C6

I looked around, drinking in the expensiveness.

"Are you even supposed to be driving?" He didn't even look at me and maintained his silence.

"Do you drive Khloe to school in this car?" I asked another question when he didn't answer the first.

More silence.

"Don't you think..."

"Enough questions" he growled at me.

I shut my mouth and looked out of the window.

Memories of that day were coming back in full force, I was trying to ignore them but they flashed past as we passed by every slow car.

I was brought back to the present by a cold tone.

"Stop tapping on my dashboard lest you ruin it with your murky fingers"

"You have murky fingers" I muttered.

"What?" He glared at me.

"I didn't say anything" I huffed and looked away.

I subconsciously tapped the window.

"Quit that" Jason barked angrily.

"What?"

"Twitching, you're pulling my attention from the road to what you're doing"

"Then don't look" I snarled.

"It's my car remember?!" He raised an eyebrow.

I placed my hands in my laps and fiddled with them.

Flashes. Small flashes.

"Kill her, I don't care how. Drunk driving, over speeding, faulty brakes" Aunt whispered into a man's ear.

He nodded and pulled Selene into a small almost junk car.

Selene smiled cutely at the man.

"Aunty said that'll you will take me to my parents"

The man grunted and started the car, it croaked and groaned before coming to life.

"Do you have a daughter?" Selene asked him as the man drove in silence.

"Sit down" he grunted and took a swig of alcohol.

"You should stop drinking, my teacher says..."

"Sit down girl, I'm trying to find guts to kill you, don't you understand. Your aunt doesn't want you anymore"

"It's not true. Aunt loves me, she would never..." Tears welled up in Selene's eyes.

"I'm telling you girl..."

Bright headlights and....

Jason tapped me and I turned to him.

It was then I noticed we had stopped beside the road and the rest of the convey had stopped with us.

Jason was saying something but my mind was focusing on the crash that happened after the bright lights.

He passed me a water bottle from the ones in the car.

I uncapped it and gulped a mouthful.

"Are you okay?" I heard him say.

I inhaled slightly and released a shaky breath. Jason opened the window allowing air in.

"Better?"

I nodded slowly.

"What went wrong?"

"Nothing serious, just a memory relapse"

"Nightmares?"

"Something like that"

I tapped the dashboard again.

Jason grabbed my cold hand.

"Sorry" I apologized before he could say anything.

Someone tapped his window and he had to wind down.

"Sir, is everything alright, Sir?"

"Where is Khloe?" He asked.

"With Sandra, Sir in..." the man answered stiffly.

"Go on ahead"

He waited until they had left before he looked at me.

"How?" He asked me.

"What?"

"How do you cope?" He asked me like I couldn't understand simple monosyllabic languages, for his information; I can't.

"I distract myself"

"Tapping?"

"Talking, radio or something else. I don't like the silence," he waited for me to gather my nerves to speak, "it reminds me of how quiet it was when the car slammed into a truck"

He squeezed my fingers.

"What do you like?"

"What?" I looked at him confused.

He just gave me a slow look.

"Cooking, I love cooking"

He started the car and starting driving.

"For how long?"

"Long enough, I used to cook for...," I swallowed,"my...my..." I trailed off, the words still tasted like bile mixed with lead.

Jason turned on the radio with his other hand. I jerked.

"Don't do that"

"Do what?, Let go of the wheel?"

"Yes, it's dangerous"

"Calm down, Miss Orlando. Rolls-Royce has a stable center of gravity..."

"I don't care if it's sticks to the ground like a magnet to opposite poles, don't joke with that"

That smirk was back.

"Whatever you say, Miss Orlando"

"How do you change gears then, don't tell me..."

Jason pulled my hands and placed it on the gear stick then changed gears.

"I see..."

I looked away.

"So?"

"I have loved cooking ever since I was young..."

°°°

We talked until we reached the mansion.

Two men at the gate tried to stop the car, Jason roughly ran into one.

They swore angrily and I watched a satisfied smile tear slightly at Jason's lips.

One of the guards knocked angrily at Jason's tinted window, he delayed still smiling wickedly.

The man knocked harshly this time and Jason rolled the window down.

I think it gave Jason great pleasure to see the man turn white and step back in fright.

He opened the door, looked at me then turned up the radio volume before shutting the car door and locking it.

I looked around the car and tapped to the rhythm of the music, someone banged loudly on the car window and slid down with a thump.

Then I met Jason's green eye looking at me through the tinted glass.

He opened the door and pulled me out.

Several men lay groaning on the floor, he made me walk over then as they lay in order close to car.

Jason wiped his bruised knuckles on a wet napkin.

He pulled out a mask and passed it to me, I wore it without complain.

"I still have certain issues to discuss with you..."

"Don't ruin my fun" he grabbed my hand and pulled me along the path towards the entrance.

"Park my car" he tossed the key to the guy with a scar on his right eye.

I dug my heels into the floor and Jason stopped pulling.

"What?," He looked really pissed. "Don't tell me you'll chicken out just now"

"I need to know what I'm going into, I still like my head, thank you"

He looked straight into my eye, almost down to my soul.

"No-one is going to touch you, no-one can touch you" he pulled me this time gently towards the entrance.

We stopped at the entrance and the men stood stiffly as they checked our invitations, they nodded when it was verified and we walked past.

Jason crooked his elbow and I placed my hands there.

He led me into a big hall with bright lights and people socializing.

Whispers arose as we walked into the hall.

A man left someone he was talking with and headed to us.

"Mr Danvier, how lovely to have you attend..." He bowed as he spoke.

"Skip the useless pleasantries, where's Cordero?"

"I will lead the way Sir" he bowed again and then turned to lead the way.

Jason bent slightly and then whispered in my ears.

"Don't take anything he gives you, don't kiss him..."

"What?" I whisper-yelled.

"Don't kiss him, is that too much to understand?"

"Why would I kiss him?"

"You'll see. I'll set the pace, follow at your own pace. Distract him and nothing else and don't ever take off your mask. Most important, is the last one. If he reaches for your face which he will, that bastard has no sense of shame, scream"

I stared at him with surprise.

"Scream?"

He only nodded before straightening himself.

We entered a private lounge and a man sat in the midst of plenty women who caressed him playfully.

"He's a playboy?!" I whispered.

"That makes your job easier" he smirked, the glint in his eye almost too bright, then it vanished without a trace like it was never there.

When Cordero saw us, he just whispered something to the girls then stood up and came to meet us.

"Mafia Jason, what an honor to grace us with your astounding presence and with a very beautiful lady in your arms. Is she my gift?"

He stretched his hands towards me and I squeezed my eyes shut but I didn't feel his touch.

The Cordero I thought I would meet would be in his early thirties probably, this one looked a little older than Jason by a least two years or more but never greater then five.

I slowly opened my eyes and frowned.

Jason was squeezing Cordero's wrist so hard, I could see his bulging veins but Cordero just continued smiling.

"I'm guessing she's not my gift then? Is she yours?"

As usual, Jason ignored everything and everyone.

"Your gift is right there" he spoke coldly.

A man pulled out a box from a pile of gifts and handed it to Jason with his both hands while bowing.

Jason tossed it to Cordero who caught it skillfully.

He opened the box and sighed dramatically.

"A Hublot wristwatch encrusted with twenty-four karat diamonds, how delightful" he didn't look at all delighted at the gift but something sinister shone in his eyes as he looked at me from up to down, his eyes lingering on my exposed thighs.

"If that's all, we will be leaving" Jason never dropped his icy guard.

"Stay a little while. Take another girl if one is too small for you" he stretched his hands and pushed some women towards Jason.

The women sensing a great opportunity, began to coo at Jason.

"I'm fine with this one" he pulled me a little closer before bending close to my ear again making it look as though he was kissing my ear.

"Bait successful, don't fail"

"What?" I almost choked on the blood I wanted to vomit, this guy was too much.

"Whatever you say" Cordero sighed and whistled for them, they ran to him and began caressing him again.

"I'll be leaving then" we turned and left.

I felt shivers go down my spine, I turned my head slightly to see Cordero's eyes on my body.

I clung a little tight to Jason.

"Stop clinging to me" he barked silently at me, his tone icy.

"I'm nervous, can't you be understanding for once"

He studied me for a little second before he turned toward me abruptly.

The band played a tango beat and Jason stretched forward his hand.

"Perhaps a dance to soothe shaky nerves? Flamenco, Tango? Can you even dance?"

"That señor is not a nice thing to ask a full blooded Spaniard, especially not to a lady"

"Pardon me, señorita, I am at fault. I will accept any conditions for my inappropriate behavior"

"Don't step on my foot?!" I answered honestly.

"Very well, though it is I that should warn you not to step on my shoes, after all they're quite expensive"

I glared hard at him, gnashing my teeth together to prevent myself from screaming at him.

"Mine are equally expensive..." I whispered slowly, my anger rising like a tide.

"I purchased them"

"... So?"

It felt like they were pumping fiery coals into my bloodstream.

The self-centered, arrogant, proud, supercilious prick. I almost cursed him aloud.

"So that means it's not yours and that gives me the right to step on it however, whenever, wherever I want. Besides that, I'm sure you know that I can buy that shoe a million of times over but you can even afford the nail used to make the sole of my shoe. Got it?"

"Conceited and Pompous ass!? I didn't ask you to elaborate the meaning, I'm not stupid"

"I'll find that out for myself, your opinion on yourself doesn't count, beside tango is not a Spanish dance"

"I know, I'm not stupid," his neck look like they begged to be strangled.

"I..." He whirled me around in beat to the music then dipped me, I did a split.

Jason pulled me up by my fingers and caught me in mid air by my waist, then twirled me around again.

My mother once told me ‘Tango’ was a dance of passion, it was more or less like finding rhythm, if one person was off with rhythm, he could spoil the dance even for an experienced dancer.

We didn't talk until the dance was over.

He stepped back and bowed.

A clapping came from someone and Cordero emerged from the crowd.

"My my, I didn't know that you could dance? Perhaps it has something to do with the girl in your arms?"

"Do you want a drink?"

I looked at him, then at Cordero then back at him again.

"Feel free to stay if you want to" he began to walk towards the bar.

There was no chance in hell for me to stay close to this pervert named Cordero.

"Wait up" I screamed as I tried to match his pace.

We sat at a bar and he ordered a dry whiskey.