Considerably Wicked: A Dark Romance Read online

  Will got up from the dusty couch and followed her. He further looked around the house and figured, with its current state, it needed him just as much as he needed it. Perhaps Una had checked in with what mattered most to her. Unfortunately, the tidying up wasn’t one of her priorities. It wasn’t the worst house to live in for Will, but the crumbs all over the counter, the coffee-stained mugs, and the rest of the dirty dishes sitting in the sink easily made it a runner-up—ranked second to Kate’s.

  “This is your room.” Before Una opened the door, she turned to him and said, “By the way, I almost forgot to ask you… do you have a girlfriend, Mr. Thomas?”

  Kate.

  Will nodded. “I understand and no. I don’t have a girlfriend. Does it really matter though?”

  “As far as rule number one and two are concerned, it does matter. I don’t want to hear any moans or banging in my house, and I have been a witness to those activities many times before. I don’t like the sound of a whaling woman and a squeaking bed, Mr. Thomas. It makes me extremely uncomfortable.”

  I’m sorry, Kate.

  Una opened the door. “Your room.”

  The room was large, and just like the rest of the house, the walls were also covered in soft white. The neatly made, king-sized, wood-paneled bed sat on a dark walnut floor while the cream, bureau desk took the left corner next to a large bay window where a charcoal blackout curtain hung. It was the best part of the house, so far.

  “Do you have any questions for me?” Una asked.

  “In fact, I do.” Will stepped inside and leaned against the footboard of the bed. “Tell me what I need to know about this house. Why do you need to rent out this room?”

  “When my parents died, they left me enough to help me continue my education and, perhaps, pursue whatever I wanted. Since I was an only child, this house was granted to me too. If you thought I need the rent money, well, I don’t necessarily do. Dr. Larson, my…therapist…just thought it would be nice for me to have some company… like a friend of some sort,” Una whispered the last part.

  Will nodded thoughtfully, crossing one leg over the other and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “And what about you, Ms. Miller? Tell me what I need to know about you.”

  Una was slightly stunned. Her previous tenants never cared to ask about her. They were obviously all more interested in the house than her, which she perfectly understood. She was never the friendly type.

  “Well… I’m twenty-four years old. I started college late, so I’d be in school most days. My dad designed the house himself while my mom decorated it. She painted the walls herself,” Una said with a sigh.

  Will straightened up and smiled at her. “Well, you have a lovely home, Ms. Miller. When can I move in?”

  ***

  “Wait…I don’t think I understand you, Will. You found yourself a new place that’s why you’re breaking up with me?!” Kate shouted over the nice piece of buttered ribeye steak on her plate.

  Will briefly eyed her then shook his head as he digged into the succulent meat with his fork.

  She looked around. “Is this why you brought me here? To break up with me?” she hissed, looking around at the posh restaurant and down to the shiny silverware laid on the polished marble tables.

  Will had expected her to react aggressively, and to save him from the drama, he decided to end their relationship over a deliciously expensive dish of steak, with people around them to purposely force Kate to control her anger and avoid creating a scene.

  “I’m sorry, Kate. It’s not you,” he muttered the infamous line like a pro.

  “If it’s not me, then it’s you. So, you better tell me why the hell you want to dump me!” Kate demanded, stabbing her steak.

  “You want the truth?”

  “I deserve the truth, Will,” she snapped.

  “Okay…I don’t enjoy this relationship anymore.”

  “What?!” Kate threw the steak knife on the table. “How? Why? You are the one who has a problem with sex. You are the one who’s always tired from work and doesn’t want to fuck me. I wanted us to enjoy each other – so much, but you never ran out of excuses!”

  The couple from a nearby table started looking in their direction. Will thought that he had perhaps miscalculated his move. Kate seemed so angry that he doubted she would give a damn about what any of the people around them would think.

  “It’s not just that, Kate.”

  “Oh, really? As far as I can remember, we never had sex since we started dating and you have the balls to tell me you want to break up with me because you no longer enjoy this relationship?”

  “Yes, I don’t! To be honest with you, I’m a player, Kate. I don’t enjoy being in a relationship. I want to flirt with different girls every day. I believe I am not designed to have one partner. I get bored easily, and that’s what our relationship is…was–boring.”

  Will knew he had to let every bit of lie come out of his lips if he wanted to really end everything with Kate. He knew he had to play the heartless player card on her.

  “You? A player? Don’t give me that bullshit. You don’t even know how to flirt. You’ve never flirted with me before. I made the first move, remember? And you clearly don’t need partners because you don’t even have a time to please one! Me!”

  Will smiled and then got up. “I’m afraid that’s because I never really find you sexually attractive. To be brutally honest with you, darling, I only played along with you because I needed a place to stay.”

  Struck by the truth, Kate froze as Will left the restaurant without even finishing the steak – his favorite dish. It wasn’t part of his plan to hurt and insult her like that, but he wasn’t sorry about it either. His relationship with Kate was, in all honesty, boring and pretentious, and he was glad that it was finally over.

  Chapter 4

  Nightmare

  “You do understand that you must sacrifice, love, for the sake of your mommy. That’s your purpose…”

  Heavy footsteps, followed by the eerie sound of heavy chains being dragged on a concrete floor, woke her up in an instant.

  She was exceedingly afraid for her dear, young life. She wanted to scream, but with her mouth duct-taped and feet chained, it was just impossible for her to do anything but shake in terror.

  “We all play different roles, love. You, unfortunately, need to suffer and die to save your mommy’s damned soul.” It wasn’t the first time he had told her that, but he never really did it—kill her. It was as if he was waiting for something. Or perhaps, for someone. And while waiting, he made himself busy by torturing her small body until she would pass out from the excruciating pain.

  “He’s almost ready for you. But, don’t worry, you will still make a difference today.” He held a leather belt and smiled at her. “We will be productive today, love. I promise you that.”

  Her little toes curled at the sight of the heavy-duty work belt. Her bruises from the beatings she received days ago had just turned pale green, but the pain still felt like it was just yesterday. She tried to scream, but nothing came out except muffled cries. She crawled off into the corner of the room as the man stepped forward.

  “I still have to pick up some groceries, love. Let’s get this over with.” The man reached for her and casually peeled off the duct tape off her swollen lips.

  “Please…please…no more…please…” She finally found her voice, small and raspy from screaming, and wasted no time to beg, hot tears streaming down her filthy cheeks.

  “Calm down, love. I thought you already understood the point of all this. Come on. Don’t beg. This has to be done.”

  “Please…nooooooo.”

  As soon as she felt the buckle bit her back, she knew there was nothing else she could do but endure the torture and hope for her mind to shut down and release her from feeling every bit of pain that she was bound to suffer.

  “You will soon understand, love. Soon.” The man hit her once again.

  “Arghhh!”

&nbs
p; “Stop! Please!” Una woke up screaming in her bed. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she tried to catch her breath. Immediately, she clasped her hands together to stop the shaking. She sniffed and cupped her damp cheeks.

  The nightmare wasn’t something new to her. For the past years, it had come every so often. It was something she knew would never completely go away. It was a part of her that she could never get rid of no matter how much she and Dr. Larson work hard to make her forget and move on.

  The floor felt cold under her feet as she got up from her bed a moment later. She swallowed hard; her throat felt dry. She needed to drink a glass of water to calm her nerves and, hopefully, be able to go back to sleep.

  Quietly, she pulled her door open and stepped out into the hall. She made her way down and relaxed when she saw a stream of light peeking through the door from the kitchen. Her new tenant had been very compliant so far.

  The house was still, and the only sound Una could hear was the beating of her heart. But when she was about to reach the door to the kitchen, she stopped when she heard a rough scrubbing noise inside. Seconds later, she heard it again. With her new tenant in mind probably looking for something to eat, she swung the door open.

  Sure enough, there stood at the sink was Will Thomas, in nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants, washing dishes.

  “Mr. Thomas, why are you washing dishes at this hour?” Una asked, startling her tenant. “And where is your shirt? Aren’t you feeling cold?”

  Will glanced over his shoulder, his hair disheveled like he just got out of bed and went straight to the kitchen to clean everything that was in the sink. “Ms. Miller.” He acknowledged her presence with a lopsided smile, his hands still buried in the bubbles, scrubbing a pan.

  Una made her way to open the fridge and poured herself a cold glass of water. “Mr. Thomas?” She took a drink of her glass until it was half-empty.

  “I couldn’t sleep. Cleaning sometimes helps me sleep. And about the shirt…” Will briefly turned to look at her. “I usually sleep shirtless, and I thought you were already asleep, so…” he trailed off.

  Una caught him frown before he turned his attention back to the pile of dishes in front of him. It wasn’t her first time to ever see a half-naked guy in her house, thanks to her previous tenants who couldn’t control their raging hormones, but seeing a shirtless man cleaning her kitchen at five AM was definitely a first for her.

  Staring unconsciously at Will’s broad back, she noticed that her nerves had calmed down and her body had already relaxed. Her attention was quickly diverted to what was standing in front of her. She got onto a stool, and when she noticed that Will was about to turn, she quickly shot her eyes on the cup of coffee on the granite countertop that she didn’t finish earlier that day.

  “Why couldn’t you sleep?” she asked when she didn’t hear him say anything.

  “Stress. I am working on this project and my boss kind of leaves everything up to me. It’s a huge deal, and I guess I just feel like I’m under pressure. How about you?”

  Ignoring his question, she gestured to the glass of water and finished it. “Are you and Liezel close?”

  Will washed the bubbles off his hands. “We sometimes have lunch together with my other friend. I guess you could say that we’re friends, but we aren’t really best friends. Is she like your best friend? She’s talked about you a lot of times. She’s very fond of you.”

  “I was planning to do the dishes today after school.” Una, again, ignored the question in his statement for the simple reason that she did not considered Liezel as her best friend. As a matter of fact, she didn’t have a best friend at all. She didn’t let anyone be that close to her.

  “No worries. Like I’ve said, cleaning helps me sleep. It helps me relax and think.” His eyes met with hers and in that instant, they fell into an uncomfortable silence.

  Una broke the eye contact by looking away. Her gaze landed on the pan next to Will. “Have you settled in nicely into your room?”

  “Yes. I don’t own a lot of stuff so…yeah…I fixed the window sill yesterday. I figured you didn’t—”

  “I rarely check that room. So, I didn’t know that something needed fixing.”

  Then came an awkward silence.

  “I like your pajamas. Are those Blue Jays?” Una heard him say. Will then quickly looked down at her matching pajamas and at the patterned birds on leafy branches on it.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe because they’re blue.”

  Will smiled. Una’s eyes immediately flicked to his fangs. For some reason, it added warmth and perhaps charm to his smile and overall personality.

  “I love birds.”

  Una took a deep breath and got off the stool. “I’m going back to bed.”

  “Okay, Ms. Miller.” Will’s smile tightened.

  She paused when she was near the door. “I had a nightmare and I usually drink a glass of water to calm down and then I go back to sleep.”

  Will didn’t have to ask what she was suddenly talking about because he understood right away. “And I hope you’re feeling much better now.”

  Una nodded, reached for the door, and then turned to him one last time. “It’s not really included in my rules, but I’d appreciate it if you’d always keep a shirt on around the house, Mr. Thomas.”

  Will swallowed and nodded. “Right. Of course. I’m sorry for being… shirtless, Ms. Miller. It won’t happen again,” he assured her.

  She didn’t say another word and left the kitchen quietly.

  ***

  “And has the nightmare changed? Or was it the same thing as before?”

  Una’s eyes traveled carefully from the bowl of sweets on the table to Dr. Larson’s smooth, brown skin. She had always adored her doctor’s classic beauty.

  “Una?”

  Una heard Dr. Larson but her mind had not decided yet whether it was worth going over the same nightmare she had been having for the past years. It was the same scene, in the same room, with the same man…the same cruelty.

  “Are you with me, Una?”

  Nodding, Una cleared her throat. “Yes, I am,” she told the doctor and briefly looked at the pen in her hand.

  “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

  Una sighed. She never liked that question. Her mind was constantly thinking about several things that she usually had trouble thinking of what to say and where to start. Should she tell Dr. Larson about what happened the other night when she walked in on her partially clothed tenant?

  “Are you thinking about the nightmare right now?”

  Una inhaled deeply. “No. I was about a few seconds ago. Now, I’m thinking about my new tenant,” she said, glancing at the doctor’s warm face. “The nightmare…it was the same one. Nothing’s changed. You know every detail of it already. Although, it was the first in two months. I just thought I was making progress and it won’t come back again.”

  “Two months is a progress. A huge one even.”

  Una wanted the nightmare to never come back. But she thought she should just be happy with a two-month progress.

  “Are you under in a lot of stress right now?” Dr. Larson added.

  Una slowly shook her head. School was never stressful for her since she was only in it to have and experience something normal in her life. “No, I’m not. Professor Cullum thinks I should choose a major already, but I don’t feel stressed out about it.”

  “Why do you think you still can’t decide on what to major in?” Dr. Larson asked, her soft voice matched the stillness of the room.

  “Because I don’t know what I want to do for the rest of my life.” Una narrowed her eyes at the round lamp on the desk behind her therapist. “I don’t know what my interests are. Is it music? Movies? Food? Art? Saving people’s lives? Architecture? I don’t really know. All of those things are okay, I guess. I’m just not sure I’d want to do any of those for a long period of time.”

  “And have you spoken to your friend about this?”
/>   Una looked down at her hands, checking each nail bed. “I don’t normally talk about stuff like that with Liezel. She does the talking and sharing of her life most of the time. Why? Do you think I should talk to her about it?”

  “Sometimes, our friends know us better than we do ourselves. Generally, we are keen observers of the people close to us. We’re able to see patterns and behaviors that our friends may be unaware of. As an example, I’m pretty sure you have an opinion or two on Liezel that she may not be fully aware of.”

  “Yeah. I guess. I have noticed that most of the guys she dated owned expensive cars. That was the case even when she was still in college.”

  Dr. Larson smiled. “A good observation. And I’m most certain that Liezel has a few observations on you too. She may have noticed something about you that you may, perhaps, have overlooked about yourself.”

  Una refused to respond to that for she didn’t like the sound of other people knowing more than she knew about herself. She had been through hell and back and it was annoying for her to be told that she hadn’t gotten familiar enough with herself. Just because she couldn’t figure out her interests and decide on what to major?

  “How’s your new tenant?”

  Una cleared her throat. “Mr. William Thomas is okay. He designs games.” Her eyes drifted to the pen in Dr. Larson’s hand which was moving as she spoke. “He follows my rules,” she added.

  Dr. Larson’s face relaxed, and a small smile spread on her lips. “Your first male tenant.” It wasn’t a question.

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “And how’s living with him so far? Do you feel a little stressed out considering that you’ve never had a man living with you before?”

  Una stared at the bowl of treats and sighed. Was she stressed out after seeing Will with a missing top? Was she stressed out because Will may be a little of a neat freak? Was she a little stressed out over the fact that her stomach churned whenever she looked at him in the eye?