Twenty Eight

                                    

                                          
A/N: Another chapter, not the best, kinda giving up on this book tbh
Desire 
"Ezra, I won't leave this room without an answer." He stood in the middle of her room with arms crossed and with an expression that should have scared her into submission but it didn't. She was disorientated, mind in disarray. She didn't know what to make of Yong's words from before, was it a confession of affection or obsession? She couldn't understand the implications of her presence in Yong's life and Julian's reaction to it. She looked up at Yong, very briefly taken  by his looks. Throughout her stay with Yong, there were fleeting moments where she was reminded of how annoyingly but truly handsome Yong was, occupied with the need to go home and fear of her life, she never gave him the due diligence. Not that he deserved it. They were brief moments; moments such as when she had seen him through her window jogging shirtless around the compound one humid evening, when she would walk to her tutoring and see him in his office, a glass of bourbon in one hand, leaned back against his chair with his eyes closed, deep frown lines embedded on to his forehead as he lost himself in thought. This was moment was her favourite, it reminded her that for all the power he thought he possessed, he was still human. A human with fears and worries, worries that apparently encompassed her. 
"So, Julian, she's your boss. She runs this whole thing." Yong frowned, uncrossing his arms as if to ask how she knew. 
Well, Noah had indeed told her everything; who they were what they did and who Julian was, including how powerful she supposedly was. 
"So, this whole thing, me being here is to protect me?" She pressed and Yong remained quiet.  "Because it that's the case, let me go." 
"Are you stupid?" Yong spat angrily. "You met Julian, you saw her madness, and you're first instinct is still to ask to let you go?" 
"Yong," She pleaded desperately, taking a step closer to him. This might sound insane, but a part of Yong was happy.He fought desperately to stop the corners of his lips from turning up into a small smile as he saw the authenticity in her eyes.  This was the first time she was speaking to him. Not with anger or hatred, just him and her.  It was the first time they were having a conversation, albeit not a pleasant one but a conversation nonetheless. He loved seeing the way she ran a hand through her hair in frustration, the way she approached him and spoke to him without fear. In another life, they could've been a bickering couple. Fighting on and off about the stupidities of life such as cleaning the dishes or putting the toilet seat down.  
Well, it goes beyond saying that the inner working of Mason Yong's mind is an enigma that cannot be understood. 
"Yong, please. She has no idea that I'm the witness, even though, I still maintain I didn't see enough to have warranted all of this and you have the police on your payroll anyway, so whether I'm in here or out there, she can't get to me. " 
"Ezra," Yong put his arm on her shoulders. "She is crazy." He emphasised each word as he shook her slightly. "Like pathologically mentally ill. She will find out and she will kill you." 
"Then so be it!" She yelled in frustration, walking away with her hands on her hip before looking up at the ceiling while letting out a breath. She turned to Yong again, "If she finds out and kills me, then so be it." She took a daring step towards him, they were now but mere centimetres apart. She grabbed his hands and looked up at him. "Yong." She began. He had never heard anyone say his name like that and all he wanted was to record it and have it played over and over again. "I can't live like this. This isn't life. It's prison and I'd rather take my chances out there." 
She was being bold, she didn't know what possessed her but she took a leap of faith and ran with it. Noah had told her enough for her to realise that despite the unyielding, dark and menacing man Yong might be. A part of him, however small, did care and it was that part that was keeping her alive right now. It was an assumption she knew, and she didn't know where Yong's need to protect her came from and truth be told the affection was not reciprocated. If he were to be killed right now, she'd happily step over his body to go home. In any case, she felt like control was all he knew and so having her under his control is the only way he knew to protect her. She had to show him there were other ways. 
"Yong please." She begged, she hadn't realised the effect her gentle touch was having on Yong. The soft caress of the pad of her thumb against the palm of his hand, the way she squeezed his hand gently every so often . Yong didn't know what this was but he wanted more. Ezra was not realising the error of her ways, instead of appealing to his heart to let her leave, it was making him want to keep her here, by his side, more than anything. 
He looked down at their hands, shaking his head slghtly before looking up at her. "I can't, I'm sorry." Ezra felt her breath hitch, an unconscious tear slipping down her cheek. He held her face in hands as he looked deeply into her eyes. "This, this is the only place where I can be certain that you are safe.It is the only way." He whispered. Ezra held on to his wrists that were still holding her face caringly. She didn't say anything, her eyes, pleading for freedom. Yong couldn't do it, he knew this went beyond Julian and Ezra witnessing their crimes, it went beyond all that now. This was about him and his hidden desire to love and to be loved. And so, selfishly, his gaze fell down to parted her lips, the moment hung suspended in the air, the tension palpable between them. Without a word, he closed the distance between them, his heart pounding in his chest as he leaned in to hold her lips with his.
As their lips met, a surge of emotions coursed through Yong. He could taste the salt of her tears mingling with the sweetness of her lips, a bittersweet combination that stirred something deep within him. But as Ezra responded hesitantly to his kiss, Yong felt her uncertainty and sorrow seep into him. She withdraw slightly and Yong pressed, begging for return to no avail before  pulled back slowly, his eyes searching hers for any sign of what she was feeling. In that vulnerable moment, he saw the wariness in her gaze, the shadow of past pain haunting her features. Guilt washed over him like a crashing wave as he realized the weight of his actions.
"Ezra, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have do-" 
"Yong, just let me go. Please. I don't want this, I don't want you. " 
His face hardened, his signature stoic expression returning as he clenched his hands into a fist. He didn't say anything but he didn't need to. Ezra sank to the floor hopelessly. He tighteed his jaw as he looked down at her before turning to exit the room. Slamming the door shut behind him. 
"What were you doing in there?" He turned to see Jude near Ezra's door, an unfamiliar hint of anger in his eyes. 
"Are you questioning me right now?" Yong narrowed his eyes as he walked towards his friend. 
"No, I was just wondering." Jude maintained eye contact, the only one who was able to stand their ground against Yong. 
"Well, I suggest you wonder less and think more. This is my home, I brought her here. What I do doesn't really concern you. " The two stared each other down before Jude broke into a smile, releasing the tension between them as he raised his hands in surrender. 
"I just couldn't find you that's all." 
Yong glared at him suspiciously, "I'm just thinking out loud here," He began, putting a hand on Jude's shoulder. "Ezra's got bruises and marks all over her torso. You wouldn't happen to know if something might be going on with her?" 
"Of course there is." Yong blinked in surprise. "You brought a woman, into a house of men. A woman that you keep trapped here while you work. What do you expect is going to happen?" 
"No one would touch her without my command." 
"You can hardly keep your hands off her." Jude answered, leaving Yong to ponder his words as he walked away.