“You are quite the disappointment, boy.” Mr. John Markham remarked, coolly.

His eyes were fixed on the young man who bore a striking resemblance to him standing directly behind his large dark oak desk.

Silas Markham didn't flinch at the biting remark. He merely fixed his father a quiet stare and tried not to let his disgust show on his face.

“John junior was better. I wouldn't have even bothered with you if he were still alive.”

A wave of bone crushing guilt started to bubble to the top, but as always, Silas pushed it down and buried it deeply.

He didn't like to think about that particularly dreary day that was related to the loss of his older brother.

His father's words were meant to bite, but after listening to it for over more than seven years, he'd learn to ignore the pain.

“I am trying my best to get closer to her.” He responded coolly, shifting slightly on his feet as he told the lie.

John let out a sharp bark of laughter and shook his head as he slowly got to his feet.

“You are lying, boy. Everyone in this city knows Tatiana Colback is head over heels for you.”

Silas merely shrugged in reply.

“The family business is drying up, son. I don't like to be termed old glory. Find a way to get the Colback’s daughter to be fully yours. We need their family's legacy.” John explained in a threat laced voice.

“I'll try harder, father.” Silas buried the disgust he felt and bowed slightly.

“Good. John junior isn't here, but you will do. You can go.” John commented with hardened eyes as he lowered himself back into his seat.

Silas hastily strolled out of the office, passing my staff in a daze as he scrolled through the messages on his phone.

A small smirk curved up his luscious lips and a cold glint flashed through his eyes.

He was brought back from his brooding thoughts by the ringing of his phone.

“David.”

“We've got her, Silas. I need my payment.” A rough voice sounded from the other end of the call.

“Hang on, I will need to confirm. Send me your location.” Silas chuckled darkly and strolled out of the large company building into his waiting vehicle that sped away immediately.

***

Trisha was in great peril. Her whimpers were all she could hear in the place she was kept in.

She couldn't see anything through the blindfold in her eyes, nor could she speak since she was gagged.

Her hands and feet were painfully tied behind her to the chair she sat on.

She didn't know how many hours she'd been kidnapped, but she knew it must have been a long time.

Three hours? Twenty four hours? She couldn't tell since she'd been knocked out when she was forced into the vehicle in the first place.

Who were these people? What did they want with her?

Would her father know she'd been kidnapped or would he think she ran away?

Would any one come to her rescue? Or would she die this way without anyone knowing how?

These thoughts and more raced through her mind as she sobbed softly, occasionally trying to shout from behind the gag between her lips.

It seemed like ages before the sound of a door opening permeated her senses.

She sat up immediately, resuming her whimpering and mumbling as she tried to beg through the gag.

The sound of heavy footsteps resounded through the room as the feet of the newcomer pounded on the wooden floor towards her.

“Tsk…tsk. Look at you, finally in my grasp.” A voice that sounded strangely familiar, sounded above her.

She mumbled, and tried to see through the blindfold wondering who it was.

“Are you trying to say something… Trisha Avalon?” The unknown man asked in his deep bass voice as she felt the tip of a finger lazily draw a line down the side of her face.

She trembled unconsciously at the touch, bleakly realizing through her fear that her body seemed to recognize who it was even though her brain failed to place a face to the voice.

She mumbled, trying to get him to understand her.

“Oh, what are you trying to say, my sweet doll?” The voice was heavily sarcastic as she felt the finger gently tug at the piece of clothing between her lips.

“Remove her gag, David, she wants to say something.” Silas said in a mocking voice as his eyes flashed at the disheveled, pretty mess sitting on the chair before him.

Gasping in mouthfuls of shocking crisp air, Trisha craned turned her face in the direction of the voice.

“Who are you? Why are you doing this to me? I don't know you…please, let me go!” She half yelled, sobbing pitifully through the blindfold.

Watching her misery, Silas' face was cold. He had to admit that watching her suffer this way was oddly satisfying.

But that wasn't why he brought her here. He only wanted his revenge on her, and to do that…

“How convenient that you can't remember me, Tri—sha.”

At this point, Trisha was beyond bewildered, she was frustrated.

“But I don't know who you are. Let me go!” she snapped through her tears.

Silas didn't doubt her. However, deep down within him, he was pained that she couldn't remember who he was through the sound of his voice.

After all they've been through together.

“Ah, Trisha. I am very disappointed in you.” He sighed and nodded at David who'd already entered the room.

She felt the presence of someone in front of her, and she waited impatiently for the blindfold to be removed.

Squinting against the bright light, Trisha let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and tried to get her sight adjusted to the dim light in the room.

A figure moved out from the shadows and stood before her.

Imposing and tall from her seated point of view, Trisha tried to see past the façade, gasping when she finally did.

“Well, hello dear, love.” Silas spat, derisively.

With eyes wide, Trisha remained frozen staring at Silas yet not seeing the very man before her.

He looked older than she last saw him, but for some reason, she couldn't help but still see him as that soft featured youth from before.

Oh, how she'd missed him.

Immediately, tears sprang to her eyes.

However, the moment she saw the guarded look in his pretty obsidian eyes, her mood swung from high to low.

Guilt and pain that she'd strove to keep buried for years sprang up ready to devour her at any moment of weakness.

Shame clouded her reasoning, and remembering how she'd left him to the mess she'd made, she started to sob freely her demons excitedly feeding the fire.

“Silas…” she gasped, sniffing and tossing her hair, damn with sweat out of her eyes. “Silas…I'm so sorry. I didn't mean —”

Silas' eyes, devoid of any emotion, didn't leave her face.

He scrutinized her every action and decided that she was still the same selfish, pathetic actress she once was.

And when she broke down into tears, his lips curved up in a disgusted sneer.

“To what? To leave? To lie? Run away? To…” His voice trembled as he snapped at her in the harshest tone he could muster.

Trisha sobbed even harder, every of her problems that led her to this point long forgotten as she was forcefully tossed back into the supposedly buried events of the past.

“I tried, Silas. I didn't mean to leave that way…my father…” Her voice broke down into soft whispers and her head remained bowed.

Silas watched on, feeling his own complicated feelings battle within him. He gritted his teeth and looked away.

This wasn't how he planned this to be. Anger radiated off him in waves as his fists shook.

He wasn't supposed to lose control.

Fuck!

“Silas, you've got a call. It's an unknown number.” David's voice broke the spell.

Silas snapped back to himself and quickly buried his emotions.

He glared at the sobbing woman tied to the chair.

He almost fell for her wiles, again. Not this time, damnit.

“Well, nice to have you back, Trisha. Since you said it wasn't your intention to leave, I decided to help you come back. How do you like it?” He said, sarcastically and turned to walk out.

She sniffed and turned with watery eyes to the henchman who avoided her like a plague.

“What does he want with me?”

David only stared at her blankly, before shrugging and disappearing out of the room.

Once alone, her mind reeled as she thought over the events of the days leading to this moment.

How did Silas find her? It's been many years, and Silas was supposed to be in London.

Wait, unless she was in London. She gasped in a mixture of relief and fear.

Does Hendrick or the other demonic men in her life know where she is? What would Silas do to her?

Unwanted memories of their time together surged and she tried her best to keep them buried before breaking down into a sob.

Really, she was actually tired of being a plaything for the men in her life. Why couldn't she just be allowed to live like other women?

“There, there sweetheart. Don't cry, your messiah has just called to save you.”

The sarcastic tone in Silas' voice hurt her deeply and she sobbed even harder.

“Please, Silas… let me go!”

Silas moved to stand directly in front of her. His cold eyes regarded her for a moment before he reached out and tilted her face to stare up at him.

“Never! Now, I had other nasty plans on how to deal with you earlier, but unfortunately for me, someone called just in time to save you.” He scoffed.

Trisha sniffed. He paused to watch her bewildered reaction and found himself reacting to her innocent expression.

He quickly caught himself and looked away before speaking.

“You are running away from someone, am I correct?” he announced, smirking when he saw her scared reaction.

“Ho…how did you know? Who was it that called?”

“Relax, Trisha. Now, here's the deal. In exchange for not ratting you out to your pursuer, I need you to sign a contract form.” He deadpanned with a slight threat in his tone.

Cold descended on Trisha at the mere thought of Hendrick laying his hands on her.

She shivered inwardly as her mind raced to absorb her current plight.

“What contract?” she questioned suspiciously.

Right, all that ran through her mind was he thought of how she quickly went from the proverbial frying pan to fire.

With that devilish smirk still present on his face, Silas snapped his fingers and David presented a form to him.

“This is a contract form you are to sign on. It simply states that you're my fiancee until I decide otherwise.” He announced.

Trisha winced, his words sounding like the explosion of a bomb in her mind.

She wanted to chuckle at the irony, but found no strength to.

Now, she was directly between the devil and the red sea.

If she refuses, Silas would send her directly to Hendrick, and if she agrees, Silas would make her life a living hell in revenge for the past.

“I give you one minute to think about it. Your time, it starts now.” Silas chuckled darkly.

Trisha's eyes remained on the form he'd placed on her laps. She possibly couldn't go on signing one form after another, could she?

She needed to take control of her own damn life. Why couldn't these damn men understand it?

Against all better reasoning, Trisha stubbornly made up her mind.

Raising her head to fix Silas a cruel stare, she moved her lips.

“No, I won't.”

Silas' brows jumped, but he quickly masked his surprise and straightened his spine.

His expression turned darker as he stooped to move his face closer to Trisha's.

“I wasn't asking, doll. I was ordering you to.”