ALLERGIC TO LOVE - A ROSE FOR DUKE

Chapter Two: The unseen threat

Arizona Milton’s eyes snapped open to darkness. Her wrists burned, raw against the ropes binding them above her head, and the cold concrete beneath her knees bit into her skin. Her upper body was bare maybe that's why could hear her heart clearly thudding painfully as she tried to focus on her surroundings. A single bare bulb swung lazily from the ceiling, casting the room in a harsh, swinging light that painted everything in stark shadows.

She tried to call out but found her throat dry. Panic rose like a tidal wave as she realized she couldn’t move. She didn’t understand where she was or why she had been taken. Her mind raced back to her last day at Marlon Ford’s office. She had been an intern, on probation. She’d done her work diligently, stayed late, and hopedif she passed probation she would become his new secretary but that wouldn't happen if she didn't show up to work. She had lost track of how many days had gone by in this dreary place. The warehouse loomed ahead like a shadowed monolith, windows dark, its presence almost threatening in the pale moonlight,abandoned in paper but still very much in use.

A shadow detached itself from the gloom. Arizona’s breath caught in her throat. It moved with silent, deliberate grace. Dorned in black from head to toe, , unreadable. Only its eyes sharp, glinting, unyielding to her pleas,grey revealed any sign of life.

“Arizona,” the woman said softly, almost conversationally. Her voice was low, smooth, yet carried a chilling undertone, a predator at rest. “Arizona… really, what a ridiculous name. Named after a state. Who thought that was a good idea?”

Arizona blinked, trying to focus. Her brain screamed, This isn’t real. This can’t be happening. “I—I don’t know. It’s my parents…” she began, voice trembling. “Spare me,” the figure interrupted. “Your name is as ridiculous as you are. And you’ve been… ambitious. Reaching for things that don’t belong to you. Trying to get close to him.”

Arizona froze. “I—I haven’t—”

“Shhh.” The figure raised a finger, stopping her mid-word. “Don’t speak unless I allow it. Do you know what happened to Lei?” Arizona blinked. “Who?”

The eyes glinted, a thin smile cutting across the mask. “Exactly.”

Arizona’s stomach twisted, the chill that ran through her body was immediate. She had knew exactly what that meant. The only reason she had this job opportunity was because the previous secretary has just...vanished;was this figure the cause? Her mind grasped at possibilities, absurd and terrifying. Someone obsessed? A mistress? A stalker? Her thoughts scrambled, none offering clarity. She had never heard of this person before. There were no rumors, no warning, nothing that could have prepared her.

From the far corner of the room, another shadow whom she had come to know as "Druk" shifted. Massive. Immovable. Silent. Arizona’s stomach twisted again. He didn’t move unless commanded, but his presence alone radiated menace. He carried leather whips coiled like serpents. His size alone seemed unnatural, as if darkness had taken human form. She could feel his gaze even without seeing his eyes.

The figure approached, pacing slowly, deliberately, like a predator circling a caged animal. “You may be clever, Arizona,” the voice whispered, “but you misunderstand everything. You do not know him. Marlon. You do not know what is mine. And you will learn, in the harshest way, what it means to overstep.”

Arizona tried to reason,all this was because of a man that barely noticed her existence? With her voice quivering. “I—I’m just an intern… I haven’t done anything…”

Desiree’s finger pressed to her lips. “Silence, darling. No excuses. You are in my house. My rules. My territory. My control.” She paused, leaning in slightly so her eyes glinted with a dangerous light. “And you are going to learn obedience.”

Druk inched closer,the leather cords cracking against the concrete with a whispering threat. Arizona shivered. Every nerve screamed: get away, escape, run but there was nowhere to go. the first lash of the whip cracked across her back. Pain shot through her in jagged lines,fire racing along her nerves. She screamed involuntarily, the sound bouncing off the walls, swallowed by the darkness. Desiree didn’t flinch. She didn’t blink. Only her eyes moved, alive with cruel amusement.

Arizona tried to curl in on herself, but the ropes held her firm. Another strike followed, and then another. The leather cords bit into her skin with precise cruelty. She gritted her teeth, struggling to maintain some shred of control, but the pain was relentless. Each lash left raw marks.

As she was whipped,the female figure instantly salted her wounds and they burned unlike anything she had faced before this was horror.

Arizona’s entire body jolted, the fire of it consuming her. She screamed again, desperate, tears blurring her vision. the coarse grains eating into her wounds. Her body jerked involuntarily with pain, but worse was the creeping realization: she still didn't understand why this was happening. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this. Not her internship. Not her work. She had done nothing but try to be employed.

The lady in black moved closer, voice low, soft, intimate in a way that made Arizona’s blood run cold. “Do you see now?” she whispered. “Do you see why no one ever challenges me? Do you understand the consequences of stepping where you don’t belong?”

Her mind spun. She tried to speak, to explain, to tell the lady she had never attempted anything—never tried to seduce anyone. But another lash stopped her words before they could form.

“You were on probation,” the figure said lightly, almost casually. “One more step and you would have been my Marlon’s secretary. The old one… Lei. Disappeared. Just like that. Poof.” Her voice dropped low. “She tried to get him. Tried to take what was mine. And look where she is now. Gone. Forever.”

Arizona tried to remember the office, the cheerful greetings, the promise of becoming secretary, the vague whispers about Lei. None of it made sense now. Her entire world had shrunk to ropes, shadows, and pain.

“You may not realize it,” the figure continued, voice softening slightly, “but everything that touches him… eventually becomes mine.”

Arizona’s mind flailed. What does that even mean? Who is this? She tried to speak, but another lash silenced her.

"Do you understand?"

Arizona’s tears fell silently. “I… I do,” she whispered, barely audible.

Her eyes glimmered, almost approvingly. “Good. You’re learning. Remember this pain. Remember me. Remember who has power. Remember who he belongs to. And never forget…” She stepped back into the shadows, melting into the darkness as though she were part of it. “Next time, I won’t be this… gentle.”

Arizona tried to move, tried to think. How had it come to this? She had been an intern, an eager, hardworking intern, hoping to do her job well. She hadn’t done anything to provoke this. And yet… here she was, at the mercy of a woman she hadn’t even suspected. Her heart pounded. Every instinct screamed survival, but she had no plan. No allies. Nothing but terror, pain, and uncertainty. She had walked into this blindly, and now there was no turning back.

Her thoughts flickered to Marlon. Was he unaware? Had he done something, anything that led to this? She hoped desperately that he had an idea. And yet, a small, growing fear gnawed at her mind: maybe he didn't. Maybe he did, and he simply hadn’t realized who this woman really was.

Arizona’s eyes darted around the room, taking in the shadows, the ropes, the figure of Druk waiting patiently. She had no plan, no allies, no way out. Only fear, pain, and the terrifying knowledge that the woman before her could end everything in a heartbeat.

Arizona realized, with a chill that left her shaking, that she was trapped. Completely. And there was no one to save her

The figure circled her one last time, slowly, like a predator satisfied with its work, before stepping back into the shadows. Druk shifted slightly, silent and still, waiting.

Arizona’s ragged breaths filled the room. Her mind raced. I have no idea who is doing this. I don’t even know why. Maybe it’s some obsessed mistress… maybe… maybe it has nothing to do with me at all.

She shuddered. Her body ached from the lashes, her mind screamed, but she was forced to watch her captor pace slowly around her like a predator circling a caged animal.

The door creaked. Arizona shivered violently, gripping her ropes, realizing with a sinking certainty: she was trapped. Completely. And there was no one coming for her

The shadowed figure didn’t move, but the eyes glimmered one last time, sharp, calculating, promising that this nightmare was far from over and Arizona knew, with every fiber of her being, that the horrors had only just begun.