CHAPTER 1: ROSES

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When I saw you, I fell in love ............

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The Gold family was having a meal together, talking about Arabella's future. It was raining heavily outside, and because of the clinking of dishes,they didn't hear the three cars that pulled up in the drive way.

A man from the first car hopped out and, grabbed an umbrella, went to the passenger seat of the middle car and opened it for his boss. A well built and very tall man, elegantly got out, and straightened his fur coat.

He had jet black hair that was neatly tied up in a bun,and the back of it was left to fall to his neck. His eyes were grey-blue, he had a light stubble, and one could see his butt chin.His jaw being athletic, and set with determination. He was clad in a total black attire, but even in a Russian fur coat, his arm muscles were very defined. Spotting him out as the leader was very easy, for their was an aura of power around him.

"Open the door!" He commanded in a stern voice, his face void of any emotions, but his eyes bitter. Instantly, men from the third car burst the front door open, and it entirely fell off its hinges, with a loud thud.

The three people on the table all jumped up from their seats in shock and fear. Mr. Gold quickly went to Arabella, and tried to shove her behind a big couch."Hide, quick!!" He urged.

But it was a little too late for that,for the men had already stormed into the house and were now looking at the three people like an angry pack of wolves. Mr. Gold's face mirrored utter fear, his demons had caught up with him,and were now going to engulf his family too.

"Steve, Steve, Steve,... am I interrupting something? " The head of the pack spoke, quite venomously, taking slow but precise steps towards the Golds.

"You have the nerve to be enjoying a lovely meal, yet you owe me quite a staggering amount of money." He hissed, his face still held no emotion, and it was hard to tell what he was feeling.

The man snapped his fingers and two goons came and pulled the table cloth from either side, throwing all the dishes and food on the floor. He now had a ghost of a smile at the corner of his mouth, satisfied with the job that had been done.

"Line them up!" He commanded. The two men who had destroyed the dishes hurried and put the Golds in a line, facing him. He looked at Mr. Gold, then Mrs. Gold in the middle and lastly,his bitter eyes landed on a woman, young, probably their daughter,and something shifted inside him,but he couldn't put his finger on it. She was not too petite or too chubby,.....rather medium and just right, her eyes were hazel, and he thought the name Gold was perfectly befitting, from atop her head fell silky locks of dark brown hair. She had baby pink lips, and he couldn't help but wonder, what kissing them would feel like.

Through his eyes,one could tell that the cogs in his brain were turning, for they glinted with mischief." Mr. Donnateillo, please,she has nothing to do with this. Let my family go, this is between me and you." Mr.Gold said.

The man who had been addressed laughed in mockery, before his face became solemn and serious.

"I think it is a little too late for that." He answered.

"Please,I'll do anything, please let them go. They know nothing of my debt to you." Mr.Gold pleaded, but the look on the other man's face suggested that he was debating with a brick wall,and a decision had already been made.

"Do you have my money in full?"

"No...but I- I..I c-can...."

"Who am I , Steve?"

"Mr. Riven Silvanus Donnateillo."

"Good, you know who you are dealing with!"

Riven pulled out a fire arm from his waist band ,and pointed it at Steve's head, by now, Steve was a sweaty mess and if you listened really closely, you could hear his violent heartbeat.

"I'm simply tired of your games Steve, it's time to end this, don't you think!" He rhetorically voiced.

"No, please don't kill him, please." Cried Arabella. Once again, something shifted with in Riven. First it was her appearance,now her voice too was alluring. He swallowed hard and gained composure once more.

"You should not interrupt me when I'm busy. I can kill him because of your actions sweet girl." He spat at Arabella.

"Please spare him, he needs a little more time!" Arabella said once more. Riven was taken aback by her sudden plea, he wasn't expecting a woman to make him second guess his decisions tonight.

"You're father won't be able to pay the debt,even if I gave him a thousand years. It simply can't be done!!" Came Riven.

"Then let me help him. I have some savings, and I have a job now. With my installments and his installments we can pay a good amount monthly." She pleaded.

Riven gave his gun to Igor, his right- hand man, and it only took him a second of thought, before he finally said

"Done!! " Then turned to Steve, " I will expect monthly payments or I will kill all of you. You know how to make the deposits. And I expect no delays."

"Roger, Igor, take the women outside!" One of the men grabbed Arabella and the other her mother, and took them outside of the house, and under a shade.

Riven nodded his head this time, and two men gave Steve Gold a beating, which he only stopped when he was satisfied with the job that had been done.

"This is a warning Steve, when I come back, I'm setting this whole place on fire, with or without your family." Riven said, and as he turned to leave, he made one last remark, "So don't make me come back!!" Then he exited the house, where someone was waiting with an umbrella for him.

As he made his way to his car, he stopped where the women had been kept. "Don't do anything stupid! I wouldn't want to teach you your places too." He said, and didn't wait for any reply as he walked away into his car.... It's not like he needed a reply in the first place.

The Gold women watched as the men boarded their vehicles and the convoy drove away. They quickly ran back into the house, only to find Steve beaten black and blue. But the beating was lenient because not much damage had been done.

That was how beauty met the beast.

After helping her mother clean up, putting her father in bed, and covering up the space of the door, Arabella went up to her room and prepared for the next day.

She put her documents together, and picked out an outfit for the next day. As she lay in bed, she played the images of what had transpired in her head. Riven was scary, and she felt silly that she found him very attractive. That was her last thought, before she succumbed into the warm arms of sleep.

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The alarm on Arabella's bedside table went off and she soon prepared for the day. Before she left she checked in on her father, who was doing much better at the moment.

She reached her workplace and reported to the human resource department, where a lady briefed her about her new job. "I believe that is all you need to know, now come I'll take you to your work station." Came the lady.

They got into the elevator and went to the top most floor, which was the eleventh floor. Everything was so grandeur and it screamed "no expense was spared". From the decor to the furniture, it was possible to mistake this place to be a castle.

Arabella was let into a room, which was quite spacious, and behind a desk, were floor to ceiling glass windows, through which gave, what seemed to be, the best view of the city. Around the room, sat large vases of small green trees and at the corner there were two couches of fine black leather, one long one short. And a fine coffee table was placed before them. The floors and walls were made from, state of the art wood.

There were two large doors that probably led to another room, but they were different from those in which they had come in.

"Alright,this is your station, the boss will be in shortly. Good luck." She said and left without entertaining a reply in form of a question. Arabella then turned her back and was setting

her documents up on the desk, then she heard the opening and closing of a door.

"You must be the new assistant and project developer!" The person said. It was the voice of a man, and she didn't know him very well, buy knew the voice very well. Arabella turned only to be met by the grey-blue eyed man from the previous night, Riven.

Her breath caught in her throat and was at a loss of words. The reaction was mutual, as Riven's eyes too mirrored shock. The two just stood their, frozen in place, like a deer in headlights.

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When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew it. William Shakespeare.

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