it off, she found herself mentally praying. though, she doubted he would know her. sure, she came from a long line of old money, but so did several others. with how high up he was, some faces simply didn't make the list. and, hers had no reason to, which if she was going to be honest, played out well in her favor. she was supposed to go in and out. that was it. 

"you are invited to stay of course, just dont cause any trouble." he said, with a smile, although that smile did slowly melt away as he threatened her again, only this time he was not masking it with sweet words or a fake smile, "my security knows how to deal with troublemakers such as yourself." he said. tessa gave a curt nod of acknowledgement as it seemed to be the only response she could muster up. was she supposed to apologize? as if. she had done nothing wrong. well, she did steal an invitation and sneak in to one of the most exclusive events, but she wasn't rather known for apologies. her eyes remained on the male until he was out of sight and she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in. she shook her head a little to clear her thoughts. she wouldn't let this venture of hers be compromised just because some big shot guy handed her an empty threat. "i'll find out just what you're up to," she muttered quietly to herself. then he took a step back, gave her another smile of his as he turned around and moved away from her, climbing up the stairs and disappearing off to a room to the far left. two security guards closed the door as he walked in, and there were four other guys standing around his desk. he took his seat, getting comfortable on the leather chair before turning around in the chair to face the monitor stationed behind his desk. the screen was showing the party that was happening downstairs, his eyes momentarily fell on the girl he left moments ago before giving a small nod. the guy standing to his right nodded in return before saying something through the microphone tucked inside his cuffs. and suddenly the music stopped and everyone turned towards the stairs. a small smirked curled on arrows lips, let the party begin.   

down in the party hall, the music abruptly stopped and as a natural reaction, she furrowed her eyebrows. much like the other attendees, her gaze shifted to the top of the stairs, where the spotlight was focused. tessa moved in closer to a small group of people, in an attempt to shield herself from any further unwanted attention. whatever this was, she figured it was better to be surrounded than singled out. of course, she assumed it to be a performance of some sort. and yes, it turned out to be just that, but not quite the good kind. as a matter of fact, much to her horror, she began to put two and two together when names and numbers began to get thrown around. that definitely explained a lot. and though, she attended the masquerade ball for insight and tips, there was no way she would resort to illicit methods. her great-grandfather did back when he ran things, but her father put an end to it all when he took up the reins and she wholeheartedly supported him on that decision. 

        the heiress attempted to conceal her emotions in order to blend in and she watched as one by one, the girls were being auctioned off to the highest bidders. this was bad. every now and then, she would glance around, in a feeble attempt to discern anyone who was also against all this. to no avail, it seemed that she was very much on her own. tessa glanced down at her feet momentarily as she tried to plan her next move. when her eyes returned to the stairs, she immediately distinguished a familiar face and her panic level rocketed sky-high. that was hailey. hailey myers. they'd known each other since they were little girls, but tessa's mind simply couldn't comprehend why her childhood best friend stood up there. sure, it'd been a long while since they'd seen each other, but hailey would always hold a special place in tessa's heart.

        without so much as another thought, the brunette impulsively headed for the washrooms. still, she managed to make a smooth exit as she politely excused herself and walked with patience. when she was inside the ladies restrooms, that was a whole different story. in fact, she immediately opened her clutch and pulled out her phone. she wasn't going to call the cops, even though it might seem like the most obvious choice. she knew that the authorities had to be in on it because there was just no way anyone could pull off something this big without the help of a crooked cop in the higher up department. still, she just needed to tell someone about the things she'd seen tonight. though, perhaps, it probably would've been a wiser choice to leave the venue first, considering she wasn't exactly in the clear just yet. not when the host himself had made a guarantee to her he seemed rather intent on acting upon, despite her initially brushing it off.