Chapter 14 – Markos #2
It might be worth it. I was so close to letting everything burn just to make her mine.
“Do you mind explaining what I just did?” she demanded before popping a fry in her mouth.
I shrugged. “You helped me teach a business associate a valuable lesson. Nothing illegal.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right.”
If this was going to work, if I was going to invite her to work with me, I would have to come clean. She would have to know who we were and what we did.
That was a decision I couldn’t make lightly.
“You liked it,” I pushed.
She took a bite of her burger, avoiding a response.
“You want to do it again.” I leaned closer. “You know why?”
“Why?” she garbled, hiding her full mouth behind her hand.
“It excites you. You like being naughty, don’t you, Serena?”
She swallowed. “Do I like the change from manual labor? Sure. But I’m not sure I want to get mixed up in your kind of business, pirate.”
I chuckled. I liked that moniker—liked it too much.
A voice shattered the delicious moment. “What the fuck?”
I glared at Atlas, who was marching through the restaurant.
“What a surprise,” I deadpanned.
He stuck a finger in my face. “You think you can mess in my office and not have me find out?”
“On the contrary, I expected it. What surprises me is how you found me so quickly.”
“I saw your jeep on my way to the office, where I saw the security footage of her—” he jabbed a finger in Serena’s pale face “—breaking into my office.”
Black wrath shot through me. “Get your fucking finger out of her face, or I’ll remove it for you, Atlas.”
The kingpin narrowed his gaze at me.
“Now,” I growled.
Atlas lowered his hand, but stooped to menace, “Where is it?”
Serena blinked. Her words were coated in an adorable innocence. “What?”
“You know damn well what,” Atlas barked.
I rose and pushed him back. “You don’t talk to her like that. In fact, unless you have my permission, you don’t talk to her at all.”
The explosion was right there, ready to blow.
But Atlas resisted, wrestling control for the sake of the customers watching the scene. “You’re unbelievable, Markos. We have real shit going on, and you play a prank?” he spat.
“Yes.” I pushed him again, forcing him back. “And when you calm the fuck down, I’ll explain.”
The giant got right in my face. “Explain now. ”
Switching into our native tongue, I ordered him, “I said watch your fucking mouth. She’s our solution.”
“She’s a liability—”
“She can get into places we can’t. We’re too well known in this city, but Serena? She can spy for us.”
“And what the hell makes you think she’ll do that? Out of the goodness of her heart?” Atlas scoffed. “You’re stupider than I thought.”
“Leave that to me,” I countered. Granted, he had a fair point. Serena would need a good reason to work with us. But it was part of the challenge I relished.
“Let him have the apple if it’s so freaking important,” Serena interrupted. “It’s in the jeep.”
Atlas looked over my shoulder before returning his gaze to me. “You’re responsible for this mess. Don’t make me shoot you, Black Tide.”
“Have I ever given you a reason to?” I laughed, the sound lacking mirth.
“Plenty. I’m counting the days until you fuck up so badly I put you down.”
I grinned. “And yet I make that impossible.”
Atlas stepped to the side, but before he left, he slapped me hard on the back. The still tender muscles screamed, and I groaned.
“Enjoy your dinner,” he said as a parting shot.
I didn’t sit until he left.
Serena, hands folded on the table and her expression locked on me, watched me with a stare that refused to waver.
It was a silent insistence that wouldn’t go away.
She wasn’t the type to let things slide, not after the way Atlas had charged in and confronted us.
Her eyes, full of questions, demanded answers I wasn’t ready to give. I felt the weight of them.
“Care to explain?”
“Nope,” I said, shaking my head as I picked up a fry. “Let’s eat.”
Serena opened her mouth, then promptly shut it.
Something in my expression must have warned her that pushing would be futile.
Instead, she reached for her soda, sipping it with deliberate slowness while maintaining eye contact.
The challenge in her gaze was unmistakable, but she chose not to voice it—not yet anyway.
We finished our burgers in tense silence, the occasional rustling of wrappers the only sound between us.
I watched her methodically eat her fries one by one, dipping each into a small puddle of ketchup with surprising precision.
For someone who'd just committed corporate espionage and faced down a furious kingpin, her hands were remarkably steady.
“So that’s your boss?” she finally asked, keeping her voice low.
“Something like that,” I replied, not meeting her eyes. The less she knew about Atlas for now, the better.
She nodded, taking a long sip of her soda. “You two seem close.”
I snorted. “Like a crocodile and an alligator.”
“What happens now?” she prompted.
I rose, taking our empty trays to the trash. Her light steps followed me. Once we were outside, I answered.
“That depends on you, prinkípissa.”
That was only half the truth. It also depended on me. I lifted my face, testing the wind. It still blew the wrong way, of that, I was certain. Until it changed to a more favorable course, I would stay this one that we were on, keeping my distance but pursuing the chance the Fates sent.