The three of them had just managed to walk a few steps away from the door when they heard him. "Stop!", Gael bellowed making Becca flinch and the three of them stopped in their tracks. Becca turned around to look at him, her eyes full of wonder.
Gael strode towards her, "You can"t just leave like that!", he insisted.
Samantha and Daniel looked at each other, they wanted to leave already but they both knew that Gael and Becca still needed a little more time.
Becca knew that it was too easy to just leave after what she said, after all, Gael did come for her to Country K. But what else could she say? She honestly doesn"t know how to deal with it. Left with no other choice, she decided to talk some sense into him. "He"ll still listen to me, right?", she thought.
"Sam, could you guys give us a minute?", she asked.
Nodding her head, Samantha patted Becca on the shoulder before she walked away with Daniel.
"Gael… Mr. De Luc"
"Don"t be so formal, Becca. We"re not strangers.", he interrupted.
She pursed her lips not knowing what to say so she waited for Gael to speak more.
"Becca, I was wrong to keep you back then when you wanted to go out. I had been regretting it. I never meant to make you unhappy. But you have got to understand, I did that because I thought I was keeping you safe. I did allow you to leave the house once in a while, wasn"t that enough?", he honestly thought he was doing what he thought was right.
Becca recalled what happened back in Country T. "I was lifeless. After witnessing what happened and you keeping me in there, I just… I couldn"t do that anymore. I was close to losing who I truly am.", she paused as her eyes began to water.
Gael thought about what he had done, because of who he is and what he does, he failed to realize that he didn"t own Becca. That she was actually someone he cared about at that time.
Before Becca, he used to be someone who enjoyed the company of women and had countless of them whenever he wanted. But after the death of his grandfather, whom he respected and loved a lot, he became even more ruthless especially when he was looking for his grandfather"s killer; the traitor, Cirino Varano. Several months after that, he met Becca who was a free spirit. Her carefree personality influenced Gael that he started to feel less bitter.
After a few months of dating Becca, he began to care for her until that incident happened where Becca witnessed him killing a man. He started to feel afraid that if Becca will leave him, he might go back to becoming consumed with darkness. He had thought he needed her.
And so, his selfishness along with his care for Becca made him keep her inside his mansion. Neglecting the fact that Becca already wanted to get out of his hold.
He was conflicted, "I didn"t bother you for a few months thinking that you will still come back to me, that was why I let you go that night when you fled."
"And I am thankful that you did. But I won"t change my mind, Gael… I still can"t be with you."
Gael didn"t know how much restraint he did for himself at that moment. He wanted to be ruthless to Becca and keep her just like before but a tug in his heart is holding him back. So the only thing he could do was roar, "Tell me why!", he asked as if he had not already heard enough.
Breathing deeply, Becca looked at him in the eye. "For me, you are not a bad person as I know you truly care for me deep down. But what you do… what your family does… I am sorry, it is against my principles. Therefore, I can"t truly be with you."
Gael didn"t say anything else and Becca had finally let go. When they left the estate, Gael was still rooted in the same spot until one of his men bravely walked up to him, "Master…"
With clenched teeth and dark expression, he walked back inside the house and smashed the first thing he saw to the ground. That was the first time that he loathed himself and his family for what they are.
…
The three of them safely arrived back at the hotel where Samantha and Becca stayed. Daniel got another room and Samantha stayed with him.
As soon as Samantha entered the room and Daniel had closed the door, she spun her around to face him and embraced her tightly; he breathed out a sigh of relief. He had been holding himself back because of the people around them earlier but now that they were alone, he finally felt comfortable.
"Daniel…", she called.
"Just … let"s just stay like this for a while.", he requested, his voice full of longing.
The entire time that he was on his way to Mansfield town and even when he arrived at the estate where they were, Daniel"s heart had not stopped being anxious.
Before Samantha left, he already had a bad feeling about their trip but he brushed it off thinking that he may have been only worrying too much. Although nothing serious happened, the thought of her being in that state was scary enough for him and he never wanted that to happen again. He was thankful that despite Gael"s ident.i.ty, he still had some sense left in him for allowing them to leave. If not, it could have ended differently.
Samantha also let herself melt within Daniel"s arms. It was such a great feeling to be with him again.
He pulled back a little and pulled her in for a gentle kiss, so gentle as he was afraid that he would break her.
"Don"t ever do that again!", he breathed. His voice showed signs of frustration; touching his forehead to hers.
Samantha was puzzled as to what he was referring to, "Huh?"
He straightened up, "You!! Acting like Ms. James Bond!".
He raised his right hand in front of her face and with his forefingers, he lightly tapped Samantha"s forehead as he said, "Don"t do that again, that was very dangerous!"
"Aw!!", Samantha whimpered and rubbed her forehead, "How could you hit me? That hurt!"