Reckless – Episode 29&30

RECKLESS

Reckless – Episode 29&30

→ Out•Of•Control ←

[Book 1 in The Untamed Duet]

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, or reposted in any form, or by any means without a BOLDLY written permission from ME.

Copyright © 2025

Naomi Cindy B.

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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Sharp notes of Libertango continued to slice through the silence from her car speakers restlessly.

The violin rose against the wind, defiant beneath the bleak moon struggling behind racing clouds.

Cove didn’t smile.

He simply stepped into her space as the rhythm tightened, his hand claiming her slim waist tightened in one smooth motion.

“Now it’s worth it.” He muttered.

The beat pulsed through the empty expressway, echoing off concrete barriers as he pulled her into the second turn.

His movements were controlled, every pivot exact.

When Stacy hesitated, his fingers pressed more firmly at her lower back, guiding, correcting, and demanding alignment.

His fingers are ice-cold like he he has been buried in a slushy depositing since he was conceived.

The clouds swallowed the moon again in the sky, and in the shifting dark, Cove’s face hardened.

He wasn’t dancing for the music. He was bending her to it.

When her arse rubbed his midsection slightly, Stacy tried to create space, but he reeled her back with a swift pull, spinning her beneath his arm before drawing her flush against him.

She gasped, again—so shaky, but the sounds of the violin swallowed the sound from her parted lips.

The tango intensified, the melody almost violent in its passion, and Cove matched it step for step.

His jaw tightened as he looked down at her, studying and calculating.

Something new flickered there, something dangerously close to fascination. It irritated him that she could unsettle him like this.

When the chorus swelled, he dipped her low, one arm braced behind her back, the other steady at her hip.

His fingers sharpened with the fabric of her gown, pressing into her flesh as if he wants to carve the notes of the music in her body.

Mix it with her bloodstream.

Their eyes met, and she saw intense crazy, again.

The bleak moon burst through the racing clouds at that exact moment, painting silver across the tension in his expression.

He hovered over her, breath steady despite the storm of music and wind.

“Keep up,” he growled, arrogance edged with something cruel.

The song throbbed around them, unrestrained.

He held her like the only thing on that cold road he intended to conquer.

“Bad Idea,” he said quietly, tone stripped of mockery now but not softened.

Something else had settled there.

Approval. Possession. A spark of obsession he hadn’t meant to ignite.

Then he stepped back, creating a small but cavernous distance between them.

Without another word, he turned.

Gravel crunched beneath his shoes as he walked away from the music, straight into the stretch of darkness beyond the roadside.

And just before he disappeared into the dark, he paused slightly—as if resisting the instinct to look back.

He didn’t look back though.

Then, he was gone.

Stacy moved closer to her car and picked her phone from the gravel. The song is still playing, but now it sounds like the signature of her doom, so she shut the radio off.

In fact, she removed the radio completely from the car upholstery and smashed it on the road.

She was breathing fast, ragged.

Also, her hair is in a slight mess cos of how he was twirling and twirling her without restraints.

Now he’s in her nose—vetiver.

He has replaced Dorian’s lavender scent and she dislikes that.

And when she remembered how he touched her hips multiple times during the dance—even her tummy, and how her back felt the wideness of his chest, she screamed out on that road.

The echo of her voice returned.

“F+ka$s…I hate you Anita,” she muttered, resting her head on the steering wheel.

If Anita had picked her call or replied the texts and had brought her the outfit, she’d not be out here and she most definitely wouldn’t have danced with the devil on a dark express.

Another car drove up the express, and even as the headlights showered Stacy, she didn’t look up from her steering wheel.

It’s probably another car that’s gonna drive past without waiting.

Even if it stops, what’s whoever is inside gonna do?

She already danced.

But the car stopped anyways. It stopped right in front of her car.

The headlights didn’t go off before someone climbed off the car.

“Stacy!”

Stacy looked up from the wheel, and she couldn’t even gasp when she saw it’s Anita.

She hopped out of the car, and as she walked angrily to Anita, Anita stopped, sensing fury.

A second before she’d get to her, Anita dropped to her knees, and Stacy made an abrupt stop, her breaths balancing back slowly as she looked down at the woman.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t available to pick your call. I had a stomach bug after you left the mansion, so I took laxatives and slept off eventually. I only woke up to see your text ten minutes ago, so I came rushing cos I called but you weren’t picking.” Anita explained succinctly.

“Of course I didn’t see your call cos I was busy doing tango dance number 2!” Stacy stumped.

Anita looked up, and Stacy pulled her up from her knees.

“Is your stomach bug gone now?” She asked with pure concern.

“Not fully, but at least I can’t hear my stomach growl anymore. I’m sorry again, beauty.” Anita said.

“Oh I don’t like that nickname,” Stacy said, though her cheeks are flushing red with blush.

Anita smiled.

“What were you doing alone in the middle of this express though?”

“I…..”

Stacy trailed off. She’s not gonna tell her she danced with him.

Though, she never keeps secrets from Anita (except the one on OBSCURE app) but maybe her and Cove’s crazy dance will become one of her little secrets from now on.

“Did you bring the outfit?” She asked, deciding to ignore Anita’s question.

“Yup! It’s all net, but there’d be paddings on your private parts so you’re covered!” Anita winked.

She went to the car she came in, and she came back with the box containing the clubbing outfit.

“You’re the best!” Stacy blew Anita a kiss, and the woman grinned.

Stacy got back in her car, but now she doesn’t even feel like driving.

Thankfully for her, Anita came with her driver and guards.

The driver took the wheel from her, and as he drove them down the shadowy express, the guards drove after them in two different cars.

They went out of sight very fast, and Anita pulled a slight inhale.

She returned to her car, opening her phone and checking her bank notifications.

She still can’t believe it.

Her daughter sent her 150k, and she’s still in awe about it.

In retrospect, Anita is the one who sends her money. Hell, she even took next month salary advance just to cater for her needs, and now she’s sending 150 dollars in thousands?

She punched a quick text to her.

Anita: I’m not taking this till you tell me where you got it from.

Anita dropped her phone afterwards, knowing her daughter will never reply immediately.

“I’m not about to become a worthless mother. You’re gonna have to tell me where the money poured out from,” she muttered as if her daughter were here in the car with her.

She jerked the car engines and drove off smoothly.

—

[Studio Apartment]

The red suit was already off from Cove’s body when he arrived.

Now he’s just in the black undershirt and suit slacks.

Trinidad actually let him have her bike, and he was driving the bike back home on the expressway when he realized he still couldn’t function well on motion, so he had stopped the bike unnoticed beside the woods and decided to smoke a stick before he’d continue the drive.

And that was when he sighted her car coming—the spoilt doll’s car.

Not like he has a tag on her cars, but who else drives pink cars with black glitters in this city?

So he jilted his cigar and got on the road to do what he had to.

Now that he got that dance, his head feels lighter.

NO ONE can stop him from getting what he wants.

He gets anything he sets his mind on—even if it’s in hell.

Isn’t that the main reason he’s laying low in that garage after all?

He was smoking the second cigar stick as he entered the apartment.

Trevor is asleep on the top bunk, so he just kept his undressing low.

He threw the unfinished cigar in a cup of water, then he took off the black dress shirt.

His body locked and unlocked, the perfection so fatal.

By the door, Zendaya was already so sickeningly wet.

It’s her first time seeing him shirtless, so she’s not at fault here.

After she watched his ugly dance with Stacy on the expressway, she has trailed him here, and now it’s paying off beautifully.

She’s not feeding her eyes alone. She’s also feeding her camera cos as she watched, she recorded.

He’s so beautiful, and the way his V-line was pulling against his belly, his cóck must be one hell of a king.

If only he could take off his pants too and give her a full body tour.

But her eyes strained on a tattoo on his waist. The dark ink made her shadow her eyes to make out what the tattoo is.

A hand that stops at the wrist. Five fingers are folded on that hand, leaving out just one that’s pointing up

Is that a F+VK YOU tattoo?

Omg he’s so f+kin sassy, and if she didn’t feel her panty getting wet before, then she’s feeling it now.

But it’s not his only tattoo, cos at his lower back, there’s another ominously dark tattoo. Words, written in bold capital letters.

GUILTY.

Guilty? What’s he guilty of?

Well maybe it’s just him being sassy again, so she brushed it off and just focused on his body.

He plugged in his earbuds, and this time, he’s listening to music as he went to the kitchenette and began peeling pineapple on a tray.

‘It’s true, he’s obsessed with pineapple. No doubt, his kiss will taste sweetly divine,’ Zendaya’s mind thought dreamily.

But too much might put her in trouble. She doesn’t want him to notice someone is watching and then get mad at her again.

Her shoulder bracket is still shaking with the bone he dislocated, and the pain is deadly, but she still endured and came here on his trail.

Now it’s time to go back.

She went down the staircase as stealthily as she climbed, and two minutes later, she was out of sight.

Cove is done peeling the pineapple now. He’s done dicing too.

Using the knife, he pushed the dices into a glass plate.

His face moved, turning slightly till his eyes met the slightly open door.

He smirked, but not for long.

Different voices suddenly roared in his head, like bones rattling inside a heavy metal jar.

“How could you!”

“You’re the wickedest son I’ve ever seen in my entire life!”

“Damn you!!!!”

When the voices became too much, Cove stabbed the tray with the knife, and the noises stopped.

He’s still suffering from the aftereffects of his car ride.

It’s probably gonna take more than 24hrs for the effects to wash off.

With the knife still in hand and pineapple juice dripping off it, he walked to the door.

For a second, his eyes stared outside through the small opening.

Then…he threw the door close.

—

[RIDE University, Mixer Hall]

It’s 9:40.

The mixer will be over in 20 minutes. The students dance has ended long ago, and most of the students didn’t dance with their parents.

Tania inclusive.

Dance with Remo?

She chose to lose ten marks, and Remo didn’t seem to care, too.

But even Tasha didn’t dance with her partner.

Since they’re the only two friends left in the hall with Kehlani, they stayed with Kehlani.

Kehlani has been silent since she watched the video Remo sent, and since then, she sat somewhere in the hall, her hands gummed between her thighs. She’s rocking herself back and forth, shaking her head.

Max didn’t even bother coming to take her for the dance when students dance was ongoing.

And she wasn’t pained. At all.

She’s ruined! She’s shattered!

Thinking of the memories made her sick she can’t even breathe properly.

Thinking of how he asked her out during their first year orientation last year. Thinking of their sexes, their outings, their dates, their kisses and promises of the future.

They wanted to buy a Island on a river and have two kids—a boy and a girl. They wanted forever.

But whole time she was alone. Max was eating another p+xxy.

Hot tears formed uneven lines out of her eyes, so hot they burn her cheeks.

She didn’t try to stop it.

She held her kneecaps in her palms, sniffling out the tears.

Tasha is still trying to console her, but Tania isn’t in for that.

“When you’re ready to stop shedding your silly tears and pounce on him, you’ll tell me,” she said, drinking the fourth cup of wine.

It’s not alcoholic. Not enough to get her stoned for the upcoming battle, but at least it’s something.

“Hey hey…” Tasha held Kehlani’s face gently. “You’re making him win by shedding these tears..”

Kehlani sniffled, nodding as Tasha wiped the tears for her.

She tried as hard as she can…to keep the tears shackled, and she was luckily successful.

Two drag of sniffles, and she got up from her seat.

Now it’s just two minutes before the Mixer ends, but she was ready to make it memorable for everyone.

On her way, she grabbed a bottle of wine from a table and downed it.

When she got to him, she turned the rug-rat to herself.

Max was still laughing with Frank when she slapped him.

Twice.

Two resounding slaps which called the attention of everyone.

But she wasn’t done.

The third and fourth slap followed almost immediately.

Max staggered, but Frank and Remo held him, then they both stepped forward to defend their friend.

Tania and Tasha went forward too.

Tania slapped Remo, and Tasha slapped Frank.

But both guys were unaffected by the slaps. They grabbed the girls by their hair.

Tania’s teeth found Remo’s stomach, and Tasha’s teeth dug into Frank’s thigh.

They bit like witches.

The guys howled, but the moment they were able to get the girls teeth off themselves, they threw them down in a plunge.

Now the committee of cameras are already on standby.

Students are already recording.

Elmira and Roxy and Trinidad are standing on chairs, and Elmira has a satisfactory smile.

Scott and Kane are just returning from the washroom. When Scott saw what’s going on with his friends and the girls, he stopped.

Dorian is just coming back into the hall with Angela behind him.

“I knew a fight was gonna end this, reason why I said we should leave,” she muttered. “RIDE students are too violent, f+k.”

As for Max, he’s just regaining his stance.

He wiped the blood in the corner of his lips with his palm before looking at Kehlani whose chest is rising and falling uncontrollably in front of him.

Her tears made her eyes red, and they look unforgivable.

“Two kids, an island on a river, a popular wedding? Is that what you were looking for in the p+xxy you were eating like a dog?”

Max blanked, then he smiled, “You found out? Thank gawd, I was thinking of ways to tell you kindly so you won’t commit suicide.”

“You amaze me,” Kehlani laughed. “I can’t believe I loved an animal like you. You should be exiled to the Appalachians—no, stop existing with humans cos you’re not one!”

“I’m not human? Yet, you were choking on my dick just last week?” Max laughed. “Did you not cry? C’mon your eyes are red! You cried cos you knew you’d miss my c+k!”

Kehlani gulped.

“And yes I don’t mind being exiled to the Appalachians….so far the owner of the p+xxy I was eating will go with me!” He continued.

Tania and Remo stopped fighting.

Frank and Tasha stopped fighting too, to focus on the breakup couple.

Remo laughed.

Elmira felt an imaginary crown on her head immediately. That’s her sweet boy. Now completely hers.

“Of course I should have known you’d fûck anything… lowly bastard!” Kehlani yelled. “Your father is a mere influential socialite, and mine is Senator…I can’t believe I stooped so f+kin low!”

“Kehlani the problem is that in RIDE, riches is riches. Yeah, your father is a notch richer than mine. Your father is one of the top ten richest in Vegas, and mine is in the top twenty richest in LA…There’s a gap but I still gifted you gold fuckin bars despite that flat board behind you and the peanuts on your chest!” Max shouted.

Kehlani’s mouth widened.

Now everyone in this hall is laughing excluding Dorian and the twins.

Remo and Elmira’s laughter being the loudest.

“Breathing in here feels like a call to sickness. I knew anyone associated with Remo Lane is a disaster,” Dorian muttered, facing Angela.

“I’m not interested in the after-party, let’s go ho—”

Stacy came in, and his sentence died before he finished it.

Angela followed his eyes, and when she saw Stacy, she cussed under her impatient breaths.

The twins already texted Stacy about it, and throughout the ride here, she was reading the gists, and stomaching it was hard.

She was already too mad, so she just bursted into the circle and jumped on a table, revealing the mace she’s holding.

She sprayed… directly into Max’s eyes.

Max cried out, but it wasn’t over, cos she spat saliva in his mouth too, then she pulled his hair with her long nails.

“You fuckin imbecile! Imbecile!! Hurting Lani? You’re damn wilding! If I don’t make your socialite father go broke in a week then I’m not Stacy! You dumb ass dirty dog!!”

Seeing the disaster that’s about to happen, Remo kicked the table she’s standing on, and Stacy’s legs slid off the surface.

Mouths widened, gasped escaped as she fell from the table, landing.

Tasha and Tania ran to the base, but Dorian was faster than them.

Stacy landed in Dorian’s arms, and the relieved breath didn’t ask for her permission before it left her mouth.

Her arms quickly looped around his neck, holding still.

“Rian,” her eyes caught his.

“Careful while being sassy,” he replied, dropping her gently.

But the problem has escalated higher than when she fell.

Cos right now Max isn’t only groaning from the mace sprayed in his eyes. He’s also groaning cos of the stab on his arm that’s bleeding.

He got stabbed!

“Dude!” Remo and Frank chorused, terror registering in their eyes.

Kehlani is back to tears, so the twins held her back… away from the chaos.

“Max!” Scott joined the circle.

“Maxwell!” Elmira jumped down from the chair she stood on, ready to go take her sweet boy.

Roxy pulled her back, though.

“Don’t be silly, your face was blurred out in the video, you can’t show yourself as his new girl yet. Let that be another day… please. Save that tea for next week during your Massacre Party,” Roxy said.

“But Max got stabbed!” Elmira snapped free.

“Are you mad?” Roxy jumped down the chair too. “I said no! Leave your revelation till next week.”

Elmira looked her in the eye, unable to contain her defiance.

On the chair, Trinidad is looking down at the two of them with hooded eyes, her hands in her blazer pocket.

“Boring show about a man,” she muttered, getting down.

She didn’t wait for them, she head for the exit immediately.

“Let’s go! After-party started at Elite1 hotel already!” Roxy pulled Elmira.

Elmira followed her, but she kept looking back at the crowd surrounding Max till she was completely gone.

Remo had to take off his blazer to tie around Max’s arm.

He’s bleeding so bad. Scott received the deepest stab before, but now it seems Max’s stab is deeper.

“Kane…it’s him,” Remo said.

“I know,” Frank breathed.

Scott looked around the hall, looking for that face, and he found it.

By the onion exit of the hall, Kane stood with a little bloodstain on the chest of his blazer.

He has that pretty boy smile on his face, and Scott’s mouth opened.

“Maniac,” he muttered.

Kane’s eyes turned away from him with a roll that means danger, then he left the hall.

Remo and Frank lifted Max, and Scott took Max’s shoe that has already slipped out of his foot.

The guys left the hall, and Stacy smiled at Dorian.

“Thank you, that was tough stuff,” she said.

Dorian’s hand went to her face, pushing few hair strands away.

“You should get a good sleep, you look tired,” he said.

“And that’s why I’m not gonna be going to the after-party again. Now I have to babysit Lani all night with the girls,” she replied.

“Get rest when you can, and next time, Lani should chose a boyfriend from better circle of friends,” he replied, taking his hand away from her face reluctantly.

“Thank you, Rian.” She smiled tightly.

Dorian finally left with Angela, but that’s after Angela gave Stacy a death threatening stare.

Stacy returned to the girls, and Kehlani instantly left the twins.

She hugged Stacy, crying again.

“Thank you for the mace in his eyes and the saliva in his mouth, I can’t thank you enough babe…I love you so much thank you…” Kehlani cried.

“Shhh,” Stacy hushed, and Kehlani only cried more.

The twins began patting her back, and that’s when Zendaya came in.

She’s all dressed for the after-party, and again, she copied Stacy’s baby hair styling curls on her edges.

She actually went home to shower after leaving Cove’s apartment.

Who wouldn’t shower after they came just by watching their crush peeling pineapple shirtless?

She came here to join the girls and go for the after-party, but the scene in front of her doesn’t speak well.

Kehlani crying in Stacy’s arms and the twins rubbing her back.

“What’s going on?” She asked.

—

[An Hour Later, Kehlani’s Mansion]

Kehlani was brought here, and right now she’s in bed, cuddling with all the girls.

She has stopped crying, but her eyes are still so red and her face puffy.

Stacy is holding her legs, massaging the toes.

Her head is on Zendaya’s lap. Zendaya is massaging her scalp.

Tasha is by her right, massaging her waist, and Tania is by the left, massaging her fingers.

“Gawd, I should have been there. I would have just sat on his head and he’d wipe off,” Zendaya said.

Kehlani sniffled sickly.

“You can still go sit on him. I’m sure they’re currently in the hospital cos the bastard got stabbed anonymously,” Tania said.

“Anonymously? Good!” Zendaya scoffed.

“But where were you?” Tania asked.

“I was…….”

Zendaya stopped. No she can’t tell them she was stalking Cove.

“Outside the hall, just stargazing,” she shrugged.

Stacy’s eyes studied Kehlani, and when she noticed she’s already sleeping, she nodded.

“She’s asleep, thankfully.” She whispered.

Together with the girls, she set Kehlani to bed, and after they covered her, they left her teddy-themed room.

The teddy bears inside are near a dozen like she’s selling them.

She’s the tiniest closest to Stacy in aesthetic.

At least, Stacy also keeps teddy bear even if it’s just one.

While Stacy loves Pink-Black, Kehlani is green.

The girls left for the living room, they settled to watch a series till they’d fall asleep.

They gathered snacks from Kehlani’s freezer, and Stacy settled for ice cream, but immediately Tania turned on the TV, Tasha turned it off.

“What’s popping?” Zendaya asked from where she’s eating her big frozen chocolate.

“No one is watching a modelling show till we deal with this bullshit! I’m tired of pretending I don’t notice the energy between you and Stacy!” Tasha said loudly.

“Ou…I was enjoying the bad energy. My problem is I’ll never ask what the issue is. I was thinking when they’re ready, they’ll come clean.” Tania said.

“Tania shut up!” Tasha snapped.

Tania held her lips.

Stacy just continued eating her ice cream, and she’s currently licking the blob on her pink lips.

“Daya, care to open the case?” Tasha faced her.

“What exactly are you expecting me to say?” Zendaya blinked. “Ask Stacy, she’d tell you how she has been going after Cove,”

Stacy’s ice cream bowl nearly slipped away from her.

“Wait…huh?” Tania blinked.

“Don’t start again, Zen” Tasha said.

“So no one is on my side?” Zendaya stood. “How could she do that to me? She knows how I feel about this guy.”

“If I’m going after him like you said, then trust me we’d be fuckin by now cos we all know there’s hardly any guy I can’t bag in that campus with my face card!” Stacy stood angrily.

“Ouuu….I love this!” Tania laughed, sounding unserious.

“No don’t give me that crap Stacy!” Zendaya pulled. “Are you falling for him? I know he’s hot but I claimed him first! He’s the first guy I’ll ever—”

“Zen, do not finish that statement or I’m gonna kill you flat on this ground!” Tania stood. “Are you with your senses? Every fuckin time, he’s your first crush he’s your first crush! Do we need to exorcise you?”

“Tell Stacy to promise me to never make any contact with him again, and I’ll call off this fight,” Zendaya said desperately.

“Oh Zen, are you high?” Tasha said.

“Tell her to swear to me!” Zendaya shouted.

“If I swear to you, I hope my dad’s mansion crashes on me and kills me!” Stacy said angrily.

Zendaya frowned.

“Yes, I’m not swearing to you so if you’re going to die, just die! Why acting like a knockoff?” Stacy carried her ice cream bowl again.

“I’m gonna go sleep with Kehlani. Y’all watch the show without me!” She said and walked in.

“Did y’all see that?” Zendaya pointed at the staircase. “Did y’all see—”

“I’m just one water pistol away from beating you blue-black right now, Zendaya, so just…..” Tania sighed.

She left her sentence unfinished before taking her bowl of marshmallows.

“Zip your trap.” She finally finished her sentence and went inside too.

Zendaya faced Tasha.

“No, Daya. It seems my advices have been falling on deaf ears so please…do as you please,” Tasha sighed and went up too.

Zendaya took her chocolate package and threw it off, staining the white floor with the molten snack.

“Can’t believe they all turned their backs on me…”

And then, they all came downstairs… with Kehlani.

Everyone of them.

“Lani you’re awake?” Zendaya frowned.

“I can’t sleep here. Max fucked me in my bed too many times. Can we go spend tonight at Stacy’s?” Kehlani said gently, lips dry.

The girls didn’t argue.

They began preparing to go to Stacy’s.

—

[Dorian’s Mansion]

Dorian is wriggling in bed, writhing like she’s getting thrashed and tethering at his bedspread.

His lids are tightly shut, and his Adam’s apple is bobbing in his throat like he’s trying to swallow a lump.

He’s having the nightmare again, and it seems like it got worse this time.

The voice.

He can hear the female voice in his sleep, screaming and clawing like she’s locked in a cage, trying relentlessly to get out.

“Please… please let me out. Don’t leave me… Don’t turn your back… Don’t… Don’t…. It’s dark in here…. Aghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!”

The last scream was what woke Dorian up.

He shot up in bed, beads of warm sweat rolling down his chin.

He’s still grabbing the bedspread very tight, and his chest his hammering.

The nightmare… Again.

He started having it since he returned to music from his hiatus, and it just kept getting worse every night.

He got down from the bed, strolling out to get a cup of apple juice from the freezer.

He drank a half bottle, then he drank freezing cold water to saturate it.

But none could pacify him, and thankfully, Angela is asleep—no interruptions.

He picked up his phone and dialled Fabio, but his line is off, so he dialled Stacy.

He took his seat in the living room, but she didn’t pick that ring, so he tried video call, and surprisingly, she picked that.

Her sleepy face appeared on camera in a sec.

“Facetime by 12am? Rian…” She breathed heavily, eyes drowsy.

She’s in her bed, clutching her teddy.

“I can’t sleep, just woke up from a nightmare,” he whispered.

“You can’t sleep, and you thought oh…I can’t be lonely on this journey, then you dialled me. Good deed, Rian, thank you very much.” She said.

He smiled, studying her lashes. They way they’re fluttering.

“You don’t get nightmares at all?”

“I had it when my mum died, but it only lasted a year, then it stopped when I accepted that she’s really gone. Now I sleep without any care,” she shrugged, her drowsiness disappearing a bit.

“I’ve been having this nightmare since I returned from my hiatus, and it’s…bad.” He said seriously, voice low.

She sat up.

“Sounds creepy, what’s it about?”

“Can we not go into details? I get spooked,” he bit his lip.

“Yeah yeah…no details,” she yawned.

“Sorry I woke you up, I just had no other friend.” He said, trying not to look at her waist.

It’s open, and her chains….

Her waist chains.

“Friend? I’m your friend?” She blinked.

“Yeah and it’s on me. You can’t tell me to not,” he replied.

She smiled, tendering her palm. “Dollars, for recruiting me as a friend.

“Like how much?” He replied.

“Stop!” She laughed, and he followed with a slow chuckle.

—

[Montana Mansion]

While the girls all slept inside on Stacy’s bed, Zendaya sat outside.

The mansion is surrounded by guards, so she feels safe as she sat on a chair at the driveway.

She’s with her phone, watching and rewatching the video of Cove’s body.

This is her twentieth watch, and she’s preparing for the 21st.

She was about to press PLAY again when she received a notification…

From the gym.

Her sessions will start tomorrow.

She smiled happily, then returned to watching Cove’s body video.

But she suddenly received a text, and she squinted to view well.

Cove?

She saved Cove’s line cos she stole it from his campus info.

Cove doesn’t chat in the major group so no way she’d get it from there.

She had to pay the campus registrar to get his line from his file.

But he’s texting her?

She spranged up, reading the text.

Crush: Come out.

Zendaya gasped before she knew it, she’s already walking to the silver gate.

—

[Bedroom]

“Why am I your only choice? Isn’t the arrogant genius your friend too?” Stacy asked, and merely asking about him gave her flashbacks of their dance on the dark road.

She got down from the bed, positioning her phone on a tripod.

Kehlani and the twins are fast asleep in the queen-size bed.

“Cove?” Dorian tilted his head on screen. “He’s my gee, of course. Too bad I didn’t get to see him privately before I left the Mixer.”

Oh…but I saw him, and we danced like mad people on a dark road, and it felt so good.

Stacy’s mind said that, and she immediately rewinded.

Delete that last part.

Good? F+k!

“You good?” Dorian asked when he saw she’s spacing out, and even now he’s still trying to not look at her waistline.

Now that she’s standing and wearing only her pant-like tights and thin singlet, he can’t not stare.

He’s losing his mind already.

“Can we visit the zoo together tommorow?” He suddenly asked.

“Are you indirectly asking me out on a date?” She sat on the bed edge.

“Depends on how you see it,” he shrugged.

“I hate zoos,” she chirped.

“Aquarium? I’ll come pick you up” he shrugged again.

“Come pick me up from Elite-Alpha estate? Bold,” she giggled.

“Wait… Elite-Alpha? I stay in Elite-Alpha,” Dorian frowned.

“You’re lying!” Stacy stood.

“I’m serious! Mansion 6!” He said.

“You’re telling me we’ve been staying in the same estate without my knowledge?” She couldn’t blink.

“I can’t exactly call it the same estate yunno. This place is a group of estates inside one estate, so my mansion and yours are inside different gates…” He stood from his couch.

“But we still use the same main gate, how come we didn’t run into each other once?” Stacy covered her mouth.

“Let’s run into each other right now,” he said.

“You’re not serious, Rian,” she grinned.

“Deadass, let’s meet in front of your mansion. I’ll be the one to come,” he said, and before she could add another sentence, he cut the video.

She threw on a micro skirt and rushed out of the mansion.

—

[Outside]

If this wasn’t an estate, Zendaya would be screaming right now.

Cos Cove is really outside, waiting for her in front of Montana Mansion.

She doesn’t even wanna know how he breached the tight security of this estate and came in.

But she rushed over to him like a starved dog.

Lamps surrounded the estate, so everywhere is bright, but he still managed to find a shadowed dark place under the canopy of a tree.

His hoodie covered his head, but he lowered it when she arrived.

“Covey,” she smiled wide.

He tendered his palm, and she nearly placed her palm on it.

“Your phone,” he muttered, voice so effortlessly hot.

She placed her unlocked phone on his palm as if under hypnosis.

Cove clicked media and that was when she woke up from her trance.

She tried to snatch the phone from him, but he raised it high, clicking on the video of him she recorded.

“You really think you could enter my territory, record a shirtless video of me and I won’t find out?” He smirked.

Her eyes widened.

“You’re big, but your brain is the size of a memory card,” he muttered, and before she could move, he smashed the iPhone to the ground.

Screen flew away, back case to another side.

Then…his hand grabbed her throat, and she lost all her air immediately.

His chin was rising, smirk so chilling as he thudded her back on that tree.

Zendaya coughed up blood, and it stained his hand interspace.

“Pl.. please…I just…I love you too much and that’s why….”

Cove’s neck went to the side, eyes sleeking with cruelty as his fingers raised her neck till she wasn’t breathing anymore.

Her arms went slack.

Her eyes closed, but then…

A creak behind them made Cove turn back.

Right there, Stacy and Dorian stood, looking at him in utter flabbergast.

Eyes popping. Expressions raw.

His hand slid out of Zendaya’s neck, and she hit the ground, regaining a little breathe and strength which she coughed more blood with.

“How did you even enter this estate? What the hell! You would have killed her!” Stacy ranted.

Her shock is still there, but now anger, fury and all other names for it is there too.

“That’s the whole point, Bad Idea,” he muttered.

“Fabio?” Dorian sounded.

“Wesley,” Cove’s expression melted to concentrated acid, burning.

Stacy is still stomping to him.

Dorian is still behind Stacy, his eyes still so damn surprised.

Zendaya is still on the ground, coughing.

Cove still stood where he stood.

Few steps before Stacy would get to him was when it all flipped.

A straight, deafening sound of a gunshot rang throughout the estate, shaking the space.

Adrenaline kicked in the bodies of everyone—the desire to survive.

Zendaya who’s still on the ground lowered herself more.

But Dorian’s adrenaline seems non-existent cos instead of going low, he’s rushing forward to check on Stacy if she’s fine.

And Stacy?

Her adrenaline is the wildest cos she took two steps and a jump.

The jump carried her to a safe place, and the safe place is Cove’s body.

She jumped on his tummy, clinging fearfully as another gunshot roared.

Before she could slip away, Cove’s big hands gripped her laps, holding her frame to himself.

On the ground, Zendaya doesn’t seem to care about her own safety anymore.

Her eyes are madly wide as she witnessed what just happened.

She swallowed the blood she’s about to spit.

Behind them, Dorian has stopped, his sleep jacket flowing with the breeze.

His features frozen.

And behind Dorian—beside a lamp, there’s secretly Angela, staring at them.

The third gunshot came, and Stacy’s face entered Cove’s neck.

TBC.