10. A Complicated Conundrum
10
A Complicated Conundrum
Matt
I’ve had the longest fucking week of my life, and given my history, that’s saying something.
I’ve been out dealing with endless bullshit for the last few days. I’ve only been back for maybe an hour, and I can already tell something fucking stupid is brewing.
All I wanted was a hot shower and one hot meal, but from the knocking on my door, I have a feeling I’m not going to get either of them.
I know that I could take my time answering, and whoever is knocking would still be there in five minutes, twenty minutes, or even two hours because that’s just how these people operate.
Not wanting to listen to incessant knocking while I’m trying to wash the filth off myself, I figure it’s best if I just pause my initial shower plan and go answer the fucking door.
Muttering expletives to myself, I yank my filthy jeans back up my legs, zipping them but leaving them unbuttoned. Storming over to the door, I yank it open as I bark, “What the fuck do you want?”
There’s a startled, feminine gasp, and then I quickly lose my mad as I see the woman standing on the other side.
I sigh and shake my head as I say, in a calmer tone, “Marieka, what are you doing here?”
She shrugs, her hands twisting in front of her as she replies, “Looking for you.”
I step back and open the door all the way so she can enter, closing it behind her and moving a few feet away. She steps back, leaning against the door, uncertainty written over her features.
“Give me a minute,” I say hurriedly, and then rush back over to the bathroom where I grab my shirt and pull it on over my head as I return to the main room.
There’s nothing fancy about my accommodations, but they’re some of the larger ones I’ve had, and at least they’re clean. She’s still standing against the door, looking even more unsure than when she first arrived. My annoyance eases as I stand a few feet from her and ask, “Did you need something?”
Her brow furrows, and she hesitates for a moment, so I add, “Just spit it out, Marie.”
She swallows, clears her throat, and then whispers, “I needed to see you. To make sure you’re alright.”
“I’m perfectly fine, but you shouldn’t be here.”
Her eyes drop to the floor, and I wait as she works to collect her thoughts. After a few moments, her eyes finally lift to meet mine, and she says, “I overheard the men talking about what would happen here if you were to end up injured or worse.”
I close the short distance between us, my hands reaching out and gripping hers tightly before holding them loosely as I stoop over so I’m looking into her eyes as I say softly, “I’m fine. That’s not going to happen.”
Her jaw clenches, and her nostrils flare. She chokes out, “But it could. And then what?”
“Then you immediately go to plan B. Honestly, you’d probably be better off if something did happen to me because plan B is probably your safest bet.”
Her eyes narrow, and she shakes her hands free of my own as she snorts, “I have a hard time believing that.”
I smile, relieved that her unease is shifting back to her underlying sass.
I can always tell when I’ve been gone for a longer period of time because she starts to resort back to her earlier demeanor of being more of a wilted flower, a quiet little mouse destined to hang out on the outskirts and be overlooked by the masses. Of course, learning how to go under the radar being the safest bet, I can’t say I really blame her.
She clears her throat again, nodding to what seems to be mostly herself, and then she turns, putting a hand on the doorknob where she pauses and turns back to me and says, “You stay alive.”
I laugh and reply, “I’ll certainly do my best, Marie. You need to stay out of trouble. And don’t get caught down here, or you’re going to be in a whole heap of trouble.”
She nods in agreement and then opens the door, moving as if she’s going to step out into the hallway, but I pull her back. I lean out, looking in both directions before reaching back and taking her hand, maneuvering her into the hallway.
She goes easily, but when she turns back to look at me, I still see that shadow of fear across her face, so I touch her shoulder, lean down, and whisper, “Everything will be all right. You’ll see.”
She huffs and then nods more firmly before spinning on her heel and taking off down the hallway with her head down.
There’s a knocking down the hall in the other direction, so I lean out in the hallway and peer down just in time to see a woman disappear into a room.
A shiver runs down my spine, and I squint and shake my head, forcing the apprehension down as I step back into my room and shut the door.
I’m almost to the bathroom and the shower that’s been waiting for me when the door to my room bursts open behind me. I whirl around, ready to fuck up some shit, and then immediately relax when I see who it is.
Kaian stands in the doorway, looking proud to have startled me.
I glare at him and say, “Stop fucking doing that.”
He grins at me, lifting his shoulder nonchalantly as he shuts the door behind him and then replies, “Well, remember to lock your fucking door, then.”
“Maybe you should just stay in your own room and quit fucking bothering me.”
He walks further into the room, dropping into the large armchair I have in the corner, sprawling out as if he owns the place.
Which technically is kind of true, given he’s one of the princes of the underworld, taking a pit stop down here with us common folk as part of his mission to earn the job.
Frankly, I’m not sure he’s entirely cut out for it, given he doesn’t take anything seriously, but I suppose like most people, he’ll be serious when the time comes.
“We’re going to need to tighten up security around this place,” he says randomly.
“Security?” I ask incredulously. “The security in this place is top-notch.”
He raises his brows at me, gives me a serious look, and then says, “Well, that’s what I thought, but I found somebody just wandering around here today.”
Now I frown, my arms crossing over my chest as I respond, “Wandering around?”
He nods, then sighs, his head falling back to rest on the back of the seat, his eyes closed as he relaxes. “That’s what I said. Some woman, just wandering around here.”
“And you believed that she’s just randomly wandering around here?”
He peeks an eye open at me and says, “Yeah, that’s what I said. I mean, I scared the shit out of her, and I’m pretty certain that she couldn’t have been up to much, considering how easily she practically pissed her pants. She wasn’t too bright, either.”
“And what did she say she was doing here?”
“She said she was dropped off for Matteo.”
I cock my head at him, confused why anyone would be dropped off for Matteo, given the fact that he is a huge piece of shit. Now I sigh, my hands coming up and rubbing over my face tiredly, and then I ask, “And did she say why she was here for Matteo?”
“She just said she was a gift or whatever. I don’t know. I kind of feel bad for her now.”
“And so, you just blindly brought her to him?”
He shrugs. “I just did what the lady told me. She’s not my problem.”
“Is anyone your problem?”
He grins, opens his eyes, and looks at me. “Nope. I am my only problem. And I like to keep it that way.”
“It’s a damn fucking shame, too, Kai. You’re in a position to do a lot of good in this world if you chose to.”
“Attempting to do good in the world is what gets us killed in our world.”
He’s not wrong. All too often, good intentions lead to pain, suffering, and death. All we can hope in those circumstances is that death comes swiftly, though in most cases, the person who thought they were going to do some good has to be an example to anyone else who ever thought they wanted to do the same.
I go to say something further, but Kai takes out his phone and says, “If you want that shower, you better make it quick.”
I groan, already stripping down as I head back to the bathroom, thoroughly annoyed that I now have time for the most basic military shower instead of the thorough lathering I more than need.