Taming Mr. Black

Naomi’s POV

I can’t feel my body.

I feel numb. My mind is foggy and my head hurts. I try to reach for my head but I can’t. Something is restricting my hand movement. Slowly, I open my eyes, blinking my lashes as I take in my environment. I don’t know where I am. I have never been to this place before because I don’t recognize this place.

I look down at myself and I’m still dressed in my work clothes, but they’re dirty and stained with blood. My hands are shackled to the chair I’m sitting on and there’s no means of escape. I try to jostle my hands out of their bondage but it’s tight as hell.

” You can’t break out of that, sweetheart.” A voice says.

I turn my head to the source of the voice and I’m surprised to see Bianca. She’s dressed in all black attire. Black pants, black boots, black top. Bianca takes slow strides to my bonded form as she bends a little so we’re eye to eye.

” Well, you don’t look bad being strapped to a chair.”

” Bianca, what are you doing?”

” Why don’t you tell me? Either way you’re still going to die. If I don’t kill you with my hands, you’re definitely going to bleed out.” She says with a smirk.

” What are you doing? What’s this about?” I’m panicking, but I don’t show it.

I don’t want her to know that I’m afraid. I have no idea what she’s doing, but I know I won’t let her kill me.

” You know there’s nothing wrong with being afraid, right?” She asks as she stands to her full height.

I watch her walk to the corner of this place that I’ve slowly realized that it’s an abandoned building. Maybe a warehouse of some sort. She grabs a chair and walks back.

” I’m not afraid of you, Bia.”

” Yeah, well, you should be. My name’s not Bianca. Don’t call me that.”

” Of course you’re not Bianca Haines. You’re Gianna Haines.”

” See! You’re slowly catching on.” Bianca giggles as she places the chair in front of me, giving us a little space.

She sits down on the chair and places her right foot on her left thigh.

” Tell me, when did you figure it out?”

” That you’re a fraud and a sick fuck?”

She shrugs. ” Both.”

” I knew there was something off when I found out you share the same last name with Killian’s ex.”

” Hmm.”NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

” And you called her Gianna. I never told you that. I never told you her real name. See, that was when you fucked up.”

” I admit I fucked up. Especially when I saw you walking out of Colton Corp, I knew sooner or later I’ll have to kill you.”

” Why did you lie? And how the heck are you Gianna Haines? You look nothing like her.”

” You see, that’s where you and everyone else is blind. Especially Killian.” She laughs. ” You know it’s hard trying to live someone else’s life. God, it was fucking hard being Bianca, your fucking best friend.”

” God, you’re sick. I can’t believe all these years I trusted you. I loved you and I took you as a friend and all you had to do was stab me in the back. Why are you doing this?”

” Well, that’s your fault trusting me, Naomi. I never liked you and it’s stupid you didn’t see that. Celine saw it. She knew I didn’t give a shit about you.” God, it’s still hard to think Bianca’s actually the person sitting in front of me.

I mean it’s her, but she sounds like a different person entirely. A psychotic maniac. I’ve known this woman for years, I can’t believe she’s the one trying to ruin my life.

” What did I do to you exactly? What did Killian do to you? You fucking kept his child even after he told you he wasn’t ready to be a father. What’s this really about?”

Bianca stands up as she slaps me.

Fuck, that stings like a bitch.

I slowly tilt my head to stare at her and there’s pure hatred and anger in her eyes. What’s she angry about?

” What are you angry about?” I ask her.

” Pulling this pity card with me won’t make me leave you alive, Naomi. Because only one of us is walking out of here alive and it’s obviously not you since you’re strapped to a fucking chair.” She gives me a psychotic look.

Bianca sits back on the chair as she slowly takes off her blonde wig.

” Tell me, what exactly were you hoping to find when you dropped off at my workplace unannounced?” She asks, as she tosses the blonde wig aside.

Bianca stares at me as she unties the pigtail on her red hair. I’m tongue tied as I stare at her.

” You seem surprised.” She says, whipping her hair around to release the strands.

Her red hair is not that long, it’s past shoulder length and the strands are curly.

” Like I said living someone else’s life can be tough, especially when you have to be careful so you don’t get caught.” She says as I watch her take off her double eyelids.

What the hell is going on?

” God, this past five years has been hell. Especially having to live with you and faking being broke.” Bianca says, chuckling.

I watch her take off a lot of things from her face that turn out to be prostheses. Her eyelids, her chin, her nose, and her contacts. When she’s through undressing her real face, I’m awed by what’s staring back at me.

” When I started making money and after Lily, my baby, died, I had to undergo a few facial touch ups. Not a lot, if you’re wondering. Did a little cheek job, and lips too. I guess if you wanna disappear after faking your death, you need to go beyond extreme measures to look different. And it worked. I learned how to use make-up and prosthetics, it took a lot of learning, but I still got it.”

Bianca doesn’t look like the Bianca that I know. What’s staring back at me is the older and maybe richer and more beautiful version of Gianna Haines.

” So all these years you’ve been living like this? Wearing all these just to conceal your true identity? Can you be any more sick?”

” I’m gonna tell you a short story which I’m sure you’ve heard from Killian. But like they say; there are two sides to every story.”

I roll my eyes.

” When I first met Killian, I knew he was a player. I mean he was hot, rich, the next best thing and he was hot in the market. He has a tech company and he was literally a millionaire. Every girl wanted him. I was young, naive, maybe stupid, I agree. We were different from each other, we know that, but we were willing to give our relationship a try. I never wanted his money, all I wanted was for him to love me. Then what? A few months later he was already tired of me. He wanted to get rid of me. I knew one day, sooner than I wanted, our relationship was going to go down the drain. I did what every desperate girl who isn’t willing to let go of the one thing she loves most in the world; I stopped using birth control. I didn’t tell him. I couldn’t tell him. Then I got pregnant and I was happy that finally we were gonna be together. God, I was fucking stupid. I was so stupid I thought he was gonna be happy and excited that we were expecting a baby. Killian was anything but happy. He was furious, I was hurt. I felt betrayed. I mean, I liked kids, I’ve always wanted to have babies at a young age and I was glad the baby had to come from Killian. I didn’t ask him to marry me or even see my parents, all I wanted from him was to be there for me and our baby, to love me. Instead, he broke my heart.” Bianca sniffles, as she wipes the tears from the corner of her eyes.

” I lost. He wanted me to abort the baby and for us to never see again. Can you believe that? I didn’t want to abort my baby, Naomi, our baby. If I couldn’t have him, I want to at least have his baby. I made his driver lie to him and then I skipped out of the city. Wrong move, I should have left New York entirely, instead I settled in this apartment outside of the city. It was perfect to raise a child. I felt alone and every day I’d see Killian on TV and curse him for hurting me. I guess the universe didn’t want me to have a baby, because they took her away from me too.” Bianca pulls out her phone as she turns the screen to face me.

Displaying on her screen, is a baby’s photo. She is pretty, with dark brown hair and eyes like Killian’s. The baby is beautiful and she’s smiling in the photo.

” Those eight months were the best months of my life. I’ve never been happier. And when she died, a huge part of me died that day. That day at the lake, I actually wanted to kill myself, to just end everything. I felt so alone and empty. I mean, Killian left me because he claimed he didn’t deserve me.” She scoffs. “I had a daughter and she died and I couldn’t save her. There was nothing to live for. But just when I was about to end it all, I had this bright idea. I just had to fake my death, change my name, start afresh and destroy Killian’s life just like he destroyed mine.”

” I didn’t mean to hurt you, Naomi. I mean I didn’t like you because, in a way, you are the bane of my existence.”

” I did nothing to you.”

” It’s sad to think you didn’t do anything to me. You did a lot to me, Naomi. The first time we met in college, that was me starting afresh.”

” You mean like owning your own clothing line all these years?”

” Yeah. That was also hard. Living behind the shadows while making money. I used to watch you, Naomi, and Killian too. I mean we were friends and all, but the minute you started working at Club K, it’s like I knew you two were gonna date sooner or later.”

” If you’ve always had a thing for Killian, why give me the push?”

” You needed it. And the only way for me to get to Killian without him knowing who’s behind all of it, is by using you. And it worked.”

” So all of this is because I’m with Killian? You were in Miami, weren’t you?”

” Wow, you’re smart. How did you figure that out?”

” God, I can’t believe this.” I scoff. ” You poisoned my drink?”

” Yeah, I was your waiter at the party. I’ve known you for years, Naomi, and I know when you’re angry, your next best choice is drinking. It was easy. And Celine was just the pawn in the game. I’ve never liked that bitch. I needed someone to take the fall for everything and Celine was the perfect choice.”

” That was why you wore her exact dress at the party so that I would think Celine pushed me and poisoned me? God, you’re fucking crazy.”

” You can call me crazy, dearest, but I’m just a woman who knows what she wants and how to get it.”

” I can’t believe I’ve trusted you.”

” Well, it’s nice you did. Your trust brought me this far, sweetheart. And I know it’s going to be hard for you to believe, but I never really wanted to hurt you.”

” And you want me to believe that?”

” No.” She stands up. ” When we first met, in college, I liked you. You were great, nice. You were like an open book and you were easy to read. I knew you had a good heart. But then, every man I dated wanted you. Did you know how that makes me feel? Inferior, Naomi!” She’s yelling at my face. ” Every single one of them. There were nights I asked myself what did you have that I don’t have. Nothing. You’re as plain as day and you have nothing. Since then I’ve hated you. I had to ruin your relationship with Haven. You remember Haven, right? The rich man’s child who took your virginity? Yeah, well, I did that. I made him leave because I told him your father used to molest you when you were younger.”

” You fucking bitch!” I can’t believe my ears.

” And George? Ah! He was hard to manipulate. I kept feeding him lies upon lies and he wasn’t really hard to break. I mean, since I couldn’t be happy in a relationship because of you, why would you? Did you know why Dean and I broke up? He moaned your name when he was inside me. Did you know how disgusting that was? Like you’re some rare flower that every man can’t wait to keep for themselves. And Lucky? DJ Lucky, he and I had a fight and he compared me to you, saying it to my face that he wished I was you. Do you know what that can do to every woman’s self esteem?!” Bianca yells as she slaps me again.

Fuck. My cheek tilts to the side as she forces me to look at her. It stings, it stings a lot and my eyes are already watering.

” Of course you don’t. You don’t know how that feels, do you? The most painful part is when I had to walk in on you and Killian tongue tied. The only man I’ve truly loved. The man whom I had a child for and the man who hurt and broke my heart. I knew I had to destroy you alongside him. I had to make you pay for the pain I had to go through all these years because I had to be your friend. You can’t just destroy my relationships these past years and steal the one man I’ve truly wanted and you expect me to let you go scot free? You’re not leaving here alive, just so you know. I’m gonna watch you die and get rid of your body myself.”

” You don’t have to do this, Bianca.”

” Yeah, I know.” She says. ” But I want to. It will give me satisfaction to watch you die. I called Killian. He’ll be here soon. I want him to watch me shoot you till you bleed to death.”

” Bianca! Don’t do this. Look, I’m sorry your past relationships turned out bad. I would never hurt you intentionally and I want you to know that. I’m sorry Dean had to do what he did and I’m sorry for what Killian did to you, you have to believe me.” I plead, eyes already stinging with my tears mixed with dried blood at the side of my head to my left eye.

” You should be scared. I like that.”

Out of nowhere Bianca pulls out a gun. It’s loaded. I know it is.

” I’m gonna give you a minute and let you say a last prayer or something.” She says as she turns to leave.

” Wait!”

Bianca stops and turns around to stare at me.

” Why Antonio? Why did you date him? And how were you sending Killian photos and letters? You said you had a baby, you were lying?”

” When I say baby, I mean my late Lily. I had to find a way to rile him up and put a dent in your relationship. If it makes you feel any better, there’s no baby. You were never gonna be a step-mom. And about the letters, all I had to do was find a man online who’s in desperate need of cash and make him deliver my letters. It wasn’t that hard. And about Antonio…” Bianca sighs. ” That was real. I really did like him. I mean it just happened and I didn’t fight it. And he was a good fuck, anyway. Why don’t you say your last prayer, hun?” Bianca smiles as she leaves the room.

I quickly glance around, thinking of an escape plan. I need to get out of here. I have to. The floor is made of concrete and the room is bare. It’s obviously an incomplete building and with the way the structure is, it’s a storey building and we’re at the top floor. There are about four windows here. One behind me, one in the corner, and two in front of me. All the windows are dirty and cracked, with the windows threatening to come apart with just one single push. I look at my wrists that are securely tied to the arms of this wooden chair.

Hold up! A wooden chair. Jackpot!

I have an idea but it’s definitely going to hurt like hell. I stand up with the chair and move from my original position. I walk to the window in front of me and look at the environment through the dirty window. Wherever we are, it’s quiet and no one will hear a thing if anything happens. I turn around, taking a deep breath at my suicide attempt to save my life from my supposed best friend who wants to kill me.

I sprint towards the wall as I slam the chair against the concrete wall.

” Fuck.” I grit out.

Okay, that hurts more than I imagined.

I slam myself and the chair against the wall again, this time one of the legs of the chair falls off. The last option is to slam myself against the concrete floor aggressively before Bianca returns. And that’s exactly what I do. And just like I imagined, the chair breaks, leaving the arms still strapped to my wrists. My body hurts, but I don’t care. I get to work, quickly releasing my left wrist from the shackles. Once it’s free, I start to release my right one. I pause when I see Bianca enter the room. Slowly I stand up, staring at her stare at me.

” Wow.” She looks at the broken chair behind me as she takes slow strides towards me.

With my arms behind my back, I work to untie my right wrist.

” You don’t want to do this, Bianca. I might have hurt you unintentionally, but you’re still my best friend.” I say, finally freed both my wrists.

Tossing the shackle away, I hold the wooden arm of the chair in my hand, waiting to attack her before she can think of pulling the trigger.

I’ve never been in a fight for a long time. And a woman my age, I know I can fight. Although my chances of winning are slim since she’s obviously holding a gun, I’m gonna take my chances with this one.

” I do not want to hurt you.”

She laughs. ” With what exactly? The arm of a chair? I’m the one with the gun, remember?”

” Let’s see about that.”

Bianca aims her gun at me. The hammer is turned off, so she can’t do any harm until she cocks that gun. I strike at her first, hitting the gun out of her hand with the weapon in my hand. The gun falls out of her hand, sliding to the corner of the room. Bianca lunges at me, throwing blows upon blows as I duck. We fall into a brawl, me trying to hit her as much as possible with the wood in my hand. She grunts, groans as she throws another punch my way. Her knuckles come in contact with my bleeding head, doing more damage.

I hissed in pain.

Bianca knocks my weapon out of my hand as she punches me in the gut. Damn it, she’s good. I push her against the wall, slamming my knee into her stomach.

” Bianca, stop this, alright? I don’t want to hurt you.” I say.

” It seems to me you’re the one hurting.” She says, jabbing her elbow against the side of my head.

My vision is starting to become blurry due to the loads of hits that I’ve taken. I might even have a concussion. I taste my own blood on my tongue as I spit out the blood.

Bianca slams me against the dirty window, hands already around my throat as she strangles me. I try to catch my breath, hands reaching out to claw at her. She smirks, devilishly, as she increases the pressure of her hands around my neck.

I can’t breathe and I can already see my life flashing through my eyes. I’m going to die. The idea of dying is scary. I don’t know what to do. I opt for a diversion as I pummel my knee into her stomach. She groans, freeing her hands around my neck. I throw my own punch across her cheeks and another until Bianca is spitting out blood and laughing at the same time.

” You’re good, I’m gonna give you that.” She says, still cackling.

” You need to stop. Please.” I plead, back leaning gently against the dirty cracked window.

” You know I can’t. Like I said, only one of us is walking out of here alive.” She growls and lunges at me again.

Before she can reach me, I spin on my heels as I push her aside aggressively. Bianca collides against the already cracked window, crashing against the window as the glasses come apart. Due to the force of my push, Bianca tumbles over the rim as I watch her fall down.

” Oh my God.” I rush to the edge of the window and look down in panic.

Below is Bianca lying dormant on the ground covered in her own blood.

What have I done?