Oops!
He was the same as she had always seen in his post, but this view? It was ten times better.
His hairy chest was visible from the tank top he wore, which looked like it was about to rip at the seams from his wide, hard, toned chest. She could also see the tattoos he had always had on his right breast stretch up to his shoulders and down to his wrists. It was the same writing: Blood.
"Claus," she repeated, this time swallowing hard.
He didn't say a word; instead, he just stared at her as if he was looking into her soul.
"I…" Mia tried to explain herself but was caught short by Claus.
"Save your breath!"
He opened the door even wider, looked around and let her in before closing the door shut.
"Did you come with anyone? Were you followed? Or does anyone know that you're here? He questioned her, hovering around her like a police officer to a suspect.
Mia ignored his questions. "Claus, something happened and I think…"
"Jeez!" Claus snapped at her.
"I know what happened. I know exactly why you're here. And that is why I'm asking you. How the fuck did you get here?"
His outburst surely didn't get to Mia. She took a step closer to him to confront him. "Good! I'm glad you know why I'm here. So, where is my husband?"
She got on Claus's nerves real quick. "You're still as stubborn as ever."
He took a few steps away from her to breathe and then returned to where she stood.
"Look at me. I can't help you if you don't tell me what I need to know. And you can as well say goodbye to your husband. So answer my goddamn question. How the fuck did you find me?"
Mia didn't buy it. He saw it in her face. He decided to plead even more.
"Please, Cariño."
Her heart fluttered. No one had called her that name in years. The sound of Spanish from his lips made it almost impossible to hide her attraction towards him. He wasn't as hot as he used to be. He was hotter, more like a man. His scent was no longer of dried blood. It was something else. And it filled the room, choking her to the nose. She couldn't take it anymore. Her walls are broken down just with that single word.
"Fine! I came here on my own."
"That's not possible." Claus remarked.
"But I did. When I realized my husband had been kidnapped, I rushed back inside, forgetting the food I left on the table. I headed straight for my bedroom, picked up all the essentials I believed I needed, including a pen, some paper, some money, and a fresh blouse to wear with the black pants I already had on."
Claus rubbed his palm on his face. That's not the information he needed from her. But he knew her too well to know that she's flustered, and he dared not interrupt her until she's done.
He just stood there, listening to her, and occasionally nodding his head as she spoke.
"Then I looked for Rick's car keys, then dropped them again when I remembered I never learnt how to drive. I looked around one last time at the empty house where I and Rick stood a few minutes ago before the incident. I closed the door, locked it and headed straight for the location I figured out from your Instagram posts. New Haven, Connecticut."
"After bus ride after bus ride and taxi after taxi, I finally got to Connecticut."
The statement made no sense to Claus, but he just hummed that he's following.
"This place is miles away from where I was coming from, by the way. But after everything, I found my way back to Connecticut. The place where my life was once perfect because I had it all. A job, friends, a life, a lover, and most of all, adventure."
Careful not to interrupt her, Claus carefully chipped in his question again. "You got back to Connecticut and then to my house. How?"
"Well, I tipped the taxi driver when I got to the front of the house across a dead street. It was the only house on this lane that had a red door and a CM-shaped garden."
"That's how you figured out my house?" Claus was both stunned and impressed.
"The driver surely knew his way around the town, especially if he knew of houses in a street where no one walked by and no car passed." Mia tried not to sound weird to him.
"If I were killed here, I am sure that no one would hear my scream. And even if they did, they won't come out to help." She quickly added.
"How long have you been stalking me?" Claus asked, not ready to change the topic.
"I'm not stalking you." Mia protested.
"But you figured out where I live just by putting my Instagram posts together and identified my house just by the shape of my garden? No one would have ever done that."
"Well, I'm not 'no one'. Or maybe you could have thought about being found out before shaping your garden after our initials." Mia snapped.
He responded with a smile. He checked his wristwatch. "We still have some time. You can have your seat; I'll make you some coffee."
Claus was about to walk away when her voice caught up with him. "I don't need a coffee from you. I need my husband."
"He's not here, as you can see." He threw his hands in the air.
"So where did you keep him?"
"I don't have him."
"And why do you think I would believe you?"
"And why do you think I would have him?"
"Because you have reasons to do so."
"As a member of the Blood or as the man who used to fuck you?"
Mia took a deep breath. Her nippled hardened under her bra and her lower part tightened. She had nothing to say to that. She just watched him walk away to the kitchen. It was an open kitchen so Mia could see what he's doing.
"I saw your van in the news. The new one you got." she found her way back to the intial conversation.
"Obviously, you shouldn't miss that after stalking me online." He remarked from the kitchen, holding an empty cup in his hands.
"No. It is all over social media now. The trends." Her voice shook, and he knew her too well, so he cut her off with a chuckle.
"Cariño. You can't lie to me."
There was silence again. Mia knew he was right. Claus knew her too well. He used the opportunity to walk up to her with the coffee. Watching him walk up to her wasn't something easy for Mia. A thousand thoughts had crossed her mind.
"I'm leaving! And if you think you have succeeded, you are wrong. I will go straight to the police to report you. My husband is in the papers; they'll come for you."
Her outburst was nothing but arousing for him. All he could see was her vulnerability, her fear, and her failed attempt to hide how much he still affected her.
"I know where he is. And I can help you find him. But I didn't take him."
She stopped in her tracks and looked back to see Claus with the filled cup of coffee. His eyes were softer, and she knew he wasn't lying.
"I left. I left the Blood."
"When?"
"Before you got married." He dropped the cup on the table and came closer to Mia, taking her hands.
"I wanted to come tell you, but it was too late. I'm not that person you thought I was. And I certainly didn't kidnap your husband. I'd never do anything like that."
She yanked her hands from his and went behind him, farther away from where he could mess with her head.
"You mean, you'd never do it again. You have done it before, remember? When you killed my parents."
"You never want to let that go, do you? When will you ever forgive me? I told you, it was a mistake!"
"And that is supposed to make me feel better? If you were so good at your job, why didn't you aim better, you know. Not end the world for the person you claimed you love."
"It was before I met you. I didn't know they were your parents!"
"It doesn't matter now. There's no point talking about it. Rick's in trouble, and I have to go find him. So you can either help or not."
"If I don't?"
"Then you can go to hell." Mia retorted.
Claus chuckled. "Fair enough. What if I do? What's in it for me?"
"You can still go to hell."
"I guess hell sounds good."