Psycho Billionaire

Chapter Eleven

Kiara

"How do I trust you to help me?" I asked.

I had burned my hand for far too long to know people would dig a pit deep rather than pull me out. And I had no reason to believe that this man who was also Jasper"s best friend would offer to help me get out.

"I"ve met Jazz"s ex- girlfriends and let"s just say they weren"t so lucky."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

"I"d like to leave it at that." Lucas"s dark green eyes pierced right through me and I knew if he dug up the old coffins, I would have to face the skeletons.

I spared a glance towards Jasper who was now laughing at something Amy had said. He caught me staring and smiled. No one would have suspected the monster that he was; that sweet smile hid some really dark secrets. Those eyes had seen some horrors I didn"t want to see.

"I don"t believe you can help me. "I told Lucas. "I mean, you probably teamed up with Jasper and this probably is some kind of a sick game of his."

"Well, you don"t have a choice." Lucas said. "I"m not helping you. I"m just going to help myself sleep better at night. I don"t think I can live with myself if something happened to you too."

Too? What happened to those other girls?

He continued. "I"m a magician in case Jazz didn"t fill you in, and it"s mandatory for me to do one act for all my guests by the end of the party. It is during that time that you will get your chance." He waltz me towards the other end. "Take it or leave it, the choice will be yours."

He twirled me around and I barreled straight into Jasper"s arms while Amy joined Lucas again. He kissed her, she giggled in his arms. They seemed so happy.

Jasper tightened his hold on my waist as he placed my arms around his neck. He leaned in for a kiss and I couldn"t protest when his lips slammed into mine and he gently bit my bottom lip. I felt a sharp pain. "Jasper, you"re hurting me!"

He pulled back and pushed a tendril of hair behind my ear. The worst part was I couldn"t read his thoughts from his expressions. He had mastered the art of nonchalance.

I"d decided I wasn"t taking a chance, it wasn"t worth a risk. Lucas could be a sheep in wolf"s clothing and naturally he could be screwing with me. If I took the bait, I would hear the end of it when I get back home with Jasper.

Home? I"d unknowingly called his house my home. How f****d up had I become in two months?

"Kiara, I"d like to talk to you in private." Jasper said pulling me out of my thoughts.

I nodded. Jasper led me away from the ball room passing the long hallway. His confident strides told me he had been in this house a zillion times. Lucas was his best friend, it was a given Jasper was familiar with the place. He came to a halt in front of a room.

It was a spacious room with modern decor. Everything was vintage in the room. Bookshelves and trophies were lined up from top to bottom with touch-me-not antique pieces standing proud by the corner.

I was so preoccupied by the beauty of the room that I didn"t realize Jasper was throwing daggers at me. His glare turned hard as he closed the door.

He towered over me with his six feet something height, and I felt really small compared to his huge built. That handsome face analyzed me.

"What were you talking to Lucas?"

I couldn"t think straight. How was I supposed to answer this?

"We weren"t talking about anything."

Next thing I knew, I collided with a tall pillar. It was Jasper who used his full strength, swinging his palm against my cheek.

My cheek stung with the pain.

I stood up. In the most icy and calm voice he repeated, "What were you talking to Lucas?"

I swallowed. "We were just talking about the party. He asked me if I liked the party and that"s what we were talking about."

Another smack landed with such an impact that I felt something warm drizzle down my nose. I touched it with my shaky hand and found blood on my fingers. Thankfully, it wasn"t broken.

He dug his fingers into my jaw until it hurt. "I want to know the truth."

"I swear. Please believe me. That"s all we were talking about."

There was a knock at the door and I was thankful for the interruption. An old woman in maid clothing walked in. "I thought I heard some noise here. Is everything alright?"

She seemed concerned as her eyes studied me and Jasper, then her gaze flew to my nose. "Oh my goodness, are you alright dear?"

I tried to wipe my tears and the blood on my nose. "What happened?"

"She fell." Jasper said.

The woman looked at me and any person with a normal IQ would be able to tell that I hadn"t just fallen.

"I fell." I repeated.

"Okay, I"ll get the first aid box."

"Listen Beth, you saw nothing here. She just fell. It was an accident." Jasper said. "Can you repeat it for me?"

"I...I saw nothing." Beth nodded. "It was just an accident."

Jasper smiled, pleased with himself for some reason. "May I have the first aid kit please?"

One thing was clear, Lucas had been telling the truth. If Jasper was clueless as to what conversation Lucas and I had, it was safe to assume that Lucas was indeed helping me get back my freedom.

A few minutes later, I was settled in a chair in the same room with Jasper sitting beside me, the first aid kit sat between us. He dabbed a bit of disinfectant on my cheek with a cotton. I winced and stole a glance at him and his expressions were mellow. He wasn"t mad anymore. He took my hands in his and kissed them.

"You should be honest with me, baby. Don"t do things that upset me."

"I won"t."Lying was coming naturally to me.

It didn"t matter. This was the last time I would see Jasper. I was going to take another risk and go along with Lucas"s plan. It was probably my only ticket to getting out of this mess.

"When we get home, I have a surprise for you." Jasper said, giving me one of his genuine smiles.

Jasper"s surprises never excited me, if anything, it only scared the s**t outta me.

"Can"t wait." I said.

He passed me a bag of ice. "Here. Place this below your nose and keep it there. It will stop bleeding."

Jasper pulled the hair clip holding my hair back and my hair cascaded down on my shoulders. I guess it hid the glaring red mark on my cheek.

"Did you carry some of your makeup?" he asked.

"Yes, I did."

"Lovely. Just make sure the mark isn"t visible."

****

We were seated in a wide room, kind of like a mini auditorium. Jasper and I were seated right in the front and for some reason, Jasper seemed quite excited for this. I assumed this was going to be an act Lucas was talking about.

"Lucas is a magician?" I asked.

Jasper nodded from beside me. "It"s just one of his hobbies, he was always fascinated by the tricks and illusions since childhood. He was featured in Penn & Teller"s show, can you believe it? Although he couldn"t take the trophy home, but he knows what he is doing." He grinned.

The curtains slowly ascended revealing a stage with numerous props and a young man in black tailored suit. He spoke into the microphone. "Good Evening ladies and gentleman, boys and girls. As you may already be aware that parties in this house are never complete without our host"s performance. Tonight we are going to see some of the most popular acts. Please welcome Lucas Johnson."

The room filled with claps and cheers as the lights dimmed and smoke erupted in the center of the stage. When the smoke dissipated, Lucas was already standing on his spot. A silver half cat mask that only revealed his mouth and hair.

Thirty minutes in and I was already impressed by how good he was at this. He produced a white rabbit out of a hat, then a dove. He did some illusions that included the sleigh of his hands with cards. It was so clean and elegant. The audience seemed mesmerized.

The boy in suit named Ian spoke, "Now, ladies and gentlemen, we will see the last act of this show."

A huge black rectangular box was wheeled onto the stage by two very beautiful women wearing black clothing. They had the whole Gothic look going on, one of those girls I recognized was Amy who Lucas had introduced me to.

Lucas opened the door of the box, it was more like a tall cupboard, big enough to fit in a person. He then proceeded by slowing the contents of the box which was empty and then he revolved the box from all the sides so people could see that he was hiding nothing.

"This act will need a lady from the audience. Who would like to volunteer? Any takers?" Ian asked. "Although, I wouldn"t guarantee you will be going home in one piece ladies."

Laughter filled the crowd.

There were some hands raised behind us. My heart did a double somersault when Lucas passed a smile towards us.

"Ohhh, looks like the magician wants to choose a volunteer himself." Ian said as Lucas walked down from the stage towards us.

Lucas held out his gloved hand towards me. I glanced at Jasper, and he nodded his approval. He seemed too ecstatic about this. He clearly trusted his friend.

I slipped my hand in Lucas"s and he led me onto the stage.

"What is your name?" Ian asked me.

"Aria." I said. It was always safe to stick with what I"d previously blurted out.

"Aria, are you willing to take this risk?" Ian joked.

"Yes." I nodded.

"Maybe you should ask your boyfriend for permission, because Lucas may teleport you to an isolated island somewhere, or maybe you will leave tonight with a severed arm."

Some more laughter.

"Everyone, please give a round of applause for the beautiful Aria."

Claps boomed in the little auditorium as there was another cloud of smoke on the stage. Before the smoke disappeared, Amy whispered, "when you step into the box, there will be a lever on your right, pull it. You will only have ten seconds. Don"t screw this up."

"Aria, would you kindly step into the box for us please?" Ian said.

I stepped into the box. Jasper was still grinning and he waved at me. I waved back at him. So long, sucker.

Lucas closed the door of the box leaving me in complete darkness. At first I didn"t know what was going to happen but then the box began revolving and as Amy mentioned I saw a small barely visible lever on my right.

Only five seconds remaining.

It was now or never. I could take this risk or die at the hands of Jasper.

I tightened my hold over the lever and took a deep breath.

I finally pulled it.