Chapter 1

"Excuse me, pardon me. Move!" I shouted as I forced my way through people.

I ran at full speed through the unfamiliar streets of London.

"Stop!" a man shouted.

"Go around and cut her off from the other side." Another shouted.

I was being chased by a group of men, I had no idea what they wanted.

"Give it up, you can't escape." Another of the men shouted.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted.

As I ran, I suddenly ran into someone's arms. They grabbed me hard by the wrists, and pushed me up against a wall.

"Come quietly and you won't get hurt." The man said.

He had my arms pinned against my side, I struggled against his strong grip. I could just make out a tall, grey blur in front of me.

"What do you want from me?" I asked.

I could hear footsteps getting closer to us, it must be the rest of his men. I needed to do something! With one swift movement, I brought my leg up sharply. I felt my foot hit him, I hoped that I hit him in the groin but I couldn't be sure.

He released my arms and I heard him cry out in pain. The moment I was free, I darted to the left and continued to run. I had lost my sun glasses and my cane with all the chaos, but I could make out tall buildings all around me as I continued to run.

This was pointless, I needed to get somewhere that I could hide. I pulled out my phone and started the GPS and asked to be taken to the nearest public building. The nearest public building was a very familiar chapel. My phone directed me down an alley way, across a road till I came to the steps that led into the building. I went through the door, the room was so bright it burnt my eyes. I could barely see anything around me.

Ok just think to when you were here the other day. The alter should be just up ahead, past the rows of pews. Holding my hands out in front of me, I moved forwards. I felt the first row of pews before I started forwards till I came to the alter. I crouched down and hid myself behind it.

I was panting from running so hard, so I covered my hand with my mouth to muffle my breathing. Then suddenly, I heard the chapel doors burst open.

"She must be in here somewhere. Find her!" one of the men ordered.

"Are you sure she came in here?"

"She's blind, there wasn't anywhere else she could have gone." Another said.

I could hear their footsteps echoing all around me, what was I going to do? Why did this have to happen to me? I was having such a fun time up until this point.

A few days earlier, Sakiko and I were in London for a very special occasion.

"I can't believe we're really in London!" she beamed.

"You haven't seen nothing yet. London's amazing." I said.

We were sat in a café enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of cake together.

"You used to live in London, right?" Sakiko asked.

"Yeah, when my Dad was stationed here in the army. I didn't live here in the city but we lived on the military base just on the outskirts of town." I explained.

Sakiko then sighed happily before she giggled. "Chisato's getting married, I'm so happy for her."

"Yeah, me to. I love weddings." I said.

"Though if I'm honest, I thought you'd be the first to get married before any of us."

"Me? No, it's too early for that." I said.

"All you ever do is gush about your boyfriend." She teased.

I brushed off her teasing and sipped my tea. To be honest, ever since I got with Eisuke all I seemed to do was get into trouble. Kidnapped seemed to be a common theme, it was getting boring.

"We made the right decision taking a long vacation, though. I mean, what fun would it be to come all the way to London and not have time for sightseeing?"

"I can't wait to show you around and I can't wait till you meet my friends. I've told them all about you." I said.

She giggled.

"I can't wait. Now, the wedding isn't until tomorrow so where should we go now- Ooh, is that gelato over there?"

Gelato was an ice cream shop. She stood up and dragged me off with her.

We explored London together, I had my mobile phone with GPS in and I lead the way. I first took her on a few tour buses so she could see all of London, we stopped off on a few places like the London eye etc. It was just nice being with her.

I wondered what Eisuke was doing now? He didn't make a big deal about me coming here, I thought that he would but he didn't really seem to care.

"Freya, there's a lovely antique shop over there. Let's go."

Sakiko grabbed my hand and pulled me along. When we stepped inside, I was hit with the smell of burning incense.

"Now this is cute, Freya I think you should get this." Sakiko said.

I felt slip something over my left ring finger.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A ring with a beautiful red stone. The perfect accessory for a wedding, right?"

"If you say so." I said with a shrugged.

She guided me to the till and I paid for the ring.

The next day, me and Sakiko were stood inside the Chapel of where Chisato will be married. The church was full of light so I had to wear my sun glasses whilst inside. It smelt lovely, I could smell roses and lily's.

"Do I look ok?" I asked Sakiko.

We were stood inside the church, waiting to be told where to sit.

"Of course you do, I picked your outfit after all." Sakiko said.

"And my hair?"

"Freya, relax. You look great."

Sakiko had picked me out a knee length, strapless blue dress. She tried to make me wear high heels but I refused and chose to wear flat shoes. I didn't know what she had done to my hair, but she pulled it up into a updo, I just hoped that I looked alright.

"I wonder what her fiancé is like?" she asked.

"I'm sure he's a great guy." I said.

The chapel was filled with Chisato's and the groom's family and friends.

"There's still a bit of time before the ceremony starts, I'm gonna take some pictures of the chapel." She said.

"Ok, have fun." I said.

I heard her walk away and I was left on my own.

"Hi, are you friend of the brides?" someone asked.

It sounded like a man.

"Me? Yes I am."

"Oh, you're engaged. That's a shame." He said with a sigh.

It took me a moment to realise that he meant the ring on my finger.

"This? No it's just a normal ring, I'm not engaged." I explained.

When suddenly, I could hear a commotion going through the crowd.

"Freya. Chistato's at the front door." Sakiko shouted.

"Oh, then the ceremony's about to start." I said.

"Guess I'll get back to my seat, then. Hope to see you later." The man said and I heard him walk away.

"Freya, who was that?" Sakiko asked.

"I guess a friend of Chisato's husband?" I said.

We took our seats and then I heard the door open, music started to play as Chisato and her husband entered the church.

"Oh my gosh. She looks beautiful Freya." Sakiko whispered.

At times like this, I wished I could see. I bet she looked like a princess.

After the wedding had finished, me and Sakiko exited the chapel.

"She looked so beautiful." Sakiko said.

"I bet she did. I'm so happy for her." I said.

"I got so emotional I started to cry. I want my happy ending too." She said.

"Hey." Someone said.

I recognised that voice, it was the man from before.

"Beautiful ceremony, wasn't it?" he asked.

"Yes, it was lovely." I said.

"So, you two friends of the brides?" he asked.

"Yes, we work with Chisato. I'm Sakiko Koizumi and this is my friend, Freya Wells."

"I'm-"

Before the man could finish his sentence, another man approached us.

"Excuse me, young master. But I'm afraid it's time."

This man spoke in such a formal tone, he sounded like a butler or something.

"Of course, I have to go. But I'm sure we'll meet again sometime, I swear on that ring." The first man said.

He then reached out and took my hand in his, lifted it up and I felt him kiss the ring on my finger.

What?!

He ignored my shock and walked away.

"Uh… did he just kiss my ring?" I asked.

"Holy crap, that guy was hot. You're so lucky, Freya." Sakiko laughed. "He's the same guy who talked to you earlier, a whirlwind vacation romance, how exciting!"

"Knock it off, Sakiko. Stop being so dramatic." I said.

"Excuse me, we'll be having the reception over there. Please go inside and help yourself to wedding favours." a staff member shouted out to everyone.

The men's footsteps were coming closer. These couldn't be ordinary guys, I bet they had guns, so I had to be careful.

"You sure she's here?"

"Hmm… maybe she escaped into a different building. Keep searching."

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, my arm bumped into the edge of the alter with a soft thump.

"What was that noise?"

"There she is. Behind the alter!"

I screamed as hands grabbed me and I was dragged out from behind the alter.

"Get off me!" I shouted and tried to struggle free.

I then felt someone cold touch my temple.

"Unless you have a death wish, I suggest you come quietly."

"What do you want from me? I've not done anything." I said.

"Shut up." One hissed.

Just then, the church doors burst open and I heard some familiar voices.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, pretty lady." Baba beamed.

"I bet you were lonely without me." Ota said.

"Tch. You're nothing but trouble, kid." Kishi said.

"You've got a real knack for getting yourself into these situations." Soryu said.

"Guys!"

"There's no shortage of drama with you, Freya." Eisuke said.

"What are you all doing here? I thought you were still in Dubai?" I said.

"Shut up!" the man holding me said and pulled me backwards.

"We can talk later." Soryu said.

As I stood there, the man holding me let me go which was followed by the sounds of fighting. I could hear the others all groaning in pain and falling to the floor.

"Normally I'm a lover, not a fighter but you know I'd do anything for you, Freya." Baba said.

"Don't you know guns are dangerous?" Kishi asked.

I then heard things scraping across the floor, I assumed Kishi was kicking the men's guns away.

"Freya, let's go." Eisuke said.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me outside of the Chapel.

"Wait here." He said and left me.

What a day this turned out to be. As I waited, I heard the sounds of gun fire come from the chapel. It took all my strength not to run back into the church, they didn't need me to get in their way.

Moments later, the strange men all ran out of the church with the others close behind but it was too late. The men had escaped.

"Are you alright, Freya?" Eisuke asked.

I nodded.

"Good."

Minutes later, a limo arrived not long after and took us to the new Tres of Spades in London and as usual, we all went up to the penthouse.

I had my arm slipped into Eisuke and he guided me to a sofa and sat down next to me.

"Who were those guys? They ran out of the church pretty fast." Soryu said.

They were all sat down on the sofas with Eisuke in the middle.

"I'm sure she screwed up again. Just like in Dubai." Kishi said.

"Hey, I didn't do anything. Those guys just suddenly started chasing me." I said.

"What did they want?" Eisuke asked.

"I don't know. But anyway, thank you for saving me. What are you all doing in London? You guys weren't supposed to be here for another week." I said.

"We thought we'd come and surprise you." Baba beamed.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want you to get lonely without us." Ota said.

I was hoping to have some time away from the guys for a while, have a bit of girlie holiday. I couldn't help but get the feeling of deja ve. This is exactly what happened in Dubai, I thought I was only coming over for a holiday but we ended up staying there. I knew the same thing was going to happen here but, I couldn't complain. I was back in my home town, I could see all of my old friends.

"As usual, your whims are impressive, Boss. Coming all the way to England to build another Tres Spades, just because you're getting sick of Dubai." Baba said.

"It wasn't a whim. It was a carefully calculated plan to expand my business. It is true that I was growing tired of Dubai, though." Eisuke said.

Expanding his business? Yeah right! I bet the main reason was because he was bored of Dubai.

"We'll have the auctions here to, right?" Ota asked.

"Just to kill time." Eisuke said.

"You guys aint sick of that yet?" Kishi asked.

"Think of how much fine art we can get hold of in Europe. The profits will be worth it, I'm sure." Soryu said.

"I bet we'll get a lot of patrons with very discerning eye here. I think the auctions will definitely be worth it." Baba said.

"I can't wait to start appraising items!" Ota beamed.

"Don't get too carried away here." Kishi said.

"Says Kishi, who looks like he's plotting something already." Ota said.

"So, where are you guys all going to live?" I asked.

"In the hotel of course!" Baba said. "We're having a fresh start."

"Guess you could say we're going back to our roots. I like living in the hotel best anyway." Kishi said.

"Also, I'm still concerned about those men. We don't know who they are or what they're after. They might come after you again, but if you stay here with us, we can protect you." Soryu said.

"Hm. I'm not scared of those men. I say bring it on." I said and clenched my fist, the guys all laughed at me.

It annoyed me about how they all seemed to treat me like a delicate flower, I can take care of myself.

"That's our Freya!" Baba said and laughed.

"Now that things have settled down, you can bring your things here. You'll be staying with me. I won't allow you to stay anywhere except my hotel." Eisuke said.

Up until now, me and Sakiko had been staying in a small premier Inn in the centre of town.

A limo took me to the hotel where Sakiko was waiting.

"Geeze, where have you been? You disappeared all of a sudden and I couldn't get a hold of you." She said.

"I'm sorry. Things got… a little crazy. But there's a Tres Spades in London now." I said.

"Say what?!"

"And apparently, I start work today."

"Today? Are you working for the VIPs again?"

"Yeah."

"Oh my god. I'm so jealous. Mr Ichinomiya has a flair for the dramatic, as usual." She laughed. "I wish I could transfer to London too. I just know that I'd meet the man of my dreams here."

"Maybe. But anyway, I have to go." I said and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Don't worry, it's not this is goodbye forever. I'll Skype you when I get back to Japan, alright?"

"Yeah. Have a safe trip home." I said.

I gathered up my things before I left the hotel and returned to the limo.

The Tres Spades here was much bigger than Dubai and Japan, I could tell that I was easily going to get lost. The Limo driver had to escort me to the penthouse elevator and to the penthouse, when we reached the hallway he directed me to the door.

"Thanks, I can manage from here." I said to the driver.

"Very well miss." He said and walked off.

Eisuke's suite should be just ahead, I walked forwards and as I reached for the door handle the door opened.

"You're late. How long do you plan on keeping me waiting?"

"Sorry your highness." I said sarcastically, bowed before I pushed passed him to get into the lounge.

The moment I walked in, he scooped me up into his arms and carried me through the room.

"Eisuke, I can walk by myself and you just made me drop my bags." I said.

He didn't say anything, he just kept walking. He carried me up a flight of stairs, I heard him kick a door open and we came to a bright room. I had to shield my eyes from the glare. The room smelt so fresh and clean, this must be Eisuke's private suite. He still didn't stop, he continued to carry me before he suddenly dropped me and I landed on a soft bed.

I let out a small cry as he dropped me, before I could even sit up he was on top of me and pressed his lips against mine in a deep, passionate kiss.

This was the first time we had been alone since Dubai. It was a nice way to start our life in London. But he then pulled away and nothing else happened.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He then grabbed my left hand roughly.

"Take that off now." He ordered.

He was referring to the ring on my left ring finger.

"Ow. Get off me." I said and tried to push him off, but he didn't move.

"Who is it? Tell me who stole you away from me!" He glared at me.

I should have taken it off before I came back here, no wonder he had gotten the wrong idea.

"No, it's just a normal ring." I said.

"I won't allow anyone else to put a ring on my woman." He said in a cold, emotionless tone.

His jealousy was flattering but god it was exhausting.

"No more kissing until you take that thing off."

I chuckled to myself, I wonder who would give in first if we both went on strike from sex? It would be Eisuke. I would place money on it but, I didn't want our life in London to start with us fighting.

I pulled and tugged on the ring till finally came off.

"Happy?" I said and placed the ring on my other hand.

I then felt him take hold of my hand, he ran his long, cold fingers up and down my left ring finger.

"This finger is reserved for me, do you understand? Don't let it happen again."

"Wha-"

Before I could response, his lips were on mine. He pushed me down onto the bed and continued to roughly kiss me.

"You know what will happen if I see you wearing a ring there again?"

"Hm. I don't know, maybe you should show me?" I said with a smile.

"You're getting greedy." He said before he kissed me again, his strong hands touched me exactly how I like it. I wrapped my arms around him and flipped him over on the bed, so I was on top. I reached out and felt his soft face with my finger tips, I ran my fingers over his lips before I kissed him.