Black Diamond

18. Chapter 18

“Where are we?”

Olivia pulled into the tiny parking lot in front of a building she had never seen before, glancing curiously in Kamella’s direction. Neither Kamella or Taeyong replied, with the former watching for Sung Joon’s car, and the latter deciding it wasn’t his question to answer.

Nokomi didn’t wait for anyone, already climbing out of the parked car to get a better view of her surroundings. The main road only had a few streetlights, but the parking lot was bright enough. The sun wouldn’t rise for at least another hour or so.

“Mel...?” Olivia questioned a second time, just as Sung Joon’s car finally made an appearance at the end of the road. He parked his sleek blue car next to Kamella’s SUV, barely managing to turn the car off in his rush to get to Kamella. He jumped out of his car, and yanked open the passenger door on the black vehicle.

Both Kamella and Taeyong protested audibly when Sung Joon leaned into the seat, wrapping his arms around Kamella saying a word. She hadn’t unbuckled her seatbelt yet, so she was trapped between Sung Joon’s embrace and the seat.

“Can I get out of the car first?” Kamella teased gently with a faint smile, patting Sung Joon’s back warmly.

He breathed a sigh of relief at the motion, finally releasing her as he said, “Come out, and let me look at you, Kammie-yah.”

Kamella nodded, incling her head so Sung Joon would make room for her to get out of the car. He moved towards the back of both vehicles to stand beside Olivia, placing his hands in his pockets. He had to pinch his leg to hold back his smile -- he was so happy to see Kamella again.

Taeyong opened his car door and climbed out before Kamella could move.

“Noona, I’ll let this go, just this once.” He warned her, with a pout, making Kamella laugh again. Taeyong took her hand and helped her out of the car. He made sure they were still holding hands when they reached Sung Joon. Ten and Jaehyun were already out of Sung Joon’s car, standing to the side with Nokomi.

Sung Joon rolled his eyes at Taeyong’s behavior, but ignored it. He was too happy to be immature with him right now. He examined Kamella from head-to-toe, noticing no new marks or bruises on her face or body. She seemed a little slimmer, but nothing a few steak dinners wouldn’t fix. She looked no worse for wear, which was good.

Olivia broke up the reunion, “Now that everyone’s here, will someone please tell me where we are?”

Kamella nodded slowly, squeezing Taeyong’s hand for emotional support, “I kept this place hidden from you guys for so long, it almost feels like I’m showing you more than just a house.”

“We’re going to someone’s house?” Nokomi guessed, wondering who the home belonged to.

Sung Joon frowned, “You know you never have to hide anything from me, right?”

“Well, I’m pissed that you actually hid something from me,” Olivia huffed, crossing her arms in annoyance.

“Liv, I had to,” Kamella explained, releasing Taeyong’s hand to step into Olivia’s personal space. She wrapped her arm around Olivia’s shoulder, “I’ll tell you more once we go inside. Follow me.”

They walked the familiar path from the parking lot to the interior of the building. Taeyong pressed the button for their floor without thinking, and Olivia frowned in his direction.

“So, you knew about this house?” She asked, accusingly.

Taeyong smiled nervously, “Mella-yah asked me to take care of this place while she was away.”

Olivia whirled around to Kamella, “Are you serious right now?”

“Liv, I’ll explain, I promise.”

The elevator opened to the rooftop terrace, where the sky was beginning to grow lighter in anticipation of the sunrise.

Nokomi gasped, “This place has a gorgeous view.”

Taeyong walked in front of the group to punch in the door code at the keypad. The others filed in through the front door one-by-one, removing their shoes, and Kamella breathed a sigh of relief when the door was finally closed behind her.

“Whoa,” Jaehyun commented, moving towards the large sectional couch in the living room. Nokomi and Ten went to check out the kitchen and Taeyong just stood by the front door, watching Kamella.

She was smiling, taking in the sight of her clean house. Taeyong had removed the plastic coverings from all the furniture, and cleaned everything from floor to ceiling. Two matching pairs of slippers sat side-by-side at the front door.

“Seriously, Mel, where are we? Whose house is this?” Olivia demanded, as she leaned against the dining room table.

“It’s my house.” Kamella said simply, stepping into her slippers before she walked over to take a seat at the table.

Olivia followed suit, “We have a place already; what the hell are you talking about?”

Sung Joon placed both his hands on the table, already putting two and two together, “This place isn’t under your name.”

Kamella clapped, “Oppa still knows me the best. You’re right. I own this house under my grandmother’s name. Unnie left me this place before she died.”

Olivia froze, complete shock on her face, “U-Unnie? Yeo Na-unnie? When did she buy a house? Why? How come she told you and not me?”

“Because you’re our baby, Liv. We didn’t want to burden you with anything else,” Kamella’s apologetic smile didn’t help Olivia feel much better, but she knew her best friend had a point.

“Burden me? Was there something I didn’t know about?”

Kamella stood up, reaching for Olivia’s hand, “Oppa, you come too.” She called to Sung Joon and he nodded, already steeling himself for whatever was upstairs. Kamella turned a sympathetic gaze towards Taeyong and the others, “We’ll be right back.”

Taeyong nodded, going into the kitchen to bring Nokomi and Ten into the living room. While the others went upstairs, he filled them in on the situation so far. He was mid-explanation when they heard Oliva’s choked sob above their heads.

“Is Liv going to be alright?” Nokomi asked, her eyes glancing upwards. Ten reached for her hand, but Koko moved away from him, scooting closer to Jaehyun instead. He chuckled at their antics.

Taeyong shook his head, “Maybe later.”

“They’ve been through a lot,” Jaehyun added, his heart going out to both women upstairs, as well as the woman they mourned.

“I hope they both can be free soon,” Ten murmured, relating to their pain a bit. Nokomi glanced worriedly in his direction, but stayed seated near Jaehyun, much to Ten’s displeasure.

“You should go back,” Taeyong told them finally, glancing at the time on his phone. The sun had finally started rising outside.

“What about you, hyung?” Ten asked, giving Taeyong a worried look. They all needed to get back to the company before someone realized they had been out all night.

“I’ll come back before our first scheduled event for the day. Don’t worry,” Taeyong explained, though he wondered if he should just skip it entirely. He had no idea how much time he had with Kamella this time.

Jaehyun pulled out his cell phone to call for a taxi, while Nokomi started pulling up the train schedule to see if there was a subway nearby. Just then, Kamella came downstairs with Sung Joon. Olivia was nowhere to be seen.

“Liv needed a minute,” Kamella explained softly, and everyone understood what she meant.

Koko ran over to hug Kamella tightly, “If I go home, are you going to be ok?”

“Yeah. Thanks for your help. Go home and get some rest.”

“I’ll take her-,” Ten began, but Kamella glared in his direction.

“No, you won’t. I explicitly told you to leave Koko alone before I left and here you are, hanging on to her. You’re not fooling anyone, Ten.”

Ten smirked, holding his hand over his chest in mock offense, “Diamond-noona, you don’t trust me?”

Kamella huffed, “Not for one second.” She turned back to Nokomi, patting the younger woman’s massive hair, “Koko, make sure you call for a taxi, ok? I don’t want you to fall asleep on the train.”

Nokomi nodded, sticking her tongue out at Ten. He just laughed, unfazed by both women.

Kamella stepped towards Taeyong, but stopped when she remembered they had an audience, including Sung Joon.

Taeyong tilted his head curiously, “Mella-yah…?”

“Ty, I think you should go home too,” She started evenly, and Taeyong immediately disagreed.

“I’m staying.”

“Taeyong-”

“You’re home now, so I’m not leaving until you do,” he replied instantly, leaving no room for argument.

Kamella sighed, giving a rueful smile, “If that’s the case, let me go grab Liv. I want to tell you guys what I plan to do.”

Kamella went back upstairs, while Ten, Jaehyun and Koko said their goodbyes to Sung Joon and Taeyong. The two men sat on opposite ends of the sectional couch in terse silence for a moment. Sung Joon finally broke the silence with a loud sigh.

“I still don’t think you and Mel are right for each other,” Sung Joon admitted out loud.

Taeyong had suspected the older man felt that way, but he never expected him to say the words to his face. “You barely know anything about her. You’re younger than her, inexperienced, and you can’t even date her in public.” Taeyong opened his mouth to protest, but Sung Joon wasn’t finished, “Still, you were there for her when she needed you. I can acknowledge that much. Thank you... for today.”

Taeyong frowned, but he had no time to reply, as Kamella and Olivia finally came back downstairs, making their way into the living room. Olivia’s eyes were red, but she looked like she was calm enough to talk with them.

Kamella pressed her hands together, gathering her thoughts for a moment before she spoke, “I’m so thankful for being able to see everyone today. Thank you for saving me… But, I have to go back.”

“No!” Taeyong and Sung Joon shouted, in unison.

“I’m with Mel on this one, guys,” Olivia replied, softly patting her best friend’s thigh, “Hear her out first.”

“If I go back to him willingly this time, it’ll put his mind at ease. It means I didn’t run away. If we want to set a plan in motion, we have to do it now.”

Sung Joon ran his fingers through his hair, groaning in frustration, “We never should have let you go back. He sent you away for months, Kamella!”

Kamella nodded, her brown eyes reflecting a tinge of sadness, “I know. And I’m sorry for putting you through that. But, if I can convince Dealer that there’s more money to be made right here, then he won’t send me away this time.”

Taeyong was absolutely confused. They had done so much to get Kamella away from Dealer, only for her to willingly go back to him? It didn’t make any sense.

“It’ll be Halloween soon,” Olivia said, as if that explained everything.

“What? What does that have to do with-?....Oh.” The one word echoed throughout the living room, and Taeyong found himself more confused than ever, though Sung Joon appeared to understand what they were saying. “Aaaaahhhhhh, that’s right. Halloween,” Sung Joon snapped his fingers, a smile spreading across his features, “That’s a great idea.”

“Is there something important about Halloween?” Taeyong finally asked, feeling a little out of the loop.

“Doesn’t your company have a huge party for Halloween every year, Ty?” Kamella asked. Taeyong nodded the affirmative, and Kamella continued, “Well, my business does too. A big one. A huuugggeee one. One of the biggest Halloween parties in Seoul. It’s the perfect time to execute a plan.”

“Since Mel is the reigning Queen at the House, it’s her job to plan the Halloween party this year,” Olivia elaborated, “The Queen with the highest income for the month is given the responsibility of planning a party for whichever holiday falls within that time frame. Dealer can’t send her away this time because she needs to be at the House to plan the event.”

“And wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could formally extend an invitation to SM Entertainment as the venue to host their awesome, exclusive Halloween event?”

“Why should his company be there?” Sung Joon questioned, wondering about Taeyong’s role in all this.

Kamella’s smile was cunning and infectious, “We’re going to need a distraction to get the police inside, of course.”

Taeyong nodded, seeing the plan come together a bit more in his mind, “But how can we convince my company to have an event there?”

“I’d like to think I made a few friends during your photoshoot at the hotel. Actually, I think I made about 20 of them,” Kamella replied, confidently. “I’ll need some help from the members of NCT. Can you help me convince them, my Taeyong-ah?”

Nodding shyly, Taeyong bit his bottom lip to keep himself from grinning at the way she called his name. He missed hearing her call him that.

“Oppa, I’ll need you to help me get all the legal things done. Once we start this, we won’t be able to stop.” Kamella added, turning towards Sung Joon.

Sung Joon agreed immediately, “I’ll make sure I have everything ready on my end. I’ll just need you and Liv to get me as much evidence as possible.”

Olivia gave Sung Joon a thumbs up, as her phone started to ring. The entire room froze when she held up her phone and Dealer’s name flashed across the screen.

“, time’s up,” Olivia muttered, picking up her phone. She placed the device on speaker, pressing her finger to her lips.

“Where the is she?!” Dealer was shouting, and Kamella smirked, happy that she was pissing him off.

“You don’t have to shout, Dealer.” Kamella replied saucily, making Olivia giggle, “You and your goons left me at the airport! When I came out of the bathroom, no one was there! So I called Olivia to come get me.”

"No one left you at the airport! We searched everywhere! You’re not there!”

“Look at the GPS tracker you put on my phone, Boss.” Kamella began a countdown under her breath, dropping one of her fingers as she murmured, “5, 4, 3, 2….”

“You idiots left her at the airport?! You told me you couldn’t find her!” He shouted, and everyone in the room heard a loud crash in the background, as Dealer presumably threw things at the two goons that were supposed to Kamella at the airport, “Olivia, bring her back to the House of Cards. Don’t stop ANYWHERE on the way.”

“But, I’m hungry,” Kamella lied, and the guys had to cover their mouths to hold back a laugh.

“Fine, you can stop to eat, but if you’re not in my office in two hours, I’m breaking someone’s kneecaps.” Dealer vowed in a harsh tone, and Kamella knew without a doubt that he’d exactly what he said, with absolutely no hesitation.

“W-We’re leaving the airport now!” Olivia announced dutifully, hanging up the phone. She breathed a sigh of relief that the call ended. “I think it’s time we all leave,” she suggested, glancing nervously at the others. Kamella was brave enough to go against Dealer to his face, but she was afraid for herself and the other workers at the House of Cards. There was no telling who would become the target of Dealer’s wrath.

“Yeah, before he gets the bright idea to check the GPS again,” Kamella agreed, standing up from the couch. Taeyong and Sung Joon followed, since there was no reason for the two of them to stay in the house.

Everyone moved to put their shoes back on at the entryway, except Kamella, who took one more look around the house.

Sung Joon and Olivia had one foot out of the door, when Kamella joined them finally, grabbing Taeyong’s shoulder and pulling him towards her. She playfully pushed Sung Joon forward with her free hand, which cause him to bump into Olivia, the two of them stumbling out onto the terrace.

“We’ll lock up!” Kamella announced with a wink, slamming the door shut without warning. Taeyong was trapped between Kamella and the front door, her hand planted firmly beside his head. She was grinning mischievously.

“Don’t think you can get away from me that easily, Lee Taeyong,” She warned him, annunciating his name so that he knew she meant business.

“M-Mella-yah,” Taeyong’s face was on fire at her spontaneous invasion of his personal space, and he was sure she could see every little bit of the redness flushing his cheeks.

“I’m still pissed that you ended our contract, and I haven’t forgiven you for it yet,” she told him honestly, not mincing her words at all.

Taeyong’s eyes filled with remorse, “I was wrong.”

“Damn right, you were wrong, but you’ve already given me up. So now, if you want to be my Ace again, you’ll have to pay the price to earn it.” Kamella brown eyes were dazzling, her low voice hypnotizing Taeyong in a way that would make him beg her, if that’s what she wanted.

He swallowed nervously, “Noona, what’s the price?”

Kamella her lips, “I’ll give you the full bill later. For now, this is the first payment.” She announced, closing the gap between their bodies and stealing a kiss.

Taeyong’s heart pounded in his chest at the familiar feel of her lips against his. She wasted no time in attacking him with passion, swirling her tongue in his mouth in a way that stole the air from his lungs. When they parted for air to finally let him take control of his breath, Kamella pressed kisses down his neck, ending with a bite at the sensitive spot, in the juncture between his neck and collar bone. He actually moaned out loud, covering his mouth in mortification at the sound, since Olivia and Sung Joon were on the other side of the door.

Kamella beamed, amused by his reactions, “You missed me a lot more than I thought. I’m pleased with this payment.”

Taeyong was too busy trying to calm his erratic heartbeat to respond, his entire face red from embarrassment. Kamella lifted his chin, making sure his gaze was fixed on her completely.

“My Taeyong-ah, I missed you a lot. Thank you for hearing my voice, and rescuing me from that dark pit. I promise this was the last, and only time I'll ever let you sacrifice our relationship for other people,” Kamella cupped his cheek softly with her hand, “I’m going to stop Dealer, no matter what.”

Taeyong nodded, still trying to calm down enough to speak. Kamella pressed a kiss to his forehead ever-so-softly, and released him, finally stepping away from him to slip into her high heels. Taeyong took a deep breath and finally opened the door to find both Sung Joon and Olivia stumbling backwards as they got caught eavesdropping on the other side.

Taeyong’s cheeks were burning from the looks they gave him, but Kamella ignored them entirely, her heart feeling lighter than it had in months. She stretched her arms above her head, and turned to take in the view of the morning sun from the rooftop for a moment. She felt renewed and regenerated. Kamella was ready to take the world head on, if she had to.

“Come on, Liv!" She called excitedly, turning the group still standing in front of her door, "We’ve got a House of Cards to bring tumbling to the ground.”

End Chapter 18