Chapter II

The heavy mahogany doors were pushed open and the human lowered his head demurely as Leo and Catharine walked into Roland’s office. The office was enormous with countless numbers of shelves and cabinets lining its walls. Several midnight blue sofas surrounded a glass coffee table. Roland sat behind a spacious ebony wood desk and his eyes stared at the screen of the laptop which sat on its surface; though they shot up immediately upon feeling his sister’s presence.

Leo towered over the desk and over Roland; almost as a shield between Catharine and him. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the demon sitting before him and his hand slammed the briefcase onto the desk showing little patience. Undoing the clasps, he quickly produced a stack of paper which he soundlessly handed to Roland who leafed through it quickly before calling the human at the door to come and file it away. “Now you give me what I want.” Leo told him coldly.

Roland nodded and produced a manila folder from the top drawer in his desk. Leo grabbed the folder harshly from him and handed it to Catharine. “Check that for me, will you?” he asked motioning to one of the sofas relatively far away from the desk. She nodded and walked towards the dark blue sofa. Roland stared after her, speechless.

“Those are…” he began but stopped when Leo’s cold gaze returned to him.

“Those are company papers.” He replied. “It’s only fitting that the one-fourth share holder would look over them, no?” he asked not expecting an answer. He knew what Roland was thinking. Roland knew that Catharine technically owned that small percentage but he refused to formally acknowledge the fact. With that, Leo strode over the other side of the desk where the CEO sat in his deep leather chair making it all the more difficult for him to stand up. He leaned close to Roland and spoke in a barely audible whisper. “You listen to me closely.” His low voice became a harsh whisper. “If you or that scum, Akaro, do anything to Catharine…mark my words you will regret the miserable day of your birth.” The last words were uttered with such venom that try as he might to keep it in, the fear in Roland’s eyes slowly crept up to their surface.

Having to put up with idiots such as Roland tended to give Leo a headache. But for the sake of formality and for the sake of unity, it had to be done. He had to humor them, let them think that they held some control. That was how he could keep them under his own control. His mind turned to Catharine who sat beautifully poised on the couch going over the figures in the papers that she was given. She nodded slightly as she read, understanding everything most likely better then Roland understood it himself. “Ready, my dear?” he asked Catharine, the charm returning to his voice yet the small amount of venom intended for Roland was still present. Giving one last dark glance at Roland, he followed Catharine out the door.

Quickly regaining his composure as soon as his sister and Leo had left, he picked up the phone and dialed Daniel’s cell phone.

Daniel picked up on the other line, already knowing what the call was about. “I couldn’t do anything to stop him.” He said before Roland could say anything to him.

“You let Catharine pass?” Roland was furious. “You know that she doesn’t come inside!” he growled.

“Once again…” Daniel replied calmly. “What would you like for me to do against Leonardo Iason?” he asked. Unlike Roland, he had a conception of what was good for him and what wasn’t. Going against the will of Leonardo Iason wasn’t good for anyone let alone for him. For him to do so would have been surefire suicide.

Roland took a deep breath before responding. “She won’t get away with it.” He said finally.

“I’d like to hear your plan on stopping her.” The executive replied from the bottom floor of the building. “Action against her would mean action against Leonardo.”

“Then what do you propose?” asked an abashed Roland. Every second his contempt for his sister grew. ‘She is not fit to be of my bloodline…that human bitch. She has demon blood you say, father? Show it to me! She is nothing more then a weak pathetic human…any demon blood that she may have is insignificant. She is not worthy of bearing the name of our family.’

“We wait.” came the reply. “For now, there is nothing that we can do but that won’t be the case for long…if the plan succeeds, that is.” The last part was said extremely softly. “But the chances of failure are slim.” He said, a dark smile creeping over his face. “I’d love to see Leonardo Iason work his way out of it.” At that, Daniel hung up his cell and shoved it into the pocket of his jacket. ‘Of course it is only Leonardo that needs to go, darling Catharine must remain. Of course, you wouldn’t agree with me here, my CEO…and that is why you too…must go.’

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“I admit darling that I wanted to take you out for dinner when I saw you but I’m afraid that I cannot tonight.” Leo told her as they both walked out of the building making her blush slightly. “Rain check then?” he asked expectantly and she nodded in reply, not able to keep a slight smile off of her face.

“Where are you off to, Leo?” she asked curiously.

“Japan; where else?” he replied as a black limo pulled up beside them. “That would be mine.” He informed her, motioning towards the limousine with his eyes. “Wait…” he thought for a moment. “Forget the rain check for dinner; come to my estate for a while.”

She blinked at the invitation. There was nothing that she wanted more then to be away from the city.

“Is that a ‘yes’?” he asked expectantly, as the driver came over to open the door of the limo. As he waited for her to reply, he handed his briefcase to the man and watched him put it into the trunk out of the corner of his eye.

Catharine nodded her head slowly.

“I’ll send a limo for you in at seven o’clock tomorrow morning. It’s a long drive from here.” He confirmed. “I won’t be back for a week or so but my sister will be there…she’ll be ecstatic to see you.”

“I…” she didn’t know what to say in response.

He shushed her before she could say anything else. “Don’t say anything, love.” He ordered softly. “Know that I look out for you always.” With that, he kissed her lightly on her cheek and climbed into the limousine. The driver slammed the door shut after him and nodded politely to Catharine before he opened the door to the driver’s seat and got inside. Moments later, the car sped away in the direction of the airport. Catharine stared after it until she could see it no more.

With the car out of her view, she began her walk back to her apartment. ‘Leave the city.’ She played with the concept in her mind for a few seconds. It sounded good. ‘Leave Roland, leave this behind…nothing could be better.’ Her thoughts shifted to Leonardo. ‘Leo, you always look out for me…always protect me…what would I do without you?’ She pictured his calm crimson eyes when he looked at her and the fire that could rise so easily within them when he was angry. Leonardo Iason was intimidating, cold, and harsh but never to her. Her image of him was much different then most everyone else’s.

Years ago, she had visited his estate with her father and brother. The mansion was beautiful, sitting over at least two hundred acres of land. While she wasn’t sure that it looked exactly the same still, it couldn’t have decreased in beauty. There were endless gardens and a forest lining one of the edges. A stream ran through the property and the possibilities seemed endless. Not even heaven could compare with the peace of that estate. That was what she remembered. She also remembered Leo’s little sister. They had talked a few months ago for the last time and not since then but not because they didn’t want to. Much happened in those few months. Yet she would see her the next day and that was something else that she looked deeply forward to.

Her footsteps had brought her back to where she had started that evening; at the glass doors of her apartment building. Catharine almost felt a sense of relief when she entered her apartment once more. This was hers, no one else’s. Not Roland, not anyone could reach her here. ‘Here I have immunity to them.’ That immunity, of course, was a mere secure feeling not a truth. When she left the next day; that would be true immunity. When she was with Leo, they couldn’t touch her. No one could. ‘Did you know that I would have Leo, daddy?’ she thought. ‘You must have known and is that why you didn’t worry about me and Roland? But if I had Leo, then why would you give your dream to Roland?’

Without care, she tossed her coat onto the back of one of the sofas that was in her living room and she tossed her shoes into a corner of the room. Suddenly feeling very tired, she walked into her bedroom and collapsed onto the king sized bed, feeling the satin of the pillows against her cold face. Her eyes closed involuntarily and without changing her clothes, she drifted off into an unnatural sleep. The same question remained in her mind, spinning over and over again. ‘Then why did you do it daddy?’

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Leo sat on the soft leather seat of the limousine with one leg crossed over the other and his eyes focused out of the window at the city that flew by him. He thought about Catharine and about her father. Richard Harrisman had been the absolute best businessman that Leo had ever encountered. His grip on everything was absolutely firm and nothing ever escaped him. His son’s contempt for his half-sister hardly escaped him either. His words to him still lingered in Leo’s head.

“Protect my little angel…please Leonardo…protect her.” In general, Catharine had always been like his second little sister and with or without the elderly demon’s begging, he had never intended for anything to have the possibility of happening to her. He had every intention of keeping her safe from Roland and from Daniel.

‘Akaro.’ The name slipped into his mind and his eyes immediately narrowed at its presence. Nothing escaped his eyes. Leo had seen how he looked at Catharine and that wasn’t the first time that he had seen it. ‘Akaro has had his eye on her forever.’ He mused in his head and the more he thought about it, the more he felt the urge to kill the demon right then and there. ‘Akaro will be made to pay later.’ He decided, after all, since Catharine was coming to his estate, she would be safe for the time being. ‘Speaking of which…’

Immediately, he pulled out the metallic cell-phone from one of his coat pockets and pressed the speed-dial to his sister’s phone. Several rings passed and no one answered. Knowing that his sister was simply ignoring him, he clenched his fists together in annoyed anger waiting for the voice-mail to come on. Meanwhile, he composed the perfect message in his head. Finally, the beep sounded. “Piper!” he yelled into the receiver. “If you know what’s good for you, you will pick up this phone right now or else I’ll…”

“Calm down big brother!” his little sister exclaimed from the other line. “How’s your business with that Roland guy go?” she asked cheerfully.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He replied gravely.

“Then why are you calling?” she asked expectantly from the other end. The fact that her brother had interrupted her favorite TV show didn’t make her exceedingly happy.

“I need you to send a limo tomorrow morning to pick someone up for me. I need them picked up at seven A.M.” He said, purposefully winding his words around the point to pay her back for not picking up her cell right away. “You have to guess who it is though.” He told her, pleased with himself. He knew that she wouldn’t hang up until she knew. ‘Curiosity killed the cat.’ He told himself triumphantly.

A few silent moments passed from the other line. “I have absolutely no idea!” she finally exclaimed. “Who?”

Now was his turn to stay silent for a few moments before finally telling her. “I need for you to send a limo for Miss Catharine Harrisman who will be staying at my estate for a time.” He emphasized the ‘my’ just to get on her nerves.

“No joke!?!” she yelled back into the phone, making Leo hold the receiver away from his ear while she elevated her voice. “Catharine is coming over?” she repeated to make sure that she had heard right. Then she added. “Coming over to stay at my house?”

“Only if you remember to arrange the limo.” He warned knowing that his sister could be extremely absentminded, but even she couldn’t forget about something like this. Catharine and she had always gotten along perfectly with no qualms between them. They were like the best friends made in heaven.

“You can count on me bro!” she replied then added. “Have fun in Japan!” before she clicked the off button on her cell phone. Leo shook his head in dismay as he heard the line go dead on the other end. Now the most important thing was taken care of and he could finally try to relax; the key word being ‘try’. Though he was slightly annoyed as he still had more to tell Piper, but her attention span didn’t seem to be able to handle any more information on the same topic.

It wasn’t that anything bothered him or that he had fears about anything; but Richard Harrisman had said more to him that day then just the plea to keep Catharine safe.

“Leonardo…I need to tell you this because you are the only one who can help me.”

Thinking back, he would have thought the man was mad yet there was something that convinced him of the truth behind the dying man’s last words to him.

“It isn’t Roland that you need to worry about…I have foreseen it. My son will be out of this world very soon but that is not your responsibility. I’m not asking for you to save him; only to stay out of the way and let fate takes its course.”

Leo hadn’t been sure why Richard was telling him this. What became of Roland was none of his concern.

“I warn you about the other one.”

He hadn’t understood at that point and the old demon had offered no more information.

“Please get Catharine out…and heed my warning about the coming danger. It may seem incomprehensible but I assure you that everything that I threaten you with is very real. I cannot describe it…but you will know it when you see it.”

The conversation that day had ended on that and he never saw the old man alive again. At his funeral, Leo had stood in the back to pay his respects but made sure that no one noticed him and didn’t stay for long.

It was true, though, that his entire basis of going to Japan were the old man’s last words to him. That was the center of demon culture and the place where he would surely find answers as he knew not where else to look. He was thrilled neither about the trip nor about meeting the demon that he was going to meet there. ‘It’s been a long time, Itsuki.’ He thought to himself. ‘Yet I have no where else to turn but to you…my enemy of hundreds of years past. So we will meet again.’