Red Hourglass (22 page)

The more I try to run from his love, the more I fall back into him
.
He’s my anchor
.
I need him. I can’t stand alone any longer
.
I’m a rat trapped in a maze.
Maybe I won’t be with him in this lifetime, but he’ll forever be deeply engraved on my heart—like a scarlet letter
.
Our love will be a secret we share forever
.

I ripped out my earbuds and went to the restroom to splash cool water on my face. As I walked back to my seat, images of the White Queen and my sisters flashed through my mind—the night the White Queen saved me, sparring with Mimi, having coffee with Vanus.

Will I ever be able to lead a normal life
?
They’re all part of me, how can I leave them
?
If I try to leave, will the White Queen send Mimi and Vanus to kill me
?

I stared out the window at the countryside whizzing by. I didn’t understand how I could even be thinking of going to the other side—going against my ideals—but I was desperate to be done with my double life. I wished Conan and I could escape to a deserted island.

Am l willing to risk death to be with my love
?

* * *

A white Mercedes-Benz picked me up from the train station. I sat into the back seat and closed my eyes. When I opened them we were pulling up to the gates with the gigantic white and gold coat of arms. The guards made me get out of the car and go through the usual security procedures before they let us in.

The mansion on the hill never ceased to impress me. It was a glorious structure, a monument to the past.
Places like this aren’t built anymore
.

I rang the bell and the butler opened the door. He nodded toward the state room off the grand entrance hall without saying a word.

The double doors were open and there was a projector in the middle of the room. The White Queen was sitting in a high-back white leather armchair. She was wearing her white mink coat and her moonstone ring was glistening in the sunlight.

“My darling Janet, come here to me,” said the White Queen, opening her arms. “Thank you for last night’s report.”

“Hello Mama. You’re welcome,” I said. Hugging her was like hugging a huge furry animal.

“Sit down.” She waved to the empty seat beside her. “Your sisters will be here soon.”

A maid in a black dress with a white apron came in through a side door. She was carrying a tray with a sterling silver tea service. She poured tea into delicate white china teacups with a floral pattern and handed us the cups on thin saucers.

“How’s the tea?” the White Queen asked.

“Nice.” I nodded my head and smiled as I sipped the jasmine and chamomile concoction like an obedient child. It smelled like perfume, but I wasn’t going to tell the White Queen that. I felt like Alice in Wonderland
having tea with the Queen of Hearts.
I wish this were a Coke
.

“Good, good. We’ll have lunch after the meeting.”

“Do you have any news about my mother?”

“My dear, searching for her at this point is probably futile. She may not even be alive.” The White Queen looked at her long nails. “But if you complete your mission, I promise you we’ll intensify our efforts.”

“Have your spies looked in New York City? That’s where she was born … according to the birth certificate. When I was a child she told me stories about the Big Apple. I think if she’s anywhere it’s got to be there.”

“Lovey, sometimes people disappear on purpose. Maybe she doesn’t want to be found. You must prepare yourself for the worst … in case we can’t find her.”

“Mama, you promised you would help me find her.”

“And I will. In the meantime, we must focus on the mission.”

“Yes Mama.”

“Mother, I’ve missed you!” Vanus sprang into the room like a green fairy. She and the White Queen hugged each other warmly.

A twinge of jealously washed over me. I missed my mother and hated her at the same time. I craved her warm embrace, but I’d still kill her on sight for abandoning me. She left me all alone in the cruel world and I’d never forgive her. I pinched my left hand to control my emotions.

Winda was next to arrive. She was about five feet nine, lean, and muscular. Her body was built for combat. I’d never seen her fight, but I imagined that she was swift and smooth, striking her targets like an unexpected gust of wind. I wasn’t sure that I could take her in a fight, and I didn’t want to find out.

Liza, the fiery Latina—aka the Pyro—walked in behind Winda. She was wearing jeans and an orange sleeveless top that exposed her toned arms. She had dark-brown curly hair and the sharp green eyes of a deadly panther. There was a disgruntled look on Liza’s face as she flopped into an armchair and tilted her head. She began playing with her Zippo, making clicking sounds as she flipped the lid up and down with her thumb.

Mimi and about fifteen other girls I didn’t know straggled in. As far as I knew, they weren’t all on the assignment and I wondered why they were joining us.

“My darlings, welcome home.” The White Queen rose from her chair like an empress. She walked to the center of the room, her white fur coat trailing behind her. “Armand, the projector please,” she said to the butler.

He nodded and switched on the projector. The first slide was a newspaper article. The title read: “Zhong Yuan Holdings increases stake in Wilmar Enterprises.”

The White Queen waddled over to the screen. When she inhaled she reminded me of a snowy owl puffing itself up to scare off predators.

“My girls, I want to thank you for the excellent job your doing on the Wilmar assignment. Because of your fine work, our way forward is now clear. Zhong Yuan Holdings is buying up Wilmar stock and the companies are planning a merger. If it goes through, our city will no longer belong to us. Our job is to make sure the merger doesn’t happen. Armand.”

The next slide appeared on the screen. It was a headshot of a man.

“This is Hao, the CEO of Zhong Yuan. He’ll be bringing his board to meet with Wilmar and sign-off on the merger later this year. A few of you will be
entertaining
the board members before the meeting. Your sisters working in Zhong Yuan have informed me that we won’t be able to compromise Hao that way, but he’s greedy. I’ll see him before the meeting. If he doesn’t accept my generous offer and agree to forget the merger, we’ll have no choice but to
kidnap
him. If we have to resort to that, his board will be scared off and the merger will fail. Of course, the evidence we’ll collect against the
decent
family
men
on the board will also help them make the right decision.”

The White Queen went through slides of the Zhong Yuan board. She gave us a brief history of each board member, outlining their sexual weaknesses and other peccadilloes. They were bringing their own security, but some of my sisters would be working the underground Chinese casinos that the board members planned to visit. The casino owners were just as anxious as the White Queen to keep Zhong Yuan out of New York, and they were all working together to stop the merger.

“Any questions?” asked the White Queen.

“Why is White Holdings buying up Wilmar stock?” I asked.

“Janet,” said the White Queen with a scowl, “Wilmar’s developments are already destroying lives in our city. Haven’t you noticed the increase in homelessness?” She polished her ring on her white mink and smiled. “Dearies, the easiest way to stop Wilmar’s attack on New York is to take control of the company. We have to prevent the merger at all costs. That is our mission.”

Mimi walked over to me and grabbed my arm. Her crystal clear Chinese eyes looked pained. I knew what that look meant—she didn’t want to kill anyone—and I stroked her hair.

Confessions

The following Friday, Conan and I were in bed after dinner.

“Scarlet.” Conan kissed my forehead. “I need to tell you something.”

“What?”
Does he know I’m on a mission for the White Queen
?

“I’ve been debating whether or not I should tell you …”

“Are you hiding something else from me? Are you afraid to tell me?”

“No, I’m not hiding anything else, but I’m afraid you’ll take it badly.”

“Tell me.”

“I met my ex.”

“WHAT!” I sat up and pulled the comforter around me.

“She called yesterday and asked to see me.”

“And you met her?” I raised my eyebrows.

“I did,” said Conan, sitting up.

“Why?”

“She wanted to talk to me in person. When we met she asked if she could borrow some money. She needs a major operation but she isn’t working … she doesn’t have health insurance.”

“Did you give her the money for this
major
operation
?”

“Yes.”

“That’s insane! Why did you do that?”

“She left Wilmar because of me. She didn’t get any severance pay … and she could’ve sued the company because of our involvement. I feel somewhat responsible for her situation, and I think helping her out is the least I can do.”

“What did you do that made her leave?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Conan.

“Was it because of your BDSM kinks?”

“No. Scarlet, please leave it alone.”

“We’ve been dating for months and you’ve implied that you want a future with me, yet she’s still in your heart. What am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know.” Conan’s lips trembled. “She’s not a good person and she’s not good for me. She’ll ruin me if I let her. Scarlet, you have to believe me when I tell you that I want nothing more than to get over her.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said, staring him in the eye. “You can’t get rid of her engagement ring and you’ve just given her loads of cash that you know she’s unlikely to pay back. Why should I believe anything you say?”

“I don’t know. But I do know that keeping the engagement ring isn’t fair to you.”

“I’m glad you at least know that much.” I smirked. “But the fact of the matter is that you’re in denial. The relationship is over and you’re still waiting for her to come crawling back.”

“I’m not in denial. I’ve accepted that she was too much for me to handle. I know it’s over.”

“I guess you’ve rescued yourself from her, but maybe I’m no better.” I was angry. I couldn’t trust his feelings for me and my feelings for him were too strong. “Watch out, or I may be the death of you yet.”

“Scarlet, I wouldn’t know what to do with my life if I hadn’t met you. You saved me.”

“Maybe I’m worse than your ex. For all you really know, I could be lethal.”

“Don’t say that … I don’t believe it. You’re feisty and you have a tattoo, but I know you’re as harmless as a butterfly.”

“That’s what you think.” I scowled at him.

“She causes me pain and you bring me pleasure. Scarlet, I want to be with you.”

“There’s pain in every pleasure.” I pinched his arm. I wanted to tie him to the bed and get out my blades.
You can’t blow the mission, control yourself
. I stroked the red mark left by my pinch and smiled. “But the worst pain of all is knowing that your love was never returned. Can you promise me that you’ll put the past behind you?”

“I need time to get over her.”

“You’ve had time. Time moves on with each passing second. Every second that you keep her in your heart drives me away a little bit more.”

“I don’t want to drive you away, but maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I’m not ready for a relationship.” He ran his fingers through his dark-brown hair. “I can’t just forget her. Maybe I only needed you for company. I guess I’ve been selfish.”

“I’ll leave then,” I said, standing up and reaching for my dress. I wanted to run him through with a sword.
The White Queen has everything under control.
I’ll keep working for him, but I don’t have to stay close. She hasn’t ordered me to kill him, but I wish she would
.

“No! Don’t leave me Scarlet! I need you!” He grabbed my arm and pulled me back to the bed.

“Conan, you’re wasting my time. I don’t like being toyed with.” I slipped my dress over my head. “Call me when you get over that bitch.”

“NO! Scarlet, I’m not toying with you! Please … please just give me another chance.”

“If I give you another chance, you’ll have to be punished first … severely. But I’m not convinced that I should waste any more energy on you. You’re an idiot in denial. I’m much worse for you than she could ever be and you’re too stupid to see it. I’m doing you a favor by ending this now.”

“You can’t walk away from me. Please … punish me my Scarlet Queen. I submit.” Conan lay back on the bed and stretched out his arms.

“You submit to be punished?”

“I submit to you completely my Scarlet Queen. Do whatever you have to. There’s something in there that may help you.” He nodded toward the nightstand on my side of the bed.

“I suppose this will do. Perhaps I can torture your ex out of you.” I leaned over and pinched his nipples.

“Ah,” he groaned as his cock grew hard.

“Before we start, I want you to kneel on the floor in front of me. Right now!” I slammed the black leather paddle into the bed.

“Yes my Scarlet Queen,” he said, kneeling on the floor. “I’ll do anything for you.”

“Apologize to me for keeping the ring.”

“I’m sorry for keeping the ring.”

“Tell me that you’re sorry for meeting your ex.”

“I’m very sorry for meeting my ex.”

“Worship my hand.” I placed my delicate fingers in front of his face.

He kissed my hand and licked my fingers. Having this powerful man under my control was exciting, thrilling. I’d never played these games with a man I loved and my little girl was burning for him. She needed his manhood, but I wasn’t done torturing him.

“Get on all fours like the dog you are,” I screamed as I pushed his head toward the floor. “Crawl!”

He crawled past the end of the bed and looked at me with sad wolf pup eyes. He’d never been treated like this and I’d never been so aroused. I began cackling hysterically.
All men want to be dominated by a woman before they die. They’re quite simple, really
.

“Come back to me puppy. Come on now.” I clapped my hands.