Five weeks ago…
“Boss”, was followed by a sharp knock on the door. I raised my head from the screen of my laptop after…I don’t know how many hours. The world was a little hazy for a moment. I blinked my eyes and Alexander came into focus.
He was fidgeting by my office door, an open laptop in one hand and the other hand fiddling with the ends of his shaggy hair. The kid was fidgety as hell in social settings but hand him a computer and a complex task and see him transform.
I nodded at him to enter and went back to my work. He haltingly entered and set his laptop down on my table. He carefully lowered himself onto the edge of the guest chair, but unfortunately, his knees collided with the underside of the table, causing him to utter a series of muffled curses under his breath.
I raised an eyebrow at him. Even eight years later, he was still a disaster.
“Sorry, Mr. Eaton”, he mumbled, turning the laptop screen towards me. The screen was filled with some kind of code in a really small font. I looked at him questioningly.
“Uhhh….remember…eight years ago, you had me run surveillance on Andrew Mancini when I first started?”, my whole body tightened at the mention of that name. My jaw clenched and an urge to smash something to smithereens came over me. Preferably, Andrew Mancini's smug face. And a few of his bones. I tried to reel in my emotions to listen to what else Alexander was saying. He wouldn’t be bringing up Mancini for no reason. He wasn’t stupid.
“So, I found all the cartels he was running, right? And the shell companies he was operating?”, he looked at me questioningly. Making sure I remember. As if I could forget the sweet, sweet taste of revenge. I nodded at him to continue.
“It seems like I might have missed something. A key Something”, he cringed and scratched his left ear, “There is this private clinic on Fifth Avenue. So everyone knows it’s kinda shady, right? Well, it just announced bankruptcy a while ago and the firm that bought it has apparently made some records public by accident. Maybe a glitch in their system. I don’t know. But my system pinged.”, he paused for a theatrical effect. I gritted my teeth, glaring at him to finish the f**king tale.
“I didn’t realize I still had the system running surveillance on Mancini from all those years ago and…well he apparently has a daughter. There was no record previously because they had the baby in this no-name private clinic. They exclusively work for criminals and politicians. I have no idea they even reached the point of bankruptcy but yeah.”, he nodded to himself and nudged the laptop towards me.
Meanwhile, I was frozen. I hadn’t heard a word he said after he told me Andew F**king Mancini has a daughter. My eyes flicked to the laptop. I make out the name “Liana Harrington” at the top of the screen. The rest of the world blurred as I stared and stared and stared at that name. Gunshots from twelve years ago ringing in my head. A cruel laugh and Italian curses. My mother’s screams as my father bled out on the living room carpet. The iron grip of arms that held me back.
“I just thought you would like to know”, the world whooshed back in as Alexander mumbled, pulling the laptop towards him and rising from his seat.
“Sit down”, I gritted out. My voice sounding hoarse, “Tell me what you know about her”, I stared at the wood grains on my table. My brain trying to process all this without shutting down completely.
“She is twenty-five. A lawyer. She graduated early and passed the bar with flying colors so she must be very smart. She lives in Tribeca and works for McConaughy and George. Senior Associate already.”, he took a breath. “I’m working on finding a photo of her but it looks like she is very private”, he made a face in the end. Kid loved a challenge and this girl has just challenged him.
“What kind of law does she practice?”, I was curious for some reason.
“Criminal Defense”, he let me know and I couldn't help but scoff.
Of course she does.
I rose from my chair with purpose. A plan already forming in my head.
Present day...
“It’s done. The boyfriend is out of the picture”, Alexander’s deep voice rang out over the phone solemnly. A delicious shiver of anticipation trailed down my spine at this fantastic news.
“Well done”, I praised him and hung up the phone, directing the last of the movers to put the box of books down by the coffee table. “Thank you, just leave the box there. I'll unpack it”, I nodded to the kid and handed over a hundred-dollar bill. He gave me a crooked grin and headed out the door.
I finally fell on the sofa and let out a deep groan as my legs thanked me for the reprieve. I looked around my new apartment. My new home for the foreseeable future. It depended on how quickly I finished my mission, really. If it were up to me, it’d be really f**king fast but who knows.
I sighed and rested my head against the back of the cushion. Moving here was a key factor in my master plan, but Shit! I missed my condo. I looked at the time. 10 p.m. I should probably go to bed but my stomach growled, letting me know that the last time I ate was ten hours ago.
As I was contemplating if I should make something or order doordash, my phone rang. Xavier. I groaned. The last thing I wanted was to deal with this psycho. I ignored the call and headed towards the fridge. As I rummaged around the fridge and then the cabinets, my phone continued to ring and ring. I might have been alarmed if this was anyone else but I knew Xavier. Unfortunately. It was NOT an emergency. I continued checking all the cabinets.
Then, my doorbell rang. My.F**king.Doorbell.Rang. Nobody knew I had moved here. Nobody except Alexander and ding..ding..ding..you guessed it. F**king Xavier. Alexander wasn’t suicidal so I knew it wasn’t him. The doorbell rang again. “Open up, grumps. I know you're in there”, he hollered through the door. I ground my teeth in irritation and yanked the door open.
“What the hell do you think you are doing here?”, I barked but he just casually strolled in, whistling a merry f**king tune. I kicked the door shut loudly and followed him in.
“I'm in charge of dragging your sulky ass to the bar a few blocks over”, he graciously let me know and opened my fridge. I crossed my arms over my chest and glowered at him as he turned back towards me and pouted. “No beer in here, man. You’re a shit host”, he flopped down on my couch and thumbed through the magazine lying on my coffee table.
“I just moved in, asshole and I didn't invite you here”, I seethed. It was times like this I seriously wondered why I was friends with this guy.
“Yeah, yeah”, he waved my subtle insult away, “Get dressed and get going”. He clapped his hands together like he was a drill sergeant. I rolled my eyes and sat down on the couch.
“I'm not going anywhere”, I told him and closed my eyes.
“Come on, man. You’ve been driving yourself crazy for the past month and now you’re finally here. Let’s celebrate that at least. You deserve it”, he nudged my legs with his sock-covered foot. I batted it away and sighed in resignation. And here was my answer about why I was still friends with this guy. He was kind of right. I was exhausted. Mentally and Physically. I don’t have to go to the office tomorrow. I could use a night out. I hated it when he was right.
When I looked over at him, he was grinning from ear to ear. He knew me well enough to know that he had worn me down. “Shut up!”, I snapped at him and stood up.
“Please tell me you will take a shower. You smell awful”, the bastard wrinkled his nose and flapped his hand in front of his face. I flipped him the bird as I closed the bathroom door.
Blue and red lights occasionally flashed all over the floor, dipping the world into darkness for a few moments in between. Xavier and I made our way across the dance floor to reach the bar. Him, occasionally getting distracted by grabbing hands of girls who tries to pull him in for a dance.
“I’ll join you in a minute, ladies”, he hollered to them over the music, falling into step beside me just as we reached the bar. I settled in a stool and ordered a vodka on the rocks. He settled beside me and ordered the same.
“So, how you doing, bro?”, I rolled my eyes, taking a sip of my drink.
“We are not having a heart-to-heart in a noisy bar. Go have fun with your ladies”, I waved him off.
“Thank God!”, he cheered and patted my back on his way to the dance floor, taking his drink with him.
Asshole.
“What a dick”, a girl to my right exclaimed. I turned towards her.
“I’d never do that to you”, she slurred, trying to hug her friend beside her but missing entirely, stumbling on nothing, “We can have a heart-to-heart right here, right now, babe”, she made a smooching noise.
Her friend turned toward me and my heart stumbled a beat. Probably because of the alcohol already hitting me hard because of my empty stomach. Obviously. But the girl was unusually pretty. Long, wavy brown hair swaying on her waist, a little black dress clinging to her curves, and sinful boots hugging her pretty thighs.
My blood heated and a beast seemed to wake up inside me after a long, long time. I took a large sip of my drink, trying to cool off my body. I realized she was staring at me. Seemingly flabbergasted. I looked down at myself to check if everything was where it should be.
It was. I raised a brow at her.
“Did you ask me something?”, I asked to make sure I hadn’t missed something during the moronic episode I just had.
“No. Yes. I don’t know”, she looked at me and then her drink on the counter, confused, her words slurring slightly. I nodded at her and tried to go back to my drink. Ignoring her. Tomorrow was a big day. I couldn’t lose sight of that. My libido will have to wait.
“Go talk to him. He’s perfect for….”, I couldn’t hear the rest of the sentence because the song changed at that moment and the crowd went crazy over it. But it was enough for me to deduce they were talking about me.
“No. Shut up. He can probably hear you”, the brunette whispered and looked over her shoulder, catching my eyes. She gave me an embarrassed smile. Her cheeks flushed red. With inebriation or shyness I didn't know, but God she was beautiful. I focused on my drink.
“Whelp!”, the blonde girl stood from her chair with a loud exclamation. Stumbling a little. “I need to go to the ladies room. Be back in a jiffy”, she announced and before her friend could say anything or go with her, she disappeared in the crowd.
Very subtle.
The brunette gave me a close-lipped smile and stared at the wall in front of her. There was a certain kind of innocence in her smile. No provocation.
“What’s your name?”, I asked her in a gruff voice. Just knowing her name wouldn't hurt.
Her head whipped toward me. “My name?”, she asked with wide eyes.
I nodded, “You got one?”.
“Uhhh…yeah I have a name. It’s..”, she hiccuped, “It’s Liz. Lizzy. Elizabeth”.
“Elizabeth”, I tested her name. It suited her. She had that regency vibe to her.
“I see you’re enjoying yourself”, Xavier chose that moment to interrupt us, Sliding two glasses on the bar. “Hi, I’m Xavier, nice to meet you”, he said to Elizabeth with a wink. My jaw clenched.
“Drink up, My man”, he shoved the glass in my hand, saluted her, and disappeared back into the crowd. I looked down at the drink. It was a clear liquid.
“Is it safe ?”, she asked me hesitatingly. I realized he had left a glass for her as well.
“For the most part, yeah”, I answered. Knowing Xavier, it was probably hard liquor, but unharmful.
Well, that was an error of judgment on my part, wasn’t it?
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