Chapter 7

An hour later, Thea called a car to come get her and Kadienne stepped in the bathroom for a much needed shower, trying not to start crying. Being kidnapped scared the hell out of her and she'd put a brave front up for Thea's sake until she was alone. Now she was even more terrified. What if those madmen came back to finish the job? Her apartment wasn't the safest and she didn't live in the best part of the Glades. After her shower, Kadienne walked out of the bathroom in a black cotton robe towel drying her hair and sat on her bed, dropping the towel at her feet. She was exhausted in every way possible and just wanted to go to bed, but Kadienne knew as soon as she shut her eyes, the nightmares would come. Thea staying the night would've been great, but Kadienne didn't blame her for wanting to be in the comfort and safety of the Queen mansion.

"What the hell?"

Kadienne stood up from the bed as the light in her room went off, the only one on in the entire apartment. No, it was happening! Her fears were coming true and machine guns were hopeless to defend against! Kadienne immediately ripped open her nightstand drawer and reached in to grab the small bottle of mace along with a knife. She should've had a gun, but Kadienne was against them and didn't think they were safe to have.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

That voice…Kadienne whipped around with the mace and knife in hand, swallowing past several lumps in her throat. It was him. It was the man in green, The Hood. He saved them from the church. She could hear Oliver's voice in her mind, telling her to trust The Hood. He had complete faith in this masked man because he was Oliver's savior. Taking a leap of faith, Kadienne dropped the knife and mace to the floor, her heart thundering powerfully in her chest. She didn't move an inch, every part of her body trembling from head to toe.

"W-What do you want?" It was a miracle Kadienne had a voice to use.

Oliver had to make sure with his own eyes Kadienne was safe and alright. He hated this apartment she lived in, wanting to take her to the mansion. It was surprising to him Thea hadn't forced Kadienne to come with her, leaving her behind in an unsafe environment. Oliver had watched Thea get into a car to drive her back to the mansion and should've followed, but something told him to stay behind to keep an eye on Kadienne. He didn't plan on going into her place, not like this, and yet here he was scaring the daylights out of the redhead again.

"Are you alright?" His low disguised voice asked, not moving toward her even though she'd dropped the weapons.

That was a loaded question and she couldn't tell if he sounded genuine or not. "I'm fine." That was also a blatant lie. She was anything but fine after being kidnapped. "You saved us. You saved me." On shaky legs, Kadienne slowly moved toward him and tried adjusting her eyes to the darkness in order to see who was under the hood. "Thank you…"

The darkness prevented that along with the grease paint over his eyes. "You never have to thank me. I'm just glad you're safe." He took a step back to turn and leave only for Kadienne to grab his gloved hand, stopping him. "What?"

Merely saying the words wasn't enough for Kadienne, not when could've been gunned down. "Don't leave yet." She moved to stand in front of him, not releasing his hand and looked up into his eyes through the darkness, trusting him wholeheartedly.

"Was there something else you needed?" Oliver asked, unable to pull his eyes away from her and spotted her free hand reach up to push his hood back, immediately grabbing her wrist. "Don't."

"Why not? I can't see you anyway and I want to properly thank you for saving my life." Kadienne insisted, touching his face with her fingertips while he still held her wrist in a tight grip. "Please."

Her soft plea didn't fall on deaf ears and Oliver released her wrist, already knowing what she wanted to do. He was powerless against her and shut his eyes as her hand pushed the hood back to reveal his face. Leaning up on her tiptoes since he towered over her, Kadienne pressed her mouth against his softly and both stiffened at the contact at first. The prickly hair tickling her skin told Kadienne The Hood was very much a man with scruffy facial hair. Then they relaxed simultaneously as Oliver's arm encircled her waist to pull her closer to him, his other hand gripping the back of her head. Kissing this woman felt like she was breathing new life into his body, all of his senses heightening. Kadienne didn't expect him to return the kiss, thinking it would be a quick peck on the lips and he would disappear again.

It didn't take long for Kadienne to give him access to her mouth as their tongues swirled together in a dance of seduction, want and need. Her arms wrapped around his neck as the kiss deepened, soft hands sliding over his short cropped hair and she didn't mind his fingers delving in her own wet tresses. It took every ounce of restraint from Oliver not to lift her up and take her to bed, knowing that would only complicate things between them further. Sleeping with Kadienne would only bring her closer to him and that couldn't happen, not after what happened to Felicity. That thought alone seemed to jolt Oliver back to reality as he broke the kiss, both of them breathing heavily while staring at each other through the darkness.

"We can't." He rumbled quietly after pressing the voice modulator button, stepping back to give them some much needed space. "It's wrong." Oliver flipped the hood back over his head and turned away from her, cursing himself mentally for allowing the kiss to happen in the first place.

Kadienne's brain was too foggy to come up with an argument, her lips swollen and felt her heart racing rapidly, not expecting it to get out of hand the way it had. "Why?" It was the only thing she could come up with to say, fresh tears burning her eyes. "You want it as much as I do or you wouldn't have kissed me like that."

"Never should've happened in the first place, Kadienne. I'm not a good person and you deserve better. Keep searching for it, but it can't be with me. I can't be with anyone." Oliver had to get out of there before he changed his mind, unable to get the kiss out of his head and his lower extremities were screaming at him to take the leap. "Good night."

She rushed over to the window and watched him jump out of it, zipping down a line attached to an arrow that was embedded into the building. "Night…" Kadienne whispered breathlessly, touching her lips with her fingers and closed her eyes, savoring the taste of him as much as she could while it lasted.


Detective Quentin Lance sat up in bed and reached over to grab the special cell phone that linked him directly to the Vigilante. What the hell was he calling for at 3 AM? It had to revolve around the kidnapping of Thea Queen and Kadienne Young earlier that night at Verdant. The kidnappers were found at an abandoned church with arrows in two of them, but they'd been alive. The only one that had been killed was the one who originally took Thea hostage, an arrow shot directly through his heart. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Quentin reluctantly pressed the green button to answer the call and brought it up to his ear.

"I need your help, Detective."

"With what exactly? Did you enjoy shedding blood tonight at the church?" Quentin demanded gruffly, not sure why he always felt the need to berate the Vigilante for his actions.

Oliver expected to catch grief for killing the man who hurt his sister from Detective Lance, not regretting what he did. Anyone who harmed a hair on Thea's head deserved to die. His family was off limits and the only exception to giving people chances for redemption. The kidnapper was too far gone, too full of hate and would've come for Thea again if Oliver let him live.

"I never enjoy what I do, Detective. That's not why I'm calling. Vertigo has infiltrated through Verdant and it needs to be stopped. I need your help finding who supplies it in the Glades." Oliver requested, looking up at the sky while standing on top of a rooftop not far from Kadienne's apartment.

"And how do you know this?"

"Will you do it or not?" Oliver blatantly ignored that question, feeling the exhaustion creeping up in his body and knew he'd sleep like a rock as soon as he got back to the mansion. "I'll be in touch."

Quentin gritted his teeth, hating that he didn't get a chance to decline the Vigilante's request and tossed the phone on the bed, scrubbing a hand over his head. "Damn him."


"That little bitch!"

Since when did Kadienne have the Vigilante watching out for her? The whole plan was to kidnap Kadienne, so why the hired guns took Thea Queen was beyond comprehension. It was impossible to hire reliable help these days. Having the Vertigo planted on Kadienne didn't work and now she had the Vigilante on her side along with Oliver Queen. Going forward, they had to be careful and execute each future move perfectly or everything would fall apart.

"I'm so sorry-" The hitman tried to plead with the boss and lowered his head in shame, knowing he failed.

"I don't want to hear excuses for your incompetence." The woman snapped, crossing one leg over the other showing off more leg than necessary and poured more wine in her glass. "I really don't want to kill Kadienne, which is why I wanted her framed with Vertigo. That failed, so death is the only other option and you failed THAT too!"

The man didn't move an inch, cringing at the disappointed tone of his boss's voice. "Please just give me another chance…" He tried pleading with her again and once again, her hand rose to shut him up.

"No, you failed and I don't have time to keep cleaning up your damn messes." She picked up the gun that sat next to her wine glass and leaned forward in the high-backed chair, cool eyes never leaving the hitman. "In your next life, don't be a huge disappointment."

The bullet pierced right through the hitman's heart and he dropped like a sack of potatoes, blood slowly pooling out of the wound. She rolled her eyes, placing the gun back on the table and took a long sip of wine, acting as if she didn't just end someone's life. What a mess that would be to clean up. Luckily, she had a reliable cleaning crew that did anything she asked without questions and that included disposing of dead bodies. One phone call was all she needed to make and in an hour, the body would be long gone and burnt to ashes. Enough about that, she had to figure out a new plan regarding Kadienne and stood up from the chair to stare into the roaring fireplace. There had to be a way to make her disappear, but kidnapping wouldn't work, not with the Vigilante protecting her. So he had to be dealt with first and then she could take care of Kadienne.

"Brandy darling, where are you?"

Sometimes she really hated being tied down, even though her husband was a billionaire. "I'm coming, sweetheart!" She called back, leaving behind the dead body staining the dark stained wooden floor.

Patrick smiled upon seeing his wife walk out of her study, rarely going in there since she didn't snoop in his. Or so he thought. "You look ravishing as always." He complimented, taking her hands in his and kissed her softly. "How's your night been? Sorry I'm late, duty called at the office."

He hadn't heard the gunshot and it was amazing how blind this man was. It made things for Brandy so much easier to do and plot, such as his daughter's eventual demise. "Boring, nothing worth talking about. You look exhausted, sweetheart. How about we go upstairs and get you a hot shower, hmm?" Her tone held a suggestive tone, a sultry smirk curving her ruby red lips. "I'll even join you…"

"Sure, but first we need to talk about something that's been weighing on my mind lately." Patrick stared down into her deep brown eyes, kissing her forehead gently. "It's about Kadienne. I don't know if you heard, but she was kidnapped tonight and the police contacted me about it. She's living somewhere in the Glades not safe and…I want her home, Brandy. She belongs here and I'm sure you two can put aside your differences for the sake of her safety."

Normally, Brandy would've been against this idea, but having Kadienne under the same roof as her would make it easier for her to kill her stepdaughter. "My god! No, I didn't hear anything about it." She lied smoothly, placing both hands on his shoulders acting concerned and shocked. "Is she alright? Have you spoken with her? We'll do whatever you want, Patrick. I never wanted her to leave here in the first place and I understand why she was upset about our engagement. She thinks I betrayed Emma…"

"And you didn't and she needs to get over that. You are my wife, I love you and nothing will change that. But I need her here with us where she's safe. And as far as I know, she's okay and wasn't harmed." Patrick couldn't get the conversation he'd had with Detective Lance out of his head, which kept him at the office longer than normal tonight. "We need to find her. I'm hiring a private detective to hunt her down and I don't care what it takes, even if we have to drag her back here kicking and screaming, she's coming home."

"Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. The Glades are a vile nasty place to live. She'd be much happier here with us." Brandy smiled, trying to do what she could to comfort her husband and play the wife part perfectly. For now, anyway. "There's nothing we can do about it tonight. So come on, upstairs with you for that shower and then we're getting a good night's sleep. We'll deal with this starting tomorrow."

Scrubbing a hand down his face, Patrick wouldn't sleep well until his daughter was home safe and out of the Glades. "Very well. Thank you for being so understanding about this, darling. I love you." He cupped her face, kissing her passionately and headed upstairs with Brandy, trying to get his mind off of Kadienne for the time being.

He had no idea just how much danger he and Kadienne were in.