IN THE CAGE

96. SILENT

...NORMAL pov...

...----------------...

If Mesa wasn't next to him, not speaking at length with the nonsense that made him want to break the woman's neck, then Ace wouldn't have joined the dance floor. Ace hates DJ music which makes his head dizzy, Ace hates the crowd and Ace hates it the most when Indira-the girl whose consciousness has already left head-dancing swirled nearby. He took her dancing by force.

Ace glanced at Fawn. Ace's new habit now is to look for that face wherever he is, whether Fawn is there or not. When Ace finds Fawn, the girl is talking to Joseph. Embracing the man with hospitality which made Ace squint displeased eyes.

"Ace.., te-ri-ma-ka-sih has come to my party.., hiek..." Indira who was leaning on her chest hiccups. Ace looked back at the drunk woman with a sigh of boredom.

Ace wanted to escape from there. Go somewhere quieter and more comfortable. While Ace's mind searches for an escape to avoid Indira and Mesa who continue to hunt him throughout the party, a pull on his collar suddenly leaves Ace stunned.

Right then and there, unaware of what had happened to him, Ace widened his eyes instantly.

"..."

"..."

Indira kisses her and for God's sake, the only reason Ace hasn't punched the girl's head is Evan Caspian's arrival which instantly pushes her to her solitude.

"Stay away from my wife, savage!" Evan Caspian's voice mingled with the music until the rest of the room turned silent. The eyes of the guests at the party were directed at Evan Caspian who had just snatched Indira from Ace and pushed the youngest Hunter with a powerful punch in the jaw.

Indira who was not so aware of the incident felt an embrace land on his shoulder. He looked around and found that the one who was embracing him was Fawn.

"Miss Indira, are you okay?" Fawn asked with a trembling voice holding in anger. He tried to be professional at his job, but thinking about the situation he had just witnessed, Fawn's blood was boiling hot.

"Oh, Fawn?" Indira smiled with relief. Not realizing at all that Evan Caspian had just jerked his arm roughly and pushed him away from Ace. Had Fawn not welcomed him, Indira might have been lying on the floor now-broken.

"Bring Indira home!" Evan gave the instructions in a piercing cold voice. His pair of grayish-green eyes glanced at Fawn like knives. Without being able to give a rejection, Fawn nodded respectfully to Evan. Follow the will of the man while embracing Indira who is still in his own world.

"Wait, there." Ace's voice came out after being silent. A pair of dark beads rained down on Fawn who, despite trying to hide his anger with a flat look, could still read Ace easily. Fawn was angry, very angry. The misunderstanding he had created had made the bridge he had built into that heart, burning to collapse.

"What else do you want, asshole?!" Evan Caspian said. He thinks Ace is going to stop Indira. "Your business is with me!"

"Evan," Ace's voice implied a warning. "Do you know what happens to someone who dares to touch me?"

Without mentioning names, be it Evan or the guests who froze in the room, everyone knew who Ace meant. Of course, that someone is Jemaine Emery. A man who tests his end by playing around with Ace Hunter.

"I suggest you step back from my face now, Evan."

"I'm not the one you can command, Ace." Evan was firm on his stance. It was as if Ace's threat was just the wind then tickled his skin for a moment.

"Fawn!" Reprove Evan once again, "Take my wife home now."

Hearing the same warning for the second time, Fawn decides to take Indira home. Forget what happened back there, forget about Ace Hunter who was still staring at him with a pair of regretful dark beads, forget it! Fawn doesn't care anymore. From the beginning, the main priority was just this job. To Indira.

Arcelio Hunter is just a coincidence that he met in his work, someone who will gradually pass from his life as well.

"Conscious, Fawn. Remember who you are and who he is!" Fawn talks to herself until then Joseph comes and helps her embrace Indira towards the Leviathan exit.

...----------------...

A can of coffee landed in front of Fawn, coming from Joseph who had just returned from the mini market.

"What's the situation?" ask Joseph. The point is about Indira's situation after Evan returns from the party.

"Nothing happened, Miss Indira slept."

Joseph breathed a tired sigh. He sat himself across from Fawn, in a window frame that would fit three people. Joseph stared at the lush trees that were a common sight in the Caspian residence, considering that the house was covered by a forest.

"I didn't expect Miss Indira to go that far" Joseph said. "Mr Ace was very surprised."

Surely, after leaving the party, Fawn found out that the person who initiated the kiss was Indira. Ace is the victim of his boss' magical act.

The last time Fawn thought about her future was when she was languishing in Ace's room, living like a bird without wings. At that moment Fawn thought her future was death. Considering he was Ace's prisoner, there was no way out of the man other than death, right?

Now, when Fawn thought about it again, the situation was now very much different. He has a chance to go anywhere. Disappear. He can build a new life and leave all the situations that are happening now. Escape.

Fawn can do that, but he doesn't know if he can release Ace's strong grip on his heart right now. His heart is not calm. He knows what he feels for the man, he is not a fool to keep going around in a fog of his own feelings. Fawn knew clearly that her heart that was screaming in pain right now was proof of her desire to be with the man. Fawn loves Ace, and worse, Fawn feels he has fallen.

Very fell to the stage he was afraid of his feelings now.

What if Ace leaves him? What if one day Ace turned away from him and like today, Ace would kiss another woman and forget about her?

Fear like this is the worst. Fawn did not know how to get rid of the burden of his mind, did not know how to remove the sound that echoed in his mind.

"Fawn?" Joseph greeted her again.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay? You're getting very quiet when we get back."

"I was just thinking about your question this morning" Fawn said, opening the coffee can Joseph gave me and drinking a mouthful of bitter liquid. "About the current situation..."

"Oh," Joseph nodded in understanding. "What do you think? Are you running away with me?"

"Do you think running away is the right situation? You know we have a contract, right?"

"Fool with contracts, Fawn. When Ace Hunter came to the front of the gate of this house with his bodyguards, the contract meant nothing more. We've lost." Joseph chuckles. "It doesn't mean I underestimated the bodyguards abilities of the Caspian and Rashid families, but..., you know for yourself, right? This is Ace Hunter."

"I get it, I get it." Fawn smiled wryly. "But still, I want to protect Miss Indira from all harm. I don't think he's involved at all in this situation."

"That's it you and me."

"Well, that's right."

"If someday you see me running away, Fawn..., I hope you don't judge me as a coward, huh?"

"Did?"

"I.., no matter how loyal I am to Miss Indira, I still put myself in first place. I have a dream I want to pursue."

"Dreams, huh? That sounds cool." Fawn looked at Joseph with a soothing twinkle of shady eyes. Fawn is waiting for Joseph, to be honest. A man who has dreams is an amazing man. Fawn did not have that because since he finished his training as a bodyguard, Fawn's life was only focused on devoting himself to Indira. It is a shield that protects the girl from all danger.

Dreams are a luxury for him. Something he could not find in his life.

"It doesn't mean I want to hunt you, Fawn. You know you're my senior, right?" Joseph returned Fawn's gaze with seriousness. "I know Rashid's family is very meritorious in your life, you've always devoted your loyalty to them and yes, it's not a mistake. But I hope you can live for yourself too."

"..."

"You can't live like this forever."

Fawn digested Joseph's words with a faint smile on her face. With the moonlight shining down on them, at two in the morning of a cold day, Fawn felt warmth. Impermanence.

"I wish I could be free of this devotion too, Joe." Fawn smiled faintly as she returned, she recalled Ace criticizing her loyalty to Rashid's family in a disdainful voice. Given how the man laughed at her, insulting her as naive and pitiful.

Thinking of the words that used to sound so painful in his ears, for some reason, now Fawn was just laughing. He felt.., if perhaps.., Ace had a point.

Ace, oh, Ace.

What happened to her after Fawn left the party? Fawn wondered with longing creeping back on her skin, hurting her with a miserable void.

Fawn is worried about her life now.

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