Complete Control Bundle

Chapter Two: Knight

Chapter Two: KnightShe could scream and cause a scene, but she's never been one to start trouble and this place is foreign to her. It's only supposed to be an overnight stop for her before she's flying again the next day.

She should tell him that she forgot something important and she needs to head back to the office. She opens her mouth and says, "Did you put something in my drink?" Damn it.

"How dare you!" he exclaims immediately, his face going several shades darker. She doesn't know why she ever thought him good looking.

"Why don't you drink it yourself if you didn't put anything in it?" she asks.

"How dare you!" he responds again, like a broken record with no other way of defending himself other than to sound outraged. She wonders if this has never happened before and it's why he's so thrown by it.

"Drink it," she insists. "Then, I'd believe you."

"How dare- how dare you accuse me of something like that! I would never!" he swings his hand wide and tips the glass over, spilling it's content all over the table. They're beginning to gather a crowd. It's hard not to, with him grabbing her wrist so tightly and being so loud even though she's barely raised her voice at all. "Now look what you've done," he says as though it wasn't a deliberate act to get rid of evidence.

She raises her brows at him.

"You're a f*****g ugly cunt anyways," he says, letting go of her hand and twisting away with every bit of intention to play the part of a scorned lover as he stomps out of the bar, but his path is suddenly blocked by someone. The very same man Vanessa had been ogling the whole date.

He gestures at the mess at the table. "Perhaps you should apologize for that," he says and there's something about his tone that suggests it's not a suggestion.

The man looks incredibly unattractive as he opens and closes his mouth a few times, like he can't quite get his mouth to form the right words. Maybe he's trying to say 'how dare you' again.

Vanessa puts the glass upright, if only for there to be something to do with her hands. She gathers some napkins and tries to mop up the dripping water.

"No, don't do that, doll," the stranger hums. "He made the mess, make him clean it up."

Her date looks absolutely outraged by that, but he is still gaping like a fish out of water, unable to form the words.

"Or would you rather I bring this to the station? I don't suppose I would find anything suspicious if I searched you now?" he pushes back his suit a little, showing off the firearm that he is carrying.

She startles. He's either a police officer or the mafia.

"Did you drink anything he gave you?" he asks, turning his attention to Vanessa suddenly.

The sheer attractiveness of the guy is like a sledgehammer to the stomach. He's even more handsome up close, wearing a tight black t-shirt and black jeans under a leather jacket. Stubble brushes over a jaw that was so perfectly shaped it might as well have been carved out of stone. His eyes are the most distinctive part of his feature though, dark as sin and deep as night.

She shakes her head when the question finally sinks in.

"Good he says and grabs her date by the lapels of his shirt. Do you think you can keep getting away with what you're doing, Leonard?" His voice contains a growl and just a hint of a curl on a lip.

She is close enough to see the way the man has unsheathed his gun and is pressing it up to her date's crotch. The acrid smell of piss fills the air.

"Detective Peter, we can handle it from here," someone says, stepping up behind the giant of a man. Unlike Peter- Detective Peter- the police officer behind him is in his full uniform.

"No, I can handle it," Detective Peter insists. "You can have him after I shoot his d**k off. That'll stop him from ever doing this again, hm?"

"Are you- you can't do this!" her date exclaims. He's too afraid to struggle, but too afraid not to. He tries to pull away and she finds a pleasant sort of irony in seeing him in the position she was in earlier.

"Detective!" the officer says and another policeman in uniform appears behind him.

For a second, she thinks they're going to pull the detective off of him, but they merely continue in a softer tone, "at least bring him out back away from the cameras."

The grin he has is predatory and truly frightening and she can't really blame him for being so terrified, but the officers laugh and say. "Alright, Detective. Just give him here and we'll bring him in for processing."

"I can get you fired for this!" her date seems to have found his tongue again.

"Not really," Detective Peter sneers. "See, the last woman you tried this trick on? She's the daughter of one very powerful politician. You were called in by your HR department this morning, weren't you?" he continues. "By this time tomorrow, you will no longer have a job. There is one of two ways this can go down. You can admit to your crimes and suffer the consequences of your actions quietly, because the young woman doesn't want things to be made public, or your face can be published in papers everywhere for the next oh, week or so? These news don't really stay on the front page for very long. What do you think?" he turns to his colleague.

"I'd say a month."

"Personally, I would go with option two, the nuclear method. Draw out the court proceedings and maximize fallout. You will never get a proper job again. What do you think, Doll?" he turns to her.

She doesn't know what she should be agreeing to, but she notices the crowd they're gathering and think that can't be much good. "I think he should go with the first option."

"I say you should listen to her," he says and leans in, whispering softly enough that only the people close to them can hear him. "If you don't take the deal, I will personally see to it that your life and everything you love are ruined. I have my eye on you."

"Alright, I think he gets the point," the police officer says and drags the man away from the Detective, who grins as he puts what appears to be a tea cozy back on the table.

"Oh," she startles. She really thought he had a gun in his hand.

He grins when he catches her look of surprise.

"On the house. We're sorry for this, Miss," the bartender has set a colorful drink in front of her.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Detective Peter raises his own glass to the man, who rolls his eyes.

"f**k off, Peter," he says, but he's laughing and pouring him a drink as well. "Thanks for coming in and handling this. Jenny was pretty sure she saw him spike another woman's drink the night before, but we couldn't be sure. Will the charges stick?" he asks.

She feels like she's being involved in something that she really shouldn't be a part of.

"Saw him drop something in her drink earlier. i***t has a whole pack of the pills," Detective Peter says. "The charges will stick."

She should slowly back away and disappear. It's only polite to thank the men for saving her. "So all that- all that about a politician's daughter? It was all a lie?" Damn her curiousity.

Peter grins at her. "It's incentive for him to do the right thing," he says. "But he has also been getting complains lodged against him in the company. He's a bad man being put away."

"Oh," she murmurs. "Um- Thank you?" she says.

"Not a problem," he grins. "Why don't I get you a drink?"

"I'm not-" she chews on her bottom lip, suddenly afraid of getting in trouble.

"You're not even twenty-one, are you?"

The bartender sneakily tries to take her drink back, but she quickly tugs it towards her before she can think about it. It looks sweet and colorful. She sips at it quickly, enjoying the strawberry-melon tasting concoction and feeling it burn down her throat in the most pleasant ways. "Who says I'm not twenty-one?"

Peter laughs. "One drink, and then you can't stay here."