CHAPTER 5
FRANKIE
∞
“Frankie Denali is here to see you, Sir.”
I shift into the room, and I see him sitting casually in his little King chair as he practically glares at me.
“Is this a joke?” He snaps.
Here we go.
I watch and listen as he rips into Alex while he throws jabs in my direction. My blood is boiling as I listen to him bitch about me being a female human, his voice practically dripping with disdain.
Fucking prick.
“You’re acting like a fucking asshole.”
Now I’ve done it.
I see his entire body stiffen and I can feel the rage bubbling up inside of him as he turns his eyes to me with nothing but anger and hatred. I just had to open my fucking mouth. Adrian is going to end up skinning me alive for this…I’ll never hear the end of it if I make it out of here alive.
“Do you have any idea who I am?”
He hisses.
Keep your cool, dipshit. Don’t piss him off further.
“I do, and I don’t care. You’re acting like a fucking asshole, so that’s who you are.”
Mother fucking mouth. Fucking hell, I don’t have any control over myself.
This prick is literally detaching my brain stem from the rest of my body, specifically my mouth. He steps towards me and Alex steps into his line of sight. I never expected him to try and protect me after my little outburst earlier and especially not now, after calling his boss an asshole.
“Sir, please…”
“LEAVE US!”
I fucked up.
Alex scurries off, leaving me with the raging fanger in front of me. I settle myself to not go down without a fight and tip my chin up at him in defiance.
“Human---”
“Frankie.”
Mouth, shut the fuck up!
“What?”
Well, I’m already fucked anyways, so I may as well go for the full fuck up.
“My name is Frankie…not human, so I would appreciate it if you addressed me by my name and not my genetic makeup.”
I’m impressed with myself for staying as calm as I am.
“Your services are not needed. Go back to the compound and I’ll have Adrian give me someone appropriate for this assignment.”
This fucker is really starting to piss me off.
“You don’t even know me or what I’m capable of.”
“I don’t need to know anything else about you. The fact you’re human, is enough.”
There is no one else better suited for your needs.”
He raises an eyebrow at me and it’s taking everything in me not to punch him in his smug little face. He takes a step back from me which surprises me, considering how intimidating he feels right now. I see his eyes slowly raking over my body and I take the opportunity to do the same.
He’s hot as fuck, I’m not gunna lie. He’s taller than me, but not obnoxiously so. He seems well built under that pristine suit he’s wearing, and I see the edge of a tattoo peeking out from the collar of his white dress shirt, creeping up the side of his neck. His dark hair is tousled, but in a really professional way. It’s long enough to hang to his brows and his bright green eyes seem lively, considering the man is basically undead.
I know vampires aren’t actually dead. It’s not like the ancient stories or famous renditions. Vampirism is a virus that grants the host a level of immortality that most dream of but are straddle with the need to feed on blood. From what I’ve witnessed, they can survive on human food, but not exclusively. Their venom can be both euphoric and deadly. It can act as a neurotoxin if enough is pushed into the system, which paralyzes the victim. They have a heartbeat and that’s fucked to think about…the fact they still have a functional heart and yet choose to treat their victims the way they do. I stare at his face for what feels like forever, until he finally settles his gaze back on mine.
I raise an eyebrow at him, and he clears his throat, taking another step back from me. “No, you’re not. Go home, kid. It’s time you stop playing dress-up before you get yourself killed.”
Did this cunt just call me a kid?
“I can handle myself just fine and I’m not a kid,”
I say bluntly.
“No?”
He laughs. “You look like a kid and you’re not what I need.”
I can feel the irritation building within my chest as he stares at me with that arrogant smirk. “You wanted the best. So, you rather settle for second best because I’m a human?”
“Adrian is clearly fucking with me. A human girl shouldn’t be an enforcer, period.”
I have no doubt that Adrian is fucking with the both of us at this point, but I know I’m the best at what we do. Adrian could have easily lied and sent one of the others in my stead. There was zero reason for him to send me unless he was up to something. “So, which is it? I’m inadequate because I’m human or because I’m a girl.”
“Both!”
He growls.
“I am the best. The fact you don’t even know who’s on your enforcer list, just goes to show how much of an asshole you really are.”
The next second, I’m pinned against the wall by my throat. I grip at his wrist, trying to pry him off of me, but his hold on me is harsh. I see his canines drop and panic beats against my chest.
No. There’s no way he would fucking bite me.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,”
he whispers, and the tone sends a shiver up my spine.
“Let me go,”
I hiss out. A sick grin spreads across his face, and I feel my mind completely shut down at the sight of it.
“You’re weak…useless. The only thing you’re good for in regard to our kind is sustenance and nothing more.”
Memories flash in my mind at the words and my fear quickly turns to pure rage. I feel his tongue slip out against my skin and I want nothing more than to rip it out of his fucking mouth. The sensation crawls against my skin and the next second, my blade is in my hand, plunged into his chest.
He snaps his head back from me and I feel his grip loosen on my throat. He’s staring at the blade embedded in his chest. “You missed,”
he smirks. Loosening his hold further.
Sadistic fuck.
“I’m not one of your fang-bangers, so if your face comes near me like that again, I will fucking kill you.”
I slap his hand away from me and rip the dagger out of his chest. “Oh, and I don’t miss. Next time, it will be your heart.”
I watch him as he brushes his fingers across the healing wound and startle as I see him smirking as he stares at it. “Just so you know, it takes a lot more than that to kill me, Chess.”
He finally lifts his face up to look at me. “What?”
I hiss out.
“I’m a pureblood…and I’m old. You can’t kill me like that.”
I’m trying to shake the memories from my head as I push past him. “No, not that. What the fuck did you just call me?”
“Chess…I’m assuming your name is actually Francesca, correct?”
My entire body stiffens as he repeats it, and I turn to glare at him over my shoulder. “My name is Frankie.”
No one calls me Chess anymore. Not since…
Well, I want to call you Chess.”
This asshole. I know he doesn’t know anything about me, but I don’t want him having ammo on me. He doesn’t need to know anything. I’m here to work and get this job done, nothing more.
“Frank-ie. Frankie. Not Chess, not Franny, not Chessy or any of the other bullshit you might come up with. You call me by my name.”
He steps towards me, and I quickly turn to face him. The last thing I need is him getting the drop on me because my back was to him. “I think I can call you whatever I want. You, little doll…work for me.”
His hand comes up towards my face and I panic, slapping it away. My face still hurts from Adrian’s grip on it earlier and I know it’s going to bruise already. I don’t need another asshole doing the same thing to my face. It’s bad enough I’ll probably have bruises around my neck from the hold he had on me earlier.
“I am not your little doll. I don’t want to be here, but it’s my job. The last thing I want to do is work with you on anything. You are exactly the shithead douchebag I thought you were going to be, so thank you for proving me right. You won’t get anyone else from Adrian. I’m the best there is on his team, and either you accept me as your enforcer, or you can fuck off and do this fucking thing yourself.”
Seriously, Adrian is going to actually kill me. When word gets back for how I talked to their precious King, I’m done for. I fucking stabbed him. That’s reason enough for my execution notice to be ready and waiting by the time I get back to the compound to check in.
“Fine. I’ll give you the chance to prove yourself, but I still think this is a bad idea. If you die, that’s on you. I won’t be coming to your rescue.”
“I’m not some damsel that needs saving from the likes of you. I’m fully capable of taking care of myself.”
I actually can’t believe he’s giving me the chance to prove that I can do this. Definitely not after the fact I fucking stabbed him.
“Also, the suit will be coming out of your wages.”
Fucker.
I grind my teeth as I drop my eyes to the rip through his shirt, now stained with his blood. He motions for me to head towards the door, and I roll my eyes at the stupid dismissal. I know that fucking suit is going to take a large chunk out of my wages because a fucker like this, buys expensive shit. Which, of course he does…I don’t think he ever gets involved in any actual fieldwork. I walk past him, and I feel his fingers graze against my elbow. Full panic claws through me and I whip around fast enough to make myself stumble.
“Don’t touch me,”
I hiss out instinctively.
I see a flash of concern cross his features, but that quickly disappears as he settles his face back into a neutral expression. “Leave your number with Alex and he'll be in contact with you tomorrow to go over the details of what I’m expecting from you.”
I can’t even look at him. I know that was an overreaction on my part, but I was already completely on edge coming in here, and then he went and physically assaulted me. I didn’t expect any form of gentle touch from him after the fact. I brush my fingers against the area his fingers grazed me, and I can feel my skin tingling slightly.
“Fine,” I sigh.
He opens the door for me, and I avoid looking at him as I step through it. “I’m Wren by the way,”
he says quietly.
I glance at him over my shoulder, and I know I’m not even trying to hide the distain I hold towards this man right now. “I told you…I know who you are. Have yourself a shitty evening, King Valkyrie.”
I turn away from him and walk out of that room with as much dignity as I can, considering what happened in there. He could have killed me on multiple occasions, but he didn’t. He’s an asshole, sure, but I may actually be wrong about him. He told me his actual name. He had to have known that I know who he is. Adrian would never send me in here unprepared.
Alex scurries after me and I glare at him. “Your boss wants you to have my number so that you can get a hold of me tomorrow.”
I see him dart his eyes back towards the office.
“Alex, when you’re done with her, I require your assistance.”
He’s so cold towards him and I have no idea why Alex doesn’t just rip into him too. “Your master is calling you,”
I tease as he follows me to the elevator.
“What happened? He seems to be in a weird mood.”
“I stabbed him,”
I say bluntly.
“Pardon me?”
He growls.
“It’s fine. He didn’t kill me for it. He tried to bite me.”
“What?”
“Yeah…I wasn’t letting him bite me, Alex. It was self defense.”
“That’s…not like him. He never feeds without consent. Ever.”
“I don’t know if he was planning to feed or not. All I know is his fangs were out and he was practically drooling over me. I don’t take kindly to being treated like a blood bag and I hope he understands that.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“Fine.”
I hand him my business card and shove the button for the elevator to come up. “He’s weird,” I mumble.
“What do you mean?”
“I dunno. He just seems…guarded. I saw his anger plenty in there tonight, but…maybe I’m just overthinking it.”
The elevator opens and I step into it, giving Alex a small smile. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Alex.”
“Have a good night, enforcer Denali.”
“Just Frankie is fine,”
I laugh, making him smile as the doors close between us.